Blood of the Son (Book #1 in the Skye Morrison Vampire Series) (Skye Morrison Series) (31 page)

“You guys look amazing tonight,” I said smiling.  “Archer is going to be so pleased.”  I looked up and down the line and continued.  “Tonight is the big night.  Remember to lock your cages when you get in there.  Don’t allow anyone to touch you and if you have any issues, signal to the nearest un-caged employee and they’ll come and get me.  You all have your cage assignments and rotation schedules.  I’ll come around and alert you when it’s time to switch cages and when it’s time for your fifteen minute break.  Brian, you will be our floater tonight.  I’ll need you to occupy the cages of those who go on break until they get back, okay?”  I walked to the front of the line.  “I need to see Rachel, Courtney, Alex, and Peyton, please.  The rest of you remember to dance hard and dance sexy.  Let’s show Austin what The Mausoleum is made of, people.”  A chorus of cheers went up as the rest of the group piled out of the employee lounge.

“Is something wrong?” Rachel asked me in a timid voice.

I turned to her and smiled brightly.  “No, hon.  Nothing’s wrong.  I just needed four dancers for the VIP lounge and I think you guys are perfect.”  The group looked at each other and smiled. 

“Courtney and Alex, y’all will be up first,” I said, walking over to them and putting on their black wristbands.  “Your cage schedules up in VIP will be a little different.  You will both stay up in your cages for three hours and at the end of your time I will bring up Rachel and Peyton to replace you.  You’ll get a thirty minute break halfway through your set, so don’t worry.”

I turned to the other two dancers and continued. “Rachel and Payton, I will give you your wristbands right before I escort you up.  Archer is very strict with VIP access, so no wristbands until it’s time.”

They all nodded their heads and I headed over to the door.  “Okay.  Rachel and Peyton, go find your cages.  Courtney and Alex, follow me please.”  I turned and walked out the door.

I affixed my black wristband to my wrist as I walked out onto the main floor.  DJ Dark had just started up the music and was making adjustments to the sound. I walked up to the base of the second floor stairs and introduced Quinn to the dancers. 

“Courtney. Alex. This is Quinn, the VIP bouncer.”

Courtney and Alex’s eyes got wide as they took in his huge muscles and height.  “Well, aren’t you something,” Courtney purred flirtatiously at Quinn.

Quinn smiled hungrily and looked her over, head to toe and back.  “I am,” he said as he licked his lips.  “Care to find out after work?”

I grabbed Courtney’s arm, flashed her wristband at Quinn, and pushed her up the stairs.  “Go find your cage, Courtney.”  I turned back to Alex, had him do the same with his wristband, and go up behind Courtney. 

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Quinn.  “Food is in Archer’s office, Quinn,” I quietly hissed.  “Keep your fangs out of my humans.”  Quinn laughed as I turned around and made my way across the floor and around to everyone’s cages.

I made sure all the dancer’s had their cages locked and watched for a few seconds as they started warming up their bodies.  After I was sure everyone was ready, I made my way up the stairs to the VIP bar and found Jameson.  He was having a drink with Lochlan as they watched Courtney dance.

“She looks awesome, doesn’t she?” I said to Jameson as I took a seat at the bar next to him.

He turned away from her and smiled at me sweetly.  “Aye.  How did it go in there with Archer?”

I shrugged my shoulders.  “Okay I guess.  He didn’t fire me.”

Jameson laughed and turned to Lochlan and Aoife. “Someone get this girl a drink.”

Aoifa quickly turned away and busied herself with cleaning the counter.  Lochlan scoffed, shook his head, and went to make my drink.  

Jameson reached over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me tight to him.  “Pay no attention to Aoife, Skye.  None of us do.”

Lochlan burst out into laughter as Aoife shot a scathing glance at Jameson and me.

I blanched under the glare, but it didn’t seem to affect Jameson.

“Here ya go, love,” Lochlan said as he set down my drink. 

Just then Archer came through his private stairwell door and I was blown away by his handsomeness.  He had slicked his hair back and put on a charcoal colored suit with a black shirt underneath.  The top three buttons were undone, showing a bit of skin, and he was wearing his black Prada loafers and a killer smile.  My heartbeat immediately sped up as I felt my lower abdomen tighten. 
God, help me…
, I silently prayed.  I wanted nothing more than to launch myself into his perfectly sexy, strong arms. 

