Guardian's Hope Read Free

counter.
“About the twins, I don’t suppose…?”
    One side of Nico’s mouth curled up in a
sardonic smile. “I’ll go, but if I find them and they won’t come
willingly, I won’t guarantee their physical wellbeing.”
    “Fair enough,” agreed Canaan.
    “Thank you,” said Grace with a grateful
smile. “I know I shouldn’t worry. They’re grown men. Still…”
    “You worry,” Nico said. It was one of the
traits that made the woman so endearing. She was so open with her
love and her worry for them all. He felt a small pang of envy
toward his Liege Lord and it startled him. He never sought or
expected happiness in his own life, what reason would he have to be
envious of those who had it in theirs?
     

 
     
     
    Chapter 2

    Hope paced the sidewalk across the street
from Bloodsucker’s for a half hour before she gathered enough nerve
to enter. Seeing the people wandering in and out of the place had
shaken her more than the building itself. Pale faces, elaborate
make-up and black leather seemed to be the fashion choice. Men
dressed in tuxedoes with black capes swirling around them escorted
women in slinky black dresses with spidery hems and flowing
sleeves. Other men were dressed in black leather trousers with
silky black shirts open to their waist or vests studded with metal
and looped with chains matching the jewelry that studded their
bodies. She saw a woman wearing leather straps and little else, the
straps barely covering her most private parts. The woman strode
down the sidewalk in heels that had to be six inches high. It
amazed her that most of the women in their skimpy clothing weren’t
wearing coats, preferring to freeze on this January night rather
than cover their costumes and body art.
    Her wool coat, calf-length skirt, and bulky
knit sweater looked as out of place here as any of these people
would look in her father’s church. Even if she purchased a whole
new wardrobe of modern, worldly women’s wear, she would still look
out of place at Bloodsucker’s. She took a deep breath and
straightened her shoulders. Out of place or not, this was the next
place on her list and enter it she would.
    When the state outlawed cigarette smoking in
restaurants and bars, the owners of Bloodsuckers compensated by
burning copious amounts of incense. Their purpose was twofold. The
burning incense created the same pre-ban dim and smoke filled
atmosphere and the mix of spicy scents covered the smell produced
by those surreptitiously smoking substances other than tobacco.
    She wrinkled her nose at the acrid mix of
smells and the smoky haze made her eyes tear. She stood in the
doorway for a moment until her eyes stopped watering and her nose
adjusted.
    Compared to the few other places she’d been
on her nightly visits, this place was the creepiest. At least it
was medium sized and all on one floor. Booths and tables ringed the
crowded dance floor where bodies writhed under flashing lights that
seemed to stop motion. The music, which wasn’t music to Hope’s
ears, throbbed and pounded. A bar ran along one wall and she
searched the line of stools for a vacancy. According to Lenny,
bartenders remembered faces.
    Heads turned as she moved toward the back.
She felt her cheeks redden and kept her eyes cast down. She was
halfway along when a man left his seat at the bar to sit with a
party at a table and Hope slipped into his place before anyone
could object. The man to her left turned his head and smiled. He
had fangs! She stole a quick look around the room. Good Gracious,
almost everyone had fangs. Some were obviously plastic, but some
looked very real.
    “Never been to a Vamp bar before, huh?” the
man asked.
    “No. I can’t say that I have.” Something in
the man’s look made her nervous.
    “Why don’t I show you around?”
    “I think I can see it all from here. Thank
you.” She turned away and looked for the bartender who was taking
his time polishing the other end of the bar. When he finally
reached her,