Club Nexus (Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective) Read Free Page B

stretching tight across the bones of my
face.  It wasn’t breaking the law if the uppity council didn’t know about it.
    I sidled up to the bar, awed once again by the shelves of
glowing liquids encased in glass bottles.  None of these victuals would sustain
me, there was only one substance now that could accomplish that, but I ordered
a shot of bourbon anyway.  I stared into my glass, watching the blue, green,
and pink reflections sparkle across the surface, while I waited for my contact
to arrive.
    I breathed deeply as two women, one fae and one human,
crossed the room heading toward the other end of the bar.  I no longer had to
breathe to survive, but I scented their blood like a sommelier running wine
along the tongue.  The faerie smelled like toasted pain and simmering hope, as
if she was a creature of fire who’d long been broken and was only now beginning
to put the pieces of her life back together.  The human lacked the subtleties
of fae scent, but her blood pounded tantalizingly beneath the skin and her hair
smelled like cherry blossoms.
    As a fool boy, I’d picked bushels of cherries from a nearby
orchard and ate until I thought I would burst.  Groaning with an upset stomach
from overeating, I’d felt dumber than a stump, that was certain, but now I’d
give anything for that sated feeling.  I needed an abundance of blood and pain
to feel content these days, both of which were in short supply while following
the rules of Vampire Law.
    I flicked my eyes to the shifting purple sand in the
hourglass suspended above the bar.  Puck was late.
    I didn’t care for Puck’s company; he was slicker than a
bullfrog in a rainstorm.  But I had to admit, for a faerie, he was sensible. 
He’d had the horse sense to make a regular business of the Bite Club clientele
and our sundry needs.  Deviance is nothing if not full of variety and Puck had
discovered how to capitalize on each and every one of our desires.  In fact, I
wouldn’t be surprised if the imp was purposely late to our meetings to build
the suspense, and empty my wallet.
    I scowled at the time and massaged my temples.  Where the
devil was he?   Beneath my glamour, my fangs lengthened.  I needed to feed,
now.  Perhaps if I bought the ladies at the other end of the bar a drink, I
could lure them into a shadowy corner.  The council be damned.
    I was so caught up in the dust storm of my thoughts that I
jumped when a hand slapped my back.  I turned to see the body of a young man
attached to the offending hand.  Puck appeared to be about seventeen, no more
than three years younger than I’d been when I was turned, but his dimples and
mop of curly, blond hair gave his face a childish innocence.  As my ma would
have said, he was cuter than a box of puppies.
    And like a puppy, he’d be happy to take all I had to give
and then shit in my boots.  Too bad he was the only purveyor of vice—true vice,
the kind without limits—in this god forsaken town.
    “You’re late,” I said.  I tossed back the bourbon and
upended the empty glass, slamming it on the bar with a wallop.
    “Sorry, Cyrus,” Puck said.  The curl of his lip was enough
to know the faerie’s apology wasn’t genuine, but I held myself rigid.  Tearing
off this one’s head would do me no good.  More’s the pity.
    “I ain’t seen hide nor hair of you all evenin’,” I said.  I
frowned around my fangs, trying to ignore the ache in my jaw.
    “Busy night,” Puck said with a shrug.
    Puck looked around the bar and smiled at one of the women
I’d been stalking.  My prey.   The predator in me wanted to lash out and
tear his spine through his eye socket, but I pressed my lips together and
remained seated on the barstool.  The faerie may be too big for his britches,
but he’d provide me with a dinner date soon enough.
    “Got what I came for?” I asked.  No sense in waiting while
Puck made eyes at the human woman.  I was past waiting on the man.  It was time
to get down to