I gripped my walking stick in a stranglehold until my eyes fell on Jinx and her psychic detective friend seated at the bar. I hurriedly made my way down the stairs, slowing only as I crossed the dance floor. I licked my lips, shivering in anticipation.
I’d come here to ensure the woman’s safety, but now that she was within reach, I was overcome with the need to feel her touch—even if I’d have to settle for a crossbow bolt through the chest. One gloved hand drifted to my side where I’d recently received the sharp end of a letter opener. Jinx was nothing if not feisty.
I sauntered to the bar, smiling when Jinx caught my hungry gaze. For a startled moment, her face was an open book and her expression mirrored my own. Desire smoldered in her eyes as she absently stroked the crossbow at her shoulder.
“Hello, sweetheart,” I said, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “Buy you a drink?”
My words were cut off abruptly by a knife at my throat. Ivy had gone from ordering drinks to threatening violence. From Jinx it would have been enticing, but coming from her glowing friend, the gesture was maddeningly annoying.
There was a minor altercation with club security for engaging in violent behavior—behavior that threatened bloodshed without having first filed the appropriate paperwork (yawn)—but eventually, I extricated myself from Ivy’s blade, slipping my arm from Jinx’s shoulders with a look that promised a rematch later in the evening. Our business was not complete, but, for now, I was content to watch from the sidelines. The prudent course of action was to wait for Ivy to calm down and for club security to lose interest.
Not a problem. I could be very, very patient.
I sauntered away from the bar and settled in to wait. Unfortunately, my patience was rewarded by the appearance of Puck. I cursed under my breath, hands twitching along the catch that would release my sword from its wooden sheath. Whatever that trickster wanted with Jinx, it couldn’t be good. I pushed my way through the crowd, hoping to catch their conversation.
I stopped mid-stride, head snapping back as if slapped by an invisible hand, as Jinx led the angelic looking faerie onto the dance floor. If the reverse had been true, I’d have sliced Puck’s hand off—and to Hell with the consequences—but Jinx was acting as the aggressor. I hoped she lived long enough to regret the dubious decision.
I briefly closed my eyes and had to look away when Puck’s hands settled on Jinx’s full hips. I never thought I’d envy the trickster, but at the moment I’d pay handsomely to trade places with the predatory scoundrel. I paced restlessly, gathering the courage to continue my observations.
When I looked back, Jinx and Puck were leaving the dance floor, heading back toward the bar. I followed at a careful distance, not wanting to alert Puck to my presence.
I tried not to focus on Puck’s hand resting possessively around Jinx’s waist. I didn’t wish to see any additional displays of affection from my rival, but I had come to ensure Jinx’s safety and that was a duty I would carry out, no matter how vexing the task.
At the bar, Puck proceeded to fix a drink for Jinx and I expelled a pained breath as I watched the white powder dissolve in her glass. This was too much to bear. The trickster was trying to drug the woman I’d come here to protect. I launched myself forward, ready to knock the glass from Jinx’s hand, but I never had the chance.
Before I could reach the bar, Ivy toasted Jinx and Puck, knocking the drugged beverage to the floor. Moments later, Ivy swayed drunkenly on her stool and tumbled to join the puddle of alcohol and shattered glass.
What the Hellfire was going on?
I wasn’t sure what Ivy was up to—had she also caught a glimpse of Puck’s attempt to drug Jinx?—but I knew the detective well enough to guess that her drunkenness was a ruse. Jinx’s friend was more uptight than a Puritan in a bordello. She’d never willingly drink enough alcohol to lose control, certainly not here in a club filled with immortals carrying millennia of potential nightmare visions.
I tugged at my gloves, a slow smile replacing my earlier scowl. I may not know what game Ivy was playing at, but I did enjoy the temporary result. Puck was frowning, his hands opening and closing at his sides as if he’d like to wring the wisp princess’ neck. Well, we’ve all felt that way at some time or other, but at the moment I was quite pleased with the woman’s performance. Anything that angered the trickster was splendid in my book.
