The next stop on the plan James had for the evening was Sensations. Sensations was an Unusual night spot in Elk City’s downtown district. While humans frequented it, too, there was a whole upstairs area that was open only to Unusuals and their guests. James was sure that Brynne had been in the club itself before. It was popular among the Elk City residents. But she would receive an education by entering the Loft upstairs.
They walked the few blocks from Sabatani’s to the club, enjoying the night air. James looked over at Brynne as they walked and smiled as she absently swept a wisp of hair back behind her ear, blown free in the light breeze. She seemed to be having a good time, at least there was a satisfied glow floating on the surface of her mind. He hoped his plans to take her up into the loft would not be too shocking. He didn’t think so.
Brynne was strong and confident and surprisingly open-minded. At least it was surprising to him. He supposed he was a bit old-fashioned but what did you expect from a person as old as he was? There was a time, not too long ago, that a woman would never have gone out unattended with a gentleman caller who wasn’t her husband. That was the whole point of being a gentleman caller. You called on the lady in her home and visited with her in the relative safety amidst her family and friends. If you were to meet while out on the town at an event, it was in a group and in public. It had made the finding of prey of a certain class challenging and a bit of a game for his kind once upon a time.
That was different now, in the permissive society that a large part of the world had become. The government allowed them to live peacefully, if not openly, alongside their human counterparts and feed from willing participants as long as that didn’t lead to any deaths or coercion. It was better now, but still a hidden and secret society in many ways. He was about to lead Brynne into a world where she was going to see things that could well scare her away from him and other Unusuals. He didn’t think so, but that was the risk he was about to take.
“Brynne, I need to prepare you for the next stop in our evening,” James said as they walked down the street.
She looked up at him, smiled and said, “Uh-oh, here it comes.”
They stopped, and James drew her to next to a building so they could talk more privately away from the other nighttime pedestrians. “What do you mean, ‘here it comes?’”
“Sometimes guys worry about that thing that will scare the woman away,” Brynne said. “There is always something. Usually, it doesn’t show up on a first date, but eventually he needs to show the other person who he is when he’s alone, and no one else is around. Maybe he picks his nose or farts a lot. It’s always something.”
“And you think this is something like that with me?” James asked.
“All I know is, all of us have things we hide from others and are afraid to let other people see. It’s only human.”
James quirked an eyebrow at that, and she laughed. He loved that laugh.
“Look, you’ve been open and shared your world with me, warts and all, so far,” She said. “You’ve answered questions when I’ve had them, and I appreciate that. As long as you continue to do that, I think I can handle what you have to tell or show me.”
“What you’ve got to understand is that I’m about to take you deep inside our world,” James said. He reached out and took her hand. “I wonder if it’s too soon, but I want you to know what we’re like, what I’m really like. I want to give you the chance to run if you want.”
“James,” she said, placing her free hand atop his where he held her hand. “I’ve been to Sensations before. It’s a nightclub. A little wild but nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“But we’re going to go upstairs to the Loft.”
“I didn’t know there was an upstairs part of the club,” Brynne said. “I always assumed it was just apartments and offices like the rest of these downtown buildings.”
“There are apartments on the upper floors,” James said. “But the second floor, the Loft, is open only to Unusuals and their guests. The entry way is disguised, and the signs are visible only in the UV spectrum where we can see it.”
“Ok, sounds like fun.”
“It’s also where we Unusuals can be ourselves without pretending to be human,” James explained. “You’re going to see things that might shock you. Even learn things about me and my past that you might have questions about.”
“So,” Brynne said, meeting his intent gaze. He could sense that typical Brynne determination surfacing. She was remarkable. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll withhold judgment and questions until afterward and work hard to keep an open mind. We can talk afterward and I’ll be honest with you about anything that I saw that concerned me.” She smiled as she finished. “Does that sound fair?”
“It sounds more than fair,” He said, returning her smile. “Ok, Brynne, you’ve been warned. Let’s go and take you to the Loft at Sensations.”
