Page 77 of Midnight Queen

When I walk into the main room, and the heeled boots I wear slip through a puddle of something, I begin to really wish the lights were on.

In an ungraceful manner, my legs go out from under me, and I land on my ass in the same puddle I’d originally stepped in. My hands slide through the sticky liquid when I put them out to steady me. As it coats my fingers, I figure out what it is I’m now sitting in.

Blood.

After the past month I’ve had, I’m very familiar with what it feels like to be covered in blood. It’s a sensation I’d prefer to not recognize so easily.

An indescribable fear wraps around my chest and squeezes until I can’t breathe. Is this Lucy’s blood? Did Rowena already kill her? “Oh god,” I groan, the nausea from before returning at full force.

My muscles shake as I climb back to my feet. It’s just dark enough in here that I can’t make anything out. It’s all just dark shapes and shadows.

Wiping my hands on my jeans, I stumble across the space toward the bar, where I know there’s a light switch behind the counter.

I need to see whose blood I’m now drenched in.Like a mantra, I repeat,‘you don’t know if it’s hers, you don’t know if it’s hers.’

My fingers just brush against one of the barstools when some of the overhead lights are flipped on.

“You made good time, Quincey,” Rowena’s disjointed voice comes from behind me, making my heart skip in my chest. “That’s good. I’ve grown tired of waiting.”

Whirling around, I find her sitting on the raised platform where the DJ booth sits. She looks as regal as ever with her shin-length silk skirt and her lace top. Her red hair is curled into perfect ringlets and her ever-present, dark-red lipstick is perfectly in place. Everything about her is polished and perfect. Except for that devious fucked-up head of hers.

With the lights on, she’s not the only thing that’s now visible.

The more my eyes scan the space, the more faces I recognize. Various staff members of St. Sin lie in haphazard heaps on the floor. They look like they’ve been torn apart by a wild animal. The black tiled floor is made mostly of blood pools now.I worked with most of these people during my short stint here as a bartender and now they’re collateral damage from the war Rowena started.

I look at each and every one of their faces, but don’t find my friend among them.

“Where is Lucy?” I demand, my anger gives me the confidence to stalk toward her. “I did what you said. I’m here. Now let Lucy go.”

Rowena’s green eyes roll in her head with an unimpressed scoff. “Your friend is fine—she has a very crude vocabulary—but she’s fine.” Her hand gestures at the door that leads to Ray’s office. “See, I’ll prove it.”

A tall skinny man exits the office and in front of him, he pushes a gagged and bound Lucy in a wheeled desk chair.

Even if her mouth is taped shut, her eyes reveal everything Lucy is thinking. She’s still scared, but it’s slowly being eclipsed by a blazing rage.

“Lucy,” I sigh in relief. “Are you oka—” the question dies on my lips when I spot puncture marks and dried blood on her neck. “What the fuck?” my voice is a murderous growl when I turn back to Rowena. “What did you do?”

Dramatically, Rowena wipes the corners of her mouth even though there’s no longer evidence of her action on her lips. “What? I got peckish. I worked up quite the appetite doing all of this.” She points flippantly at all the dead humans around us.

The skinny vampire tears the tape from Lucy’s mouth.

“Motherfucker!” she cries in pain once the silver tape is off her face. Panting, my friend looks at me, “Q, she’s a fuckingvampire.”

There’s no point in trying to lie or deny it. “I know.”

She gapes at me. “What do you mean, youknow?”

“Silas is one too,” I admit. I have a sinking suspicion that I may not be making it out of this club, I don’t see any harm in sharing a few secrets with my best friend before I go. “I’ve learned all kinds of things from him.”

I expect Lucy to freak out and ask all kinds of questions, but instead her eyes narrow. “I know,” she shocks me by saying. “I wasn’t sure ifyouknew.”

It’s my turn to gape at her. “What? How did you know?”

“Come on, Q. You think you’re the only one good at keeping secrets? I know all kinds of things.” Lucy’s attention swings to the redhead. “Although, I'm still really confused about what we did to pissheroff.”

I havesomany questions for my best friend.

Rowena raises a brow at her. “Whatyoudid?” she repeats. “You didn’t do anything, Lucy. You were simply bait. Thank you for playing your role so wonderfully.”

---