Sacrifice Me (6 page)

She walked over and pulled back the black curtain
leading into the bar.

“The other girls will help you find
something to wear.”

With that, she disappeared into the next room,
releasing me from whatever hold she’d placed on me.

I doubled over, coughing and rubbing my eyes. A
slight breeze flew across my back, blowing the hair off the back of
my neck. I closed my eyes and forced several deep breaths. She was
right about one thing. I needed to calm down. I could not let myself
lose control again.

Not because Rend might get upset, but because I
needed all of my energy and wits about me if I was going to survive
this night.

I sat down on the expensive velvet couch and took
a minute to think this through.

Yes, okay, I wanted to leave. No doubt about it.
But that witch Azure had a point, whether I liked it or not.

Rend had basically said the same thing to me about
those guys in the alley, not to mention all the others of their type
who frequented this club. For whatever reason, showing up here the
other night put my life in danger. I needed Rend’s protection
now, as much as I hated that. If I walked away, I’d be on my
own.

I was, admittedly, shocked at how well I held my
own with those three out back that night, but in the end, they had
me. And what if they came with more than three, next time? I could be
putting Katy’s life in danger, too, and that thought was really
what sealed my fate.

I had no choice. I needed this job in more ways
than one.

As much as I hated the idea of having to dance
around in front of an entire club full of people, I’d worked at
questionable establishments before, and I could do this if I had to.
Hell, I’d once willingly worked at a bar that made the
bartenders wear hot-pants and sports bras. At least here she’d
said there was a strict no touching policy. That would be a step up
from that other place.

I stood up, resolved to make the most of this. I
had been kicked when I was down before, and I always had the same
philosophy when it happened. Pick myself up and find a way to walk
back out there with my head held high, like I was the one in control.

And that was exactly what I was going to do now.

I straightened my shoulders and took a deep
breath, then walked back into the dressing room with a confident
smile on my face.

“Hey,” I said, strutting in and
walking straight to the rack of clothing. “I’m Franki.”

“Hey, Franki,” several of the girls
called out. One girl with short brown hair and a banging body stood
and came over to introduce herself.

“I’m Lyla. That’s Cherish there
with the green shirt, Misty in blue, Peri, and our resident redhead
is Shay,” she said. “You must be the new girl Rend was
telling us about.”

“That’s me,” I said. “Azure
said you guys were short on dancers tonight and that maybe you ladies
could help me find something to wear.”

Lyla thumbed through the rack of clothes and
picked out a sequined pink number that made me question my decision
to stay. As politely as I could, I scrunched my nose and shook my
head.

“Something a bit darker, maybe?” I
suggested.

I caught sight of a studded black outfit as she
pushed through and pulled it out. It was basically a one-piece
leotard with several revealing slits along the sides, but I liked the
silver studs. It was more my style than most of the other things I’d
seen pass by.

“What about this one?” I asked,
holding it up to myself in the mirror.

“Love it,” Shay the redhead said.
“What size shoes do you wear? There’s a pair of kick ass
black leather boots that would look amazing with that.”

She got up from her seat in front of the mirror to
go dig them out of a box for me.

“Seven, I think,” I said.

“Perfect,” she said with a smile.
“These are eights, but just stuff some tissue down in the toe
and they should fit fine.”

I looked around for a private place to change, but
quickly realized that this room was as private as it got.

“We’ve seen it all before,”
Cherish said with a laugh.

I wondered if that was her real name or not,
because it wasn’t doing much for my confidence that this wasn’t
a group of strippers.

“Have you ever danced before? Like, in
public?” Lyla asked.

“No. I’ve worked at a lot of clubs and
bars, but nothing like this,” I said.

“I could kind of tell by the fact that your
face is pale as a sheet,” she said with a laugh. “It’s
not as bad as it seems. The club is dark and no one is going to mess
with you. We’re more like decoration, really.”

