Dark Realms (73 page)

I looked at Susan nervously, wondering what
we’d gotten ourselves into. With all of the rumors about the club,
I thought about backing out and going home.

Mason looked at my face and burst out
laughing. “Hey, I’m just messing with you. You look like you’re
about ready to take off running.”

I forced a smile. “No. I’m fine. I knew you
were joking.”

He tilted his head. “You still look a little
nervous. Come on,” he said, stepping back so that we could enter
the lounge. “I’ll introduce you to Venom. I have a feeling they’re
going to be happy when you two walk through the door.”

“Really?” asked Susan.

He licked his lips. “Hell yeah. They love
meeting their fans.”

“We’re kind of
new
fans,” I said, hoping
that nobody would ask me about the music or which song was my
favorite. I couldn’t even recall what songs were
popular.

“That’s even better,” said Mason, walking us
down the hallway. “The band just loves fresh meat.”

I smiled weakly. “Great.”

Chapter Ten

Chelsey

When we stepped into the lounge, I had to
admit, it was very impressive.

“Wow, now this is what I call ‘First Class’,
baby,” said Susan, beaming.

“Only the best for Faye. She wouldn’t have
it any other way,” said Mason, shoving his hands into his black
slacks.

I thought the club below had rocked but it
was dull compared to the décor in this room.

Obviously,
I thought, looking around,
if this where they catered to the rich and famous, then it
would have to be pretty extravagant.

“Awesome, huh?” asked Susan, elbowing
me.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” I replied, raising my
voice as another song began to play in the club.

“
It’s definitely ‘the
bomb’,” said Susan.

I actually thought she was being modest. The
lounge was extravagant and obviously catered to a higher-class
customer. The room itself was dimly lit with a purplish hue. Curved
leather sofas and black marbled tables lined the sides of the room,
most of them already filled with hipsters, drinking and talking
loudly over the music. In the back was a large crystal bar with two
bartenders serving top-shelf liquor while scantily dressed servers,
dressed in purple and black uniforms, walked around with plates of
appetizers and drinks.

“
This way,” said Mason,
leading us towards an area that overlooked the dance floor below.
As we drew closer I recognized the group playing cards around a
table that looked like it had been sculpted out of amethyst. As we
approached the band members looked up from their game, eyeing us
curiously.

Where was Slade?
I wondered.

“Mason, what’s up?” asked a guy, who I
recognized as the drummer. He had shoulder length blond hair and
twinkling blue eyes.

“Ethan sent them up. Fans of yours,” replied
Mason. He turned to us. “I’m going to hand you off to these fellows
now. Have fun, ladies.”

“Uh, thanks,” I replied, feeling totally
sober and awkward now that we were standing in front of these
guys.

“Sounds good to me,” replied another guy at
the table. He had brown eyes and dimples so deep that I couldn’t
help but return his smile.

“I’m Liam,” said the blonde guy who reminded
me a lot of Thor, which I knew that Susan must have found exciting.
“So… you girls into poker?”

“I’ve played before,” replied Susan,
grinning stupidly at him. Obviously, she’d noticed too.

Liam, who towered over both of us, stood up
and pulled over a couple of purple leather club chairs. “Here, sit
down and we’ll deal you in. We aren’t playing for money or
anything.”

“That’s because you still owe me from last
weekend,” said the guy with the dimples. “Cheap-ass.”

“I don’t owe you shit,” replied Liam.
“You’re dreaming.”

“If I was dreaming, you’d have paid me,” he
replied.

“Keep dreaming and maybe you’ll get your
money,” chuckled Liam, taking a swig of his beer. “

Dimples laughed. “You’re such a
dickhead.”

Liam ignored him and turned back towards us.
“So, don’t be shy. What’s your names?”

“I’m Susan and that’s Chelsey,” she said,
smiling nervously. Obviously she was a little star struck. I myself
was pleasantly surprised that these guys were so easy going.

“What about you?” I asked, clasping my hands
under my chin.

“Where the guys your momma warned you
about,” said Liam.

We all laughed.

“Seriously, though,” I said. “What are your
names?”

“Thought you were
fans
,” said Liam,
shuffling the cards. He grinned. “Or are you just ‘Slade’
fans?”

