He turned away and wasn't sure exactly which of them brushed his jean-clad rear as he walked away.
He froze in place.
No. He'd changed.
More important things to think about. Et cetera.
Okay.
That damned Janie had gotten him all warmed up. Other women had to work at being sexy, but that girl was drop-dead gorgeous without even lifting a finger.
Deadbeing the operative word there. As in what she'd probably end up being if he gave this annoying infatuation with her more than a passing notice. He hated how she managed to affect him.
Focus, Quinn, he told himself.
He spotted Malcolm over in a corner booth. The old man waved at him. Quinn nodded in acknowledgement and closed the distance between them, ignoring the crowd that made him feel claustrophobic. He didn't like being around humans in large numbers anymore. This was most definitely not a vampire bar. Humans had a distinctive scent to them, especially in large crowds.
They smelled a lot like food.
Not a good start to the evening.
"Quinn, my boy." Malcolm grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard as he sat down across the table. "I'm pleased you could make it."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
He hated what the old man had done to Janie but tried to see it from Malcolm's point of view. He'd thought Janie was a mercenary—which she was. And he thought she wanted to take the map away from him—which she did. Janie was definitely no innocent bystander.
It felt right, Malcolm still being alive. Even aside from the Eye, there were so many things Quinn wanted to know about Malcolm's plans. Just knowing there was another person he could rely on, who had gone through the same experience he'd been through, made him feel a little less alone.
"You haven't gone and got the Eye without me, have you?" Quinn asked.
Malcolm laughed and raked his fingers through his long white beard. "No. That part of my plan can wait until tomorrow. I ordered you a beer."
"Much appreciated." He leaned back in the booth and shook his head. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you again, Malcolm. I didn't realize how much I'd missed you."
Malcolm glanced around the surroundings. Someone got on the bull and stayed on for all of two seconds before they were thrown down to the padded floor. A drunken cheer went through the crowd. The music shifted to Keith Urban.
"What do you think of this place?" he asked.
Quinn gazed around. "Seems okay. Never really into country music that much."
"So many people all out to have a good time." Malcolm smiled. "When I grow hungry, I come here and watch them to see who's being the most careless. Who is drinking the most and wanders off."
Quinn watched him, suddenly wary.
"Have you ever fed from a drunk human?" Malcolm asked.
He wondered what the best way to answer that would be and decided for the truth. "Can't say as I have."
"The blood acts to enhance the inebriant. Like a fine aged scotch. After experiencing it, you'll never want to go back to regular blood again. It just doesn't have that same…kick ."
"I know I can't get drunk on any alcohol unless there's blood involved, so that makes sense." Quinn tried to keep his voice neutral. "Gives a new meaning to a Bloody Mary, doesn't it?"
"Indeed, it does."
"So you're here a lot?"
"Once or twice a month. Any more and people might start wondering about the missing more than they already do."
Quinn felt cold then. "So you don't just drink from them. You kill them?"
"If I didn't, I'd have a police report out about some crazy man who bites necks."
His heart began to pound harder. God, he didn't want to know these things about Malcolm. "I… I wanted to ask you a question. From earlier."
Malcolm waved his hand. "Of course."
"Back at your house, you said that you sent me the letter years ago in the hopes that I'd follow the clues to find you. And the red stone."
"That is correct."
"But then you said that it takes two immortal beings—two vampires—to reveal the map."
A smile played at the corners of Malcolm's mouth. "Also correct."
Quinn frowned. "But when you sent me the letter, I was human. I didn't become a vampire until recently.
How would I have been any use to you if I'd come here as a human?"
The smile spread. "I intended on siring you when you arrived. I actually was slightly disappointed when I learned that it wouldn't be necessary."
Quinn's mouth felt dry. "You… you were going to make me into a vampire?"
"It is the only way for this plan to work."
Quinn was silent for a very long time, just taking this information in. Processing it. Trying to get it to make some sort of damn sense.
Malcolm gazed again at the swelling crowd at the bar. "How is it possible that humans still have no idea that vampires exist?" he mused aloud.
Quinn swallowed past the thick lump in his throat. He felt numb, suddenly. "They don't want to know."
"That's true. For to know of such a darkness lying so close to their everyday lives would change the entire world for them, wouldn't it? The number of times that a vampire has shown its true face in the midst of a crowd…" He sighed "And afterward, the humans just speak about the odd event and go back to their normal lives as if nothing had happened. Fangs are not enough to convince anyone anymore.
Teenagers have their teeth filed sharp to dress up as something they want to be but don't truly believe in.
They wear dark clothes and white makeup and even try to drink blood as if that makes them a vampire.