“I bet you get a lot of human tourists who try, am I right?”
She nodded. “All the time. That’s why River’s at the door; you don’t follow the dress code, you don’t make it past him.”
“How serious of you guys.”
Two bars sat at either side of the entrance, and in front of us the floor was interspaced with small tables that faced a theatrical stage complete with red spotlights.
“Is that where you perform?” I asked, my eyes locked on a woman slowly shimmying out of a corset.
“Four nights a week,” Aveline confirmed. “You’ll have to come see me and be my biggest fan. Cheer for me, bring me flowers. You know.”
“No. If that’s okay, no. I love you and I’m sure you look great in, well, almost nothing, but I am not watching you, my cousin, dance.” I looked at her, one ear tilted back, and she laughed.
“I’m joking. Come on.” She showed me the lower lounge, which she informed me was for the regular, unimportant guests, and got us both nonalcoholic drinks.
I cracked the tab on my Vanilla Coke, the soda cold compared to how heated I felt just being here. We sat down at a table just off the stage and I certainly didn’t mind; I’d looked up burlesque on the internet when Aveline had gotten interested in it, but I hadn’t seen a live show.
And while I had no intention of watching my cousin do this-that seemed weird, though I was sure she was great at her job-I was shook.
The woman on stage had bright pink hair and fluffy cat ears sitting primly in her white-blonde hair. Her tail was incredibly fluffy as well, and the end of it had been dyed pink. She danced to a sweet, lyrical song and made eye contact with the crowd liberally as she strutted across the stage, slowly teased her undressing, and generally made everyone in the audience envious. Including me. Definitely me.
Aveline clapped at all the appropriate times, a grin on her face, but I could only sit there, mouth open like an idiot as my stomach twisted in anticipation.
Aveline took one look at my face and didn’t bother hiding her wide grin.
When the song ended, another employee dressed in black collected the shifter’s clothes and followed her off stage. The audience clapped, none louder than Aveline, and the stage lights dimmed.
“We will be taking a ten-minute break,” a silky voice announced. “Please enjoy your time at Euphoric.” Her voice faded as heavier music took over, and Aveline stood.
“She’s good, right?” my cousin asked, elbowing me lightly.
“She’s…really good,” I agreed. “Are you friends?”
“Somewhat,” she shrugged. “I don’t dislike her. You want to see the second floor lounge now? I really want to see who these VIPs are that everyone is talking about.”
“You know, this is significantly less alcoholic than I had anticipated,” I told her, fixing my shirt as I stood.
“It’ll get there. We’ll corral some people and make them buy us drinks.” I didn’t doubt her ability to do so, frankly. “It’ll be fantastic. But first!” she made shooing motions at me. “Second floor!”
“Okay okay.” I held my hands up in surrender, walking with her to a large, gilded staircase that hugged the wall.
She pulled me away from the staircase and we leaned against the half-wall that looked down onto the floor and stage below.
“Everyone’s allowed to go to our little play stage over there, but only VIPs can use the bar,” Aveline explained as I looked around at the dark and gothic styled floor. The whole club had a crimson-and-black motif going that I didn’t hate, and this floor was no exception. My heels sank into plush crimson carpeting, and the only real light came from chandeliers above us.
“The good bar,” Aveline gestured to the area in front of us where a large mahogany bar sat. The two men behind it were dressed in old-style white shirts and pants, their mustaches curled, and I caught a glimpse of jewel-like eyes in the darkness.
“Come on.” We linked arms once more, walking around the balcony. “Private booths there.” She nodded her head towards booths that were hard to make out from here.
“And finally. The VIP lounge and our little kink den.” She threw me a look as we rounded the last corner and came upon where most of the floor space was on this level.
The floor transitioned to hardwood, the shining brown almost black in the dark, and the area was set back from the wraparound of the balcony, only visible once you were this close.
Leather sofas and an honest throne sat against the walls, while the floor in front of them was empty, save for two thin tables holding an array of toys and leather manacles dangling from the ceiling. One small chandelier cast the most light, but a few lamps hung on the walls.
There were only a few people on this side of the second floor, and my eyes first caught a couple curled up on the throne, both of them vampires. The two women were wrapped around each other, nearly nude, and gazed out at the lone man prowling about a woman smiling with her hands cuffed to the ceiling.
My eyes followed theirs, and I froze.
“Umm.” My night vision was fantastic, and certain features were hard to forget.
Aveline looked at me, confused. “Too much?” she was worried, obviously, and stepped back to stand beside me. “I didn’t know. I thought–“
“It’s not that,” I interrupted. “You don’t recognize him? And…” Sure enough, the two other men on one of the plush sofas were just as recognizable. “And them?”
Aveline looked them over, eyebrows knit in confusion. “Are they the men from last night?”
“Yeah. They were at the cemetery. That’s the vampire who I went with to get you back! He’s…Aveline he’s the King of the New Orleans clade, remember?”
“Oh.” It did not inspire the kind of surprise or fear or shock that I had expected. She settled back on her stiletto heels with a
