Because the Night (The Night Songs Collection) (19 page)

A few minutes later, the band came out to a table set up near the bar. They signed autographs and took pictures, much like I’d watched Immortal Dilemma do a few days before in a much more controlled setting. This crowd didn’t break into an uncontrolled frenzy. And Fire Dancer seemed to enjoy interacting with their fans, talking shop and drinking beer.

A heavy set, middle aged man in a well fitting charcoal pin striped suit with a lariat tie watched over the proceedings at the table. His black slicked-back hair shined as much as the red tinted beads of sweat on his forehead. A younger man, more casually dressed and handsome in a swarthy way, tapped furiously on a computer next to him. Neither of them looked like they belonged in this room. Every so often, the older man glanced over at me and Lennon with interest.

We waited for the band to finish their signing at a high topped bar table, drinking soda while Lennon told me a little bit about the two albums Fire Dancer had already put out and what they planned to work on next. She spoke so enthusiastically about the band. I could hardly tell her anything about Immortal Dilemma if she asked. Tristan never wanted to talk about it. I think it embarrassed him that some unknown entity created the music the band played. I wished he would tell me more and stop being so guarded. He should know I wouldn’t judge him.

Once the last of the fans got their fill of Fire Dancer, the younger dark skinned man packed the photos and CDs that were available for sale away in a cardboard box. The older man approached our table.

“How do you like life on this side of the tracks, Callie?” He held out his meaty hand for me to shake, and then kissed Lennon on the cheek.

I had no idea who this man was. He looked like an inflated Johnny Cash and spoke with a slow drawl. I furrowed my brows, trying to figure out how to answer him. “I’m having a good time tonight, if that’s what you mean.”

“Jacey told me you might like to talk to me. I’m Peter Brothers. I manage Fire Dancer.” I blinked. Jacey might still be on the fence about me, but he sure didn’t waste any time.

“I need help with Talis. She’s holding my boyfriend, Blade, hostage.” Should I even still be calling him that? I still cared for him.

“It seems like we may have a common goal,” Peter continued.

“Depends on what your goal is.” I was already up to my eyeballs in trouble with one vampire clan leader. I knew to tread carefully.

“It would be nice if Fire Dancer could bite into, pardon the pun, Immortal Dilemma’s market share. But Talis has been positioning herself for this for much longer than I’ve been part of this world. I have some catching up to do, so to speak.”

“It sounds like she has something we both want.”

Peter smiled. He looked better when he didn’t. “I think I might like you, Callie. I’m going to do some thinking about this. Figure out a course of action beneficial to all parties. I’ll see you at another show, I hope? I can imagine you’ll be good for business.”

Lately I had the potential to make everyone’s profit margin soar it seemed. If only if I could do the same to mine without selling my soul. “If they’ll have me back.”

“They will.” Peter winked at Lennon before walking away from us and back to the younger man breaking down the meet and greet set up.

“He likes you,” Lennon gushed like he’d asked me to the dance. She was right. A dance with the devil.

I followed her back over to where Jacey and the rest of the band had gathered at the bar. Noah wrapped himself around me before I even had a chance to tense.

“How did you like the show?” I could feel his lips move against my ear.

I pulled away, but he jerked me back by the waist.

“Let go of me.” I demanded, my teeth clenched.

“All your protesting.” Noah clicked his tongue. “It’s just going to be that much sweeter when you submit.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t submit.”

“That’s what you think.”

I pried myself free of his grasp, and glared at him. Noah knew he had me where he wanted me. He was part of my solution. I didn’t know what, if any history he had with Tristan, but something told me he viewed me as a trophy that he could prance around with.

I’d play nice, as much as I could for Blade’s sake, but that was it. There was only so much I could be expected to put up with.

“Can we go soon?” I felt bad tearing Lennon away from Jacey, when their time together was already so limited, but if I stayed much longer I might punch Noah in the face.

“Sure, doll.” She kissed Jacey, and said good night to the rest of the band. I smiled and waved, ignoring Noah.

“So what do you think?” She asked me when we got back to the parking lot.

“My head is spinning.”

“I’m not surprised. You really can’t be either, going in to another creator’s territory like that, you know? I think you handled yourself well.”

