Dante laughed. "I'll bet. So what good bands should I check out for my club?"
Ash grabbed three Dark Horse Tales of the Vampires comics and added them to his growing pile. "Last Dance is really good. They're playing tonight, and Ghoultown too. But the one band you have to see is the Cruxshadows. They're right up your alley and rule the Darkwave scene. The lead singer Rogue'll be over in the Hyatt later signing autographs at their booth. If you want, I can introduce you."
"That'd be great." The only reason Dante had come to Atlanta was because Acheron had assured him Dragon*Con was one of the best places to see several alternative bands so that he could hire them for gigs at his club in Minnesota.
Simi came running up to them with two male "Klingons" trailing behind her. "Akri? Can I go to the Klingon homeworld?"
Ash smiled at his demon. "Sure, just don't eat any of them."
The demon pouted. "But why not?"
"Because, Simi, they're not really Klingons. They're people pretending to be Klingons."
"Well, pooh, fine then. No eats. But I'm going to go now. Bye bye." She dashed off with the two young men.
Ash handed the comics to the vendor, then pulled out his wallet.
"Shouldn't you go do a head count on the homeworld population?" Dante asked.
"Nah. She'll do what I said…" Ash paused as if something occurred to him. "Then again, I didn't tell her not to eat a Bajoran or Romulan. Damn." He paid for the comics. "You're right, I better go count."
Ash took a step away, then stopped. "By the way, you might want to head upstairs right now and check out your room."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Make sure it meets with your needs."
Dante frowned. "I've already been there."
"Go there again."
The animal in Dante picked up a weird scent from Acheron, but he wasn't sure what it was.
But as the Atlantean headed off, he felt an inexplicable pull to do what Acheron had suggested.
Dante headed out of the vendors' area, toward the escalator. He'd barely reached it when he smelled the pantheress again. He turned sharply to the left, expecting to see her.
She wasn't there.
Still, he was hard for her. Ready. The animal inside was growling for a taste of her body.
He headed up the escalator to escape the scent.
It seemed to grow stronger.
His head low, he scanned the crowd intently, but none of his people was there.
Closing his eyes, he sniffed the air. Her fragrance was subtle now. And it was…
He whirled around.
There was no woman there, only Romeo, and he reeked of the pantheress. Dante couldn't stop himself from sniffing Romeo, who immediately shoved him away.
"Man, you skeeve me when you do that. And don't do it in public. Someone might get the wrong idea about us."
He ignored his brother's reprimanding tone. "Where is she?" Dante demanded.
"Out of reach."
