Dante glanced around the crowded bar to make sure no one could overhear him before he shifted his attention back to Cassidy. They were both a lot younger than he would have guessed given the aura of power they emitted and the wisdom in Cassidy’s eyes. She was young, but she knew a lot more about this world than many others her age.
“I was twenty-eight when I was turned,” he said. “That was ten years ago. Your parents are really—” He pitched his voice a lot lower. “—vampires?”
Cassidy smiled as she rested an elbow on the bar and leaned against it. “They are. What about yours? Do they know about you?”
“They both died before I turned.”
Cassidy managed to suppress a wince as she kicked herself for that question. “I’m sorry.”
“It was years ago, but thank you.”
“Kyle!” a woman called down the bar and waved at him. “I’d love another drink when you get the chance.”
“And I’d like another water,” Cassidy reminded him.
Her twin glanced at her before shooting Dante a warning look.
“I’d like another whiskey sour too, please,” Dante said.
“Hmm,” Kyle grunted.
Reluctantly, he turned away and smiled as he strode toward the woman with their glasses in hand. The woman beamed at Kyle and leaned across the bar. Unwilling to see the exchange, Cassidy focused on Dante again.
She admired his olive skin and the black stubble lining his chiseled jaw. That stubble would be rough against her palm and face if she rose on her toes to touch and kiss him. What would it be like to nibble on his full bottom lip before flicking her tongue against that stiff upper lip while she ran her hands—
Cassidy jerked herself from her fantasy and focused on the bar as she tried to suppress the heat burning its way up her neck and into her cheeks. She took a deep breath to try to calm her racing heart and telltale blush. Looking for a way to distract herself, and him, from her red face, she latched onto another question.
“What was it like being a police officer?”
Dante studied the pretty flush in her cheeks as she kept her attention riveted on the bar. “Interesting and at times depressing and scary but rewarding. I loved my job; I was doing good in the world and protecting people. I planned to become a detective and had passed the test when I was turned, and plans changed. I figured, hanging out around a bunch of police and detectives wasn’t the best way to keep my secret.”
Cassidy chuckled. “Probably not. Were you a Boston cop?”
“Yes.”
“I bet you saw some really sad things.”
The sorrowful tone of her voice made him question what she’d experienced in her life. His sudden urge to protect her from anything bad surprised him, but it was impossible in this world. Still, he wanted to draw her close and shelter her from the worst of this world.
“Do you think this girl you’re looking for is hanging around bars in Boston?” Cassidy asked.
“I’m not sure. She got herself messed up with a group of kids who like to pretend they’re vampires before she vanished.”
“Stupid kids,” she muttered.
“I checked out three vamp bars, but no one has seen her at any of them.”
“Just the three?”
“Those are the only three I know about.”
“Were any of them the underground ones?”
“No, they weren’t.”
He should have known there were underground vamp clubs, but hanging out with vamps wasn’t his idea of a good time. Cassidy was the first one he hadn’t gone out of his way to avoid. When Dante removed his pad and pen from another inner pocket, his fingers brushed against one of the stakes he kept there.
Chapter Seven
“Can you tell me where they’re located?” he asked.
Cassidy had never been one for a guy in uniform or cop shows, but it was pretty hot when Dante got that serious look on his face and went into detective mode.
“No, I can’t,” she said. When Dante glanced at her, she saw his confusion and rushed to explain. “I’ve never been to one before, and they move. You have to know where to go to find them.”
“Can you tell me where to go?”
“They’re real vampire bars. Have you ever been to one of those?”
Dante lowered his pen. “No, have you?”
“No.”
But Kyle had, and he’d told her where to go to get the information about them. Though she was curious about them and plied Kyle with questions, she never intended to enter one. However, she didn’t like the idea of him venturing into one of them on his own. Kyle never told her when he was going, and at least he could tell vampires and Savages apart. As a turned vamp, Dante didn’t possess that talent.
“I’ll go with you,” she offered.
“That’s not a good idea,” Dante said.
He suspected these clubs were probably far different than the three he visited tonight. She didn’t belong in them, and he wouldn’t risk getting her hurt. She opened her mouth to reply but closed it again when Kyle returned with their drinks. This time, Kyle didn’t stick around but left to fill some of the other customer’s orders.
Cassidy made sure her brother was distracted before speaking again. “You can’t tell a killer vamp from one who doesn’t kill; I can. That will help keep you from walking in there blind.”
For the second time tonight, she’d dropped another bomb on him. “You can tell the difference between a vampire who kills and one who doesn’t?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Cassidy tapped her nose. “Purebreds can smell Savages, and believe me, they do not smell good.”
“Holy shit,” Dante breathed at this fantastic revelation.
“They smell worse than shit.”
Dante gave a small snort of laughter before sobering. “Is that what you call the killers amongst us, Savages?”
“Yes, and I know you’re not a killer. Otherwise, you’d smell like a landfill filled with five-day-old roadkill.”
“That wouldn’t make for a good candle scent. I much prefer pumpkin spice.”
Cassidy laughed. “I prefer eucalyptus.”
“That’s a good one,” he agreed.
Cassidy almost rested her hand on his arm again,
