“Uh, now? I’m still in bed.”
“Fifteen minutes. No excuses.”
“That’s not enough time to eat breakfast!”
“It’s enough time for you to shower. Clock is ticking. Get up.”
Jono ended the call and sighed. It was going to be a long day.
5
Ginnungagap hadn’t changed muchsince the primordial void had slipped free of its walls to be commanded by Fenrir. Lucien’s club was still just as popular as ever on the nightlife circuit, even if no one could pinpoint him as the owner. If anyone managed to track a name through the layers of paperwork and shell companies, they’d discover one of Carmen’s aliases in lieu of him.
The club was the public heart of Lucien’s territory in Manhattan. Patrick still didn’t know where Lucien’s Night Court rested during the day, and he doubted he’d ever find out. Despite everything going on, Lucien hadn’t closed the club for their meeting tonight. Appearances had to be kept up, and dinner had to walk through the doors.
“If he tries to punch you, I’m biting off his hand,” Wade said as they approached the club.
Patrick sighed heavily. “That would be considered an act of war by the Night Courts, so keep your teeth to yourself.”
Wade scowled, tugging his beanie down low over his ears. “Lucien is an asshole.”
“I’m not arguing that fact, but we still need his support.”
The three of them weren’t so much guests of honor on a VIP list as they were the enemy to everyone who waited inside for them. But war had always made strange bedfellows.
Patrick and Jono had reached out to Ashanti in September about bringing in more vampires for the fight ahead. The mother of all vampires had been mostly agreeable, but Patrick had no idea who she had chosen. They’d had no control over her decision, and he’d known better than to push for that information in advance.
Lucien alone was a nightmare. Patrick knew there were several other master vampires in the country who, while not as historically infamous as Ashanti’s last directly sired child, still rated high on the asshole scale.
Patrick shivered a little as cold rain trickled down his neck. They’d been on the go all day before the storm hit, and their umbrellas were back at home. The rain wasn’t letting up anytime soon, and he didn’t like being out in the open right now, especially not with what might be riding this storm.
“Could’ve maybe parked closer,” Jono mused, head ducked against the wind and rain as they half ran down the sidewalk.
“And let everyone waiting for us know what my car looks like? Hell no,” Patrick said.
There was a line of people huddling beneath umbrellas outside the main entrance to the club. A human servant in a heavy wool coat and wide umbrella stood guard at the door beside a tall, blonde vampire, whose lips peeled back in a snarl at their approach.
“Irena,” Patrick said in greeting.
“Go to VIP section,” the vampire ordered, not bothering to open the club door for them.
Usually, they entered Ginnungagap through the side door in the adjacent alley during hours when the club wasn’t in full swing. Entering through the front was a bit of a novelty. Jono got to the door and hauled it open, ushering Patrick and Wade inside.
Crossing the threshold made Patrick’s nerves tingle, a reaction to the lingering power in the walls. Ginnungagap might be held between Fenrir’s proverbial teeth right now, but the echo of it could still be felt where it once resided in the mortal world.
The security checkpoint where everyone had to give up their holy items was manned by human servants loyal to Lucien’s Night Court. They knew Patrick, Jono, and Wade on sight and didn’t bother asking them to hand over items which would never leave their possession. Now that they were inside, Patrick could better make out the bass sound of the music being spun by a DJ.
“You three look like drowned rats,” Carmen drawled from her spot in front of the counter, glamour dropped in favor of her true form. The dark red pupils of her eyes seemed to glow in the shadows, but her gaze was easy enough to meet.
“Rain isn’t going to make us miss this meeting,” Jono said.
Carmen tilted her head, long curly black hair falling around the horns of her kind that twisted over her skull. “Our guests await your presence.”
Patrick double-checked his personal shields as they followed Carmen deeper into Ginnungagap. The damage to his soul still let him feel the recognition that came when a slew of vampires was in one place. It wasn’t quite as bad as what demons from the hells left behind, but it still made him want a shower.
Wade shouldered his way over to Patrick’s left, which put Patrick between him and Jono. Wade’s eyes had lost their brown coloring and were now a molten gold, though no red scales pushed through his skin.
The dance floor was packed with clubgoers, and the lounges and booths scattered against the wall were filled to capacity as well. If Patrick had to guess, he’d say half the people in the club tonight were vampires, which was far more than the number in Lucien’s Night Court. Patrick knew Lucien didn’t like sharing territory, so the fact that so many strange vampires were in his club had all the marks of Ashanti.
