Blood Bath & Beyond (27 page)

Carlos stared at me for a few moments before his bottom lip began to wobble. “Why do you have to be so mean?”

I immediately deflated, regretting that I’d let my rant get away from me. “Excuse me?”

“It’s been a hard week, okay?” he managed, his voice breaking. “My girlfriend dumped me; I can’t pay my rent; I’m a total and complete loser. I already know that! And now—now I’m ugly, too?”

I felt terrible. So much for my bluster and bravado in trying to take this guy down a notch. “You’re…not ugly. You’re really quite, uh…attractive, now that I get a really good look at you. I’ve always loved unibrows—very retro. Don’t feel bad. It’s been a hard week for me, too, so I understand what you’re going through. Things will get better. Just…stay positive. Keep that chin up.
And stop hitting humans. You’d probably still have a job if you didn’t do that.”

“But my girlfriend left me for a human guy. Then he came in here to rub my nose in it by telling me how much happier she is with him than with me.” His eyes glistened.

This was just getting worse and worse. “She obviously didn’t deserve you.”

“Whatever. I can take a hint. Women…you’re all the same. You all just want to break my heart.” He ran a big mitt of a hand under his nose and headed for the door. Josh caught up to him there to let him out and locked the door again behind him.

I grimaced as Josh turned around to face me. He was actually laughing now, his hands on his thighs, his face red. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you called him ugly.”

“Who knew he had self-esteem issues? I mean, he’s a tank with fangs and a single eyebrow.”

He finally got himself under control and raked a hand through his red hair, shaking his head as he looked at me. “That was awesome. Nearly worth the three hundred bucks I just shelled out to him.”

“Glad to oblige. Are you okay?”

That sobered him up quickly. “I’ve had better days.”

“Sorry to hear you’re having problems.”

“Me too.” He shoved his key chain into the front pocket of his jeans. “Sorry, but I’m closing up shop early tonight. That goes for the blood bank, too.”

“I’m not here for that. Will you be much longer? Can I hang out for a bit?”

“I have a few things I need to clear up—plus I have
to quickly do a count of the day’s receipts. I’ll be here another fifteen minutes.” He looked at his watch and grimaced. “Damn, I’m running late. I need to be at the theater in half an hour or I’m in serious trouble.”

“That place isn’t what I expected.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been to Club Noir?”

I nodded and shifted my purse higher on my shoulder. “I went to see Kristopher earlier.”

“Really. Why?” He moved behind the cash register again and began to gather the money together.

“I needed his help. Thought he could use his psychic ability to contact someone for me.”

He grinned. “I’m sure he loved that.”

“If by ‘loved’ you mean he tried to pretend he had no real power at all, just before nearly suffocating my fiancé when the truth came out, then you’d be right. He’s got a whole bunch of issues himself, doesn’t he?”

“Oh yes. Kris is an interesting guy.”

I ran my hand along the side of the counter and picked up a Beanie Baby bat that was seated next to a small display of black jelly beans. “Do you think he’s dangerous?”

He flicked a look at me. “I wouldn’t doubt it for a minute.”

“Really? I mean, like,
really
dangerous? Like…kill somebody dangerous?” Ever since we’d left the theater, I hadn’t been able to get that sickle ring out of my mind and picture the vampirelike wound it would make on a human’s neck.

“I don’t know,” Josh said. “Kristopher’s got a lot of secrets that he hasn’t even confided in me and we’ve worked together for nearly a year now. Maybe if you
had some real dirt on him, he might get a little hard to handle.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. I might be having nightmares of wizard pirates for many nights to come.

Josh scurried around the store doing cleanup and I leisurely followed him since he didn’t seem to mind too much. I randomly put another quarter in the slot machine and received the same results as the other two times—nothing. I was beginning to think either I was deeply unlucky or the thing was fixed. Probably both.

“What’s your plan with this place?” I asked. “Sorry for prying, but I’d hate to think you might close it down.”

“I don’t know yet. My money flow is…well, I won’t bore you with my financial problems. Let’s just say, I keep waiting for interest in the subject matter to grow. Who knew vampires would get to be so commonplace that nobody really cares about them anymore?”

