Scarlet Assassin (5 page)

“It’s fine.”

“You sure?” AJ inquired before starting on her own small plate.

“I’m sure.” Selene motioned toward their plates. “Eat.”

Selene hadn’t been around a lot of her kind that were able to eat, so watching AJ and Clarissa push their food around and then finally take a mouthful was comical. Eating was like being a light walker, it happened gradually. It seemed that some vampire’s took to eating like they did turning humans, with great gusto. She’d killed her share of fat bastards, and after biting them she had to spit out the blood, tainted from the crap they ate. Junk food wasn’t just for humans, it seemed vamps liked it as well.

“So.” AJ pushed back a semi-clean plate.

Selene was surprised that AJ had eaten the bland dinner. Perhaps the lack of flavor was why she could eat. Clarissa snatched the plate off the table and interrupted AJ.

“Would you like more, honey? Selene?”

“I’m good. Thanks, Clarissa. I’m watching my weight. I wouldn’t want to pack on a few pounds and hurt my ability to work.”

“Hmm. You look like you need a cookie, Selene, or a whole pack. You really should consider eating more. With your metabolism I would think you could burn ’em off in an hour. How about you, honey?”

“I’ll take a plate later, beautiful. Save one of those sausages. They were good,” AJ sighed. “So, back to the coven, what did they say about helping us with De Marcus?”

“Butch—”

“Who is Butch?”

“Gaylord wants to be called, Butch.” Selene said, turning her chair around and stretching her legs out.

“Jesus, guess he wants to change with the times.” AJ shook her head. “So what did he say?”

Selene fidgeted with the cuff of her shirt. Her tattoo itched, but she didn’t want to scratch it and screw-up the ink. She was sure it was almost healed, vampires healed almost too quickly. AJ cleared her throat, making Selene look up.

“Well?”

Selene shook her head. “He can’t help.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Is there a difference? He says he doesn’t know where De Marcus is—”

“Bullshit.” AJ slammed her fist on the table. “He’s protecting the bastard.”

“I have no doubt. Butch knows exactly where he’s at, or what he’s involved in. I’m thinking the coven is protecting him for a reason.”

“Why? He’s violated every tenant they hold up as law to the rest of the coven and yet they let
him
live. Why?”

“I told Butch to be careful, he could find himself going down with De Marcus.”

“You threatened the High Lord? I bet he didn’t appreciate that.”

“Look, this was just a job at first. That changed when I found out De Marcus was after Clarissa, but
Butch
is making it personal. I think he’s trying to get me to come back into the coven. Said as much in our conversation. He said the coven is extending its reach. He claims they’re deep in East Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. They don’t seem to mind that some masters are even turning druggies and gang-bangers. As long as they’re fighting amongst themselves he doesn’t care. A family is a family.”

Selene stood and walked back over to the window, staring down at the people walking in the waning light of the sun. If they only knew what was waiting around the corner for some of them. The towering apartments hugging the sprawling park were like cement crypts. Only they lived in these, but soon for some of them, they would be just that, their crypts.

“I’m going to the coven and talk to
Butch
. The bastard owes me an explanation. De Marcus tried to kill me and Clarissa, and I’m not going to allow them to hide him. They can offer him up willingly or they can pay the price. I don’t care.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why? They don’t own me. I’ve paid my debt long ago. My master is dead. I’m free to do what I want, Selene.”

“Look, he made it clear that he has more resources, and could make our lives miserable.”

“Big talk for an asshole who hasn’t seen daylight in centuries.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate him, AJ. He wasn’t kidding when he said he would take out a mark on us.”

“I’m surprised, Selene. It sounds like you’re afraid.”

Selene wasn’t afraid, just cautious. She didn’t overplay her hand and she definitely didn’t make empty threats. Unlike AJ, she rarely let emotion set her pace. A slow, methodically thought out plan would bring De Marcus to her. She wouldn’t chase the bastard, but wait and bait a trap he couldn’t resist.

“Calm down—”

“Don’t fucking tell me to call down.” AJ grabbed Selene’s shirt and pulled her closer. Both women dropped fangs and growled. “We’re talking about Clarissa here and if anything happens to her, god help those who hurt her…or couldn’t protect her.”

