Bloodlines (7 page)

He pulled back just enough to study Redford’s face, fingertips brushing along the man’s cheek. “You can do this,” he repeated, absolute conviction in his voice. “You’re brilliant, and you’re damn good at the planning part of things. Just take a deep breath and do what you do best.” He smiled at Redford, and he could feel the expression mostly in the corners of his eyes, in the softness of his gaze. “Use that beautiful big brain of yours.”

Redford, as suggested, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. At the end of it, he leaned in to kiss Jed, resting against him for a moment. “You’re right,” he said, nodding. “I can do this.”

“Damn straight.” Jed smirked a little, tugging gently on a strand of Redford’s hair. “I only have the best for my partner.” He softly nudged Redford back toward the dining room. “Now go in there and be amazing.”

“You make it sound like you auditioned for a partner,” Redford huffed, amused.

“Kinda did.” Jed wasn’t good at the big, grand declarations. He’d never been one for genuine emotion. But he met Redford’s eyes steadily, for once not hiding behind a manic grin or a cocky smirk. He just
was
, he was just Jed, and Redford got to see all of him. The only person who ever really had. “Waited my whole damn life for you, didn’t I?”

Instead of replying right away, Redford just tugged Jed into a tight embrace. “Me too,” he said. “Now are you going to come back out to the table with me? We’re partners, and I want you there.”

Their hands slipped together, just like that, and Redford led the way back out to the table. He sat down with a notepad and a pen, going over numbers and paperwork he’d draft up for the Lewises to sign, contingency fees, and even the damn mileage. He handled it all, grasping Jed’s hand the whole time, and Jed was sure his heart was just going to balloon up and burst for how much
pride
he felt, how much he adored seeing Redford comfortable in his own skin.

Anthony gave them a plastic container filled with leftover stew. Edwin darted around them, still on two legs but moving every bit like the wolf, seeing them out to their car, making Redford
promise
he’d come back. Randall was more subdued, but he went out to say good-bye as well, hovering behind Victor, opening his car door for him with a slight, shy smile.

“Thank you for coming,” Randall said. To all of them, but really just to Victor. “It was….” He breathed out a little laugh. “Interesting.”

“It was my pleasure,” Victor replied. He took Randall’s hand in a brief shake. Jed rolled his eyes when he saw Randall’s expression brighten at the contact. How Victor could be
that
oblivious and still keep breathing, he just didn’t know. Maybe not being able to look into people’s eyes made him miss the most obvious things in the world.

“We’ll call you as soon as we have a location,” Redford promised. “Hopefully tomorrow.”

Jed felt a little like the goddamn Waltons, driving away from the Lewises as the three brothers stood on their porch and watched them go. Any second now, someone was going to say
Good night, John-Boy
and he’d die of some kind of diabetic coma from all the domesticity.

At least they had a job. And as soon as it was done, they could leave the Little Wolves on the Prairie to their knitting or whatever the fuck and get back to real life.

Redford

T
HE
CLUB
didn’t look like much from the outside. They were parked on a little-used backstreet, the entrance to the club nothing more than a painted wooden door and glaringly red lights above it reading
Murry’s Bar
. The cab driver didn’t even seem bothered that they were there. There was no indication at all that the occupants of the bar were anything other than human. Redford didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but this definitely wasn’t it.

Victor had elected to come along for the taxi ride, though he had declined to go in with them. He didn’t seem as impressed with the idea of a club of nonhumans as Redford was. Then again, he probably was more used to things like that. “Remember, if you need an exit strategy, I’ll be in the diner across the road,” Victor said.

“And, what, you’ll come in and nag everyone to death?” Jed snorted.

Redford just squinted at the bar sign. “We shouldn’t be long,” he said to Victor. He touched Jed’s shoulder, making sure he was ready. “Show time, I guess.” They got out of the taxi, heading in toward the bar. Victor exited as well, in the opposite direction, leaving them very much alone.

The door seemed to open of its own accord when they approached, but a closer look into the shadows revealed a well-dressed bouncer, eyes narrowing as he inhaled. “You’re gonna need to put that human on a leash,” he rumbled.

Redford summoned up every ounce of courage within himself and met the bouncer’s eyes. “I don’t need to,” he said dismissively.

“Yeah, sweetcheeks,” Jed smirked. “I’m just fine right here.” Moving forward, dismissing the bouncer, Jed headed in toward the bar. He was stopped by a beefy hand on his chest, though, the large wolf—Redford could smell him, an overwhelming wave of aggression and fur—blocking Jed’s path.

“No preters without restraints,” the wolf growled, showing his teeth. “Club rules. Either control your little friend here or get the hell out.” The whole conversation had obviously been directed toward Redford. Jed didn’t even warrant more than a glance from the bouncer, as if he were some errant bug that had wandered in and needed to be shooed away.

The thought of putting Jed on any kind of leash sickened Redford, but it didn’t look like the bouncer was going to let them in if Jed was free. “We didn’t bring anything,” Redford said, losing some of his courage when the growl was turned toward him. Jed was remarkably quiet, though Redford could see his fingers flexing, obviously wanting to go for a weapon. Which would be a disaster of the highest order.

“There’s a room right there. Lost and found.” The bouncer jerked his chin to a small door to the side of the lobby. “Should be something in there you can use.”

He gave Jed a little push. Jed’s lips split into a grin, not a nice smile. No, Redford knew that look, and violence usually followed pretty close behind it. “How about you keep your meat hooks to yourself, there, bubba?” Jed took a step forward, getting into the bouncer’s face.

“Get a muzzle on this bitch.” Far from intimidated, the wolf rolled his eyes at Jed, moving back to his position at the side of the door. “He talks too much.”