James could sense her determination and a twinge of excited anticipation. He guessed she was as ready as she was going to be for what she was about to see. They turned back out onto the sidewalk and headed down the street for the remaining half block to the club. He noticed that she still held his hand. It was a pleasant sensation, and he gently squeezed it as the bouncer recognized him and unhooked the rope at the entrance to let the two of them in, ahead of the line waiting outside.
The music was loud, pumping with a steady electronic dance beat. James leaned down and shouted near her ear. “So where do you think the entrance to the Loft is located?” He thought he would challenge her to see beyond the obvious. She looked up at him and then began looking around the room, peering through the flashing lights on the dance floor and the DJ’s booth. She scanned carefully and then pointed.
“Over there,” She shouted over the music. “There’s a door that says ‘Staff Only’ but I just saw several people enter past the bouncer standing there.”
“Very good,” James congratulated her. “Are you sure you are ready?”
“Lead on,” She said. “You’re not scaring me away that easily.”
James took her hand, and they wormed their way around the outside edge of the crowd, making their way to the back corner and the doorway Brynne had picked out. The bouncer standing there nodded to James and turned to punch a number into a keypad there. James waited until he was finished with the code and then reached to open the door as the magnetic lock released. He glanced at Brynne, and she winked at him. He shook his head and led her down the hall to a wide staircase that led upstairs. The music muted to a dull thump as the door latched behind them. At the top of the stairs was a wide entryway that opened up into a space as large as the one below and just as crowded with patrons. The music wasn’t quite as loud but had a similar beat and electronic style.
“My Lord James,” The woman standing at the top of the stairs said as they approached. She wore a short and tight red cocktail dress and four-inch heels. Her blonde hair was short and spiked with hair product. “What a pleasure to see you. We don’t often have you gracing our doors. Your table is ready, though, as always.”
“I thought it had been too long since I had been here, Bianca,” James said, taking her hand and raising it to brush it with his lips. “I also had a special friend to whom I owed a night out on the town. She’s done much for our community, and I wished to introduce her to more of it.” He turned and gestured to Brynne.
“Is this the Brynne Garvey I’ve heard so much about?” Bianca asked. She took the paramedic’s hand in hers. “My dear, you’ve made a name for yourself recently. Word has gotten around about how you helped deliver that Fae child. It’s a pleasure to welcome you to the Loft at Sensations.” She gestured behind her to the room. The Loft was two stories high, and there was a balcony that circled the walls with spiral staircases at the corners. Platforms suspended from the ceiling held male and female dancers in various states of undress.
James nodded to Bianca in thanks, then took Brynne’s free hand and led her into the room. He sensed her wonder as she saw a woman in
a wispy white short skirt and blouse launch herself from the balcony, spread her fairy wings and glide across the room. She settled on the floor by the bar, folding her wings again where they immediately blended with her dress and looked just like a part of her dress’s ruffles and lace.
“Did you see that?” Brynne asked. She looked up at him. “That was amazing.”
“Yes, I suppose it was,” James said. “There will be a lot here that will amaze and maybe shock you. Remember your pledge to me, all right?” She squeezed his hand and continued to look around as they crossed the floor to a round booth on the side of the dance floor near the bar. There were velvet ropes around it supported by waist-high brass poles. A short, squat man with a long gray beard unhooked one of the ropes and held it aside as they approached.
“Welcome back. my Lord,” The small man said.
“Thank you, Joel,” James said, offering for Brynne to enter first. “I’d like you to meet my companion, Brynne Garvey.”
“I had heard she was accompanying you out this evening,” Joel said. He stiffly bowed in her direction, rapping his heels together with a clacking sound. “It is my pleasure to serve you, Paramedic Brynne. What can I get you to drink this evening?”
“Uh, it’s just Brynne, Joel,” She said, blushing at the attention. “I suppose I should have something special, say, a Cosmopolitan?”
“Excellent choice, and you Lord James?”
“Do you have a young AB negative?” Joel nodded, and James continued. “I’ll have that. Uh, in a cup.”
Joel shot a glance at Brynne and then bowed again with a clack of his heels. “I shall be right back.”
