Blud

Part 9: Eve

Well that did not go like I wanted it to.

After agreeing to have Liam meet me at the club in an hour, I head back to warn Marcus and get him the hell out of there before all hell breaks loose. This is going to blow up in our face, there's no way it won't. The plan, as it stands, is Liam comes to pick me up. I text Nicolas and request a meeting, saying it's urgent and he obliges. Naturally, Nicolas is very nosy and will want to know if something is amiss. When I stand in the grand room with him, distracting him in the front, Liam sneaks in the back and ninjas his way through the maze of his house, looking for evidence. Then we leave and no one's the wiser.

I have zero faith this is going to work, but if i dont go along with it and at least help Liam try, we all die anyway. Like he said, Nicolas will figure everything out soon enough, and my involvement with Liam will not bode well for me.

As I pull up to Reap, the line is wrapped around the side of the building as it normally is on a Wednesday, because that's the day we process human blood. It's easier to keep things under wraps if you only do it once a week rather than all seven days. No cover charge for humans really gets us a shit ton of business too. Though tonight I'm cursing that, wishing for once that the club was empty so I didn't have to worry about anyone getting hurt if things go sideways. I just keep imagining Nicolas catching Liam, killing us on the spot, and sending men to flatten the club.

I get out and walk in the front door, looking sexy in black leathery leggings and knee high boots and a dark green turtleneck that is skin tight and clings to my curves. I made sure to run home and change first, obviously. I let my dark hair loose around my shoulders and I hear a human woman groan in jealousy as I stroll up to the entrance. I nod at the bouncer and he lets me in, greeting me with a smile. I walk into the familiar pounding music, the crowd already sweaty and pulsing as one on the dance floor. I avoid the bar, as would be my day to day routine to grab a drink and hit the dance floor to mingle for a little bit before retreating to my office. I skip it all and head straight there to wait for Liam.

Need to see you ASAP. I text to Nicolas's employee contact phone and hit send. I sit in my brand new swivel chair, this one a lot nicer and hopefully more durable, and wait, tapping the phone impatiently on my knee. I hope and pray that he will tell me to come to him. It's imperative to the plan that we go to him rather than him coming here in search of me. If Nicolas comes here instead and finds Liam and I bumping elbows, this club will be reduced to rubble by morning. I look at the camera screens to calm myself, seeing the happy patrons sway and smile, lost in euphoric bliss as they sip their expensive drinks and grind with vampires.

I spot Marcus on the dance floor, groping a pretty young woman with bleach blond hair and big lips. His hands slide up and down her body, cupping her ass as she grinds on him. My stomach tightens in jealousy as I watch, and when their lips press together in the grainy monitor screen, I turn my face away, gritting my teeth.

Why are you jealous? I don't know. Marcus merely kissed me to calm my nerves, or to get me to trust him that night, and I am such a bleeding heart that I thought it meant he wanted me. Stupid.

My phone buzzes. I pick it up instantly and check the message, exhaling in relief.

Midnight tomorrow. Nicolas demands. I smile at the phone and then another message comes through.

Bring your friend.

I freeze. I clutch the phone, my hand starting to tremble. I read the text again and again.

Bring your friend. Bring your friend.

He has to be talking about Liam, and that is not good. If he connected his servant to Liam, this meeting might be the end of us; as a club and as a faction. Though I could still play dumb, he would see right through it. Nicolas is too old to be fooled.