“Scotch rocks, please Aoife,” Archer said as he sauntered over and took a seat by me.  “Is everyone ready?” he asked Jameson over my head.

“Aye,” he said, turning and surveying the room.  “Looks like it.  What time have you got?”

Archer lifted up his arm and glanced at his timepiece.  “Five until eight.”  He accepted his drink from Aoife and took a long sip.  “Jameson, since you’ll be working PVIP tonight, I’ll need you to keep an eye on Greyson Mead.  He’ll be making an appearance some time tonight and I want to make sure that our old friend is well cared for.”

“Aye,” Jameson said, bowing his head. 

Archer turned and surveyed the first floor dancers, then did the same with the second floor.  “Nice choice in VIP dancers, Skye,” he said turning to me and smiling lopsidedly. 

“Thanks.  I had to make Courtney tape her nipples, though.  She tried to wear her mesh shirt with no pasties,”  I said and took another sip of my drink.

All the male eyes immediately turned to Courtney and checked her out.  I laughed aloud.  “Jesus, guys.  Have a little stealth.” I shook my head and downed the last of my drink.

Aoife scoffed at the men and busied herself with the glasses behind the bar. 
Someone’s jealous that Courtney is getting a little attention,
I silently mused. 

Archer finally peeled his eyes away from Courtney’s hips and checked his watch again.  He stood up, whistled to get the attention of the vampires on the first floor, and nodded his head once.  I watched as they nodded their heads back and Seamus opened the entrance doors.

Archer turned back to us and smiled sexily.  “Showtime.  Let’s make it good.”

I watched as the crowd slowly poured in.  Seamus was making quick work of collecting cover charges and checking identifications.  Most everyone made a beeline to the dance floor.  DJ Dark was spinning some awesome tunes and everyone was dancing.  A few vampires entered the second floor VIP lounge and I decided to leave Archer and Jameson to the schmoozing. 

I slowly made my way around the floor and watched the dancers do their thing.  They were an incredible attraction.  Small groups of people were gathered around each elevated cage.  The largest group was centered on Rachel and they were mostly horny college age males.  I made sure she was okay by giving her a thumbs up and waiting for her to return it.  When she did, I moved on. 

The first hour had passed relatively quickly and I made the cage rounds again, alerting the dancers that it was time to move to the next cage.  I had to clear the crowd from around Rachel’s cage and help her to the next one.  A few of the men wanted to dance with her and I had to let them know that she was completely off limits.  Once I helped her up into her next cage, and made sure she locked it, I made my way over to the first floor bar.

Hunter and Trey were very busy mixing and serving drinks and my bar-back and floater were helping them.

“Hey there, sister,” Trey called out to me, in his sweet southern lilt, when he finally worked his way down to my end of the bar.  “Quite a shindig this turned out to be, huh?”

I laughed and nodded my head.  “Quite!”

Trey picked up a glass, filled it full of some concoction that he mixed up, and handed it to me.  “Try my famous Alabama Slammer, honey.  It’s so good, it’ll make your toes curl.”

I laughed and picked up the glass.  “Ooh, goody!  I’m in need of a good toe curling.”

Trey winked at me and laughed.  “Careful, darling.  You ought not to say that too loudly.  The boys will come a’ running.”

I laughed again and took a sip of the drink.  “My God, Trey.  This is amazing!”

He winked and curtseyed.  “Thank you, my dear.”

“You planning on helping me out tonight?” Hunter asked as he came over and grabbed a bottle from in front of Trey.

Trey tisked.  “Patience is a virtue, my handsome friend.  I’ll be there in two shakes.”  He turned to me and apologized quickly before heading over to the other end of the bar.  “Sorry, darling.  Duty calls.  Let’s catch up later?”

I smiled, picked up my drink, and took a long sip as I surveyed the room.  The dance floor was a sea of bobbing bodies and waving arms.  They looked completely enthralled by DJ Dark.  I had to admit, he did look pretty cool.  He was lit up in alternating colors of light and he was dancing as he spun.  I was itching to dance, but I knew I had work to do. 

“Skye!” I heard someone faintly call out above the loud music.  I looked around and spotted Nikki fighting her way through the crowd and towards me, her arms waving to catch my attention. 