“No. Actually, although we do enjoy your
music, we came up here for something totally different,” I
replied.

“To play poker?” joked Liam, staring at me
with amusement. “Please tell me your favorite is ‘Strip’. I always
pay up for that.”

“No,” I replied, blushing. “Actually, we
wanted to find out if any of you have seen my cousin. She’s
missing.”

There was a long silence and then the guy
with the dimples leaned forward. “Missing? When did she go
missing?”

“Last night. I guess she came here to see
your band in concert and then left with a guy. Nobody has seen or
heard from her since.”

“Maybe she’s just pulling an all-nighter,”
said another guy. He had short red hair and a goatee. Like the
others, he was also very handsome. “I’m Sean, by the way. That’s
Jimmy,” he pointed to the dimpled guy. “And that’s Bradan,” he
said, nodding towards a fourth guy who was texting someone on his
cell phone.

Bradan looked up and smiled. “Sorry, lass,
I’m listening to you. Truly I am. Keep going.”

I licked my lips. “Well, like I said, she’s
missing but I don’t think she’s pulling an ‘all-nighter’. She
hasn’t contacted anyone, not even her friends and the Melody can’t
live without texting.”

Bradan looked embarrassed. “I’m not normally
this bad. It’s me ma. She won’t stop asking me to come home for the
holidays.”

I smiled at his accent. “So, are you the
only one from Ireland?”

“We all are,” said Liam, although he didn’t
have an accent. “Except for Slade. He’s originally from Romania. He
lost his accent eons ago.”

I laughed. “So, I take it you’ve been in the
U.S. for a while then?”

“Yes,” said Jimmy with a glint in his eye.
“Centuries, in fact. Interesting place.”

“Wow, you sure age well,” teased Susan. “Let
me guess… you’re really vampires and drink blood to stay young and
virile?”

The table went quiet.

“Ha ha…” said Susan, shaking her head.

“Ah… you Americans and your infatuation with
vampires,” chuckled Liam. “It’s quite amusing.”

“Almost as amusing as our infatuation with
zombies,” replied Susan. “Last week there was a ‘Zombie Bar Crawl’
in town.” She grimaced. “They all showed up at Ruth’s afterwards-
drunk, hungry, and… creepy. I know they do it for fun, but zombies
just freak me out, you know?”

I agreed.

“What is a ‘Zombie Bar Crawl’?” asked
Liam.

“People dress up as zombies and basically
bar-hop all night long,” she replied. “They’ll do it again on
Halloween.”

“That actually sounds like a lot of fun,”
said Jimmy. “Hell, we could join them and have a regular night
without obsessed fans. I wouldn’t mind getting all gored up for
that.”

“I agree,” said Liam. “Don’t get me wrong…
I’m grateful that we’re getting more popular, but it definitely has
its drawbacks.”

“I’m sure that you’ve lost a lot of
privacy,” I replied.

He nodded. “You have no idea.”

“
So, um, where is Slade?”
asked Susan.

Liam looked over my head. “What do you know?
Ask and you shall receive.”

When I turned around and
saw Slade this close, my mouth went dry. He had to have been
the
hottest guy I’d ever
seen. Dark hair, broad shoulders, a strong jaw, and eyes as green
as the grass after a rainfall.

“What are these two doing here?” Slade
asked, looking less than thrilled.

“
Fans,” replied Liam.
“Ethan sent them up.”

Slade stopped next to me and I lowered my
trembling hands to my lap. Although he was obviously irritated that
we’d joined the table, there was almost like a static connection
between us. It gave me goose bumps.

“Is that right?” he asked, his eyes
softening. “You two are fans of Venom?”

“Uh, yeah,” I replied, smiling up at him
weakly.

His eyes darted down to my chest and then
back up. If I would have blinked I’d have missed it.

I frowned and looked away. Although I was
secretly thrilled that Slade was checking me out, it was also very
irritating. I wasn’t naïve and knew that he’d probably already
pegged me as an easy lay.

“I know one thing,
you
weren’t at the show
last night,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

Stunned, I looked back up at him. “And how
do you know that?”

His eyes glittered. “I just do.”

