Annie Nicholas: Bait

We didn’t go far before we reached the end of the basement. The dance area wasn’t much, just a cleared section of the cement floor. Three women danced together. They left when they saw us approach.

Dragos left me at the edge of the dance floor as he addressed the gathering audience.

“Our gracious host, your Lord Rurik, has offered us a gift.” He gestured to me. “We will entertain him with a dance in gratitude.” Applause and whistles followed this announcement.

This announcement hit me like a truck. I stepped back, my pulse pounded in my ears as my hands began to sweat. Not for the reasons you’d think. Not because vampires surrounded me, or I’d been given to the scary Master of the Lord of Budapest. No, I was about to be made to dance in front of all of them. When I danced on a crowded floor surrounded by other people, I could move to the rhythm as I wanted, and no one watched. Dragos and I had this floor all to ourselves.

I felt a hand support my elbow. Rurik stood next to me, a concerned look on his face. He’d followed us. A small surge of pleasure surprised me at his keeping his promise. Now I needed to keep mine and be a midnight snack.

My hand clasped at his. “I-I can’t do this.”

He smiled at me. “Do what?” He knew what, he just wanted to torture me.

“Dance in front of all these people,” I hissed back.

“You see us as people? That’s a good beginning, Rabbit.”

“What?” I was too nervous to follow the sharp twist in the conversation.

“Most humans would have said monsters, not people.”

Here I was in the throes of massive stage fright and I had Dr. Phil analyzing me. Who cared? People, monsters—they all had eyes pointed at me.

He chuckled. ”You are entertaining.” He lifted my chin to look into my eyes. “I can help by influencing your mind, like outside in the alley.” His smile softened. “I swore to protect you if I could, but let him feed if he wants. This will make him happy. He likes to show off, especially in front of my people, so don’t struggle. It excites him too much and he will hurt you more than necessary. Are you willing to keep your end of the bargain?”

I didn’t see that coming. I took a shaky breath. “How much influencing are we talking about?” It would be nice to keep something in my head intact. No one knew the side effects of multiple mind invasions.

“Just a little, enough to get you through the dance,” he whispered back.

“Okay.” I wanted to get it over with before my anxiety consumed me. I expected something like earlier, a warm wave that made me feel carefree, but he changed it. Just a trickle of warmth flushed through me. My anxiety fled and was replaced by self-assurance.

I could do this—the dance we were going to perform was easy.

Dragos removed his vest and left it on the floor. The strong line of his back extended down to a slim waist. He filled his form fitting leather pants, leaving little to the imagination.

A local song I’d heard over and over in the bars thumped from the speakers.

I strutted out to Dragos.

“Are you ready, my little rabbit?” He placed one of my hands on his shoulder and we began a simple fast waltz. The tension in my arms and legs eased as he moved us around the dance floor. I flowed with the movement as he led us faster and faster with the music. My curls began to whip around my face with each quick turn. I knew where he wanted me to step as he spun us around and around, until I could only focus on him. He was power and control. Being in the center of it with him was as sweet and deadly as Rurik’s fruit juice ambrosia.

He suddenly stopped to twirl me on my toes.

My breath caught as I wound down around his leg and rested on the floor by his feet. It must have looked great since everyone erupted in applause.

Rurik stood across from us. He clapped and laughed with the others but when his gaze met mine, I saw the amusement didn’t reach his eyes.

Dragos lifted me to my feet and startled a little cry from me. He placed my hands on the solid expanse of his chest, while he put his own hands behind his back. He pushed me back across the dance floor, shifting us around with unnatural grace for a man his size.

We came to the edge of the crowd. He wrapped his arms around me and we started our waltz once more. This time he had us bending our torsos together with the spin. My back arched and pressed us together as he supported my weight with his hands. When had I become so flexible? I laughed out loud. I’d always wanted to be able to dance like this and given the situation, it was hilarious.

He grinned, exposing all his teeth. We slowed down to a stop in each other’s arms. Then he bent me back slowly into a deep, deep dip that made my knees bend with the arching of my back.

He ran the tip of his tongue from my low neckline between my breasts up slowly to the hollow of my neck. Alarms and gongs clanged in my head. My stomach churned at his touch.

I was in deep shit.

He nipped gently at the sensitive skin along my collarbone and pressed me against him as his mouth found the pulse point on my neck.

I tensed with expectation. This was it. My first bite and I hoped I survived.

He suddenly dropped me on my head. It exploded with pain and stars danced before my eyes.

The next thing I knew Rurik knelt by my shoulders and guided me to stand. Dragos was gone and people turned to the entrance of the basement in alarm. Rurik shoved me behind his back and I wobbled on loose knees, so he kept one of his hands around my waist to help my balance.

There were cries of dismay and Dragos men mobilized as his voice barked orders. That’s when I saw the first UV light grenade go off.

My cavalry had arrived.

The music quieted and inhuman high pitched screeches filled the smoky air of the dimly lit basement. Sounds of a fight erupted toward the entrance but grew closer. Another UV grenade went off and the basement air grew thick with ash. They were like low intensity balls of sunlight but they needed to be on top of the vampire to be effective. If I got to close to one I’d have more than sunburn. Colby must be desperate to use them in such tight quarters.

Rurik herded me toward the stone wall.

I crouched to the floor and pressed myself against the cool surface while he towered over me to face the oncoming assault. His actions surprised me. I knew he promised to protect me but I was impressed a vampire would follow through on his word.

Tane appeared beside him. “It’s a group of humans.” He handed Rurik a handgun, which he stuck in his back waistband. “The gun won’t help much with the fight if it’s in there.”

“I don’t intend to use it unless forced to. Their bullets won’t kill me.”

“They’ve got those cursed sunlight weapons, they know what we are.” Tane glanced down at me and winked while he showed off his fangs with a big smile.

Rurik elbowed him. “Leave her alone. How did a bunch of slayers find us?”

Tane’s smile faltered and he shrugged. He pointed to the gathering mass at the entrance. “Go to the left and I’ll flank them from the right. We’ll corral them and keep them in a tight group so they can’t use the sunlight weapons.” Tane spoke without any of his earlier animosity. He’d given me the impression he hated Rurik, yet now they spoke to each other like good friends.

This switch made me more wary. These were more than just creatures of the night. Some of their human nature traversed the change to vampire. I always thought they mimicked our behavior to draw in prey but my experiences tonight changed my mind.

Gunshots startled us. Most of the crowd ducked and scattered. Rurik grabbed my arm and dragged me to the closest seating area. I gasped at the rough handling as he wedged me between a couch and a wall.