Page 16 of His Mate By Vengeance

Angelo could tell from Vin’s voice that he was deeply invested. That was real emotional pain he could hear straining his words. “Why do you care so much?” he asked.

Maybe it was a horrible thing to ask, but the vampire literally killed people for a living, and he was clearly old enough that he should’ve had that same callous disregard for life that so many others of his kind had.

Vin stared out his window for long enough that Angelo thought he wouldn’t answer. His whispered words when they finally broke the silence broke him as well.

“Because I’ve been where that girl was.”

“Whoever they were needs to fucking die, too,” Angelo hissed, and he couldn’t help but feel a little proud at the bark of laughter he pulled from the strong, vulnerable, beautiful, crazy vampire sitting beside him.

“They are long dead, Angel. I got my revenge and I promise I’ll give you yours as well.”

Vin being Vin, he followed up that dramatic statement by turning on the stereo and fiddling with it until a loud dance track was pouring out of the speakers.

“Time to go play, pretty puppy,” he said, eyes shining as he moved sinuously in his seat to the music. “I hope you like to dance.”

CHAPTER 5: ANGELO

They rockedup to the club just before the worst of the crowds, a long queue forming behind them as they waited for the handful of people to be let in ahead. Angelo kept his eyes trained on their surroundings, scanning for threats. Kyan could have people anywhere and there was no telling what the witches working here would do if they discovered Vin was a vampire.

“Look at you going all bodyguard on me,” Vin murmured, placing a teasing hand on his biceps.

Angelo wasn’t fooled. The vampire was keeping just as keen an eye on everyone around them.

The doorman paid more attention to him than Vin when it was their turn to enter, glaring at him and giving a whispered warning that any shifter shit wouldn’t be tolerated. Witches and shifters didn’t get along much better than witches and vamps, but the witches hated the vamps more because they were literally a meal for them.

When they finally stepped inside and made their way up to the unique circular space that housed the club, sensory shock momentarily overwhelmed Angelo. The music hurt hissensitive ears, the flashing lights were enough to give someone a seizure, and the scents of so many sweaty, aroused people mixed together were as nauseating as they were exciting.

Barely dressed men pole-danced on floating transparent circular platforms of different heights suspended by steel cables from the industrial ceiling. He suspected the witch who ran the club had used a little hidden magic in that set-up. Not enough to clue in any oblivious humans, but the overall effect was too perfect to be mundane. The view of the dancers was too enticing. The poles were hollow and transparent, like Perspex, extending down to the floor. Customers on the dance floor could show their appreciation for the performers above by sliding tips into a slot and the money was sucked up the water-filled pipe. The dancers twined and swung around a swirling whirlpool of dollar bills while the water glowed an alluring blue with no sign of any natural illumination. Hex-rated, indeed. Humans were so oblivious. He wondered if the witches used this place for money laundering, too. It’d be a bit on the nose.

Angelo cursed as he realised Vin had disappeared from his side while he was distracted. It took him far longer to find him than it should have because it hadn’t occurred to him that the vampire might head to the bar and buy a cocktail like he was an ordinary human at a club. He had super speed and was invisible to cameras. They could’ve been in and out of here in minutes. They sure as fuck didn’t need?—

“Corpse Revivers! I got one for you, too, sexy,” Vin said, somehow sneaking under his arm while balancing two cocktail glasses as he twisted into Angelo’s body until they were all wrapped up in each other.

The bartender watched on with something between suspicion and concern on his face. He was big for a witch. Despite being classed as part of the supernatural community for theirmagic, witches had no extra speed, strength, or lifespan compared to humans. This guy wasn’t a lot smaller than Angelo, though, with a broad muscled chest. His long brown hair was tied up in a messy bun and he sported a neatly trimmed beard. The rolled-up sleeves of his collared shirt revealed strong, heavily tattooed forearms that were basically vein porn, and tight curls of chest hair were visible through the top two buttons that were undone.

Angelo couldn’t help but slide his hand up Vin’s body to grasp the back of his neck possessively as he saw the guy checking out the vampire’s ass.

“If he gives you any trouble, you let me know, sweetheart,” the bartender called, flexing his power with a flash of blue at his fingers that was small enough not to be noticed by any humans, but was a clear warning to Angelo.

Water magic. Probably handy for mixing drinks and making those poles work. At least they could exclude him from suspicion over the earth magic that had killed their attacker.

“Awww, Cal. You’re the sweetheart, Sugar,” Vin said, blowing the guy a fucking kiss over his shoulder.

Angelo swallowed down a growl and dug his fingers into Vin a little harder. If this bartender was Calder, he was the owner of the club, which explained his extra level of concern. How often had Vin come here pretending to be human and what had he got up to? Often enough to be on first-name terms with the owner. Although he noted Calder hadn’t called Vin by his name. Even though he knew the vampire wouldn’t have been able to hook up with any supernatural here without risking being found out, jealousy still burned through him.

Several people at the bar were watching the exchange with interest, either because Vin was that beautiful or because that creepy vampire power of his held them captive to hischarms. Angelo had no choice but to chill out and take the drink or cause a scene. He’d barely taken a sip before Vin squealed in excitement and grabbed his hand to pull him through the surging throng of people grinding on each other toward the stairs to the VIP area above them.

The room was circular, and the entire space was ringed by a balcony concourse for the city’s elite that overlooked the dancers. It also looked like a smaller circle in the roof could be opened to the sky, likely so they could use the club for larger magical workings when it was closed. Circles were great for magic. Or so he’d heard.

As they made it up to the balcony that circumnavigated the space, Angelo noted the dramatic hex theme was more pronounced than downstairs. Scattered booths of black embossed leather were lit by black skull candles on every table. The outer walls were lined with blood-red velvet curtains that did little to muffle the loud music bouncing around the space and made him nervous about what hid behind them. The rest of the building itself wasn’t round, so at least half the circular wall must be interior, with more rooms behind. Anyone could be waiting out of sight to ambush them. He’d already seen a dishevelled couple pushing a curtain aside and disappearing, presumably to find somewhere more private to continue whatever had led to one guy’s shirt being ripped half off his body.

Vin seemed to know where he was going, sauntering ahead of Angelo and directing them to an empty booth where they had a decent view of both the dance floor and the stairs they’d come up. A subtle check of the curtain behind the booth had him pretty sure they had their backs to a solid wall, at least.

Angelo placed his still-full cocktail on the table and slipped into the flickering, dimly lit shadows of the booth seating, relieved that the table was low and wouldn’t blockhim in if he needed to get up in a hurry. That escape route was ruined when Vin settled himself on Angelo’s lap instead of sitting beside him.

“What are you doing?” Angelo hissed in his ear, every muscle rigid. And he meanteverymuscle.

Damn that fucking vampire.

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