“Thanks.” I stifled a scream as she nearly rear ended a car stopped in front of us at a red light. “What about Noah? He doesn’t take no for an answer.”

“He probably doesn’t even know what the word means.” Lennon drove through our complex parking lot without slowing down for speed bumps. “Play his game. Just make sure you win.”

Chapter Thirty Seven

“I still can’t believe you went to see Fire Dancer last night!” Janelle couldn’t stop talking about it.

“What did they ever do to you?” I looked at her through the reflection of the mirror on the back of our door as I pulled the front of my hair back into a barrette, readying myself for the night. “They’re nice guys. For the most part. Is this about your website? If I defect to the Fire Dancer camp you’ll have nothing to write about me anymore?”

She scoffed. “Actually, today’s been my busiest day ever. No one can believe you went to that show. I hear you and Noah were all over each other. They think you and Tristan are over.”

I rolled my eyes. “Hell no. Tell your public to get it straight. You know why I was there. Noah’s a pig. The only reason I didn’t punch him in the face is in case they can help me with Blade.”

“It’s alright, Callie. He is kind of hot.”

“Well, he’s ready, willing, and able, Janelle. Maybe you should go see him. I can’t talk about this right now. I have a date.”

Sometimes I couldn’t decide if I wanted all the crazy fan girls to go away more than I liked them getting their panties tied in a collective knot over me. Tonight, the security guard assigned to come pick me up for my night with Tristan had to arrive in a plain red jeep. Ever since getting dropped off in the Viper on Saturday night, the complex had been crawling with Immortal Dilemma fans. Some of them had even been arrested for trespassing. The constant attention and criticism was stressful, but at times like this, I couldn’t be happier to see such a group of ladies fall flat on their faces.

When I arrived at Tristan’s apartment, I found him sitting in the living room with Tony going over some paperwork. Tristan’s face brightened when he saw me, but he still looked serious. I sat down next to him on the couch, my leg skimming his, and kissed him on the cheek as he listened to the rest of what Tony had to say. I’d come in too late in the conversation for it to make any sense.

“I’ve taken up enough of your time tonight, boss.” Tony gathered his paperwork and put it back into a leather accordion folder. “Good to see you, Callie. Have fun tonight, guys.”

“Oh, we will.” Tristan assured him as he made his way to the door. He turned his attention to me, his hands sliding under my shirt on to my waist, and guided me down on my back to the cushions. The gold in his eyes danced like flames licking a burning building. I couldn’t look anywhere else until he pulled them away from me to kiss and nip my neck.

All the synapses in my body pulsed not only with desire but fear as well. I’d never seen his eyes look quite like that before. When was the last time he’d had blood? As much as I craved drinking from him, it still frightened me to let him do the same to me. I’d never forget the pain from the last time he tried it.

I placed my hands on his shoulders gently making a little space between the two of us.

“I missed you, beautiful.” He came up for air briefly, maybe sensing my apprehension, and put his mouth over mine before I had a chance to answer.

Relaxing, I pulled his head down, closing any gap between us, relishing the feel of his weight crushing me into the sofa. Were we even going to have a chance to say more than three words to each other tonight?

I didn’t care. Words were so overrated.

I moved my hands down his back, enjoying the feel of his muscles moving under my fingers, then slipped my hands under his T shirt to trace up the length of his spine. His back arched, and he pulled his mouth away from me and laughed.

Finally, he looked like Tristan again. “That tickles. You’re way too gentle.”

“For now. I just got here.”

“And not a moment too soon.”

“I’ve been busy.”I protested.

Tristan drew his body away from mine and kneeled on the far cushion. I sat up as well, smoothing my clothes and hair on my way up. “Busy doing what?”

“Work. The usual.”

“Anything else?” He crooked his eyebrow at me playfully.

I shook my head.

“You sure about that?” My parents were three thousand miles away. I didn’t think I had to answer to anyone here.

“Have you been spying on me?” I tried not to let my annoyance break through my tone.

“A little bit.” He smiled and leaned forward, looking like he was going to crawl towards me.

