The Shadow Empire [SAMPLE]

Chapter 4

Everyone's head swivels towards me, waiting for instructions.

Sighing, I hop over the bar top, walking to the door. When I open it, a chubby man with a thick mustache glares at me. God, he could look more like a cop?

"Are you the owner of this establishment?" he questions, looking down at me.

"Sure am. What's the problem here, officer?" I look around him, not seeing anyone else with him. Good, that will make this next part easier.

"We've been receiving noise complaints." Shit, I forgot to put up the silencing spell around the Shadow Empire. He peers up at the building, confusion marring his semi-wrinkled face. "What is this place? I've never heard of it."

I shrug. "It's pretty exclusive. Invite only. I doubt you'd make the cut, unfortunately."

His beady eyes narrow. "I'd better come inside."

"Oh, you'd better," I mock, stepping to the side.

But when he tries taking a step inside, he hits an invisible wall. Of course I wouldn't be dumb enough to run a bar for supernaturals without putting a barrier around the place. No one gets in unless they're a vampire, witch, or werewolf.

This guy is clearly neither.

"Oops. Guess your invite got lost in the mail." I shake my head sadly.

His eyes widen, his hand reaching for his radio, but my hand is faster. I snap my fingers, rendering him immobile.

I look over my shoulder. "I need a vampire!" I call out impatiently.

The closest one springs to his feet. "Dibs on this one."

I roll my eyes. Why do they always have to fight over this part?

He grins at the cop. "You came to give a noise complaint. We abided and you left. You won't remember me telling you that."

"What do you mean I'm not going to remember it?" he yells, panicking, still unable to move.

The vampire gapes. "What the fuck? You're telling me this fat asshole has a mind strong enough to resist my persuasion?"

"I need an older vamp!" I yell back into the bar.

"I'm five hundred years old! Who in here is older than that?" the failure vampire adds loudly.

No one says anything, looking at each other and whispering about how we might just have to kill this one, despite killing being against bar rules.

"I am."

From the back of the bar, a shadowy figure emerges. Tall, pale skin, dark hair, and darker eyes.

He doesn't look at me, glancing over my head to the terrified cop. "You won't remember anything from the last ten minutes besides what I tell you," he says, his voice soft. The cop nods, listening intently. "You received a noise complaint for the Shadow Empire. You came to check it out, you did, warned us to keep it down, and we acquiesced. Everyone was quite lovely and you're so, so sad it's an exclusive club and you can't get an invitation. But you understand that you wouldn't fit in, so you'll get over it, eventually. What you can't get over is the fiery bartender who's so, so hot and—"

"Okay, thanks, dude," I cut in, rolling my eyes. "Tell him to forget that last part." Last thing I need is a psycho stalker right now, human or not.

"Oh, sweetheart, you're no fun," he tells me, his lips curling in a smile that honestly looks far more sinister than it does friendly. I convince myself it's because he's a vampire. A damned. He sighs reluctantly at my stern expression. "Fine." He looks to the police officer. "You won't remember the hot bartender. It's your loss. Now get out of here. Go arrest some townies for underage drinking."

"I'm going to go arrest some townies for underage drinking," he says happily, spinning on his feet. I watch him closely until he gets into the patrol car and drives out of the lot.

"Thanks for that," I tell the vampire sarcastically before walking back to the bar.

Annoyingly, he follows.

"I know you're being sarcastic, sweetheart," he says, sliding into a stool. "But you shouldn't be. Had I not been here, you would have been responsible for the death of that poor piggy. Not that it would have been much of a loss."

"Christ, you're cruel," I tell him, wrinkling my nose.

"Not cruel." He grins in that chill-inducing way. "Damned, or so you've categorized me and the rest of the vampires here."

"You are certainly damned," I confirm, knowing this from the bottom of my heart to be true.

"That's true," he agrees. "But how would you know that?"

"Call it a wicked's intuition."

He raises an eyebrow. "You ought to be nicer, Jade. I did just save the day, after all."

I sigh. "Fine, let me get you a refill. What blood type do you prefer?"

"The kind from the vein," he deadpans. "Not interested in your bagged crap, sorry to say. I eat organically."

For the first time in a few decades, I'm caught off guard. "I see. Unfortunately, you'll have to do that out of these walls. Preferably out of this city."

"Gladly. But there is something you might be able to help me with before I go."

I frown, but curiosity gets the better of me. "What is it?"

"I hear almost every supernatural in the city frequents this place. I also hear you've been around a while and know most of them. Is any of that incorrect?"

I shake my head.

"I'm looking for someone. A warlock. What are the odds you know them?" he asks, his expression serious, the lines of his face looking even sharper.

I shrug. "Decent, maybe. What's the name?"

"Elias. Sound familiar?"

"No, it doesn't," I tell him honestly. "Do you have a picture?"

He snorts. "The last time I saw him was many centuries ago, before the age of selfies and Instagram. All I have is the name."

"If you knew him from centuries ago, and he knows you're looking for him, he probably goes by a different name."

He looks thoughtful. "You're probably right, Jade. Is that what you've done? I don't recall anyone being named that prior to the last few centuries. From what I hear, you're older than a few hundred years."

"That's irrelevant," I say, my voice hardening.

He rubs his jaw. "Perhaps. I hope for your sake, it is. In any case, I can see you won't be any help for now." He stands to his feet, staring at me with his cold, cold eyes. "Goodbye, Jade."

Faster than any vampire I've ever seen move, he darts out of the bar.

I try to shake off that strange interaction, try to amount it to vampires being vampires. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's ever happened in the Shadow Empire, but it left me more unsettled than usual.

That night, I make the drinks as normal, clean up as normal, lock the bar up as normal. But when I leave, I make sure it's in broad daylight, and look behind me every few paces. I make it home without seeing anyone or anything suspicious, but it takes hours for the heavy feeling in my stomach to alleviate.

And as I learned in the year 1692, that gut feeling is never meaningless.