I got up and made my way over to the edge of the crowded dance floor. “Hey, girl!  You made it!” I said as I hugged her tightly.  Nikki looked amazing tonight.  She had her dark hair up in pigtails and her makeup was elaborate.  She wore an electric blue bikini top under a long sleeve fishnet shirt, a black mini-skirt, fishnet tights, and knee-high combat boots. 

“DJ Dark!” she squealed as she jumped up and down.  “He’s so hot!  Did you get a chance to meet him?”

I put on my best smile and nodded my head.  “Yeah, I did!  He’s uh…something else.”

“Oh my god!  Tell me all about it!” Nikki squealed again.  Then she grabbed my arm with sudden seriousness.  “No, wait!  Can I meet him?  Will Mr. Rich and Gorgeous let you introduce me?”

“No!” I blurted out a little too forcefully.  I took a deep breath and calmed my sudden panic.  There was no way in hell I’d let that narcissistic blood sucker anywhere near my best friend.  “I mean, you can’t right now.  He’s busy spinning.  But, uh, I can talk to Mr. Rhys.”  I hated lying to her, but I was serious about how I felt.  There was no way I was letting Stellan get within ten feet of her.  He was a little too loose in the fangs for my comfort.

“That would be amazing, Skye!” she grinned and hugged me. 

I checked my clock and saw that it was almost time to relieve Alex and Courtney for their breaks.  “Come on, girl,” I said, grabbing Nikki’s hand and dragging her to the bar.  “Let’s get you a drink.”

“Okay, but I have to make it quick.  Lyric is here with me.  I left him by one of the cages so I could come and find you.”

“That’s the new guy you’re dating, right?” I asked, elbowing my up to the end of the bar and making a space for Nikki.

“Yeah.  He’s so choice, Skye,” she said, turning to me with a doe-eyed grin.  “He’s very smart, conscious, and compassionate.  He’s even a practicing Jain vegan.  How dope is that?”

I grinned.  I had never seen Nikki so gaga for a man.  It was kind of cute.  “He sounds awesome.  I can’t wait to meet him.  But, I guess that means he’s not going to want a beer, huh.”

“No.  He doesn’t consume fermented foods.  It’s to avoid the killing of the large numbers of microorganisms associated with the fermentation process.”

“That poor guy!  A life without beer…I can’t even imagine,” I said, finishing the Alabama Slammer Trey made me and setting the empty glass on the bar.

She laughed.  “I know!  It takes such dedication to live like he does.”

“Well, how about we get him a bottle of water?” I suggested as I flagged down the bar back.

“He’ll only drink it if it’s from the tap,” Nikki said.

Ducky Gomez, our designated bar back, squeezed his way past the others and made his way over to us.  “What can I get you, ladies?”

“Get Trey to make my friend here one of his famous Alabama Slammers.  We’ll have that and a glass of tap water.”

“No ice,” Nikki chimed in.

“No ice, please, Ducky,” I laughed.  “And, it’s on me.  I’ll settle up with Mr. Rhys at the end of the night.”

“Sure thing, Skye,” he said as he turned and made his way back over to Trey.

“Thanks, cupcake, but you didn’t have to buy it for me,” Nikki argued.

“Nonsense, Nik.  It’s no biggie.  You’ve absolutely got to try the drink that Trey makes.  It’s seriously good,” I said.  “Anyway, I really hate to, but I’ve got to run for now.  I need to get upstairs and relieve my dancers.  I’ll see you later?”

Nikki turned and surveyed the packed club.  “I hope so, but maybe not.  It’s a complete madhouse in here. I may not find you again.”

 “I’ll keep an eye out for you,” I said, hugging her.

“Make sure you talk to that hot boss of yours.  I want to meet the DJ!” she said hugging me back.

“I’ll try, girl.  Take care and say hi to Lyric for me!”

I left her at the bar and headed up to the second floor.  It had gotten very busy in the hour and a half that the club had been open.  There were small groups of vampires occupying every VIP and PVIP lounge area.  I noticed Archer and Jameson sitting at a PVIP table with an older gentleman and it looked like they were heavy in discussion about something.  I studied the stranger out of the corner of my eye.  He appeared to be around forty-five with black hair and dark, serious eyes.  He was dressed in a fine tailored suit and he oozed sophistication and class.