Lynsay Sands - The Reluctant Vampire

“I renovated it floor by floor, and the restaurant handled the room service. We built a reputation, and the hotel started to flourish as well. So I opened another, and then another.

“Everything rolled along nicely, but I soon grew bored again, and then in. . I think it was the 1920s,” he murmured, then shrugged it away as unimportant and continued, “I read an article about a brand-new technique for preserving food.”

“Frozen food,” Drina said with amusement.

Harper nodded. “I got in on the ground floor. We started with vegetables, and then branched out to entrees, and, as I said, we recently added wine to what we do.” He smiled wryly. “See, I told you that my history wasn’t nearly as exciting as yours.”

Drina shook her head. “I don’t know. It sounds exciting enough. Truth be told, my life wasn’t nearly as exciting as it sounds in the recounting. I mean titles like gladiator, pirate, and madam sound exciting I suppose, but in reality they were just another day in the life. Being a gladiator was hot, sweaty, bloody labor, hacking away at other gladiators. Being a pirate wasn’t much different than being a sailor. It was night after night of hauling rope, raising sails, and steering into a storm with the occasional battle to get the blood going. And as a madam, I mostly greeted the men at the door like a Wal-Mart greeter, reading their minds as they entered the establishment to be sure they had no nefarious plans. Then I sat about, reading or playing cards until the evening ended, and the men left. The only excitement that occurred there was when the occasional fellow got too rough, or tried to make one of the girls do something she didn’t want to. And then that was a momentary adrenaline rush as I saw them off the premises.”

She shrugged wryly. “If I’ve learned anything in all my years, it’s that nothing is as exciting or glamorous as it sounds. I suspect if you read the minds of movie stars and rock stars, you’d probably find their lives were a daily grind with the occasional fan frenzy to scare the crap out of them and get the blood going.”

Harper smiled. “You’re surprisingly sensible for one who has been so rebellious most of her life.”

Drina shrugged. “We all live and learn.”

Harper nodded, and glanced around as the car slowed. “We’re here.”

Drina leaned forward, stretching her upper body in front of his to peer curiously out the window at the very uninteresting building they were stopping in front of.

“Nondescript like our clubs in Europe,” she commented, placing her hand on his shoulder as if to keep her balance.

“Yes,” Harper agreed, sounding a tad husky.

She turned her head and smiled at him, close enough to kiss, as she said, “I suppose it’s to avoid attracting mortals.”

“Yes,” he repeated, this time in barely more than a whisper. His head began to move forward, and Drina moved her own head closer, and then they both froze as the front door slammed shut. Harper glanced past her to the now-vacant driver’s seat, then out the side window, and sighed. “Right, we’re here.”

Drina straightened as the driver opened the door on Harper’s side. She then followed him out of the car and into the cold night. Harper paused long enough to give instructions to his driver before hustling her to the door of the Night Club.

A wave of heat and sound hit them as they entered and Drina peered around curiously, not at all surprised to find it looked like any club in any city. They were in a large room with shadowed booths around the edge of a lit dance floor. Loud music blared from all corners. Harper started to lead her to one of the few empty booths, but she caught his arm and leaned up to ask, “Is there a lounge area? Somewhere quieter, where we can talk when not dancing?”

Nodding, he changed direction at once and led her to a set of swinging doors. They pushed through into another room, this one wholly made up of tables and booths and much quieter once the doors swung shut behind them. They chose a booth along the wall.

Sliding into one side, Drina smiled as she shrugged out of her coat. “We can always go in there to dance as we like, but it will be easier to talk in here when we want a break.”

“Smart thinking,” Harper said, hanging his own coat from a hook at the end of the booth. He then took her coat to hang it beside his.

He slid in across from her, murmuring an apology as his feet nudged hers, then glanced around as a waitress appeared. He smiled at her, but then glanced to Drina, and asked, “Do you know what you want? Or would you like to check the menu?”

For answer, she picked up a narrow menu in a holder at the end of the table and opened it, saying, “It’s probably better to see what they have in case the selection isn’t the same as in Spain or the names are different.”

Harper nodded and turned to the waitress, but she was already slipping away, saying, “I’ll give you a minute.”

Drina laid the menu on the table and turned it sideways so they could both see it. They each leaned forward, head to head to look it over, but then a beeping came from Harper’s coat. Frowning, he straightened and reached in the pocket to retrieve his phone.

Drina politely pretended she couldn’t hear what he was saying, not that there was much to hear. He said, “Hello,” listened briefly, and then sighed, and said, “I did wonder about that. All right. Well, there’s nothing we can do about it.” Another silence followed, and then he said, “I’m not sure. I’ll have to call you back on that.”

Drina glanced at him in question as he hung up, and Harper grimaced.

“It seems it’s officially a blizzard out there,” he announced apologetically. “That was my pilot saying they’ve shut down the airport and are advising people to stay off the highways. He thinks they’ll be closing those soon too, but whatever the case, it isn’t safe to take the helicopter back to Port Henry tonight.”

Drina stared at him blankly for a minute, and then reached for her own phone.

“We can try driving back tonight, but we’d have to leave right away if you want to give it a go,” Harper said, as she began to punch in the number for Casey Cottage. “Otherwise, we aren’t leaving until tomorrow sometime, and then only if the storm lets up.”

Drina bit her lip and nodded to acknowledge his words, then stilled as the phone picked up on the other end.

“Drina?” Mirabeau said by way of greeting.

“Yes, I-”

“Listen, a big storm hit here an hour or so after you guys left. They just shut down the 401 from London to Woodstock, and I suspect the rest of the highway will soon follow. I’m thinking it probably isn’t safe for you guys to fly. You two better not try to come back tonight.”

“What about Stephanie?” Drina asked with a frown. “I’m supposed to sleep-”

“She’s sound asleep on the sofa with the TV on. We’ll leave her there for now. If she wakes up and wants to go to bed, I’ll go up with her. It’s not a problem. Although, that probably isn’t even necessary tonight. Leonius isn’t in the area, and she isn’t likely to try running away in a blizzard, especially with them shutting down the highways. Even if she managed to slip away, there aren’t any buses running to take her anywhere.”

“Right,” Drina murmured. “I guess it’s best we not try coming back then.”

“Definitely,” Mirabeau assured her. “Don’t worry. Everything is good. You and Harper just get a hotel room or something and stay in the city until this clears.”

“I have an apartment here in the city. We can stay there,” Harper announced, apparently having caught the gist of the conversation. He punched a stream of numbers into his phone and turned it toward her so she could read from the small screen. “This is the number, give it to her and tell her to call if there are any problems.”