“He just does,” mimicked Liam. “Slade thinks
he knows everything, but the truth is, he’s just full of shit.”

“And that’s coming from someone who talks
circles around people, just to confuse the hell out of them,”
countered Slade.

“It isn’t hard,” said Liam. He smiled. “And
I cannot tell a lie, it amuses the hell out of me.”

“You mean the look of being pissed off?”
chuckled Sean.

“That too,” replied Liam, raising his
beer.

Slade pulled up another chair and sat down
next to me. Our knees touched briefly and I flinched.

“Sorry,” he said, sitting back in the
chair.

“It’s okay,” I replied in a light breathy
voice. Something in his expression made me wonder if he’d done it
on purpose. Especially now that I was blushing and he was smiling
slowly.

“What’s your name?” he asked. His sultry
eyes were hypnotic and beautiful. I almost wanted to take a picture
of them with my phone, just so that I wouldn’t forget what they
looked like up close. I decided to Google photos of him as soon as
I got home.

“Chelsey,” I replied and then quickly moved
back so he could see Susan. “And that’s Susan.”

“Hello,” she said, waving with another silly
grin.

“Hi.” His eyes moved back to me and I tried
not to swoon. “So, what brings you to the club this evening?
Obviously, you’re not a regular.”

“How do you know that?” I asked, wondering
if we stood out that much. I had to admit, I felt a little
over-dressed compared to the slinky outfits most of the girls wore.
I looked like I was going out for pizza, not clubbing.

“She’s here because she’s looking for her
cousin, who’s missing,” said Liam.

His face darkened. “Really? Missing?

“Yeah. Since last night,” I said. “Nobody
has seen or heard from her since.”

Just then, Faye Dunbar walked into the
lounge and headed straight for us. All of the guys noticed and sat
up straighter, even Slade.

“Great,” whispered Susan, dryly.

Faye Dunbar, who I figured had to be
somewhere in her twenties, was the richest as well as the coldest
woman in Shore Lake. I’d never met her personally, but Susan had
mentioned several bad run-ins she’d had with her at the diner.

“
Faye,” said Liam, standing
up. “You are a gorgeous woman, you know that?”

Even I had to admit that she was very
attractive. Tonight, she wore a cream colored dress that hugged her
perfect figure, and diamond earrings that cost more than my
parent’s new SUV.

“Oh, Liam,” she said, smiling up at him. She
pushed his chest playfully. “You’re such a flirt, but don’t ever,
ever change.”

He grinned. “You make a man like me want to
change, sexy. Just say the words and I’ll leave my entire harem for
you.”

“I’d tire you out, Liam,”
she teased back. “Just ask
my
harem.”

He laughed. “That’s rich, I like that. So,
can you stay and have a drink with us?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I do need to speak
to Slade, though,” she said, turning her eyes towards him.

Slade cleared his throat. “Yeah… sure.”

Faye glanced at me and I felt a shiver go up
my spine. There was no warmth for me in those eyes and I knew
instantly that the woman didn’t like me. “

Do I know you?” she asked.

“Uh, no,” I replied. “I don’t think so.”

She wrinkled her nose, as if she smelled
something sour, and then focused in on Susan. “You work over at
Ruth’s, don’t you?”

“Yes,” replied Susan nervously.

I watched as Faye reached up and patted the
side of her long blond hair. It was so shiny and sleek that I
couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. She kind of reminded me of
a famous actress from one of my mother’s old black-and-white
movies. With her style and perfect features, I just knew that I
could never look as glamorous as this woman. I began to wonder if
there was something going on between her and Slade, and if that as
the reason she was acting so unfriendly.

Faye titled her head to the side and
smirked. “Funny, I didn’t think you were of age to be here tonight,
Susan.”

Susan’s smile didn’t falter and I had to
give her credit. “Of course I am.”

“Good, because I would be pretty ticked if I
had minors sneaking into my club,” she replied, smiling icily. “It
would be bad for business and even worse for the person doing
it.”

Susan’s face went white. “I have an
I.D.”

“Good,” replied Faye. “Don’t lose it.”

Slade stood up. “So, you said you needed to
talk, Faye?”