Kissed by Darkness(6)

I threw him a glare, grabbed the robe and hauled it around my shoulders before staggering to the bathroom and slamming the door. I looked a fright. My hair was sticking up in about a hundred different directions, giving the appearance of a red nimbus around my head. My skin was pasty white from blood loss with dark circles under my eyes and my green eyes were fever bright. Great. Just great.

I splashed cold water on my face, brushed my teeth and ran a comb through my hair. Didn’t work. I grabbed some hair gunk and used it to muss up my hair some more so it looked like I intended the whole light-socket look. I patted some cover-up under my eyes, swiped on some mascara and lip gloss, and added just a bit of blusher to my cheeks so I didn’t look like a member of Vampires-R-Us.

I gave myself a critical look. The right outfit and I’d probably blend into the crowd at Fringe OK. Well, probably not enough makeup, but there wasn’t time for full war paint.

By the time I went back to my room, Inigo had vacated it. Thank the gods. I didn’t have time to deal with both his hormones and mine.

I grabbed a pair of jeans and a black tank out of the closet and yanked them on over a black bra and panties. I didn’t do thongs. Trust me, when you’re kicking vampire ass, the last thing you wanted was a scrap of cloth climbing up into your nether regions.

The tear from Terrance’s fangs was nearly healed now, leaving a bright pink mark on my neck. I grabbed a black and white choker which covered the mark pretty well and then threw on a sheer black top which I kept around for just such occasions. Not that I spent a lot of time in clubs, but my job took me strange places.

I finished off the outfit with my black combat boots and my weapons holster. I had a special federal license to carry anything capable of killing vampires; plus, no one in a club like Fringe would notice or care that I was packing. Probably.

A quick look in the mirror told me I’d look more at home in a vampire fetish club, but it was the best I could do. I’d have to leave it up to Inigo to get us past the bouncer.

Inigo gave me the once-over as I strode into the living room. If the look on his face was anything to go by, I looked just fine. I was really glad I wasn’t a clairvoyant because I was pretty sure whatever he was thinking would make me blush big time.

“Come on, pretty boy, let’s go hit the town.”

He laughed, amusement coloring his voice. “Your wish is my command, oh Vixen of the Dark.”

I snorted. “Idiot.” Why, oh why, did he have to be Kabita’s damn cousin?







The club was pulsing with hard, eerie music. It was almost alive and incredibly sexual. Heated. Full of desire and passion and very naughty things. The heavy bass settled into my chest like a heartbeat. I fought the urge to clench my legs together. Music did things to me.

Portland had a lot of nightclubs for a small city. There was everything from salsa clubs to a reggae bar. We even had a fairly famous musical revue which showcased some brilliant female impersonators. How’s that for cosmopolitan? Nothing, however, had quite prepared me for the weirdness that was Fringe.

We pushed through the front bar area which was heavily populated with vampires. Not real ones, of course. These were Sanguine Vampires, people who lived vampirism as a lifestyle and a religion but weren’t actually vampires in the physical sense. I’d never seen so many tattoos and piercings in one place in my life.

There were a couple of beings working the crowd who sent my Spidey senses zinging, but not because they were vamps. Although they looked perfectly normal, to my mind’s eye they glittered and glowed, their features constantly shifting in the dim light. I had no doubt these were members of the Glittering Throng.

One of them caught my gaze and his/her purple eyes sparkled with unholy glee. My mind shied away from seeing him/her, but I yanked it back. I was the mistress of my own mind and no sidhe glamour was going to change that.

I started right back at him/her, watching as his/her face shifted and molded through several incarnations. With a smirk, the sidhe tipped an imaginary hat in my direction and disappeared into the crowd. I held back a shiver. Messing with a member of the sidhe was not a good idea. In fact, it was best to stay below their radar all together.

The sidhe tended to get their kicks from the suffering of other beings, both mortal and supernatural. Usually suffering they’d created. Fortunately this one had a sense of humor.

Inigo led us to the main dance floor and bar where there was a giant fish tank along one wall with an honest-to-gods mermaid inside. Not some chick in a fish suit, but the real deal right down to the rainbow hued fish scales and hair the color of dark green seaweed. I was starting to feel like I’d fallen down the rabbit hole.