Page 39 of Bent Out of Shade
The vampire shook his head and Rodrigo cursed.
“What was that about?” I said, once more hurrying behind the Undertaker. When he didn’t answer me—big shock—I returned to the more pressing topic. “Did Sadie and the kids see anything…untoward?” My stomach growled again, and I rubbed it. If I didn’t get a meal soon, I was going to Hulk-rage.
“No. They spent about five minutes in one of the single-bulb bars before they were discovered.”
We hit my second-least favorite place in Blood Alley after the dungeon: Gargoyle Gardens. The large unkempt lawn strewn with creepy gargoyle statues that I was convinced would come alive at any moment had also been the scene of a dybbuk attack. Two strikes; I wasn’t looking forward to number three.
I raced through those shadows so quickly that Rodrigo had to keep up with me.
Once we were safely inside Rome, I summoned the courage to ask the question I dreaded the answer to. “Were they taken through the club to get to Mr. BatKian’s office?” That place boasted a level of hedonistic decadence that shocked even me.
Rodrigo gave a ghost of a smile. “Yes, thrown over vamps’ shoulders and blurred through at top speed. The kids didn’t see squat.”
I sighed. “Thank you.”
I followed him in silence down the levels to the dance floor and the door leading to the basement. Much as I tried not to glimpse the goings-on in the shadowy corners, my eyes were drawn to the couples who writhed and fed in sinuous and blatant sensuality.
I fanned out the front of my dress. This night should have ended very differently for me.
Finally, we arrived at Zev’s red office door. Rodrigo rapped briskly and was commanded to enter.
The Undertaker shook his head and Zev frowned.
“How many does that leave?” the vampire said.
“Three.”
Three what? Clearly there was trouble in nocturnal paradise. But whatever Zev was glowering distantly about, I wasn’t going to inquire. Now was not the time, not when I had Sadie to rescue.
“Very well,” Zev said.
Rodrigo left and I pushed deeper into the room. “Hi.”
A woman with a bubblegum-pink bob sat in profile to me, and across from Zev.
I narrowed my eyes. Nope, not a woman. A child whose acting out was the gift that kept on giving. “Nice dress, Sadie. You couldn’t find a hand towel to wear?” I’d never seen this outfit, but it barely covered her butt.
She wriggled in her seat to try to pull it down.
I grimaced. “Just stop.”
My daughter faced me, biting on her thumbnail. She’d gone full anime with liner and shadow to make her eyes look wide, topped with long spiky lashes, and a pink pout of a mouth.
“Good evening to you too, Ms. Feldman.” Zev sat back in his chair behind the desk, impeccably turned out as usual. He held a horrifically ornate chalice and there was a smear of blood, hopefully synthetic, on his lip.
A mounted carved clock that I’d never seen before ticked each second off with a ponderous weight. The old-fashioned fussy timepiece didn’t fit the rest of the aesthetic with its sleek lines and unusual wood grains. The minute hand hit the half hour and a burst of Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue” pealed through the room.
Sadie jumped a good two inches.
The vamp lifted the chalice to his mouth, but not before I saw his lips quirk.
He was messing with my kid, props and all.
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scream. Perhaps, if he was amused, we’d get out unscathed. Or perhaps we’d have to move into a new place that he hadn’t been invited into.
Who was I kidding? He’d find a way to get to us if he so desired.
“Thank you for keeping her here safely,” I said. “We won’t intrude anymore.”