Maybe I wasn’t the only one with bad luck. I used to think we hid our existence from the world at large to protect ourselves from hunters or to make sure humans weren’t scared, but lately the reaction to vampires being real might end up being one big “whatever.”

“Is your blood bank the only one on the Strip?” I asked. “I haven’t heard of any others. But I’d think the area would be big enough for more than one.”

He flicked off some more lights, but even in the growing darkness I could see his immediate frown “No, a couple others just opened up.”

“You don’t look so happy about that.”

“For a month, I was the only ticket in town, which was great for business and my profits helped me pay
off a bit of my debt. My café had never been busier than after the two main Vegas blood banks closed down earlier this year.”

Both had closed down? “Were they cafés like yours? Or bars? I’ve only been to the bar kind before.”

“One was in a strip club. Kind of sleazy but the clients loved it. Their wives, not so much. Another was five-star all the way. A rooftop patio with a pool. Absolutely gorgeous. That’s where the millionaires and the movie stars went while in Vegas.”

I blinked. “Vampire movie stars?”

He gave me a grin. “There are a few.”

I
knew
Botox couldn’t be responsible for all that eternal Hollywood youth. Fifty was the new thirty—literally.

“You said they closed down? What happened to them?”

“The strip club burned to the ground. The rooftop bar also ran into a streak of bad luck—the owners kept falling off the top of it.”

My eyes widened. “Falling? But that wouldn’t kill them if they were vampires, right?”

“The wooden stake found among their remains would have taken care of that. Staked and pushed. Not a good combo for survival. Got to be careful here—for all its shiny surface, Vegas has a nasty mob underbelly.”

I shuddered. “Yikes. But it sounds like more have opened up, so I guess the vamps who run blood banks are a stubborn lot.”

“Yeah, two more,” Josh said flatly. “And it’s been hell on my café.”

I felt bad for the guy. Owning a business with so
many bills to pay, and having to deal with competition from others who might offer more, or a better or more convenient product—it had to be rough. Josh had so many balls in the air with his store, his café, and his magic show…I had no idea how he managed it all.

“So what are you doing here, Sarah? If you’re not looking for a quick drink in the back or possibly adding a lovely, hand-carved wooden casket to your home decor, I can think of a thousand places more interesting than here for someone like you. This is Vegas—there are shows, nightlife, you name it. Where’s your fiancé?”

“He’s…around. That’s who I’m waiting for.” I looked at my phone again. “I hope nothing’s wrong. But, I mean, kick me out when you’re ready to go. I can find somewhere else to hang out.”

Or
hide
out. Same difference.

“I’m not quite there yet.”

I shook my head, needing to put my thoughts into words. “I honestly don’t know how you do it, Josh. Managing this place, having your magic show, and also I heard you’re an investor in
Fang
.”

“You heard that, huh?”

“Kristopher was chatty in between his bouts of crazy. But he’s also concerned about you. For such a creepy and disturbed guy who enjoys frilly shirts a bit too much, I think he really likes you.”

And now that I thought about it, the psychic had also mentioned something about a gambling problem.

This poor guy was bleeding out money from every vein.

“The feeling’s mutual.” Josh leaned against the counter, his expression troubled. “I can’t say it’s easy,
Sarah. I keep trying to make a go of it, but things keep crumbling all around me. No customers, no profit.”

“And you think it’s all because vampires aren’t as edgy as they used to be?”

“Twenty years ago this wouldn’t have been a problem—my store would be swarming with customers. Vampires were dangerous back then, scary, sexy. We’ve totally been defanged by the media, by entertainment, by the publishing industry. Once upon a time, we were horror novels—now we’re heartwarming paranormal romances. There’s no thrill there anymore to get a human’s juices flowing when it comes to us.” He cast a dark look toward a couple life-sized wax statues. “I mean, just look at these pathetic examples of vampires. This one doesn’t even have fangs. I mean, how sad is that?” He walked toward one and poked the teen vamp in his gray peacoat.

“Fangless, yes, but still kind of hot,” I admitted.

