a high, tight ponytail. Her almond eyes were a vivid, icy blue, made more startling thanks to the heavy eyeliner and copious use of mascara. Every line and curve of her body was shown to advantage in a skintight latex cat suit. Her calf-high boots had stiletto heels so high, it was a wonder she didn’t fall and break her ass when she sidled over. Tiny chains dangled around her wrists, fingers, neck, and from her earrings, jingling merrily as she trailed one lacquered fingernail down Christoph’s back, licking her red-painted lips as she did it.
“Very nice. Where’d you dig this one up?”
Ken came up behind her, a firm hand at the small of her back sending her stumbling toward the stage. “Hands off, kitty cat. That’s Mouse’s new toy.”
She pouted, sulking off toward the stage. “Should’ve known he was taken. They always are.”
Ken leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “If you value your skin, stay away from that one. I hear she’s real rough-and-tumble in the sack. You can thank me later.”
Ashi watched Joy as she walked off. “Ugerkert.”
Christoph choked and tried to punch Ashi, but the other Were darted out of the way. At Ken’s perplexed look, Christoph shook his head.
“It’s pack slang. It means—uh—’dominant female’.”
“It means ‘woman with a—’“
Christoph swung at him again. Ashi dodged and grinned, but there wasn’t much humor in it.
“You are such a jerk,” Christoph grumbled. “You don’t say that kind of thing.” He looked at Ken. “Sorry.”
Ken shrugged. “No need to apologize. Everyone here thinks she’s a brass-bound bitch, me included. If she wasn’t John’s donor, and so goddamned good at working the crowd, we would’ve fired her a long time ago.”
“I heard that!”
“I meant every word!”
“Good.”
“Anyway,” he continued as if that little exchange hadn’t happened, “you should grab a couple bottles of water so you don’t get dehydrated up there.”
Christoph went to get water, leaving Ashi standing awkwardly with Ken. Ashi swung his arms, looking around the room. Definitely a change of pace from what he was used to. He’d never been in a club before now. As soon as Christoph came back, he took a bottle.
“I’m the master of a dojo,” Ashi said, breaking the seal.
“Congratulations. I’m sure that makes you feel important,” Christoph answered.
“I got that way by being better than everyone.”
“I suppose that’s generally the definition of a master.”
“I can’t believe I’m here.”
Christoph reached over and ruffled Ashi’s hair. It was very fine hair, but also very thick. As soon as Christoph removed his hand, Ashi’s hair poofed into a black fuzzball.
“I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” Christoph said in a condescending tone of voice. “If you need to hold someone’s hand later, I’m sure Joy can help you with that.”
Ashi tried to get his hair to lie relatively flat. “Do you know that I love it when my students get uppity with me?”
Christoph opened his bottle and took a sip of water. “Why’s that?”
“I get to do this.”
Ashi took a step toward Christoph and viciously pinched the muscle between his neck and his shoulder. Christoph contorted painfully, spilling water all over his front.
“Mother f--!”
He lunged at Ashi with murderous intent. Ashi ran for the nearest cage, shutting himself in. Christoph grabbed the bars and shook it, snarling. Ashi laughed at him as he raged.
Ken clapped his hands sharply.
“All right, enough of that! Damn it, Christoph, I don’t know if we have another shirt for you. Go use the hand-dryer in the bathroom. We’ve got less than twenty minutes before the doors open. Hurry!”
Once again, the peanut gallery was sniggering at their antics. Ken went back to directing a few changes in the setup while five people got up on the stage and started doing a rapid last-minute rehearsal. One of the dancers was Reece, dressed in his white leather, paired up with a woman dressed in a similar outfit done in black. Across from them was a similar pair, except the guy was in black, the woman in white. Center stage was Joy’s domain.
While everyone was provocative, Joy put the supernatural grace and sexuality of the vampires to shame.
Nobody seemed much impressed by it, and Reece even stopped to (quite gleefully) correct something she was doing. In a few minutes, they were all moving in flawless synchronization to a heavy techno beat.
Christoph stormed off to the bathroom, grumbling. Ashi made a mental note to stay away from him for a while. Christoph could take hits and keep on coming, and his mass and speed made him an opponent