Suzanne McLeod - The Cold Kiss of Death

‘What?’ I frowned. ‘I told you I would.’

‘You are delaying us.’

‘No, I’m trying to be practicable ...’ My mind froze as he lifted his hand and traced a gentle line down my cheek, then tipped my chin up.

‘I may not like this guise of yours ...’ He reached out and wrapped my blonde ponytail loosely round his hand. The magic reacted to his touch, raising goosebumps over my skin. ‘... but it will make it easier for me to cloud others’ thoughts. They will not know you are sidhe. Besides, it is better that Rosa does not make her appearance too soon,’ he said softly, then lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me. His lips were cool, a coolness that invaded my mouth, muted the small throbbing pain of his earlier bite and slipped down my throat like numbing ice water on a parched summer’s day. He raised his head and smiled at me.

I smiled happily back at him, wanting to kiss him again, to taste him again.

He took my hand and laced his chill fingers with mine. ‘Come, we will do this together, Genevieve.’

I blinked at my reflection in the black wraparound glasses of the small Monitor goblin perched behind one of the Blue Heart’s ticket booths. His dyed blue hair stuck up in a spiral from his head like a unicorn’s horn. ‘There you go, miss,’ he said cheerfully as he grasped my fingers and stamped the back of my hand with a blue heart the size of a pound coin. ‘All ready to party.’

I blinked again. Now I stood with Malik in an empty circle of floor in the middle of the foyer. I looked around with detached interest. It was Saturday night, and the place was heaving. Humans stood in long queues at the semi-circular payment booths, waiting for their own entry stamps, and others waited with bulging baskets at the checkout point in the bat—and pumpkin-decorated gift shop. Yet more gathered at the Blue Artery Bar, where a dark red sludge-like smoothie swirling with toxic orange—enticingly labelled Carotid Cocktail + Scary Shot—appeared to be the hot-ticket item. And opposite the cloakroom was another new addition: a booth where a shorter line of humans waited for Mr Nash, specialist in dental caps and implants ~ Fangs for the night, or for Eternity ~ Hallowe’en exclusives now available. Even those who’d paid still had to queue. They snaked between blue velvet ropes, chattering excitedly while they waited to go through the double doors into the club’s interior. As I peered through the crowd, I could see more humans having their photos taken with either a bare-chested, fang-flashing vampire hunk or a hissing, diaphanously clad Bride of Dracula.

The fang-fans had to be haemorrhaging money straight into the vamps’ bloated bank accounts at this rate. The expense of their new Gold-Plated Coffin campaign was certainly paying them back big-time, and not just in blood.

Malik shifted beside me, reminding me how I’d got in here—or rather, reminding me that I didn’t actually know how I’d got in here. I glared down at our laced fingers and jerked my hand from his. ‘Will you stop siccing me with your mind-melds,’ I whispered through gritted teeth. ‘I told you, it bugs the hell out of me. And what was that thing about Rosa not appearing yet?’

‘Later, Genevieve.’ He sounded tired as he looked about him, searching for something, or someone. ‘Time is not on our side if we are to achieve both this and deal with your police problem tonight.’

I frowned at him. His face was pale, and the blue veins under his jaw were darker and more pronounced. ‘What’s the matter with you? You look worse then you did five minutes ago.’

‘The humans,’ he murmured as an odd, almost panicked expression flickered briefly across his face, ‘they are more difficult to ignore than I expected.’

Uneasy, I narrowed my eyes. ‘I know you’re hungry but you were fine cooped up in the taxi with me.’

‘That is not the same, Genevieve.’ His eyes darkened. ‘You are not food, not as these—’

‘Malik al-Khan,’ a woman called, her voice sounding right by my ear, ‘where is she, Malik? You told me you would produce her tonight. The audience is gathered and they will require some explanation if they are to wait for their entertainment.’

‘She?’ I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously at him. ‘Which “she” is she talking about?’

‘ Genevieve, please take hold of my hand ,’ Malik ordered urgently in my mind. ‘ Now ,’ he insisted. ‘ Flesh to flesh will make it easier to trick her. You are not who she means. ’

I hesitated, then placed my hand in his outstretched one, his fingers closed over mine in a cold, painful grip, and an icy chill slipped through my veins until it lodged itself like a jagged lump of ice at the base of my throat. I swallowed past the pain and mentally sighed. Figured! As he turned us to face whoever, he pulled me closer to his side, my arm bent up behind my back, our joined hands hidden as if he’d captured me in an embrace—or intended dislocating my shoulder.

A dainty blonde vampire in a twenties-style dress strode towards us, hiding her lower face behind a black lace fan, the jet beads swinging on her dress clicking loudly as she moved. Elizabetta, head of the Golden Blade blood family. Some of the humans, with puzzled, even frightened expressions on their faces, were almost jumping over each other to get out of her way. Others stood and gaped in awe. What the hell was she doing to them?

‘ They will see her as Medusa, or maybe a glorious winged angel, or even leading a tiger ,’ Malik said. ‘ Those are her favourites. Elizabetta does not care for humans, but she is an ally, and is willing to assist me this night. ’

‘ You heard me? ’ I glanced at him as I thought the question.

‘ If you think directly at me, ’ his voice shivered through me, ‘ then joined like this, yes, I can hear you .’

Okay, so at least that was something on the positive side.

Malik squeezed my hand in reply as the dainty vampire halted in front of him. She was small, a few inches under five foot, and she’d been young, maybe sixteen or seventeen, when she’d accepted the Gift, but the disdainful expression in her odd colourless eyes was centuries old, and the power rolling off her made my Glamoured ponytail bristle like a scalded cat. I shook my head to rid myself of the irritating feeling.

‘Where is she, Malik?’ she demanded, her voice reverberating like an overloud bass speaker through my chest. I flinched, then clenched my free hand to stop from rubbing there. Damn vamp, using her mesma on me ... I tried to block her out, but the lump of ice in my throat wouldn’t let me. Then I realised her mesma wasn’t just directed at me; the humans nearby were rubbing their chests, some were even clutching their heads.

‘ She really doesn’t like humans, does she? ’ I muttered to him in my mind. ‘ I mean, I heard she was against all this celebrity stuff, but does she want to go back to living in the dark ages or something? ’

‘ Try and keep your expression as an adoring human, please, Genevieve, it will make things easier. ’ Malik’s hand tightened warningly on mine as he said, ‘Rosa will be here soon. Elizabetta.’

Ahh. So old Liz was looking for Rosa. Somehow I didn’t think it was to have a girly chat.

‘I hope she will.’ Elizabetta snapped her fan shut. ‘I am doing this only as a favour to you. If it was my choice, I’d be the first to sink my fangs in her throat, depraved bitch that she is. Why you want to prolong her existence when she is the cause of so many problems is beyond me.’

Yep, no girly chats for Rosa. I pasted on a smile, only it felt more like a goblin’s warning grin.