do something like that?”
“Lass, those atrocities are nothing new. Look at Attila the Hun. Vlad Dracul. Hitler. Ye donnae have tae be vampire tae be psychotic. And just because we need tae drink blood tae survive does nay mean that some incredible personality shift takes hold of us. Most of the time, anyway,” Clarisse said, though that last was muttered a bit quieter than the rest. “We are the same people we were before we turned, just with different needs.”
Jessica shivered. “God, no wonder he thought we were all crazy.”
“If you could not bring it up with Analie, that would be great,” Christoph said. “She hasn’t heard all the stories. She’s not of age yet.”
He removed his hand from Ashi’s mouth. “Anyway, here’s your tiny Korean man. I’m going to see if Analie has cookies.”
With that he slapped Ashi on the back, gave him a thumbs-up, and marched over to Mouse’s apartment.
Jessica nodded, rather nonplussed. “I have to get back to studying. I’ll see you guys later.”
Clarisse gave Jessica a faint smile and a pat of encouragement before she hurried off, then looked Ashi up and down, pursing her lips. He looked too frazzled to be of any use to her. Like Angus, she didn’t suffer useless donors, but maybe he’d come around once he saw that she wasn’t about to leap on him and steal what she wanted.
“Do ye want tae come in, lad? Ye can sit down and rest, if ye wish.”
‘No, I want to hide in my room.’
“Sure,” Ashi said. Might as well make nice.
Chapter 16
Ken was feeling mighty cheerful.
Requests were rolling in from the club’s website for the new dancers. It amused him to no end that Ashi and Christoph hadn’t yet debuted and were already developing a fan base.
Ken was dashing in his immaculate three-piece charcoal pinstripe suit, the pink undershirt matching the tiny stripes. The small garnet in his earring matched the stones set into his cufflinks and tie tack. He smelled terrific, and knew he’d catch the eye of every man and woman in the club. That was fine. He’d bask in the attention until the show started.
With a spring in his step, he headed upstairs, knocking on Sebastian’s apartment door. Loudly. Explosions and screeching car tires came from inside. He’d come early, counting on needing to help Ashi and Christoph get ready. They probably hadn’t even gotten dressed. Or even recalled that this was the night they were supposed to start working at Twisted Temptations.
Since Ashi’s stony glare tended to make people back away, he was never asked to open the door. Christoph got off the couch and lumbered over. He was in jeans and one of the few T-shirts that he’d been allowed.
He hadn’t remembered he was supposed to start “working” until he opened the door and blinked at the very well-dressed vampire grinning at him.
“Aw, come on,” he groaned. “That’s tonight?”
Ashi twisted around on the couch and his olive skin went pale as he spotted Ken.
“Oh, no way.”
* * *
Gregory silently helped Gavin pick through the wreckage that was once Paul’s den. Very few of the books were damaged, and none beyond repair, but he was going to need new bookshelves. The contents of the beanbag were spread all over the room, the desk was smashed into fragments, and there were deep claw marks in the walls.
A massive black werewolf was in the corner, its mane stuck through with splinters. It panted heavily, snarling between breaths. A laptop lay upended on the other side of the room, the flickering screen offering glimpses of an email with pictures promoting a new feature at a night club.
“Special mission, huh?” Gavin muttered to Gregory.
“Shut up,” Gregory said wearily.
“I guess they’re undercover.”
“Shut up.”
* * *
“Yes, way,” Ken caroled, snapping his fingers and gesturing for the two to follow him to their bedroom. Sebastian and Thad were having a monstrously difficult time keeping their faces straight and hiding their grins as they focused on the TV.
“Have fun, boys,” Thad said, the mock-lisp not lost on Ken, who glared.
“Come on, you two, let’s hustle. We’ve got to be at the club in less than an hour.”
Ken didn’t wait to see if they followed, going straight to their closets and riffling for something for them to wear. Before long, he had an outfit hung over each arm. His choices weren’t too bad. Relatively speaking.
Leather pants for both, billowy button-down shirts (blue for Christoph, green for Ashi), and a strappy-looking contraption made of latex, leather, and nickel-plated rings,