Matt snorted.
Alex looked him up and down with contempt. “I hope your friend with the phone calls gives you more advice on how to run from Dante’s friends. They’ll be after you now, too. You’d better have plenty more stakes handy. Now get the fuck out of my house.”
Matt turned slowly and left.
Finally alone with her mother, Alex broke down. Margaret hugged her close.
“It’s my fault mum.”
“What’s your fault? The break up? He seems like a dingbat,” Margaret said.
“No. Last night,” Alex looked at her mother. “You don’t know?”
“Honey, all I saw was the crowd around you, knocked out. Lasander said they had heard you scream and that something had happened to Dante and no one could find Michelle or Dougie. He helped me get you into a cab and up the stairs. But he couldn’t come in, and I couldn’t invite him because this isn’t my place. So I got you inside and put you to bed and he left. You were fine, except for a bump on the head. I was going to ask you what happened when you woke up. Did you see what happened?”
“Yes,” Alex said, her throat threatening to close with coming sobs. “Dante’s dead. Matt staked him.”
Margaret frowned. “You mean like through the heart?”
Alex scrunched her eyes, feeling more tears and nodded.
“Oh, is that what happened?” Margaret asked.
“What do you mean, Mum? Did you hear me? Dante was staked. Through the heart, with wood!”
Her mother was smiling. Does she think I’m joking? Hallucinating?
Margaret placed both her hands on either side of Alex’s head and kissed her forehead lightly several times. “Don’t believe everything you see in the movies. Vampires’ hearts don’t beat.”
Chapter Twenty Five
Back To T
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Margaret said.
“Mom, I have to go.” Alex could not keep the worry from her voice. She had not heard one word from Michelle all day. Despite Margaret’s assurances that Dante could not possibly be dead, Alex could not bring herself to believe it. If there was one thing she knew, stakes through the heart killed vampires. Some melted, some exploded, some turned to puffs of smoke, but they all went bye-bye.
Michelle would be devastated. Hell, Alex was devastated and had only known him for a few months. Michelle acted tough, but she had been there for Alex through everything. What sort of friend would Alex be if she didn’t reciprocate? It was also Halloween and T traditionally threw the biggest party in Sydney for it. In desperation, Alex used the “Find My Phone” app to track Michelle’s phone. It was located at T as of twenty minutes ago. Alex would have thought that the death of the owner would put a damper on the celebrations, but apparently no one had reported it.
Not that Alex was surprised. “Michelle will be running things now, so she is bound to be there. She’s all about how the show must go on,” Alex said. “I know she is hurting, though she won’t admit it. She hasn’t got anyone but Dante.”
A car horn blared outside. “There’s my cab, mom.” Alex walked over and kissed her mother goodbye.
*
The outside entrance to T was alive like Alex had never seen it before. She stood on the other side of the road just taking it in. Hired loudspeakers hung on heavy metal supports over the entrance, blaring what she guessed was the music inside to the waiting customers. Huge searchlights were set up next to the road, rotating and twirling beams of coloured light into the sky. Two fire-breathers were patrolling the extra-long queue, “terrorizing” the waiting crowd and attempting to outdo each other.
T staff had also obviously been encouraged to get into the spirit. They took it in turns to swap locations either inside or out. Some performed in character for the crowd and press that had shown up, clicking away. Others escorted guests down the long corridor and into the club itself. Alex approached the door and overheard the complaints of a dissatisfied customer.
“Oh come on, man. This is a big deal!” A squat-looking man waved his press pass and camera in the faces of the club’s well-built bouncers. The burst capillaries in his cheeks were darkening as he went on bellowing. “Don’t you want publicity?”
“We get better publicity if we don’t let you in,” Bison said. “No one cuts. Especially you. Back of the line.”
“I’m the sports editor of the Daily Telegram,” the man replied indignantly.
“My dick has the circumference of a can of red bull.”
The squat man took a step back. “Excuse me? What difference does that make to this?”
“About the same as what you told me you do. Absolutely nothing,” Bison replied with a grin as he spotted Alex standing behind the fuming reporter. “I’m guessing you want in, babe?”
Alex nodded. “Please. I need to see Michelle. Just for a second, I promise.”
“No problem. Maybe you can cheer her up. She wasn’t looking good when she came in today.”
Alex moved past the reporter, now so furious she could almost feel the heat emanating off him. “What.The.Fuck.Man. You said no cuts!”
“Jeez, you whine like a little bitch.” Tyson rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, when you look this fine in tight jeans, we’ll let you cut.”
Alex smirked and ducked into the club, leaving the agitated journalist to the bouncers.
