She splayed her hand more firmly against him. Yes! She could feel it. She pressed an ear against his chest. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. He had a heartbeat! It was a bit fast. Like hers.
He cleared his throat. “We’re being watched.”
She jumped back and discovered him looking at her with glittering green eyes. Phineas was grinning at her. Josh was frowning. “It’s okay. I was checking his heart. In the interest of scientific research.”
“You want to check mine, too?” Phineas asked. “You gotta do a thorough job on your research, you know.”
“That’s enough. Let’s go.” Josh motioned for Phineas to get in the limo. After the young Vamp climbed in, Josh leaned into the vehicle to tell him where to sit.
Abigail glanced back at the paparazzo. He was still standing there, his face blank. A chill crept down her spine, and she turned back to Gregori. “You have psychic powers, don’t you? And you’re not really dead.”
He looked around the busy sidewalk. “Let’s not discuss it here, okay?”
He wasn’t denying it. She had to be right.
She took a wobbly step toward the limo, then realized her hands were empty. “My purse!” She spotted it on the sidewalk, then leaned over to get it.
“I’ve got it.” Gregori picked it up, then froze, his head turned toward her.
She gasped. Her shawl had slipped off her shoulders, and her breasts were practically falling out! She jerked to a standing position and pressed a hand to her chest. Oh God, she’d given him an eyeful.
And why was he straightening so slowly? Was he checking out her legs? He continued to straighten, his gaze inching up her dress to her neckline. Her face grew hot. Good Lord, she knew she shouldn’t have worn this dress.
She cleared her throat. “My purse?”
His gaze shifted to her face, then to his hand as if surprised to find the purse there. “Here.”
She took it. “Thank you.” With hot cheeks, she hurried to the car and sat on the long side seat next to Madison.
Josh and Gregori climbed in. As they drove away, she heard the paparazzo bellow in outrage.
He must have been released from Gregori’s mind control. She glanced warily at him. How often did he play with people’s heads? Her gaze wandered to the shiny chrome-plated ceiling of the limo. She could see her own pale face reflected, but not his.
With a shiver, she wrapped her shawl tightly around her shoulders.
“Hey, Snake.” Gregori greeted the huge bouncer outside the plain black door at the end of a dark alley.
The bouncer grunted and narrowed his beady eyes. Gregori assumed he was called Snake since he had a snake tattoo that curled up his neck onto his bald head, but he’d never asked. Snake was not a talkative guy.
The bouncer sniffed and curled a lip. “Mortals.”
Gregori nodded. “They’re my guests for the evening.”
Snake grunted. “You know the rules.” He opened the door and let them in.
“What rules?” Josh asked as he entered with Gregori.
“It’s nothing,” Gregori lied. It wasn’t unusual for a Vamp to bring a mortal boyfriend or girlfriend to the club, but when their relationship ended, the Vamp was supposed to erase the mortal’s memory.
“What rules?” Josh asked again as he scanned the room.
Gregori sighed. He’d have to make something up. “We’re not supposed to let mortals drink blood. It tends to make them sick.”
Josh nodded, apparently accepting the story. As the girls filed in, he remained close to them. Charles moved toward the center of the empty dance floor, then he pivoted, scanning the room.
It was a rectangular room, simply designed with a wooden dance floor in the middle, flanked on each side by small round tables and wooden chairs. On the right wall, the DJ stood behind his counter. A long bar ran the length of the left wall, and only one bartender was on duty this early in the evening. About two dozen Vamps were at the round tables, quietly chatting and sipping blood from wineglasses. On the far end of the room a few couples were cuddled up in half-moon-shaped booths upholstered in tufted red velvet.
Slow music was playing, but no one was dancing. The crowd was smaller than usual, and more subdued. Vamps probably didn’t feel like partying, not with the Vampire Apocalypse hanging over their heads.
“This is it?” Madison frowned as she looked around. “It looks so normal. Even the people look normal.”
What was she expecting? A naked Roman orgy? “It’s only nine-thirty,” Gregori explained. “Things don’t really heat up till about three when most Vamps get off work and the West Coast crowd starts teleporting in.” He didn’t want to admit how worried Vamps were.