“I can smell your innocence from here.”She smiled, revealing sharpened incisors.“What’s a Snow White like you doing in a place like this?”
“Um, I’m here to...I was told...”Adalyn took a deep breath.“I was told I could make a lot of money if I...”
She didn’t want to say the word sold, but it was the only verb of which she could think.
“If you sold your innocence?”the vampire helped.
Adalyn nodded, swallowing down her nausea.
“Are you looking to be a thrall or a nightingale?”
That confused her.“What’s a nightingale?”
“A nightingale is only visiting for the evening.”
“Yes.That.A nightingale.”
“Do you prefer a male or female?”
This was a question she hadn’t considered.“I ...I suppose it doesn’t really matter.”
She was beyond caring at that point.
“Finger, please.”
Blood typing.Adalyn knew this was part of the process and held out her hand.The vampire took it and brought up a little lancing device to prick her finger.The vampire took the drop of blood and placed it on a card.
“Oh,” she purred, looking up.“Did you know you have rare blood?”
Adalyn blinked.“No.”
“Only about one percent in the world is AB negative.”She licked her canine as if imagining she was savoring her blood.“Patrons will pay dearly for a taste of your blood.”
“Oh, okay,” Adalyn said, thinking that was good.Maybe she would get the entire amount she needed.
The vampire smiled.“Let’s get your paperwork finalized.All I need to know is what price you’re asking.”
Moment of truth.“F-fifty thousand.”
The vampire’s eyebrow raised.“Your blood, and the fact that you’re a virgin, could easily net you a million.”
She only wanted what she needed.It was hard enough knowing she was selling herself.“Just fifty thousand.Please.”
The vamp shrugged.“All right.”
A moment later, she handed Adalyn a tablet.The word contract was at the top.
“This is a standard agreement protecting both parties,” the woman said.“The vampire who buys your company for the night agrees to not harm you, unless you wish to be harmed.He or She will drink from you but not drain you to death.If he or she violates that term, rest assured he or she forfeits his or her own life.”
Vampires were powerful, and their brand of justice was swift and decisive.There were no maximum-security penitentiaries.No appeals court.In fact, there was only one crime they were severely punished for, and that was killing an innocent human.Of course, their definition of innocence varied.
“If you renege on this covenant, you will not only forfeit the payment, you will be fined the same amount.Understood?”
“Yes,” Adalyn whispered.Before she could overthink, she pressed her thumbprint to the document.
The vampire took the tablet back and then nodded to one of the bouncers.The man stepped forward, no doubt another vampire, and gestured for her to follow him.Her palms grew damp as she followed him up a set of stairs she hadn’t seen because they blended into the peripheral darkness.Up, up, up.To a third floor and down a hallway that had nooks.The noise of the nightclub filtered up, a pulse pounding beat that mimicked her thundering heartbeat.
When they got to the fourth recessed room, the vampire stopped and gestured for her to enter.A human sized cage waited for her.