“Great,” I said, trying to act happy
about being a decorative accent in a room full of blood-thirsty
vampires.

“It’s really one of the best jobs in
the place,” Peri said. She was short with really long brown
hair braided into one long braid down her back. She looked like she
was about fifteen years old, but I knew she had to be older to be
working here. Or at least I hoped. “The pay is great and all
you have to do is have a good time.”

“You better start getting dressed,”
Lyla said. “We have a staff meeting in half an hour before we
open.”

I slipped my shoes off and put them under one of
the tables. I felt a bit nauseated looking down at the skimpy black
outfit, but remembered that I was supposed to be owning this like it
was my choice. Not Azure's.

I can do this.

I undressed as fast as I could, relieved when I
realized the others were too busy finishing up their makeup to pay
attention to me.

I slid the black leotard on over my underwear, but
quickly realized there was no way I could wear my bra with this
thing. I unhooked it and slipped it off, feeling incredibly naked in
this stupid outfit. I had never been more grateful to have freshly
shaved legs.

Lyla whistled as I laced up the boots. “Wow,
you look amazing,” she said. She walked over and lowered her
voice. “Are you using?”

I gave her a sideways look. “What do you
mean? Like drugs?”

She looked at me like I was crazy. “No,
silly. Magic. Glamours?”

“What’s a glamour?”

All five of them turned to look at me.

“You’re kidding, right?” the
girl with the green shirt said. Misty, I think, was her name. Her
skin was dark and smooth and flawless, and her eyes were a deep
lavender.

“No, I’m uh, totally new to this whole
thing.”

“A glamour is just a spell a lot of witches
use to alter their appearance,” Misty said. “Like plastic
surgery or something, without the surgery.”

My eyes widened. “You can do that?”

“Wow, Rend wasn’t kidding when he said
you would have a lot to learn,” she said. “You never
played around with stuff like that when you were a kid? Your mom
never taught you about glamours?”

I shook my head, making an effort not to flinch at
the mention of Mom.

“Watch,” Misty said. She closed her
eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again. The deep lavender
color of her eyes had been replaced by a bright green that matched
her shirt.

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

“We don’t really have time to show you
how to do it now, but if you get a chance later, we’ll have
some fun with it,” Cherish said. “Shay here doesn’t
even really have red hair. She’s really a brunette, but she
keeps it red now all the time. I think it suits her.”

“Thank you,” Shay said with a little
curtsey. “Me too.”

“We’ll help you with your makeup real
quick and then we need to head out front,” Lyla said. “Rend
hates it if we’re late for staff meetings, and I’m sure
everyone will be dying to meet you.”

My stomach flipped at the thought of the whole
staff meeting me when I looked like this, but I had to find a way to
embrace it. Fast.

“I just want to do some dark eyeliner,
nothing too dramatic,” I said. “I’m not really much
of a heavy makeup person.”

A few of the girls laughed, but I stood my ground
when they tried to smear my cheeks with pink. I managed to get out of
there with a light foundation, very dark eyeliner, mascara and a
little bit of pink lipgloss.

“You really have some of the most gorgeous
blue eyes I’ve ever seen,” Shay said.

“Before you know it, she’ll be copying
them,” Lyla said with a laugh.

“You’re welcome to them,” I
said. “They kind of run in my family.”

Not that I knew much about my family. My mother
had refused to ever talk about them and she never, and I mean never,
talked about my father. But I knew I’d gotten my eye color from
her. She’d once slipped up in a moment of melancholy and told
me that most of her sisters had the same bright blue eyes. It was the
only time she’d even told me she had sisters and when I’d
asked her about it, she got angry and told me to mind my own
business.

“You ready?” Lyla asked. “It’s
time to go.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

I was grateful not to be walking out there alone.
I positioned myself right in the middle of the group, trying to blend
in and match their level of confidence. I had no idea how long they’d
all been doing this, but they seemed to have no problem with what
they were wearing. And to be honest, they all looked incredible. I
hoped I looked like I belonged with them.