As I watched, Puck left Jinx’s side, stalking away from the bar and toward a vampire who stood waiting at the edge of the dance floor. I followed at a discreet distance, humming and twirling my walking stick to the music, the very image of blithe ignorance. He passed a key and a small bag containing a white, powdery substance to the vampire and kept moving.
Puck continued on toward a door at the back of the bar. He looked furtively to his left and right, slid a key of his own from his pants’ pocket, and unlocked the door. With one last glance around the room, the faerie slipped inside.
My curiosity was piqued. The trickster’s behavior was interesting, indeed. Puck may have pulled the wool over Jinx’s eyes, but I knew what he was capable of. If he was sneaking off into the back rooms instead of fawning over a pretty woman, no matter how annoying her friend, he must be up to something particularly despicable. Perhaps if I could catch him in an act of heinous trickery, I could convince Jinx to keep her distance from the cretin.
At the edge of the dance floor, my walking stick caught on an imaginary bump in the floor and I stumbled forward into the arms of the vampire I’d witnessed make the recent transaction with Puck. I brushed off the vampire as if ridding him of demon germs, patting him down and retrieving his key in the process, and muttered an effusive apology.
The man raised a hand as if to push me away, but froze when I allowed a flicker of flame into my eyes. There was one thing that all vampires fear and that is fire, immolation being a very real threat to the perpetually dehydrated undead. Satisfactorily humbled, the vampire accepted my apology and I continued on my way, nonchalantly following Puck’s trail across the room.
I approached the door he’d entered, aware that Jinx remained with Ivy at the opposite end of the bar. With her best friend watching her back and Sir Torn, one of Ivy’s new allies, nearby, I felt confident leaving Jinx in the club while I pursued Goodfellow.
Distracted by thoughts of Jinx, I nearly didn’t notice that I was not the only one in pursuit of Puck. I pulled up short just in time, slipping between a pair of lounging succubi seconds before a vampire in cowboy boots strode to the door with his own key. As the vampire unlocked the door, a tall, beautiful faerie who’d been tending bar rushed to his side. Her arms were laden with soiled towels and she kept her eyes downcast, but I could tell she was highborn fae.
I wondered how Puck had managed to ensnare the royal faerie into the lowly position of bartender. Knowing Puck, it involved foul trickery. Even knowing the trickster’s abilities, it was still surprising that he’d maneuvered himself into the position of running the club’s bar. It was, judging from the transactions I’d witnessed so far, a profitable deal for Puck. If he didn’t have designs on Jinx, I might even have admired the faerie’s enterprising tenacity.
I waited patiently for the vampire and Unseelie faerie to disappear into the back rooms before extricating myself from the succubi.
“Ladies,” I said with a nod.
The succubi, one raven-haired, the other blonde, pouted and stretched catlike, showing off their various assets, but I wasn’t interested. Succubi are a dime a dozen in Hell, but a stubborn, beautiful, kind-hearted, yet somewhat violent human woman like Jinx? She was a rare gem indeed.
Leaving two sets of pouty lips behind, I stalked toward the end of the bar. Reaching the door to the back rooms, I slipped the burgled key from my pocket and attempted to fit it into the lock. Had I been mistaken about the key? I raised my brow at the difficult lock and leaned closer to see what could be the trouble. At closer inspection, I could see that the doorknob was frosted over and the lock was filled with ice.
Damn and blast, that Unseelie bartender must have used her ice magic to seal the door. I gritted my teeth at the delay and tugged the glove from my right hand. Using a miniscule amount of magic, a small flame formed from my index finger. I’d used the technique previously as a parlor trick, but the flame was just as effective at melting the ice within the lock as it had been lighting cigars. I tucked the glove into the pocket of my waistcoat and let myself inside.
I moved quickly through the storeroom located immediately behind the locked door and moved stealthily down a flight of stairs to a series of chambers below. Crates and racks of wine were soon replaced by beverages of a very different vintage.
The lower level reeked of death and I reached out with my magic, scouring the cellars for any sign of Puck. The trickster wasn’t hard to find. Indeed, my search was more fruitful than I’d hoped. I’d found the leverage I needed to keep Jinx from the faerie. I should have been delighted, but instead, I found myself flushing hot with unspent anger.
