Chapter Twelve
What had I opened myself up to? I darted a look at Bishop who dropped his eyes in the same motion, but I definitely had the feeling his eyes were on me. Was he listening to the conversation? Would he save me if I screwed up too badly? I opened my mouth to try deflecting Leander’s question with a compliment on the music, when raised voices caught all of our attention.
“Get your own guy, bitch. This one’s mine.” Bridget’s voice rose over the sound of the music.
“Who you calling a bitch, slut?” The other woman’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. Dressed to kill in a green silk dress and shoes that cost more than a month’s rent, the woman seemed out of place next to Bridget and the handsome blonde stud. He looked like an off duty construction worker in tight jeans, a blue button up shirt, and workboots.
With a groan, I realized Bridget was in the middle of an ugly triangle between the human she’d been grinding on and his vampire date.
“Your human is delightful. Does she taste as spicy as she sounds?” Leander leaned over to touch my hand.
“She’s… a mouthful alright. If you’ll excuse me please?” I was already getting up, hoping I could diffuse the situation before any blood was shed. Because honestly… I wasn’t sure whose side I would land on if actual blood spilled.
“Of course, thanks again for the entertainment, Serena’s been spoiling for a fight for weeks,” he called out after me.
A glance to Bishop’s table showed he was watching the situation, but he made no move to intercede. We were on our own.
“Oh I’m sorry, did I say slut?” Serena did indeed look like she was spoiling for a fight, the color of the dress suiting her mood well. “I meant to say skank. A skank who’ll be nothing but a stain on the bottom of my shoe if you don’t let go of my man this instant.”
Bridget seemed unconcerned. “I have to say, it doesn’t really feel like he’s your man.” She held her ground, and the object of discussion started to look a little worried.
“Uh… ladies, calm down now, there’s more than enough of me to go around,” he grinned, hands coming up in a supplicating manner.
Ugh, did that line ever work in the history of it being uttered? What on Earth made him think to attempt it with an angry vampire? I had to get in there before Romeo got himself or my best friend killed.
“Excuse me, ladies,” I approached them, my voice pitched low even though I knew every vampire in the bar could hear our every word. “Let’s handle this in a civilized manner, shall we?”
“Civilized stepped out of here two minutes ago. You should have kept a muzzle on your bitch, her ass is mine now.” Serena looked angry enough to spit nails.
“Yeah, like you’d be my type if I did chicks,” Bridget snorted and I could have happily throttled her myself. Couldn’t she see the danger she was in? I supposed not, apart from the angry scowl, Serena didn’t look all that dangerous in her designer heels. If I didn’t know she was a vampire, I’d lay even odds Bridget could take her in a fight.
I tried to inject a rational note into the conversation, placing myself between both women, just in case. “I’m sure we can resolve this like adults. My mother taught me not to solve things with violence.”
“I killed my mother over three hundred years ago, so I don’t particularly care or remember what her pearls of wisdom were,” Serena’s lips curved into an arrogant sneer. “Since you’re so big on lessons, let me teach you one. Learn to control your pet before you let it off its leash.”
“Bring it, bitch!” Bridget thumped her chest with both hands, stepping around me to get right in her face.
In slow motion, I could see Serena’s arm cock back, her hand forming a fist as she prepared to take Bridget’s head off. Operating on pure instinct, my hand came up to stop hers, finding it incredibly easy to intercept. I was so intent on stopping her fist (which I assumed would be much stronger than mine), that I went a little overboard, driving her down to her knees with a cry of pain as I squeezed with more force than was strictly necessary.
“Holy shit…” Blonde guy took a step backwards and I heard a collective gasp in the room.
“I’m sorry!” I let go of her instantly, afraid I’d seriously hurt her from the way she immediately cradled the hand to her body. “But you can’t go around tossing threats like that and expect not to get hurt.”
“Trouble here?” Bishop appeared at my side, his face a perfect mask without recognition, as if he’d never met me before. Geez, was he going to arrest me for picking a fight? I thought vampires were allowed to handle petty disagreements as they saw fit? Breaking up a bar fight seemed out of his jurisdiction, especially since only one punch had been thrown.
“It’s just a misunderstanding, Bishop, we’re fine here. Aren’t we?” I looked down at Serena and she immediately dropped her gaze, nodding.
“You tell her, An,” Bridget leaned on my shoulder, gloating down at the vampire.
“How about you go sit the rest of this dance out? You look like you need to cool down a little yourself,” I shrugged out from under her arm, turning her towards an empty table.
“Fine, I could use a drink anyway. You coming, Cole?”
The blonde guy looked torn, his gaze going back and forth between Bridget, Serena and me, as if he wasn’t sure who to give his allegiance to. Serena refused to lift her head, and he looked to me next. Had I inherited a minion? “It’s alright, Cole, is it? You can go get a drink with Bridget if you want to.”
“Thank you, Mistress,” he nodded, trotting off after her. I winced over the Mistress bit, giving him a benign inclination of the head.
Bishop grabbed hold of my upper arm, all but dragging me off the dance floor to a door marked ‘employees only’, while Serena tried to recover her dignity, picking herself up off the floor. “This is laying low?” he hissed, giving me a little shake, once we were alone.
“I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I have no idea what I’m doing here!” I whispered back, not wanting anyone else to hear us.
“Go home.”
“You’re not my keeper, remember?”
“I’m serious Anja. You’re in way over your head here. Go home and don’t come back,” he growled dangerously, but I was too incensed at the order to be afraid of him. I lost the apologetic tone as annoyance kicked in. I hadn’t done anything wrong, just stepped in to protect my friend. Didn’t I have as much right to be there as any other vampire?
“You’re not the boss of me. You’re not anything, not even my friend, remember? So you don’t get to tell me what to do.” My chin came up pugnaciously. After all, I’d survived my second fight of the night and it was still early. Why should I be afraid of him?
Bishop shoved me up against the wall, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to rattle my teeth. “I’ll tell you anything I damn well feel like telling you to do, and you’ll do it if you know what’s good for you,” he threatened, but that drink must have gone to my head, because I still wasn’t afraid of him.
“Or what?”
“Huh?” he blinked, obviously not expecting me to challenge him.
“Or what? If I don’t do what you tell me to. If I don’t walk out that door and never come back again.” I did my best to imitate his exact inflection when he spoke. “What’ll you do to me?” For a long moment I wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill me or kiss me, but in the end he let go of me with a little shove.
“Fine, you want to get yourself killed, be my guest. I wash my hands of the entire situation.”
“Fine.”
“Fine,” he repeated as we stared back at each other, neither one of us making a move to leave.
“I hate to interrupt your little lover’s spat, but ah… Cage and I have to roll.” Mason ducked his head in through the door with a look on his face that told me he wasn’t the least bit sorry for interrupting us.
“Fine, go then,” Bishop scowled, not bothering to turn and
look at him, his eyes boring into mine.
“Oh, I’m sorry, is it my turn to get ordered around? I thought Anja drew that straw today.” Mason winked at me and I covered my smile with a hand. Bishop’s eyes closed then and I felt a stab of pity for him, things weren’t going they way he wanted them to at all.
“You don’t have to go on my account, Mason. I was finishing up my business with Bishop here. You can go have your boy talk now.” I smiled, scooting out from under Bishop’s nose to squeeze past Mason at the door. “Nice to see you again so soon.”
“Pleasure’s all mine, ma’am,” he drawled.