Page 43 of Death is Familiar

I could trust Jezebel, given our history. And Lenore would know soon enough, but she wouldn’t let the details spread like wildfire within her membership. After all, that wouldn’t be good for business.

“I’m afraid, I’m not at liberty to discuss, but do let me know if you come across anything…”

Carmen, still holding onto my arm gave me a once over, as if I had just taken off a mask and revealed an entirely new person beneath. “Who are you?”

Now she wanted to know who I was. How convenient. So, I smiled, really smiled, and despite the knot of nausea in my belly, I felt more like myself than I had all day as I said, “No-one-of-consequence.”

And with that I disappeared into the crowd. It was time Todd and I had a little conversation with Lenore.

10

Stairs sucked in high heels. Doing anything sucked in heels. These heels, specifically. I cursed Jezebel and the outfit she leant me twice more for good measure, as I made my way up to the main floor. Even though it was still a few levels underground, the space felt lighter, airier.

I ignored the rivulets of sweat collecting on my back, knowing I’d need to go up another level to Lenore’s office… with everything else that was upstairs. Where Todd had made it known he didn’t want to go.

If we could catch Lenore mingling on the main floor it would make things a lot easier, but she wasn’t known for getting high off her own supply. She was an elusive master of ceremonies, her gatherings required her to be on the job, and available to hold court.

I did a quick scan of my surroundings for the telltale blonde bob. If Lenore was mingling, she’d be in the center of the action, glad-handing her members in a choice appearance. Not in one of the distant, ever-moaning, corners.

No luck.

Now, if I could just find Todd, we could get this over with⁠—

Ah, there he was, leaning against a wall right next to the stairwell. He hadn’t been there when I came up. He couldn’t have. I would have noticed.

“Anything?” I asked when I was close enough to speak instead of shout.

“Too much.” He ran a hand over his face. “Nothing on the case. No one is speaking about them. No one noticed they are missing. Which makes sense if⁠—”

“Everyone expects them to be missing. At least for another week…” After the fang ceremony.

Todd nodded. “Victims’ ‘vamps’ are not here either.”

“So, all your skulking around…”

“A lot of neck sucking.” I caught the almost imperceptible flicker of his attention to the blooming hickey on my throat. “And then some.”

It didn’t take much to fill in the blanks on what ‘and then some’ meant. It seemed vampires still enjoyed their exhibitionism. “Guess that means we’re headed upstairs. Ready?”

He stood to his full height, rumbling so deep I could feel the vibrations in my chest.

I nudged him with my shoulder. “Oh, come on.” It wasn’t going to be that bad.

†

It was worse. Not that I had anything against nudity or consensual games, but the shift between downstairs and up was so immediate, so in our faces, it felt interactive. No wonder Lenore made people come to her, the activities underfoot were a tripping hazard. We weaved in and around the tangle of bodies that writhed on the padded floor, working our way to the office. Fully stepping over someone’s arm, I grabbed Todd’s calloused hand, both to reassure him, and as a support to avoid impaling any limbs with my heels.

The floor was a mess of syrup and skin, the entire room had devolved into chaos. Sticky chaos. Which was one explanation for why almost no one wore clothes. Most people were naked, slathered in reds of different shades…and viscosities. Vamps took their time painting their prey, and each other, with sickly sweet syrups, before licking it off one sensuous lap at a time.

My heels pulled at the tacky floor. If it weren’t for the risk of my borrowed dress being dragged across the residue, I would have taken the shoes off. But the dress felt expensive, far more expensive than any other item of clothing I ever owned. And red stained.

Checking in, I gave Todd a knowing look and cocked a brow. He rolled his eyes.

“I’m not afraid of nudity, Delilah. I just…” He caught me as I wobbled, narrowly missing yet another tripping hazard. “Didn’t want to be dessert.”

His grip on my hand told me otherwise. He didn’t want to be vulnerable. And looking around us, that was exactly what this floor was designed to do, people were quite literally feeding off vulnerability. Just as others got a thrill from being exposed.

“Oh, I see, so it’s the mess you were worried about,” I teased, as we reached the office, pulling Todd in front of me and straightening his shirt like a proud mother hen. “There. Presentable.”