He smiled wide showing off a set of wicked looking fangs, "I always remember a pretty face."
"I bet," I mumbled turning to take in the clubs clientele, "They just come in and offer you their throats."
"Some do, others come in to see what we offer. Some come in and beg to be turned."
"They have no sense of self-preservation. The fact that this is a Vampire club should get them all an idiot of the year award."
"And here you sit, inside the undead and unfed section."
"I didn’t come here to be a snack," I replied smoothly.
His silver eyes sparkled, "No, you came in with the Dark Prince, not fully marked but undecided if you want to be his?" He reached over the bar and grabbed the necklace I still wore, pulling me forward, "Try a Vampire," he licked his left fang and tilted his dark head to the side, "Before you commit yourself that is. I promise you won't be sorry."
I reached up and removed his ice cold hand from the necklace Ryder insisted I keep on. It was more than his mark, it was a name tag. His. I allowed my eyes to slide down the Vampire who wore the clubs logo on a plain black T-shirt and vinyl pants that hugged his waist seductively.
He wasn’t as big as Ryder, but I could see the well-defined body beneath his clothes. I watched as he turned around and started flipping bottles with a shocking speed that my eyes could barely register. I had to refrain from switching on my second sight to be able to keep up with his speed.
When the glass was full I smiled and accepted it with a thank you and took a drink to help calm my nerves. "So the real Dracula runs this place?" I asked trying to pull information from him.
I felt bad using his kindness against him but we needed to know if what had been happening to us was also happening to them. His smile faltered as he looked over my shoulder briefly.
"So you want to sneak a peek at Dracula? What's so fascinating about him? Or are you looking for the whole tortured soul thing?"
"Tortured souls are over rated. Just curiosity I guess."
He smiled and winked, "You know what they say about curiosity right?"
I gave him a full smile before replying, "Do I look like a *—cat?" I winked back at him while he laughed outright.
He placed both his palms on the counter and grinned impishly, "If you were a—cat, I'd chase your tail through any dark alley," his fangs grew as his eyes swirled. I blinked and his face was back to normal.
"Cool trick," I whispered before taking another drink from the glass in front of me.
"I got a few more," he wiggled his eyebrows and moved to refill another woman's glass. I spun in the chair to look at where Ryder had been, but his table was empty and the bar wench was missing as well.
"He's in a booth," the bartender said when he came back.
"Figures," I grumbled and turned back around.
"So, you never told me your name," he said.
"You never asked," I replied enjoying the comforting burn of the alcohol as it warmed my skin.
"I'm asking," he continued his smile still in place.
"Synthia."
"Pretty name, for a pretty girl," he said offering up his hand for me to shake.
"And yours is?" I asked holding up my hands to take his.
"Dracula."
I blinked. "Seriously?"
"Oh I get it, you think because I'm a legend that I should be all blah, blah I vhant to suck your blood?"
I chuckled unable to help myself. "Something like that."
"You should smile more often Synthia. You could take anyone in this place home."
"Is that so?" I flushed from the compliment.
"I'd take you home," he said as he leaned in closer to my face.
I swallowed and gave him a small smirk as he refilled my drink again. "If I didn’t know any better, I'd think you were trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me."
"You'd be right about the first part, the second one," he sighed dramatically, "I don't relish my death at Ryder's hands."
"You think a prince could take you out?" I inquired needing the information. I knew Ryder was deadly, but I'd not found very much on him while researching him. It was like he'd popped up on the Fae-Human radar somewhere around sixteen years ago.
It was common for Fae to disappear and then resurface years later but he had no backdrop story. Nothing I could use to get out of the contract or use against him.
"He's a very powerful man, not one I plan on pissing off," he replied carefully as if he knew why I was asking him. "Show's about to start and your man just walked back in."
I snorted and finished the second drink, setting the glass back onto the smooth counter before replying. "He is not my man."
I stood up wondering how to bring up the subject of the killer up without making Vlad back off and become suspicious of me. When I turned around to speak he was gone and in his place was a buxom blonde who also had wicked fangs showing.