Redford didn’t like that idea either. As the bouncer looked away, Redford traded a glance with Jed. He sighed and opened the door. Inside there lay all sorts of things that Redford didn’t want to think about too much, including several absolutely barbaric looking contraptions. He settled on a short length of soft rope, hiding a cringe as he picked it up.

“Sorry, Jed,” he murmured under his breath, low enough that even the bouncer wouldn’t hear it. “We’ll just use this.”

As gently as he could, Redford fastened the rope around Jed’s throat—Jed had taught him how to tie a range of knots, and the one he used only
looked
solid, but could easily be tugged apart at a moment’s notice if need be. Jed gave him a quick thumbs-up to show he could still breathe.

Once the bouncer saw that Jed had been appropriately attired, he waved them through into a dark hallway that stank of disinfectant, malfunctioning lights flickering on and off, the walls painted a sickly shade of green. Brightly colored posters littered both sides of the hall, the sound of thumping music growing louder as they approached the end.

Redford reached out to open the second door and cringed at the wave of
noise
that came rushing out. Music, voices, and above all of that, a cacophony of scents that threatened to send his brain into overdrive in the effort to process them all. The dimly lit club was packed full of people, an area off to the left crammed nearly shoulder to shoulder as the crowd swayed to the music.

He leaned over to Jed, putting his lips close to Jed’s ear. “I’m going to take us to the bar,” he said, raising his voice to be heard. “Do you want anything?”

Jed bumped his shoulder against Redford’s, a reassuring weight, grounding Redford as the room pulsed around them. “No, sir,” he said with a mischievous twist of his lips. “Thank you for thinking of me, but I’ll be fine.”

That was strange. Jed was refusing a chance to drink? Redford pulled back to frown at him faintly, and Jed gave a subtle jerk of his chin, motioning toward the crowd. Of course, many of them would have excellent hearing and would likely be highly suspicious about Redford treating a human nicely.

Redford hated this place already.

But he took another deep breath and squared his shoulders. Though he wasn’t typically in the business of appearing totally in control, he fit himself into that persona then, thinking back to the Lewises and their comfort in their own skin, particularly Anthony, with his casual confidence. Redford tilted his chin up slightly, pushed his hair back from his face, setting his expression in vague indifference like he wasn’t impressed or startled by any of this, and guided Jed toward the bar.

Jed had given him tips on body language before, so Redford settled his hand on the back of Jed’s neck, pushing his head down ever so slightly. He didn’t like doing it, but apparently doing so gave off the air of control over a lowly human. Jed, he noticed, seemed tailor-made for the club, fitting in easily with his leather and, again, the kind of confidence that Redford could never call up naturally. The blinking colored lights flashed across Jed’s skin, turning it red, blue, yellow, a dizzying quick change.

Redford leaned in again. He wanted to tell Jed he looked amazing. Instead, he lightly bit at Jed’s earlobe. He hoped it would convey the same message. He used the closeness as an excuse to breathe in deeply, focusing himself on Jed’s scent, grinning at the shiver that went through Jed’s shoulders.

The man behind the bar turned toward them, revealing a face that had more piercings than free skin. His eyes glittered yellow in the flashing lights, and he smelled of old blood. Vampire, Redford realized.

“Nice,” the vampire smirked, nodding at Jed. “Haven’t seen either of you around before. He new?”

It took everything Redford had to bite back the growl that wanted to emerge. Instead, he shrugged, the motion casual. “I’m new in town. I just picked this one up,” he replied, raising his voice to be heard. “I don’t even know his name.”

The vampire laughed, fangs flashing as a bright-red light hit his face. “It’s better not to know,” he replied, filling a glass from the tap and pushing it toward Redford. “On the house. Everybody gets a free first drink.”

Redford took the glass and faked a sip. He didn’t particularly enjoy the taste of beer, but even he could tell that this one would be considered a cheap brand. Tightening his grip on the back of Jed’s neck, he nodded in thanks at the bartender and took Jed over in the opposite direction of the dance floor. There were tables set up in the far corner, the kind of place where Jed would typically set himself up—his back to the wall, a place where he could keep an eye on the whole room.

He wasn’t sure of the protocol, so he motioned Jed toward a chair. With a quick wink, Jed sprawled out into it, legs spread, arms hanging loosely, looking every inch as though he wasn’t scanning the room for possible escape routes or for makeshift weapons, or for anywhere that could be used as a trap. The leash tugged tighter when Redford tried to take the seat across the small table. He slid his own chair closer, making sure Jed had enough slack. Once he did so, Jed nudged his shoulder in close to Redford’s, giving him a little smile. “You’re doing great,” he murmured, just barely moving his lips. “Free drinks! That’s a good sign.”

Redford just summoned up a sickly smile. If the wolves treated humans like this, he suddenly wasn’t so sure he wanted to find them.

He cast his gaze over the crowd of people again. Unless he spent a decent amount of time here to get used to the chaos, Redford knew he couldn’t rely on his nose. Instead, he looked for body language and eyes that might look yellow. There were more vampires off to the side, gathered in a group, some of them sneering at the rest of the room. When he inhaled, he could smell, well,
everything
: old blood, earthy scents, something that smelled more like fire, another that hit his nose like fireworks. More half bloods than anything else, he assumed.

Jed nudged his arm slightly, surprisingly quiet. His eyes were on a group across the room, a few older men, a woman with gray hair and a kind smile, and then five or six younger people. They were sitting at a large table, drinking and talking quietly, one girl leaning against another, eyes half-shut as she listened to the music. The group held themselves apart a little. A woman with dark hair was giving Redford sidelong glances. Unlike the side of the bar they were in, with men and women in leather and a few humans in ropes and chains sitting adoringly by the vampires, that one group just looked like some friends out for a few drinks.