We walked together through the black curtain and
out into the main part of the club. I sighed with relief when I saw
that the harsh lights had been turned off and the place was back to
the black and neon glow of the first night I’d been in here.
The darkness made me feel a little bit more comfortable.

Azure was leaning against the bar, no doubt just
waiting to see if I’d come out with the others like a good
little girl. Every fiber of my being wanted to avoid her eyes, but
instead, I met her gaze head-on, challenging her with a confident
smile.

The anger that flashed through her eyes was all
the reassurance I needed that I was doing the right thing by owning
this instead of curling up in the corner like an abused kitten.

Her mouth dropped open a little as I passed, and
my smile grew larger.

One of the guys standing in a group near the
dance-floor whistled. “Looking gorgeous, as always, ladies.”

Lyla walked up to him and held out her hand for
him to kiss. They shared a look that made me wonder if there was a
little something going on between the two of them.

I scanned the gathered crowd. It was about eighty
percent women and every single person here was unreasonably good
looking. A requirement of working here? Or were they all capable of
using these glamours Misty was talking about? Did I measure up?

I had a feeling this job was going to be a
constant test of my confidence.

“Let’s get started,” a familiar
bass called out.

My heart jumped into my throat at the sound of
Rend’s voice. I hadn’t been willing to admit to myself
just how much I was looking forward to seeing him again. So much it
was scary.

He didn’t seem to notice me at first. The
staff gathered in a half-circle around the edge of the dance-floor as
Rend went through some basic instructions about how the night would
go.

“I want everyone on their very best behavior
tonight,” he said, glancing down at a clipboard in his hand.
“And I want security at every exit and every single post around
the club at all times. I don’t want you ladies to much as think
about going to the bathroom or getting a drink of water without
making sure someone’s got your post, understand.”

A group of women off to his right nodded and I
stared in awe. This was his security team? I had originally thought
it was kind of odd to see a pretty woman working as the bouncer out
front taking ID’s, but for his entire security team to be
women? That was unexpected. Especially in a place this dangerous.

At least they get to wear club staff t-shirts.

I adjusted my weight from one foot to the other
and just that slight movement seemed to draw Rend’s attention.
He glanced up from his papers while he was talking about assignments,
then looked back down.

But then, he stopped mid-sentence, and slowly
looked back up, his eyes traveling very deliberately up my body from
boot to boobs.

I expected him to say something. Introduce me.
Cuss me out. Something. But he just stood there staring, his eyes
finally reaching my own. I couldn’t read his expression. Was he
angry?

I lifted my chin, not letting myself so much as
blink. I wanted him to see that I was still here, doing what needed
to be done.

Tension gathered in the room as people looked from
Rend to me, whispering. Behind me, Azure cleared her throat a little
too loud to sound natural.

I wondered if they could all hear my heart
beating. I wondered if they could all see just how much I wanted Rend
to cross over to me and take me in his arms.

I forced my eyes down, but that only made it
worse. Instead of the jeans and black t-shirt he had on the other
night, he wore a pair of perfectly tailored dark grey pants, a
pristine white button-up shirt with the top button undone and a
matching grey blazer. No tie. My body reacted in ways I hoped to God
none of the others could sense.

Finally, Rend shook his head and tore his eyes
away from me, looking back down at his clipboard. He flipped through
his papers a few times, then found his voice again.

“I want someone stationed by that back door
tonight, too. No one goes in or out that way tonight,” he said.
“No one in Paris tonight, either. If you need a smoke break or
something, just go out to Hubbard and try to keep it to a minimum
until we close.”

A few people exchanged looks, as if this was
definitely not normal. Was he saying this for my sake? I could have
told him I wouldn’t be stupid enough to go out that back door
again for the rest of my life if I could help it. And what did he
mean by Paris? Was that a special section of the club?