“Well then I guess you already know what I’ve been up to.” I looked away from him, exasperated. “I didn’t know I needed to ask your permission.”

“Relax, beautiful. I know better than to ever expect such a thing, especially from you. But dangerous things happen when you hang out in the ghetto, if you know what I mean.”

I looked back at him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“It’s not a good idea for you to being hanging around Fire Dancer.”

“It’s not a good idea for me to be hanging around you.” He smiled, knowing I was right. “So if you want me to start doing the right thing, I guess I should be going.” I stood up, even though I had no intention of leaving.

“Sit back down, you aren’t going anywhere.” He pulled on my arm and I fell back on the cushion. He pulled me in closer and that serious look reappeared.

Tristan was never serious about anything.

“There’s a reason I’ve been keeping an eye on you.”

“And you wonder why I don’t want to take your money. I don’t like having to—“

“Shhh.” Tristan put his finger over my mouth. I fought the urge to suck on it. “We need to talk.”

“We are talking.” I gave in and rested my top lip on his fingers, scraping my teeth against his skin.

He closed his eyes, letting me play for a minute, and then took my toy away.

“Tony and I were going over some things as you got here. Apparently there have been some threats made.”

“What kind of threats?”

“About you.”

I reminded myself to keep breathing and began to rationalize. “The fans? They’re always saying stupid stuff to me. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Tony seems to think this checks out as something we should take seriously.” Tristan didn’t smirk or laugh. He looked concerned.

It was the scariest part of the whole thing.

“So what did they say?”

“He didn’t give me specifics.”

“This isn’t like you not wanting to know or not wanting to tell me, right?” Tristan had mastered avoidance of anything he found unpleasant. “You need to tell me what you know if this is serious.”

“No. I’d tell you. He said that his team was still investigating details, but we need to consider ways to keep an eye on things.”

“Who’s we?”

“Tony. His team. Me. You.”

“Am I the only one being threatened?”

“As far as I know.” He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair. “I hate this. It’s my fault.”

“It’s not. You’re not crazy.”

“I attract crazy by the busload.”

“Still not your fault. There’s a whole industry built around these people coming by the busload. They dangle a carrot in front of these girls and then yank it away from them. It’s like a museum. Look, but don’t touch. Of course someone’s going to snap sooner or later.” I sighed. Why was I comforting him? Someone had threatened my life. Of course, someone already had taken his. “I just wish they didn’t want to take it out on me.”

“I need to make sure you’re safe.”

“How are you going to do that? You can’t hold my hand everywhere I go.”

“People are going to be watching out for you. Tony’s handling it right now.”

“I can’t go to work with a bodyguard!” My voice was shrill. The reality of the situation began to set in.

“You need to quit that stupid job.”

“Oh yeah. Your counteroffer.” I pulled away from him.

“Callie. Cut the shit. Seriously. How are we going to have security there, when the place caters to vampires only?”

“Exactly! It’s probably the safest place for me to be.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Tristan folded his arms in front of him. “If you were here more often, it would be a lot easier for us to commission security for you.”

“Because you need to get permission from The Mistress?” Sarcasm dripped from every word. If I had to depend on Talis to keep me safe, I might as well put the bullet in my brain myself.

“Stop it.” He’d never raised his voice to me before. I glared at him, and folded my arms to mirror his. We stared at each other for a minute. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. “None of this is easy. My only concern is keeping you safe. Whatever it takes.”

I relaxed somewhat, unfolded my arms, let my shoulders fall away from my ears, and willed my heart to stop pounding. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Again, why was I apologizing to him? I had every right to freak out. Someone wanted my head on a plate. Or God only knew what else. My brain throbbed and I rubbed my forehead hard with my hands.

Tristan came back over to me, pulling me in by the hips. “Shh,” he tried to comfort me. “We’ll figure it out. No one’s going to hurt you here. Let’s just have a good night.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“I have something for you.” His eyes little up and finally he smiled. That comforted me. I’d had enough serious Tristan trying to control my life. As much as I cared about him, he was the last person I’d put in charge of that.

“Something fun?” I returned his smile.