“What was that all about?” Brynne asked. “He seemed startled that you asked for a cup.”
James slid over closer to sit next to her in the booth. “Look casually past my shoulder to your left but try not to stare.”
She did, and he could tell by the way she tensed slightly next to him that she had seen what he was referring to. He looked over his shoulder at the raven-haired female vampire casually feeding on a shirtless red-haired man in his twenties. There was a thin line of blood running down his chest from where she was latched onto his neck. From the look on his face, he seemed to be enjoying it as much as she was despite the pain, or perhaps because of it.
Brynne drew away from him a bit, looking at him. He returned the look levelly.
“I warned you that you might see some shocking things here. For every fairy taking flight, there are going to be other things that you might not be as pleased to see. But it’s part of our world,” James said. “Part of my world.”
She stole a glance at the couple in the booth nearby again and then looked back at him. “So if you hadn’t specified a glass or a mug or whatever, Joel would have brought you - a person?”
“Yes,” James said. “Because of my personal preferences and tastes, likely a woman between the ages of 21 and 30, with AB negative blood type.”
“Instead of that,” Brynne continued with her train of thought, “They’re drawing her blood back in the kitchen right now and putting it in a mug just like they did at Sabatani’s.”
“Yes,” James said, holding her gaze.
“So if I weren’t here you’d be drinking from her directly like our friend at the next booth over?”
“Yes, and you might have a problem with that since we’re on a date, so I ordered my drink in a cup, out of respect to you,” James said.
“Ok,” She said, her eyes darting again to the next booth. “I’ve got something to process. Good information to know, I guess.” She gave him half a smile. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like I didn’t know about this going on. I just hadn’t been faced with it so personally and up close.”
Joel returned then with their drinks on a tray. He set the tray down on the table in the center of the booth and removed a small, single mug electric hot plate from the tray. He reached down to plug the cord into an outlet in the floor at the base of the table. He then set the plain white mug on the hot plate, adjusted the setting knob on the side and then offered her a tall-stemmed martini glass with her drink.
“Will there be anything else?”
James took the mug and sipped from it. He nodded at Joel, “That is excellent. My compliments to the donor, please.” He looked at Brynne. “How is your drink, my dear?”
She took a sip and smiled at Joel. “It is delicious. Thank you, Joel.”
With another clack of his heels and a bow, Joel strode back towards the kitchen.
The two of them sat sipping their drinks and watching the crowd for a while. Brynne broke the awkward silence first.
“So,” She said. “How’s your blood?”
“It is delicious, actually,” He replied. “She is obviously a very healthy specimen, and a vegan as well if I don’t miss my guess.”
“You can tell all that from the taste?” Brynne asked.
“Yes,” James answered. “I’ve tasted a lot of horrible blood over the centuries and over time you learn what you like. Because of the, uh, personal nature of how vampires feed, you get to know your …”
“Victims?” Brynne offered.
“At one time, yes,” James said. “I won’t lie to you, Brynne. I’m a product of my times and once upon a time, I lived in a much more direct and brutal world than I live in now. But things are better now, for everyone. This young lady,” he raised his mug, glancing at it. “She’ll make upwards of a thousand dollars tonight for a few hours work and a pint of blood. Then she will have to wait until forty-five days have passed to replenish her red blood cells. If she chooses to offer her services again, she can make as much again at that time. Probably more, because I have complimented her vintage publicly. She’ll be in demand now.”
“And she’s a willing participant, she’s not being coerced in any way?” Brynne asked.
“Would you like to meet her? I can ask Joel to bring her out to meet you.”
“No, I don’t need to do that.” Brynne said. “I can accept you at your word. Like I said, I’m just getting a lot to process, that’s all.”
“Let’s take your mind off of it for a bit,” James said with a smile. “Would you like to dance? I’m not very good at anything modern, but I have a few go-to moves.”
“That sounds nice,” Brynne said rising to join him on the dance floor.
As they started dancing, James thought that the evening was going very well indeed. He found that he didn’t want it to end.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN