Foolish Mortals

Chapter 15

hy-po-co-ri-sm

hī-ˈpä-kə-ˌri-zəm

noun

a pet name; the use of pet names

synonyms: byname, diminutive, nickname, pretty name 

"This was a good idea."

I stared at the door in front of me, under the octopus mural. I could hear the muffled thump of club music coming from inside. A group of smokers were gathered a few yards down the alley, dressed in the typical black leather garb. I knew they were Vassals. Their big, soul-sucking eyes kept darting over to me.

"I'm just here to see Jess." I took a deep breath and hitched my viola case up higher on my back. "This was a good idea."

I'd finished the late Saturday night performance an hour ago. A few of the musicians had wanted to grab some drinks together, and we'd gone to a bar only a block away from Underworld. A couple of gin and tonics later, I was sure it was fate. I hadn't seen Liam since he left so abruptly, but I wasn't worried about it.

"I'm not," I insisted out loud to the little door in front of me. Was this stalkerish behavior? To try and find him at his workplace? No, because I had a real reason to see him. I wanted to ask him about Percy. I had totally forgotten to ask what the deal was with my new coworker, because it was clear that Liam suspected something was strange about him. He wasn't a Vassal. Maybe he was like Liam, whatever Liam was.

Speaking of Vassals... I glanced down the alley to see one of the guys break away from the group and start walking towards me. This was not the place to test Liam's blood bond thing. Time to go. I hurriedly stepped forward, jerked open the door, and met the familiar face of Victor, the security guard. He glanced down at me and raised one brow, crossing his arms.

"Well, hello there. Come back for a repeat performance?" he asked with a grin. "Your band was pretty great, better than this shit club music."

"Thanks," I said with a smile. Surprising. I had expected a more hostile welcome. "I'm here to visit Jess."

"The new bartender? You're friends?" His turn to look surprised.

"Yeah, you might not remember but she was with me when we played."

"Right. Yeah, she's a sweet little thing," Victor said with an approving nod. "Brings me chocolate muffins sometimes."

"That bitch!" I scowled. "She said her mom refused to make those anymore."

Victor grinned a brief flash of teeth in the dark. "Your loss, my gain, baby. Go on in." He waved down the hallway.

"Thanks, Victor, seeya next time."

I made my way down that familiar dark hallway and into the dancehall, feeling a little more optimistic about this decision. It was at least ten degrees hotter inside the club, and the throbbing beat was literally shaking the floor. Couples were dancing, jumping up and down to the beat, or languorously grinding together. Now that my eyes were open to it, I spotted a lot of Vassals, feeding on slack-faced, rapturous humans. I began pushing my way through, trying to avoid touching as many people as possible. One woman's lips were locked at a girl's throat, and a light plume of blue smoke was rising from the contact. The Vassal's eyes were open, and she was staring directly at me as she greedily sucked.

Creepy, I decided as I looked away and kept pushing. I made sure to watch carefully, and saw that Liam had been right. The humans all looked healthy, and happy in a weird, public-orgasm type of way. None of them looked gray and sick like Isaac, at least not that I could see in the pulsing red light.