“Maybe. Come see.” He hopped up off the couch in a fluid movement. I followed him, catching up to him quickly and grabbing him from behind. He turned quickly and pushed me against the wall in the hallway, working his hands underneath my blouse and unhooking my bra with masterful precision. Putting my arms around his neck I pulled myself up and he lifted me off the ground. I wrapped my legs around his legs and pushed my hips into him for balance against the wall.

I dug my fingernails into Tristan’s shoulder blades. I wanted to scratch him deep and draw blood. He tensed slightly, but didn’t stop nipping at my breasts like he had the same intention. I leaned into him and bit his shoulder through his shirt.

“Come on,” He eased up his grip on me and my legs hit the ground. “I’m going to make this easier for you.”

Once we reached the bedroom, he pushed me down on the bed, with his knee in between my thighs. I pulled my shirt and bra off, bunched up and in the way as they were. He looked down at me and smiled, but didn’t continue. He reached into the drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a box.

“What’s that?”

“For you.”

I sat up to open the box while he watched intently, the desire in his eyes simmering. This gift didn’t have Tristan’s usual fancy trappings, it was a simple wooden rectangle box with rounded edges. I was intrigued. The hinges creaked when I cracked it open, revealing an ornate dagger with frilly scrolls diamond-cut into the blade lying on a bed of red velvet.

I looked back up at him, perplexed. “A knife?” A knife that looked like it should belong to a samurai, no less.

Tristan rose up on his knees, peeled his shirt off, and tossed it on to the floor. He lay down beside me on the bed and pulled me on top of him. Quicker than my eye could process, I found myself straddling him with knife in hand.

“Use it.” He instructed.

I shook my head, puzzled.

He snatched the knife away from me, rolling his eyes as he smirked, then sliced his own flesh right below the end of the tattoo on his chest. The blood quickly welled on the surface of his skin. I didn’t wait any longer before leaning down to meet the fresh wound with my lips.

Tristan healed fast, and the blood congealed almost immediately. He still had the knife in hand, his arm stretched out loosely, making it just out of my reach. I couldn’t pull myself away from him enough to get it. I brought my bloody lips to his mouth, biting down hard on his lip. Laughing, he pushed me back by my shoulders, the sharp blade dangerously close to my own skin. I flinched, not wanting it to cut me.

“Take it.” His voice was barely more than a raspy whisper.

He handed me the knife. My hands trembled around the handle, which looked and felt like it was made of bone. The edge of the blade still glistened with his blood. I didn’t want to know where he had gotten this knife from. I looked from the blade back to Tristan who looked impatient, waiting for me to do something, anything.

I slowly brought the blade down to his skin, hovering in the small hollow between his collarbones. He swallowed hard, and with the small distance between the knife and his skin, the usually invisible rise and fall of his chest was magnified. It took everything I had to keep my hand steady. With a blade of this quality, a heavy hand would do serious damage.

I rested the blade against his skin, seeing the blood pool on either side of the blade on contact. I ran it down a few inches. Tristan’s hips bucked under my legs. I traced along the wound with my left hand, and then brought my bloody fingers up to my mouth. Electricity flowed through my body. I’d never felt such control in my life.

I hinged down by my hips, writhing slightly against Tristan’s groin, and sliced the blade in a swirling pattern down the length of his chest, my tongue following my designs closely not to waste a drop of his blood. I could see every tiny vellus hair on his abdomen stand to attention. He shuddered below me. Drunk on blood and power, I curled my spine back so I could work at the taut muscle below his belly button.

Before I had a chance to continue, he grabbed me hard by my wrists, pulling himself up from underneath me as well. Tristan pushed me in front of him, on my knees, and guided my face down towards the pillows. He undid my jeans, pushing them down roughly while suspending my lower half in mid air. I dropped the knife beside me on the pillow, not wanting to slice myself open. Once he had me back down on my knees, he slid my panties down to my knees and parted my thighs.

“You need to quit that job.”

“This isn’t the time to talk about this.” I could barely speak.

“It’s as good a time as any.” He ran his hand lightly down the outside of my thigh, tracing it back up to the curve of my behind. “It’s dangerous for you to be there.”

“Why?” I wished he’d just stop talking. This was torture. I could barely process anything he said right now.