Waiting in the Wings

haired guardian followed. He spared the man a hard look.

“It’s okay. I told Heidi I wouldn’t do the runaway game again, so Stan can tag along. You have your guards. I have mine.” Playfulness erased the disappointment on her face. They were halfway across the lobby when she glanced up at him. “Wait, if your blood called mine, and I answered—dude, am I a vampire too?”

No way to soften this answer. “Yes.”

Excitement struggled with resentment over his answer. Kiki squeezed his arm, and swept her gaze across the throngs of people entering and exiting the casino. Women hung on to their men or each other, laughing carelessly. Hardened gamblers walked with determination, while dabblers traveled in various stages of enthusiasm from profound disappointment to quivering excitement.

They were all on their way to or arriving from somewhere. They knew who they were, who they were with and what they were doing.

“Kris—Kiki?”

“Shh.” She shook head, unwilling to talk yet. A vampire. She was a vampire. How the hell did a person forget that? How did I forget? I love vampires… Was that the key though? Or at least the reason for her passion for all things vampire? She loved them all—regardless of their mythology or abilities. Give a character a pair of fangs, a lust for blood and some sexy times, and she was all in.

Because I am one? I don’t drink blood…

They were inside the casino proper, just strolling arm in arm with their little entourage fanning out behind them. She barely noticed the blinking lights, soft sighs of disappointment or quivers of excitement rippling through the players they passed. Every one of the dancers came from somewhere. Some remembered, while some chose to forget. She didn’t know any other life.

She’d awoken that first day in her cell, and Heidi had introduced her to the dancers, and she went to work. It was what she did.

Night in and night out.

For fifty years…eighteen thousand nights…and I never really wondered why I didn’t remember. I didn’t care. Troubled, she ran her tongue against her upper teeth. The flat surfaces didn’t provide any answers. She explored her gum line, and despite the faint aching throb, no fangs popped out or descended or whatever the hell they actually did. Richard stopped abruptly, and she glanced up from her inner musings to see a blond gentleman blocking their path.

The tension flaring in the space between the two men was palpable. Glancing from Richard to the stranger and back again, Kiki gave him a nudge. “We can go around.”

“No. He can.” Richard rubbed her hand where it rested gently on his arm.

“Or you could introduce me.” The blond man took a step forward. Kiki didn’t see so much as feel Richard’s bodyguards close the gap behind them. Suppressed violence rippled through the air.

“She doesn’t need to know you.” The politeness in his tone didn’t conceal the disdain—or the dismissal.

“And maybe she would like to make that determination for herself.” Considering they both referred to her like she wasn’t present, she tugged her hand free from Richard’s arm and held it out to the blond. “Kiki.”

“Charming, Kiki. I am Andrew and very pleased to make your acquaintance.” He cupped her hand, his cool touch trailing ice over her fingers and, like Richard before him, brushed a kiss to her knuckles. But unlike Richard, his gaze didn’t lift to her so much as taunt the vampire at her side.

“Not sure how pleased I am, Andy.” She took her hand back. The undercurrent flowing between the two teamed with antagonism. “Please excuse us, we were off to—”

“I’m sorry, my dear. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Andrew straightened, and three other vampires drifted out from next to the slot machines and tables to form a semi-circle behind him.

“Are you really planning to break your own word here, Andrew?” Richard’s laconic tone was a lie. Steel, finely honed and razor sharp, slid along the bottom of his words.

“Tsk tsk, Richard. Your paranoia is showing. I’m actually here by invitation to greet the new lead dancer of the Midnight Mystery Lounge.” The blond vampire edged closer, and Kiki pinned him with a glare.

“Seriously? You’ve never greeted a lead dancer in all the years I’ve been here.” Jeannie would have said something. Pandora’s often-requested presence among the high rollers was common knowledge. Anthony, however, was wildly possessive of Roseatre, and despite the pricks of envy Kiki felt for Pandora and Roseatre’s success and happiness, she never longed for their mates.

“You rarely venture out so publically unless you’re playing, Kiki. You wouldn’t know. And Pandora arrived here long before you did. I dined with her after her first night taking lead—didn’t I, Stan?” Andrew looked past them both to the guardian.

The salt-and-pepper haired man gave the vampire a bored look. “Do not invite me into this game of bait- and-switch. You are making the other casino guests uncomfortable.”

He wasn’t wrong. Several players at the local slot machines gathered their coins and moved away. In fact, they and their respective guards were virtually alone in the alley created by the slot machines.

“Boring man, really. I don’t know why that stage manager keeps you around.” Andrew dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “So, Miss Kiki—if you will join me, we can discuss your performance.”

“Hmm, no.” She shook her head. The subtext flying back and forth irritated her, but beyond that, she wanted to spend the time with Richard.

The other vampire didn’t seem to take the hint, reaching out to take her arm and tugging her forward. Richard’s hand caught his wrist before she moved an inch, and the potential for violence stormed through the gathering. The bodyguards surged forward on all sides.

“Release her.” Richard’s words collided with Stan’s. Guns appeared in the guards hands, and an actual sword blade pressed into Andrew’s throat—and she was sandwiched between them all—the bone about to be pulled apart.

Shadows surrounded them, pressing in from all sides. Andrew released her immediately, and Richard drew her back as a shifter—because nothing human was as large as the man—stepped between them.

“Problem?” His voice was a growl, low and menacing.

“Yes.” Kiki announced before Richard could shush her or anyone else could speak. The man turned to look at her. Wild heat burned in a pair of yellow eyes.

Wolf.

Her nostrils flared. Wolf. She didn’t question how she knew. At this point, she was just going to roll with it.

“What is the problem, ma’am?” The wolf offered her a polite, if somewhat feral, smile.

“That vampire assaulted me.” She pointed at Andrew. “Apparently he thinks that just because I star in a show, he has the right to manhandle me. Richard and Stan were defending me.”

The wolf flicked a look from her to the guardian and Richard and then slowly turned to face Andrew. “You have no authority here, Prince. You realize that, right?”

“You have no authority out there either, dog, but I allow you to do your job.” The blond straightened and arrogance flowed over him like some dramatic cape.

“Fantastic. Then you’re really going to appreciate this.” The shadows converged on Andrew and his party and escorted them away.

Kiki bit her lip when her gaze clashed with Andrew’s cold one. This wasn’t over.

The wolf shifted, blocking the vampire’s line of sight and looked at her again. “You should return to your theatre. It might be safer there.”

“I feel perfectly safe now.” She dredged up a smile. What a completely insane night. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He ignored Richard and nodded to the guardian before striding after his men. “Stan.”

The bubble of tension burst with their exit and allowed the sounds of the casino to rush back in. Exhaling a shaky sigh, she looked at her wrist and sighed. A bruise matching Andrew’s fingers blackened her flesh. Dammit.

“Are you hurt?” Richard lifted the damaged arm to look at critically.