Page 37 of The Monster and the Last Blood Match

“Best knockoffs I’ve ever seen,” Mara said. She clearly didn’t buy it.

“Want a drink?” Everett asked.

“Dying for one,” Reyna said. She hopped out of the booth and followed him to the bar. “What the hell was that?”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Visage isn’t well-liked around here.”

“How do you even know I work for Visage?”

Everett gave her a meaningful look. “A beautiful woman with an unlimited credit card hanging around Beckham Anderson? Kind of an easy guess.”

“Oh.” Reyna felt her cheeks heat. “You think I’m beautiful?”

Everett laughed. “Yes, but don’t let Beckham know. He’s a scary motherfucker.”

“True.” She could hardly disagree, but one thing stuck out to her. “Wait, is Beckham normally with other pretty women?” She leaned against the bar as Everett ordered drinks.

“I wouldn’t say normally, but the women I’ve seen him with have been attractive.” Everett gave her a weird look. “Why?”

“Just curious.”

The thought of Beckham having other women filter through his life was unsettling. She didn’t know what that meant. She had only been here a short while. But it made sense with the way the system was typically laid out that he’d have a new blood donor every month. And they all happened to be beautiful women for the wealthy elite.

She couldn’t figure out why it unsettled her so much to think about him eating from anyone else. She ignored that pang in her belly. This was a job. And it had been a job for those women, too. There was absolutely nothing wrong with what any of them were doing. And really, it was none of her business. None of her business at all.

Everett handed her a dark-red drink, and she raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

“Enjoy the irony. It’s called a bloodsucker.”

Reyna brought it to her mouth. The thick red liquid touched her lips, and a burst of cherry flavor assaulted her taste buds. It was sugary sweet and delicious. Everett reached forward and wiped a stray bit of the drink from her lip. She stiffened and looked away from his face. She wasn’t sure what Everett thought it meant to bring her here, but she was looking for friends.

Her mind strayed to what Beckham’s reaction would have been to seeing blood on her lips. It was wrong on so many levels.

Reyna followed Everett back to his friends and slid into the booth. Brianna and Coop were making out while Tucker was chugging a beer. She had never met such free-spirited people. Everyone back home worked constantly. The hours were rough, and people were too exhausted to have much time for fun like this. Even her time with Steven had been in between his shifts at the factories.

Mara leaned over Reyna and tapped Everett on the arm. “You got her a bloodsucker?” She gave him a drunk pouty face.

“It’s cool, Mara. Don’t worry about it.”

She pulled her hand back and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Brianna came up for air. “Oh, a bloodsucker. So delicious. You can’t even taste the blood in them.”

Reyna paled. “What?”

Mara laughed. “Nice one, Brianna.”

“She was kidding,” Everett said. “No blood. Just alcohol.”

“Oh.”

“Speaking of bloodsuckers,” Brianna said, nodding her head out to the dance floor.

Everyone turned to look. Reyna didn’t see any vampires. Granted, the only ones she knew were rather wealthy and probably wouldn’t frequent a club like this.

“She’s hot,” Tucker said.

“Tucker!” Mara said with a shake of her head.

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