He shook his head. “Like you said, they would have found out sooner or later. I was fooling myself if I thought I could pretend nothing has happened to me.”
“So now what?” I felt the overwhelming urge to hug him, to hold him close, and to tell him that everything was going to be okay, but I stopped myself. Mostly because I wasn’t sure that everything was going to be okay. For either of us.
“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Anyhow, I’m going to go. You two shouldn’t stick around here long, either. Peter will be coming for you.”
“He does seem the stubborn type, doesn’t he?”
“He told me something while the two of you were in the bathroom, and I… I wasn’t going to say anything, but…”
“What?”
“He said that there’s something major going on. That before they move on this year, they’ll have wiped out nearly every vamp in the city.”
“I thought that was their plan to start with. The whole hunting-season thing. Kill as many vamps as possible, then go drink beer at Clancy’s to celebrate.”
He frowned and shook his head. “No, Peter was talking about something different. We…”
He paused. “They do try to take out as many as possible, usually out in the open, but not a complete massacre of every vampire within a hundred-mile radius. This is bigger than anything I’ve ever heard of before.”
My breath caught. “Do you think he was just bragging? Blowing some hot macho air?”
“I thought so myself, but he went on about it for a while. Like there s some master plan this year. Something even I didn’t know about, not that that surprises me. My father has never been all that forthcoming with his plans. I think this is for real, though. He said that they have an insider.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“An informant. Sounds like it could be a vampire who’s giving up names and locations.”
A vampire traitor willing to sell out his peers. How horrible was that? That must be why some of the secret clubs had been hit this year. For all I knew, Midnight Eclipse might be next on the list. And Veronique had said they’d be open for business as usual tonight. I had to tell Thierry to be careful.
I looked at Quinn. “Will you be okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” he said. “Be safe, Sarah.”
He held my gaze for a few moments and then turned to walk away.
“Bye, Quinn,” Amy called cheerily after him. “It was nice seeing you again.”
“You,” I said to Amy, “should go home.”
She smiled at me. “Yeah, as if that’s going to happen. Where are we going now?”
“Nowhere I’m taking you.”
She frowned. “When did you get all serious?”
“Serious situations call for serious facial expressions. Now go home.”
“No.” She crossed her arms.
“Go home or I’ll bite you.”
She bared her neck. “Go ahead, I’d like to see you try.”
I scrunched my nose. “Gross. Fine, be that way. Come with me. Just promise to be quiet and well behaved. Don’t say anything, and look as mean as you can.”
“I can do that.”
I snagged the first cab that came along and gave him the address to Midnight Eclipse. I didn’t want to go there. I didn’t want to see Thierry again after our exchange this afternoon, but I could do it. I had to. I’d just march right in there and tell him what Quinn had told me. Then I’d leave, job done, and never have to see him again. Sounded simple enough.
But then I had a flashback to what it had felt like when he’d kissed me in my bedroom in Abottsville. So wonderful, so perfect, so incredible. And then to have it all dashed against the rocks so fast. It was difficult. All I wanted him to do was take me into his arms and tell me that it had all been an elaborate practical joke. There was no wife. That he only said the cruel things to me to find out how I really felt about him. And everything was wonderful and perfect, and we’d ride into the sunset together, dark sunglasses firmly in place, in his gorgeous black Audi. And we’d live happily ever after.
But I wasn’t that stupid. Happily-ever-after was just for fairy tales. I’d never read a fairy tale with a vampire in it. Those were horror stories, and nobody lived happily ever after in those.
“You’re quiet,” Amy said in the back of the cab. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I wiped a stray tear away.
“Sarah!” she exclaimed. “Tell me what’s wrong!”
I looked at her and revised my answer. “Everything.”
She nodded as if she understood and didn’t prod me for any more answers. When the cabdriver pulled in front of the tanning salon, Amy fished into her purse to pay. She looked confused by our location but dutifully followed me through the front doors like a good friend. Barry was at the front desk in his usual small black tuxedo. He sprang to his feet and walked over to block the black door.
“Oh,” he said disdainfully. “You’re back.”
“Yes,” I said. “And you’re short. I need to see Thierry.”
He was about to reprimand me for not calling him “master” for the thirtieth bloody time when he looked past me to Amy. His mouth dropped open, exposing his tiny fangs. I turned to see Amy staring back at him.
Then I could have sworn two cupids appeared above us and shot arrows into both of their hearts. Strange but true: it was love at first sight I raised my eyebrows. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Barry practically ran to Amy and took her hand in his, kissing it gently. “My name is Barry Jordan, and I am at your service, lovely lady.”
“Gag me,” I said.
She shot me a look. “Amy,” she offered, blushing prettily. “Amy Smith.”
“And I thought I was going to be sick before.” They didn’t respond to me. “Okay, forget it. You two keep each other company. I won’t be long.”
I pushed open the entrance to the club. It was busier than I’d expected. Nearly every table was full. The band was onstage; the music almost too loud for conversation. From behind the bar Zelda spotted my entrance and motioned for me to come over.
“Hey,” she said with a fanged smile as I approached. “Long time no see.”