“Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” I said.
Thanks to my stunt with the gun, Jenna and Drake were the only humans in the room. Everyone else had evacuated.
It should have occurred to me that something was wrong when security and law enforcement didn’t appear to handle the situation. A person waving a gun in a casino. They should have been on us in minutes.
I hadn’t noticed.
Even the bartender and waiter were spooks. Another thing I’d missed.
“We have to go,” Anton announced, looking edgy. “Now.”
There was no retreating the way we’d come. At some point, a wall had formed between us and the bar’s entrance. Our only way out was the door at the back of the room that would lead us further into the Playground.
Drake helped Jenna up. “Come on, cuz. Just stay beside me.”
“What’s happening?” she asked.
Drake shot a glance at me. “Things just got a whole lot more interesting.”
That was an understatement. We were up shit’s creek without a paddle.
The bartender planted a hand on the bar and leaped over it. “I’m afraid you’re not going anywhere.”
The waiter moved to block the only other exit in the place.
“We’ve got orders, you see. You’re not to leave.” The bartender’s appearance changed, his well-groomed, handsome façade shredding as he flashed sharp, serrated teeth. “At least not alive, that is.”
The waiter chuckled as he followed in the bartender’s footsteps, his face elongating into a cross between animal and man. His ears became pointed. His skin took on a mossy cast.
Anton prowled forward, not missing a step. “It appears you don’t know who your masters ordered you to accost.”
The waiter opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance.
Anton’s form blurred as he rushed the man, latching onto his neck with his fangs before anyone could react.
The bartender shouted and started for the two.
I whipped out the gun I’d stashed in my waistband, shooting twice instantly. The bartender’s head exploded.
“Nice—Nathan chose iron for the first couple of rounds,” I drawled.
I guess it was a good thing I’d never pulled the trigger on Anton. Iron would have just pissed him off.
There was a squelch as Anton finished ripping the waiter’s throat out and let his victim collapse to the floor.
Jenna made a sound somewhere between a squeak and a moan as Anton turned to us without bothering to wipe his face.
Right about now, she was probably getting a better idea of why our uncle referred to me and other vampires as “monsters”. Anton certainly looked the part. Blood was caked around his mouth and chin. It trailed down his throat and stained the front of his shirt.
The most terrifying part were his eyes. The primal, glittering look of need and desire. An ecstasy that showed blood lust had claimed him.
“Anton,” I tested.
I kept my gun out. Not quite pointed in Anton’s direction in case it triggered his instinct, but close enough that if he tried something I could aim and shoot quickly.
Anton closed his eyes. The blood lust I could sense coming off him dampened. When he opened them again, he was back to normal. Although still covered in his victim’s blood.
“We should split up,” Anton said.
