Part 5 (1/2)

I hadn't brought a weapon. Tonight, I was going to rely on running away very quickly if things became dangerous. Down here, there were too many witnesses and plenty of fire exits for anything too dangerous to happen. If there was something going on, it was on the higher floors. It would be guarded and it wouldn't be so easy to pa.s.s unnoticed.

And none of this speculation was getting the job done.

I started to make my way through the dancers. If I thought the evening had been peculiar up to then, it went bizarre at that point and never recovered.

A male vampire, another fake, in a Great Gatsby dinner jacket and pleated white s.h.i.+rt, came up and grabbed my arm.

”Take me, please,” he shouted over the noise.

”What, right here on the dance floor?”

”No, upstairs.” He grimaced in frustration, free hand pus.h.i.+ng his slicked hair back down. ”You've got the look, I know you'll get in. They just never seem to see me.”

I couldn't say I was ignorant of what happened upstairs, but did this guy know? Or did he only think he knew?

”Do you really want to go up there?”

”Of course.”

”What do you think goes on?”

”The action, of course.” He looked exasperated.

That wasn't especially helpful. He probably didn't know much more than I did. At least it was a sort of confirmation there were people up there. It sounded as if he thought it was just s.e.x. Maybe the worst I could fear tonight was being thrown out for intruding on a private orgy. But much as I appreciated his information, I wasn't taking him with me.

”I've got no invite for me, let alone both of us.” I removed his hand and moved away quickly.

He was pulled away by the swirl of dancers. If anything, the floor was getting fuller and rowdier.

There were stairs around the back of the structure; a couple up on a landing, guarding a door, and a big kiss-off sign saying no admittance. The curved steps swept down like descending ripples in a pool. They were made from gleaming pale marble, the sort with big white patterns in it that look like animal fat. The man and woman were lit by a tiny spotlight above them, casting pools of shadow across their faces.

There was no reason for door staff if there really was no admittance allowed. I was lacking a Harley to make an initial impression this time, so it was all going to come down to bluff. And the best bluff, I decided, was to act as if I was doing them a favor.

My foot touched the first step and my nose caught the faintest coppery scent.

s.h.i.+t!

There had been a part of me that believed this was all nothing more than going through the motions for the colonel, that there were no vampires in Denver. That was wrong.

My heart rate soared and I got a gut-churning flashback of the night when I'd first smelled them in South America.

They were here.

In the same moment, my training kicked in. My brain jerked forward out of the panic freeze. If there were vampires here, they had to be different than those I'd encountered before. For one thing, they had to be very careful not to expose themselves by attacking people. They weren't like the ones I'd fought a year ago in the South American jungle.

My hesitation, with one foot on the first step, did nothing for my attempted disguise of belonging here.

”No admittance,” said the woman. She had a European accent I couldn't place, and she was dressed like an eighteenth century gentleman: ruffles oozing out from the collar and cuffs of her stiff velvet jacket. Her head tilted up arrogantly.

”So thoughtful of the management, to provide a speaking sign for illiterates,” I said. I forced myself to move up the steps.

Her eyes narrowed in anger, but she looked me over and her face betrayed a hint of uncertainty.

”I'm here for the Blood Orchid,” I said, continuing to climb. How many vampires would there be in here? What would they be doing? Would they mark me out immediately? The nearest emergency exit was down the stairs behind me; how quickly could I get out, if I had to?

The man had been leaning against the wall, dressed as an elegant highwayman, with long hair tied back and a Zorro mask. He stood up now, blocking the way.

”Buying or selling?” he said. It sounded rehea.r.s.ed, a rote phrase. c.r.a.p, there was some kind of pa.s.sword. The emails the colonel had shown me hadn't mentioned that.

”I'm from out of town, and I don't trade,” I said. My heart seemed to be beating in my throat. ”I'm here to see what kind of a place Domine runs.”

That was my one ticket to get in-I knew the name of the owner.

Whatever I was doing seemed to be the right thing; now he looked unsure.

”One moment, please.”

He pulled out a mike that had been twisted back behind his ear and turned away to talk into it.

I faced the woman. The coppery smell was coming from her, but strangely, there was no feeling of vampire about her. With the adrenaline flooding my system and giving me some false confidence, I moved closer. I was on a level with her now and could look down into her face. Sergeants practice this look, and it has so many uses.

She was nervous, scared even. Her face was half turned away and she was stealing glances at me from beneath her lashes. Given the type of club this was, and the show I was putting on, I guess I shouldn't have been so shocked to realize she was frightened and attracted to me at the same time.

Well, there were two red lights on that. One, I wasn't attracted to her, and two, I wasn't going to give the colonel a reason to s.n.a.t.c.h me back.

I needed to find out how she came to smell of vampire, and there were probably going to be things I needed to find out about the club. I'd just have to find some way to loosen her tongue when I came out.

I snorted. No, not what I meant at all!

The man turned back, interrupting my surreal conversation with myself. I noticed a small camera on a pivot above his head. Someone had gotten an eyeful of me staring down their guards; maybe my bluff was about to be called.

”Ma'am,” he said. He stood back against the wall and held the heavy door open. ”Straight through the curtains.”

Apparently, I looked and acted the part, but now someone inside was aware of me, and probably interested. I'd need to make this quick, before I got thrown out. Or had to beat a retreat.

I took a last, long look at the woman, and then I strode in.

It was about 11. I still didn't know it, but the clock had been ticking for 24 hours, and another person was going to die tonight.

Chapter 7.

I pa.s.sed through the curtains. It was dark inside.

I stepped sideways quickly, my eyes straining to adjust and my body taut with antic.i.p.ation. I felt too stationary. My training was telling me I might as well have stuck a gun range target on my chest. I sensed people all around me. But no one leaped out of the darkness. And I couldn't smell vampire.

The noise of the dance club was sharply reduced when the door to the stairs closed behind me. I could even hear murmurs in the gloom, laced through with a sort of primal heartbeat from the sound system downstairs.