I still couldn’t believe I’d suggested something like this, but I was sure it was Allie’s fault. She was rubbing off on me, making me want to help near strangers. After twenty minutes of hanging out with Nick, I had to admit that he was an okay guy, and Allie was right about him probably getting along with Trevor. Nick had the same hopeless romantic quality my friend did, which is how he’d ended up pursuing a girl named Zoe. That girl had quickly ditched Nick for another guy after suggesting they go to SpellBinders in the first place.
The three of us exited the room with Allie in the middle. Her hair was messy, and her panties were sticking out of Nick’s pocket. The panties were actually spares that were kept in all playrooms at SpellBinders, but Nick’s friends wouldn’t know that. Nick had his arm wrapped around Allie’s waist, and mine was around her shoulders. When we were sure Nick’s friends were watching, I lifted my hand from Allie’s shoulder and stroked Nick’s cheek. He batted his eyes and smiled at me. We passed his friends on the way to the bar, and I almost laughed because their mouths were quite literally hanging open. It seemed unlikely they’d make fun of Nick for tonight, especially not after they saw him leave with us later.
Allie gave us each a sweet smile and headed off to the office to see Marcos about her next assignment. As soon as she walked away, two of Nick’s vampire friends approached. Both had the same youthful look Nick did. One was a blond with dark eyes and skin so pale it was nearly translucent. The other had brown hair and unnaturally green eyes, making me wonder if he was wearing contact lenses. The second one also had darker skin, meaning he had a spray tan. Since vampires didn’t get any sun, they were all pretty pale.
“Hey, Nick, you ready to head out for a bite?” the one with the spray tan asked.
“Nah, I’m gonna stick around here,” Nick said.
“You don’t need to worry about Nick. We’ll take care of him,” I said before dismissing the other vampires as if they were nothing.
The vampires stood there for a moment, obviously unsure what to do next.
“I’m fine, guys,” Nick assured them.
The blond didn’t look convinced, but after a moment, he shrugged. “Okay, well, have fun and call me tomorrow night if you want to hang out.”
“See ya,” the dark-haired one said, and they left without another word, gathering up their other friends and heading out of the club.
“Thanks for that,” Nick began. “I really didn’t want to leave with them and have to explain about Zoe. They obviously know she ditched me, but they’d still ask me questions and laugh at me for being stupid enough to fall for her.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t ask for details while they were here,” I said. “You seemed pretty sure they’d give you a hard time.”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, but I guess they were afraid to start something with you here, or maybe they were being cool about it so they wouldn’t mess things up for me with you and Allie. Most likely, you intimidated them.”
What Nick said didn’t sit right with me because vampires tended to be arrogant creatures who felt they could take on anyone, so them taking off simply because Nick was with a warlock was very unusual.
Nick grinned at me. “I can see you’re wondering why they’d leave because of a warlock.”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” I admitted.
Nick leaned in and spoke quietly. “None of us are old enough to get in here. We all used fake IDs, and we don’t want to do anything to draw attention to ourselves.”
That explained it since Marcos would not only kick them out, he’d probably let the other local clubs know about the fake IDs, and the vampires would be limited to human clubs. That might work fine when the vampires needed blood, but it was hard being surrounded by humans. You couldn’t fully let your guard down because you had to worry about letting something slip. As I understood it, the vampires frequented several of the goth clubs where some humans had dental work done to make it look like they had fangs. It was easier for them to blend in there. Needless to say, the vampires didn’t always want to be limited on their options, which is why many younger ones had fake IDs.
I figured I’d better text Trevor to let him know we were going to his party and warn him about our extra guest.
ME: We’re planning to stop by your place after Allie gets off work. We’re bringing a guest.
Trevor’s response was surprisingly quick. I’d expected him to be busy with his guests.
TREVOR: Is it Allie’s hot cousin?
Then a second text came.
TREVOR: Her cousin, Melina.
This was why Trevor ended up with clingy witches. He fell into a crazy infatuation with most single witches within a few minutes of meeting them.
ME: No. I don’t think you have a chance with her. Allie picked up a vampire at SpellBinders tonight.
Trevor was slow to respond. I’d already finished my drink while hearing about Nick’s family—probably the most boring conversation of my life—by the time Trevor responded.
TREVOR: Make sure the vampire eats first.
ME: No problem.
“Did you already have blood tonight?” I asked Nick.
He nodded. “I fed before we came here.”
ME: Just confirmed that he’s eaten already.
TREVOR: Can’t believe you’re coming to another one of my parties. See you soon.
I couldn’t believe I’d agreed to go to another party, either, but since the last one had turned out so well, I wasn’t dreading this one nearly as much.