Selene grabbed AJ’s hands, her extended fingernails digging into her flesh. The smell of blood was instantaneous, sending a thrill through Selene.

“Hey, what the hell are you two doing?” Clarissa said, trying to step between the two vampires. Selene was pushed back away from AJ.
Lucky for her
. Selene felt blood lust take over. Anger and blood where a bad mix and often led to death, or at a slim minimum, a badly damaged vamp. AJ’s hand still firmly gripped her shirt when Selene heard it.

Rrrriiiippppp.

“AJ!” Shocked, Clarissa turned and pushed AJ back, still clutching the front of Selene’s shirt.

“Selene?”

Each woman was locked on the other, both waiting for an excuse to attack. Selene could see in her peripheral vision, the tatters of her black button down barely covering her naked breasts. She broke in a sweat as she tried to control changing from her human form. Her gut ached as she held on to the last fragments of her human instinct.

“AJ, let her go. Now!”

“Her first,” AJ snarled.

If anything she pulled tighter on what was left of Selene’s shirt. Yanking AJ’s hand closer, Selene tried to whisper over Clarissa’s head. “You don’t want a piece of me, let me assure you of that. Now take your hands off me so I can keep what’s left of my dignity and go home.”

“Oh, oh, no you haven’t had dessert yet, Selene. Please don’t go.” Clarissa turned to AJ and continued, “See what you’ve done. We haven’t seen her in weeks and now she’s leaving before we’ve even had a chance to chat. God, I hate when you women go all butch on each other.” Clarissa extricated herself from the mass of arms and stomped into the kitchen, cussing.

“You girlfriend is pissed.” Selene’s smirk signaled a check in her win column.

“She’ll get over it, trust me,” AJ said, undeterred by Clarissa’s anger.

“Aren’t you barking up the wrong tree? I’m not the one you have a beef with. You should be taking this up with De Marcus.”

“I plan on it.” AJ pushed Selene backwards. “I’m going to the coven to see Butch and have it out with him. I’m not going to stand for this bullshit. The coven is an antiquated machine that needs to be dismantled.”

“And you think you’re going to do that when you visit him? Trust me, he isn’t going to take threats lightly. If anything you’ll only make him dig his heels in more.”

“I don’t care.” AJ poured herself a whiskey and sat. “I’ve had it with them. They let these two-bit hoods turn humans for their own perverted self-interest. They pick the slime up out of the bottom of the barrel — gangsters, thugs, and drug addicts, people who already have deep seeded issues with authority and make them super human. Turning them loose on the world to do their bidding, and we’re supposed to sit back keep our mouth shut and watch? I don’t think so. Eventually, the humans are going to get wise to what’s going on and put together a covert extermination plan. We won’t know about it until it’s too late. If they’re tapping into our cell phones, emails and god knows what else, you can bet they know who and where we are and I don’t like that. I’m considering going underground for a while. I’ve got stuff stashed for a long hibernation and if this shit goes south, we’re gone. If you wanna come along let me know. I stocked up for a long winter, if you know what I mean.

AJ’s erratic mental state was a concern to Selene. She was normally pretty even keeled, but when she was under a lot of stress, she’d seen AJ take down men with one blow. She sorta pitied Butch; he had no idea what he was in for. AJ could make it an all-out war with very few survivors. All she wanted was De Marcus and now Selene had to wonder why Butch was working so hard to hide him.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you if you do decide to go to the coven. I’d make an appointment, first. Seems Butch doesn’t like surprises.”

“Really?” AJ sipped her whiskey then purred. “Well then we’ll just have to surprise him won’t we?”

This was not going to end well.

Chapter Six

Selene stalked though the full parking lot at the Dungeon. Maggie, her business partner, would be thrilled to see so many patrons, but after a night of verbal jousting with AJ, her mood soured quickly. Even Clarissa’s gentle joking couldn’t pull Selene through the night. What was it about her darn cat Nefertiti? The damn thing lay sprawled across her lap half the night. Each time she pushed it off, she found the persistent feline comfortably ensconced on her lap. Finally, she gave up and just let it stay. The cat hair covered her pressed black slacks and cashmere sweater she’d manage to put on after AJ’s little outburst and tantrum that cost her a perfectly good button-down.

