Page 5 of Princess
“Thanks,” she said to thebartender.
She glanced down to where he pointed; a nice-looking guy with short brown hair and glasses raised his glass. She smiled shyly, mouthing the words ‘thanks.’ She took a sip of her liquid courage and decided she might as well hurry this up. The guys were always quicker getting their donors. She strolled over to the guy who paid for her drink, putting a little more sway in her hips, his eyes notleavingher.
“Hi, thanks for the drink,” she said. Up close, he appeared about thirty years old, with warmbrowneyes.
“The least I could do for such a pretty woman,” he smiled. He was nice looking and all, but he was no Cooper. The hot detective had been on her mind constantly since the nighttheymet.
“You’re sweet. I’m Nadira,” she said, shaking hishands.
“Rick. Nice to meet you,” he said, smilingwarmly.
A popular song came on that she liked. She looked over at Rick. “I love this song; please tell me youdance?”
“For you, I will,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the crowded dancefloor.
The song was fast paced and she started to loosen up a bit. A few minutes later, they were laughing at themselves dancing and others, dancing. The next song was a slow one and he pulled her body close to his. She felt the alcohol’s effects and knew she needed to hurry before the guys would want to move on. Looking deep into Rick’s eyes, she used her vampire power ofcompulsion.
“Come with me, Rick,” shewhispered.
His eyes glazed over and he nodded his head. He was under her control. She grabbed his hand, leading him towards the back of the club past the restrooms and out the emergency exit to the back alleyway. Any person who may have witnessed them leaving would think that this guy was about to getlucky.
Once outside, the night air was cool as she pushed him against the brick wall of the building, turning his head away from her. Her incisors lengthened as she focused on his nice juicy jugular vein. He smelled of cologne that wasn’t too strong. She licked the plump vein, before slowing sinking her teeth in, sucking down a mouthful of his delicious blood. His body stiffened with the initial sting of her fangs. The warm coppery blood slipped down her throat as she gulped. She had to be careful not to take too much. It was against vampire laws for donors to beharmed.
A few minutes later, she licked the pinprick holes, sealing them with her saliva, barely leaving a mark. She licked her lips quickly to remove any evidence of his blood on her mouth. She pulled his head back towards her to look into his eyesagain.
“Go back into the club, Rick. When you get inside, you will wake up standing outside the bathroom.” She delved into his mind, erasing memories of herself so that he would not remember her. He nodded before going back intotheclub.
She stood there for a second, already feeling the effects of fresh blood. It made her feel stronger; all of her senses and powers were heightened. She walked around the building to look for her brothers. There was a commotion in the front of the building; a woman’s scream could be heard and someone shouting for the police to be called. Her instincts picked up, causing her to run a little faster towards the front of the building. She made it to the front of the building, noticing the mob of people gathered across the street, a few of them with their cameraphonesout.
“What’s going on?” she asked a tall man at the back of thecrowd.
“They said something about a dead body,” he said, not lookingherway.
She quickly pushed her way to the front of the crowd. At the mouth of the alleyway, a man with brown curly hair lay face down on the concrete. He resembled one of the patrons of the club. She instantly could sense no pulse. She dropped to the ground, placing her two forefingers on his neck, trying to find aheartbeat.
Confirmed. Nopulse.
“Did someone call the police?” She lookedaround.
“Yeah, a couple of us called,” someone answered from the crowd. Sirens could be heard gettingcloser.
Nadira’s eyes quickly assessed him, taking in that there was no blood, scrapes, or bruises.That’s weird.If this would have been a rogue vampire attack, his clothes would have been shredded and his neck would have looked like it was put through a meatgrinder.
“Excuse us, let us through!” Two paramedics pushed their way through thecrowd.
She backed away; standing off to the side while watching the paramedics evaluate him, knowing there was nothing that they could do for him. They turned him, over assessing him, speaking softly to each other. Nadira’s vampiric sight allowed her to see clearly that there were no open wounds ontheman.
“He’s gone. Call it in,” the older paramedic said. A few police cruisers pulled up at the scene. The cops made quick work of pushing the crowd back, lining the street withyellowtape.
Where was Adrian andTeague?
About an hour had passed since she last saw either of them. “Ma’am?” A voice broke through her thoughts. She looked up, seeing a young African American policeman lookingather.
“Yes?” sheanswered.
“Witnesses said that you checked the victim. I just have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind,” he askedgently.
“Of course. I’m not sure how much I can be of help butI’lltry.”