“Kind of hot doesn’t cut it. I need humans to feel that fear again. It’s like a roller coaster. People don’t line up for two hours to go on a leisurely tour in a tiny, sparkly car that smells like roses and cinnamon. No, they want the excitement, the thrill, the illusion of life and death. Without that, it’s just not the same.” His expression grew bleak. “And the stage show is violence, glamour, death, and blood—with boobs and feathers, of course. I mean, this
is
Vegas. I won’t even tell you how much debt I’ve gotten myself into because of it, and our presales are pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.”

I shook my head. “I’m really sorry.”

“Me too.” He moved toward the door and looked out at the street. “You’d think there would be some sort of buzz going. With the murders right out in the open,
that should start rumors. But they’re not even in the newspaper. It should be front-page by now. National news. CNN should be here with vans and cameras. Word is not spreading that there’s a dangerous vampire who is prowling the Vegas streets. If it was, I’d be rolling in money by now. How many more murders will it take?”

I had no idea Josh had even heard about the serial killer, but I figured word was spreading fast even with the Ring’s intervention.

Talking about the murders made me feel ill, especially thinking about how wrong I’d been in my guesses so far about who was behind them. The more I considered Kristopher, the more I decided it couldn’t be him. The guy had issues and I knew he was dangerous, but…I wasn’t sure.

Josh honestly thought that having the rumor circulate that there was a dangerous vampire in Vegas murdering humans would be enough to spark interest in his store and show, and help him get out of his deepening debt. I could see his point of view there. And, quite honestly, he was probably right. As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

A vampire serial killer wouldn’t drive humans away from Vegas. They’d probably come here in droves, wallets in hand, wanting to be a part of something bigger and more exciting than their normal boring lives. The chance to rub elbows with something that could potentially tear their throats out could be a major thrill for some.

Yes, if word got out about the murders, Josh probably wouldn’t have to worry very much about losing Blood Bath & Beyond. He’d be raking in the money
and so would his stage show. Vampires would be cool again.

But nobody knew.

And Josh seemed really angry about that.

Almost disappointed, if you ask me.

And also…defeated.

Those weren’t exactly normal reactions to a situation like this. He glared out of the door of his failing vampire business as he dealt with the frustration that the recent rash of brutal and horrific deaths wasn’t working in his favor.

It was as if he’d expected it to be different.

Oh crap.

Suddenly, I had a brand-new suspect in the serial killings. And this time, my gut instinct wasn’t just nudging me to believe he was the right one.

It was screaming at me.

W
e were silent for a full minute and Josh’s previous good-natured humor seemed to leave the store like a wisp of smoke. The expression on his face was haunted, strained, and deeply pissed off at the world.

“You ever ask yourself what it’s all about?” he said quietly as he continued to stare out of the locked door.

“You mean, the meaning of life?” I was frozen in place. I needed to stay calm and get out of here, put distance between me and this vampire, and then have a chance to think everything through.

Maybe I was wrong about him.

No. Damn it, I wasn’t wrong. Not this time.

“I thought being a vampire was going to be wonderful. I offered up my neck at the first opportunity I got. Nearly forty years ago, can you believe it? Feels like twice as long, actually. Every day’s been a struggle. My sire never wanted me around. Never taught me the ropes. I had to learn everything the hard way. Being a vampire is work. Hard work. And I’m so, so sick of it all.”

I cleared my throat. “Maybe you should try being a werewolf instead.”

He let out a sharp laugh, but it lacked humor. “Too late to change. I have to make do with what I have.”

My mouth had gone very dry. “You have lots, Josh. I mean, this place is fantastic.”

“I hate this place. It’s a weight around my ankle, pulling me down to the bottom of the deepest ocean of misery. The café, too.” His gaze moved to me and the darkness there chilled me. Between Josh and Kristopher, I was surprised their audiences didn’t go running for the hills. “If you had any idea what I’d done to hold on to this, you’d be shocked as hell.”

Oh, I think I had a vague idea.

“So sell it,” I suggested, eyeing the door eagerly.

“Tried. Failed. It’s the cycle of my life. Try and fail.”

“Me too.”

He swept his eyes over me, unimpressed. “I find that hard to believe.”