I’d witnessed many horrors inflicted within the various levels of Hell. In fact, there was a time that I’d participated wholeheartedly. But my passion for inflicting pain and fear had burned out many centuries ago. Now, as I sensed the suffering perpetrated in the adjoining rooms, I had the urge to be sick. I brought a handkerchief to my face, recoiling at the stench of blood, excrement, and offal.
With the details plucked from my magical surveillance, and my observations from the adjoining club, Puck’s newest business enterprise became immediately clear. He’d used his position running the nightclub to gain access to the storage rooms and cellars and had converted this space into a vile den of iniquity. He’d created a bordello for vampires and other depraved creatures whose tastes ran toward tormenting their prey before they feasted.
I was somewhat surprised to find that I was appalled by the very idea. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Jinx was not so very different from the humans who lay drugged, tortured, bleeding, or dead in the rooms beyond.
In fact, Puck had tried to drug Jinx this very night.
That mistake would lead to the trickster’s downfall; Puck was going to pay dearly. I gripped my walking stick in a white-knuckled fist, my ungloved hand leaving scorch marks on the polished wood.
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of burnt wood and blood, and turned my attention to the energy of the ley lines that converged all around me. Club Nexus was located at a magical nexus point where powerful ley lines intersected, a fact I now found fortuitous.
I reached out and plucked at the humming threads close-at-hand and smiled. These would do nicely. I latched onto two ley lines with my will and gasped as the energy jolted into my body. The experience was akin to biting down on a live wire while climaxing; it was not something a corporeal body, even that of a demon, was meant to withstand for any length of time. I drew in a considerable dose of power and, with a panting sigh, let go of the line.
I opened my eyes, unsurprised to see flickers of crimson flame dance along my fingers and up and down my sword cane. I’d drawn heavily on the ley lines, becoming a conduit of immense power. Now that power needed a place to go.
My hand tightened on the cane and I welcomed the heat rising within me. Puck had chosen the wrong mortal woman to snare in his tangled web. I lifted my chin high, thrust out my chest, and strode into the room beyond.
The room was dimly lit, but I could see that the vampire had continued on into an adjoining room where, judging by the screams and whimpering, he was enjoying himself immensely. I shifted my focus to the one man who remained in the room. The vampire, and those like him, would be dealt with, but first, I would devote myself to protecting Jinx by learning the complete nature of Puck’s filthy game. I grinned, and a lick of fire and the hum of barely contained energy danced along my lips.
The source of my fury was standing dead ahead.
“Ah, Puck,” I said, raising an eyebrow as I made a show of taking in my surroundings. “I thought you might be up to your old tricks. Catering to the bloodsuckers now, I see.”
“Everyone has needs,” Puck said with a shrug. The faerie smiled wide, but no sign of levity reached his calculating eyes. “And the undead have deep pockets. You can’t blame a guy for trying to make a living.”
I lifted a handkerchief to my nose and grimaced, maintaining my grip on the sword cane with my right hand. A weak, rattling, whimper rose from a nearby room and I hurried on. Vampires could move quickly and it sounded as if the Southern vamp was not a man of restraint.
If I didn’t finish my business with Puck swiftly, the human source of those cries would be beyond my ability to render assistance. My mind conjured the image of a vampire sinking his fangs into pale skin decorated by a familiar rose tattoo, the phantom likeness juxtaposed with the soundtrack of pained whimpers, and heat raced through my veins.
“But I do blame you, indubitably,” I said. “You have placed someone I care for in harm’s way and I intend to seek suitable retribution.”
“Come now, Forneus,” Puck said, spreading his hands wide. “I’m sure we can come to a friendly arrangement.”
I shook my head.
“I do believe we are beyond negotiating,” I said, tossing the handkerchief over my shoulder. I shifted my cane into my left hand and lifted my right, allowing flame to dance along my fingers. “You see, Puck, there is an aggravating factor, a detail which makes your action particularly injurious to me, personally. But perhaps you could sway my verdict with a plea bargain.”
