We smooshed against dancing bodies until we found an opening and then Luka placed his hands on my hips. “Is this okay?” he asked, leaning in to whisper into my ear as I felt him inhale my scent.
Hah! He was asking consent to touch my hips? That was hilarious considering he’d drained a girl and killed her. What a two-faced douchebag. I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I just nodded and pressed myself closer to him, hoping to lure him into a feeding room soon so I didn’t have to pretend to like him much longer. I started to dance, raising my hands in the air and thrusting my hips in a circular motion against him, all the while planning my attack once we were alone.
I peered over his shoulder and noticed Liv dancing with Thorin now. As far as I knew, Thorin wasn’t on any hit list, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to kill him. It just meant she wouldn’t be paid for it. Any vampire who wasn’t living either in Magic City or in Delphi, a secret campus for banished magical rejects here in Spokane, was fair game.
If Liv and I could kill both Thorin and Luka, that would be unreal. Two less Drakes in the world was a better world to live in.
Luka looked down at me from behind long dark lashes and I couldn’t help but remark at how utterly good looking he was. Like… whoa.
“I like these.” He trailed a finger up the outer edge of my thigh where my rose tattoos were and my body responded, sending a pool of warmth between my legs.
No. Resist the devil’s charms.
Leaning forward, I gave him a sweet smile, and changed the topic. “Are you here with friends?”
He licked his lips, eyeing mine sensually, and nodded. “Family actually.”
Okay, maybe this idiot would talk. “Cool! Me too! My sister,” I lied and pointed to Liv, who was grinding on Thorin, Luka’s three-hundred-year-old uncle who looked twenty-five.
Luka looked at Liv, slight confusion at my sister comment, probably comparing our different skin tones, and nodded. “Would you girls like to come back into the VIP party room? Free food and drinks all night.”
Yes! That was the feeding room.
“Sure! I thought this was VIP.” I giggled, trying to act like a dumb chick.
He grinned, and holy hell hewasgorgeous. I inspected his neck covered in tattoos, and the words “Five Crew” were scrawled across his collarbone in black ink, causing me to wonder what it meant. I wouldn’t lie, grinding against his hard toned body was having an effect on me I wasn’t proud of.
This demon’s magic was strong. I was getting distracted.
“It is, but this is a little more exclusive.” Luka winked and my stomach involuntarily warmed.
“Cool.” I reached out and laced my fingers through his, cold to the touch, and then we walked over to Liv and Thorin. I tapped Liv on the shoulder, waving for her to follow us.
Luka and Thorin shared a look and nodded.
Once we got back there, I’d have to find a private, curtained feeding room and kill him quickly and quietly. Technically, Liv could kill him too, it didn’t matter which one of us took him down. But I’d already partnered off with him, so she could take Thorin and we’d both go down in hunter history. Two Drakes in one night!
Luka led me to the far back wall with a black curtain covering the entrance and two huge beefy vamps standing before it. They took one look at their prince and nodded, opening the curtain without a word. I’d never been back here before, but a few other society members had. From what they reported, there were little closed-off curtain rooms for feeding and a private bar to keep the humans nice and inebriated. I’d been fed on just one other time, for a few seconds before I’d managed to kill the bastard, and the weirdest part was that it feltgood. The vampires injected a small amount of something akin to a mild narcotic into your blood to make you more pliable. It was similar to a Vicodin and it kept you wanting more. I was willing to be fed on again if it meant getting the job done, but I prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
We ascended two levels of stairs, which I estimated now put us at a secret top floor level, and Thorin pulled Liv off into the direction of a red-curtained room. She and I shared a look that needed no words. We’d kill both of these assholes quickly and meet back at my car for a quick getaway. Luka led me down a hallway and into a main room with a bar in the center, dozens of curtained rooms at the perimeter. Liv must have gone into a different, smaller feeding area…
“Nephew!” a deep, raspy voice called out behind me and I spun.
Dear God, give me strength.
My hand tightened in Luka’s involuntarily as I stared at Keres Drake, the mad king. I … thought he was dead. Keres was unseated from his position as king by Drucilla Drake, the current queen. All because he’d lost his mind. He was over two thousand years old, and at that kind of age, the immortal just craved an end. I stared at the open socket where his left eye used to be and swallowed hard.
Rumor had it that he went so crazy he yanked out his own eye in a fit and then … ate it, all before he killed his own wife and daughter, leading Drucilla to challenge his ability to lead. He was absolutely the most horrifying vampire I’d ever laid eyes on.
Even though he sort of looked about thirty years old, there were cracks in his skin that just weren’t natural, like his flesh was diseased. His eyes ran up and down my body in a hungry gaze and he grinned, teeth bloodstained. “What do you have here, dear boy? A homecoming present?”
I involuntarily turned into Luka for protection as he pulled me toward his body, laying a protective hand around my hip.
“Hello, Uncle,” Luka ground out, tension thick in his voice. He was clearly not in favor of this vampire.
That was interesting.
“And who are you?” His one eye snapped to me as he wet his lips again and I forced myself not to recoil.
