A few minutes later, a woman appears in front of us. She’s very tall, with pale skin, visible veins in her face and neck, large black eyes, and long, dark hair. She’s gotvampirewritten all over her, and she’s pretty damn intimidating, even to me.
Cassius steps forward, greeting his fellow vampire. “Aneska, I presume?”
“Yes. Jasper said there was a problem last night?”
“Potentially,” Cassius says. “He was spellbound and the magic lingers in his blood.”
Aneska’s eyes flash bright red. “That is against the rules. I need to know who did it so they can be banned from the club.”
“We need to know too,” I mutter darkly. “We think a friend got hurt,” I add, nodding towards the camera. “Any chance you have the footage from last night?”
She studies me for a moment before turning back to Cassius. “You won’t cause harm to Jasper or the club?”
“No,” Cassius says. “We know it wasn’t his fault, whatever happened. You can check his blood yourself.”
“I believe you,” she says. “Come along.”
We follow the vampire through the club and into the back, where the offices are. Just a minute later, Jasper joins us.
“I got Kareem to watch the bar for a few minutes,” Jasper says to Aneska.
She nods. “Very good.”
We hang back while Aneska sits at a computer and clicks some keys. A recording of the bar appears on one of the screens, rewinding until she stops it.
A petite woman with pink hair appears behind the bar, smiling and chatting with customers. “That’s me,” Jasper confirms.
“Fascinating,” I mumble.
On-screen, the bartender turns around to grab a bottle of alcohol, and then a gray mist appears behind him, clearly not visible to the other customers or to Jasper himself. The mist engulfs him, and we see him sway, then nod. The mist clears, and Jasper returns to his task.
“What the fuck was that?” Jasper asks.
Aneska shakes her head. “No idea, but you were targeted. That thing knew exactly what it was doing.”
“That thing was a demon,” Drax says. “Lower level, easy to summon for menial tasks, and nearly undetectable even to a supernatural eye. To anyone watching, it would’ve looked like a bit of smoke or fog, but nothing to be concerned about. Only another demon would’ve known what it was.”
“Demons have that kind of magic?” Mac asks.
“No,” Drax says gruffly. “That demon was bewitched.”
“Why would a witch want to bespell me?” Jasper scratches his head. “As far as I know, I don’t have any enemies, witch, demon, or otherwise. I’m just a bartender.”
“Look,” Roman says, directing our attention to the screen where the video is still playing. “Do you see who I see?”
I lean a little closer. “That’s him, isn’t it?”
Roman squeezes my shoulder. “Looks like him.”
We watch in silence as Jasper, in pixie form, greets Rune. They have a brief exchange, and while Rune is gazing around the club, we see Jasper pull a vial from his vest pocket and pour the contents into a glass before pushing the shot towards Rune.
It’s hard to see Rune’s expression, but he doesn’t hesitate to take a gulp of the drink. Jasper stands in front of him, seemingly frozen as he waits for Rune to finish. Only seconds later, Rune seems to feel the impact of whatever was in his drink as he rubs his forehead then steadies his hands on the bar.
They have another exchange and Jasper prepares a second shot, sliding it over to Rune, who drinks it down quickly again.
Rune slides off the barstool and stumbles toward the exit, pausing when a hunky bald man steps into his path, grabs his arm, and drags him from the bar as his head flops forward.
“He was abducted,” Roman says.
