Page 1 of Cinderella and Her Vampires (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 5)

PROLOGUE

Cindy

The night was flowing per usual as Cindy worked her normal shift at Nightingales. The place was quite popular with the locals and rested in the heart of downtown Boston. Though it didn’t look like much from the outside, appearing as nothing more than a hole in the wall type of location, it was one of Cindy’s favorite places.

Inside, round, glass tables were surrounded by plush, black leather chairs. Lights dimmed and flashed according to the rhythm of the music which bled through speakers hidden within the walls. Crystal chandeliers dangled from the ceiling over each table in a waterfall design. And the windows which faced the street were smoked out, making the atmosphere feel as though it was in another world, another place, and another time.

Cindy often felt like the place had a sort of magical quality to it. Nightingales was her home away from home. And she loved her work. Some of the patrons were on a first-name basis with her. And she knew quite a few of them too. There were very few customers she hadn’t gotten the chance to know well. And those were the ones that seemed to cause the most trouble.

Especially the tourists.

She could always tell when someone wasn’t from Boston. Just like the man that had walked in and taken a seat at the bar counter. Though he waited patiently enough for her to serve him, there was something rather off-putting about him. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

But when she approached him and asked for his order, he scoffed at her and turned his nose up as though she was beneath him. She wasn’t going to allow him to ruin her night. Shrugging off his repulsed reaction, she figured she would let him stew in his thirst for a little while longer and busied herself with her other customers.

The pace of orders had picked up when he waved at her. She nodded once at him and smirked to herself. She decided to make him wait just a little bit longer as she took a couple of minutes to speak to one of her normal customers. In the middle of the conversation, she glanced over at the man who had refused to order, and he looked rather impatient.

She politely excused herself and walked back down the bar. “Ready to order now?”

He settled his gaze on her. “A pint. Whatever is on tap.”

She nodded and headed to make his drink. Seconds later, she had a tall, cold glass of beer in her hand and shimmied past the patrons trying to get her attention. She placed a coaster in front of the man a couple of seconds before setting the beer on top of it.

“Shall I start a tab, or would you like to take care of this now?” Cindy asked.

“Tab is fine,” he muttered. He even sounded impatient.

Cindy figured him to be one of those especially pleasant men who viewed women as the weaker sex and belonged in a kitchen or on a bed instead of working a man’s job. She almost snorted but managed to keep the offending sound in as she nodded and started a ticket for him. She taped the ticket to the counter in front of where he was sitting and started to turn around.

Her wrist was caught in a firm grasp. He pulled her close, which meant she had to lean over the counter behind the bar. Her apron jabbed into her waist as he leaned in.

She glared at him. “Unhand me now.”

Bobby, the bouncer, took a couple of steps closer. She held her hand up to stop him. Men like this one were unpredictable. Who could say what he would do if his fragile ego was threatened by a beast of a man like Bobby? The bouncer was tall, covered in thick muscle that made him look like he gave the Terminator dude a run for his money. He naturally threatened men with just his presence alone.

This guy would probably snap.

The gesture worked. After years of working together, Bobby and Cindy had worked out non-verbal cues. He determined when to back off and when to help based on a single gesture or look from her. When she needs him, he was only a gesture away.

“I need directions and have had rotten luck so far. Maybe you can help?” he asked.

“I might, so long as you promise not to lay a finger on me again,” Cindy said, glaring at the guy.

“Where can I find the dark prince?” he asked.

“Is that some sort of code or something?” Cindy asked.

The man sighed. “No. It’s called a direct question. Can you help me or not?”

She took a moment to study him a little more. Just in case things got a little out of hand and she needed to call the police.

His eyes were crazed, and his shaggy black hair was all over the place. The man didn’t look good at all. Cindy had enough experience with people such as the one in front of her that she already had an idea of just how to handle mental cases like this guy. Though she wasn’t quite sure who the man was, where he came from, or what his story was… she had met enough people like him to know just what to tell him.

“I think I have just the place you’re looking for,” she said.

He jerked back. “I’m not looking for a place. I’m looking for a man.”

Cindy nodded. “Do you want your answer or not?”

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