She wasn’t an animal lover at all. In fact, she considered them an appetizer on those rare moments when she craved a liquid diet. A guilty pleasure for sure.

Entering the club, her vision sharpened instantly allowing her to see everything. The noise on the other hand was almost non-existent. She focused her hearing and could only hear the occasional gasp. The smell of women in estrus slammed against her, almost making her turn around and leave. Her body was buffeted by the sensation and it was all Selene could do to stay in control. Taking long deep breaths, she inhaled the sexual frenzy and looked around the room at the packed jars of estrogen filling the seats. Jax must be doing another demo night for the ladies. Ever since those trashy books, what were they named? Selene tried to remember. Oh, it didn’t matter, but ever since those “mommy porn” books came out she couldn’t turn the women away. She wasn’t complaining, it had been good for business without having to lift a finger in advertising, a boon to her pocket book and her sex life if she were honest.

Jax rested his elbows on the bar, clearly engaged by the scene unfolding on stage. He was like a vulture waiting for the show to be over so he could have his pick of horny, over-stimulated women eager to experiment. The tension of the room raised a level, each body generating its own wave of energy that pelted Selene. Sliding her hand against the rough texture of the wooden bar, she turned and watched the show. Too much salt in tonight’s dinner made Selene’s mouth feel like a wad of cotton. Luckily she had eaten sparingly. Her system just wasn’t ready for a full on meal. The sunlight had taken time and so would food.

Snapping her fingers next to Jax’s ear she tried to get his attention.

“Jax.”

No response, and she focused once again on the stage show.

Mistress Rose had a way of pulling her audience into her web of kink. Once there, they rarely realized until it was too late that they were often doing something they normally wouldn’t be caught dead doing. Add a little alcohol and most people became like putty in her well-manicured hands.
What happens in the club, stays in the club
, she told every audience. Little did they know that every face, every action was caught on tape somewhere in the club. Mostly for insurance purposes, but once or twice Selene had been thankful she’d had the tapes when the cops had arrived claiming a rape had taken place.

Mistress Rose strutted across the stage to the “volunteer” who was usually one of the Dungeon staffers. The audience sat enraptured by the precise display of whipmanship Mistress Rose commanded. Selene was often surprised Rose managed to stay tucked into her tightly laced leather corset. Her supple breasts with just a hint of nipple showing begged for release, but they would stay safely tucked for the remainder of the show, Selene was sure.

Mistress Rose spotted Selene at the bar, and winked then licked her ruby tinted lips. It was game on now for Rose. Selene had been able to keep her advances at bay, but it seemed anytime she spotted Selene near, she upped the ante. Suddenly, Selene felt sorry for the volunteer. She would be the recipient of the torture Rose wanted to share with Selene. She would have to try and prevent it the only way she knew how. She turned her back on the action and ignored the Mistress’ gestures that were a ploy to get Selene to respond.

“Jax.” She snapped her fingers near his ear again. “Two fingers of Jack.”

“You got it, Boss.”

The crack of the whip exploded throughout the club and the audience gasped.

“She’s hot for ya boss,” Jax said, pushing her drink towards her and nodding his head at the stage.

“Yeah, well the feeling isn’t mutual.”

Selene swallowed the liquid in one gulp, a slow burn her reward. Slamming her glass down, she ordered another.

She could smell someone coming up on her before movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. A glance in the mirror behind the bar found her staring at a platinum blonde as she tried to catch Jax’s attention.

“Excuse me,” she whispered.

“What can I getcha?” Jax said, finishing his generous pour in Selene’s glass.

“Rum and coke, two beers in bottles, a strawberry daiquiri and margarita—on the rocks,” she said, clicking them off her fingers.

“Coming right up.”

The woman seemed out of place. Not exactly the mommy type, with kids at home. Locking eyes with her in the mirror, Selene quirked a smile, taking a slow, deep breath,
estrus
. She glanced away, not waiting to stare and then looked at Rose behind her. The mirror gave her the opportunity to keep an eye on the whole club and not look like a creeper: Selene’s definition for men who came in to scout out women during ladies night. The creep trolled the room, trying to pick-up anything with tits and too much alcohol.