All Souls' Night - Renee Rose Page 0,120

mood to be in the dungeon, which is one of my most frequent stations.

Tonight, I don’t feel like seeking out company, or a human meal. While not my normal choice, this evening I’d prefer to drink my dinner from a glass and be done with it.

Yeah, I don’t understand it either, but that’s my current mood. It’s not normal for me.

Meaning I really need to listen to this mood and go with it, especially since it’s so disquieting.

Theophilus scowls. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just… in a mood.”

That’s not a lie.

“You need to get laid. Why don’t you pick someone tonight? Once we’re past opening, we’ll have plenty of help.”

I shrug. “I doubt it, but if I change my mind, I’ll take a break.”

“You sure you’re all right?”

I can tell he won’t leave me alone until I say something. “You ever have one of those moods where you think there’s something there, maybe? But you can’t put your finger on if it’s good or bad?”

“Sometimes. You think we’ll have trouble tonight?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem.”

He claps me on the shoulder and heads off. Meanwhile, I turn and make my way to the front entrance. There’s a girl manning the coat check closet tonight, Khloe, one of the club’s house humans. Not a bad kid—and all the humans are kids when compared to my age—and she’s a sweetblood. She’s not looking to get turned, but she’s on her way to basically being married to the club.

I’ll have to remind Theophilus to check her personnel file and see if it’s time for us to evaluate how she’s doing, or if we need to think about letting her go soon. Sometimes, humans who’ve been sweetbloods for too long start to lose control of their lives outside the club and become a risk to us.

In those cases, we wipe their memories and send them on their way with a set of replacement memories and a small cash bounty that will help get them a new start somewhere else. Usually, we have them tell their family or whoever cares about them that they were in a secret relationship that turned abusive, and they don’t want to talk about it, which helps cover a multitude of questions.

She offers me a smile. “If you’re not doing anything later…” She doesn’t finish.

She doesn’t need to.

“Probably not tonight, sorry. Got some things going on. Thanks for the offer.”

Her smile doesn’t show any hints of rejection, even without me using my thrall on her. She knows I prefer men to women but I don’t blame her for putting the offer out there. “No worries.”

I make sure everything’s ready and, sure enough, the line’s down the block already. I’d like to say we have a dress code, but the truth is, if a vampire plucks someone out of line to bring in with them, they could be dressed like a damned clown and we’ll let them in.

But being well-dressed will more likely draw a vampire’s eye, get you bumped to the head of the line, and brought inside sooner than if you’re dressed less than stylishly.

No, it’s not being snotty. It’s called having standards, thank you very much. We have them.

I can’t help but sigh when I unlock and open the doors and study the line. We’re going to be busy tonight. Yet that odd feeling still lingers within me.

I hope it doesn’t signify the impending arrival of some dark event.

We open, and I stand in my position, checking IDs as clueless humans eagerly file in to spend their money and possibly become a meal. It’s tempting to let my guard down a little and relax, but experience has shown me if I do that, shit’s liable to hit the fan.

That’s when I spot Taylor, one of our regular vampires, approaching the door. On one arm, he’s got a woman he’s just snagged out of the line. I missed seeing if Taylor brought the man on his other arm, or if he was also selected from the line, but I can’t take my eyes off the guy.

And as Taylor meets my gaze with one of his own that’s borderline challenging me, he smiles. “Tiberius.”

I give him a curt nod, because it’s taking everything in my power not to yank the young guy away from him. Taylor’s not my favorite person in the world, but he’s not a totally evil shit, at least.

But the man with him, a human…

Holy fates, he smells amazing! Like he’s…

Oh, shit.

He smells like he’s mine.

Chapter 4

Taylor