I might be satisfied if the trickster provided enough information, and begged sufficiently.
“Playing at judge, jury, and executioner?” he asked. “That’s not like you, Forneus. Heck, I didn’t think you had the balls. Good for you.”
As Puck said the last, his eyes held my own, but his hand slid toward his pocket. Whether he was going for a weapon, or attempting to call for backup, our discussion was evidently over. I started to flick my wrist, intending to send an onslaught of flame at the trickster’s wandering hand, but halted the motion as something flew past my shoulder.
I’d been so focused on those I pursued ahead of me that I hadn’t bothered to turn my attention to what might approach from behind.
I spun on my heel in time to see an enraged, blue-skinned faerie hurl herself toward Puck. The trickster’s head snapped up, eyes widening, as a jeweled dagger descended toward his chest. This faerie woman, the bartender from the club if I wasn’t mistaken, obviously intended to kill the trickster. I can’t say I could blame her. The boyish looking man had an appalling habit of screwing over everyone he encountered.
In a rainbow arc of shining jewels, the weapon plunged downward, but the motion was arrested when a dusty, fanged blur interceded. With a snarl, the southern vampire grabbed the bartender’s arm and ripped it off at the shoulder. Blood sprayed from the ragged wound, making an unseemly mess, but the vampire’s intervention was effective. Puck was unharmed, though I couldn’t say the same for his clothing.
Unfortunately, the sight of so much blood pushed the vampire into a feeding frenzy. The vampire’s fangs elongated further and, with a growl, he latched himself onto the woman’s neck.
“Stop this at once!” I demanded. “Puck, this has gone too far. She’s a faerie, one of your own kind.”
Puck rocked his head back and laughed.
“One of my kind?” he asked. He stepped closer to where the vampire feasted on the injured faerie woman. “She’s an Unseelie, one of Mab’s brood. Their kind aren’t worth saving.”
“This is against club rules and Vampire Law,” I said, attempting one last time to appeal to reason. “Stop this and give up this wretched game of yours.”
“No, Forneus, I’m having too much fun to close down my little Bite Club,” Puck said. “Our activities are profitable, and I provide a much-needed service to the vampire community. Isn’t that right, Cyrus?”
The vampire paused at his name, but soon continued to suckle at the faerie
’s neck, holding her upright in a parody of a lover’s embrace. The winter faerie’s blue skin made it difficult to tell if she was still alive, but the loss of blood from the missing limb, and the vampire latched onto her neck like an engorged tick, would kill her soon if it hadn’t already. This had to be stopped.
Once again I began to flick my wrist and once again the faerie woman interceded. Silver flashed in the dim light and a blue hand thrust upward, striking Puck in the chest. The makeshift weapon, an ice pick if I wasn’t mistaken, was driven deeply as the faerie smiled.
Apparently, the woman was alive, after all.
“I did as you asked, my queen,” she rasped.
I didn’t have time to ponder those words, though I planned to investigate the matter further as soon as the opportunity arose. Whether Mab walked the mortal world was a detail worth knowing.
Puck fell to the floor, the ice pick standing from his chest like a flagpole. At Puck’s apparent demise, the vampire shrieked and tore at the faerie woman’s clothing. I shook my head and grimaced as skin and fabric began to shred into streamers of bloody confetti.
“You really shouldn’t play with your food,” I said. “It’s ghastly manners.”
Flame danced along my fingers and I raised my arm toward the vampire. Fire was one of the few ways to deal with the undead, and it was something I had in abundance.
The sound of heavy breathing registered just as I smelled Jinx’s unique scent. She ran into the room, a loaded crossbow held at the ready. She aimed the bow at me, but wavered as she took in the grisly scene.
What the devil?
“Move away from the girl, douchebag,” she said, shifting her aim to the vampire.
Cyrus let the drained faerie’s corpse drop to the floor, tossing it aside like a sack of rubbish. Jinx blanched at the sight of the vampire’s blood-smeared face, but kept her eyes focused steadily on his gore-covered chin—clever girl. She may be impetuous, but at least she had the wherewithal to avoid the vampire’s mesmeric gaze.