Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“Not a good idea,” Mad interjected.
Sky lifted his gaze to his friends to see them wincing and shaking their heads.
“The last time you tried, the carrots crawled out of the ground themselves,” Red pointed out.
“Your potatoes had eyes and teeth.” Moon held up one of his fingers. Sky could barely make out a faint white scar along the knuckle. “One of them bit me!”
“You kept talking about all the ways to cook him. My spuds were sensitive.” But they were likely right. His skills lay in raising the dead from the earth, not vegetables.
“No gardening for your troll,” Red stated.
“Quit calling him a troll. He’s not a troll. He’s one of those people who works from home and doesn’t enjoy going out in the sun much.”
“Oh, you mean he’s a…” Mad held up two fingers as if making a peace sign, but really, he was making a “V” for vampire. None of them used that word while in Phoenix. The trendy nightclub wasn’t technically a bar for vampires, but at least a dozen of them were mingling through the crowds of unsuspecting humans, searching for a good time and possibly a meal.
But that was what you got when the owner and operator of Phoenix was a vampire.
They didn’t use the “V” word because there was no telling who was listening, and they didn’t want to capture the attention of fanged fiends. All in all, it was a safe place to hang out. Much more than a lot of the purely human clubs around Hartford. Everyone behaved themselves and had a good time because no one wanted to get blacklisted from Rafe Varik’s nightclub.
Lights throughout the club dimmed, and a spotlight hit the golden cage that was being lifted from beside the DJ booth. Inside was the most adorable blond twink vampire in all of existence: Gideon Varik. With a laugh, Sky raised his hand above his head and waved wildly at Gideon. He didn’t expect Gideon to actually see him, let alone give him a small wave in return when an entire sea of people were shouting and cheering as his dancing cage rose.
Gideon dancing in a go-go cage that dangled above the masses was one of the bigger draws to Phoenix. His movements were so provocative, Sky struggled to tear his eyes away. Gideon helped to keep the scintillating vibe of the place going. Of course, there was also the amazing hellfire decor, sexy bartenders, killer music, and excellent drinks. Not to mention, many people came hoping to see the insanely gorgeous owner.
Rafe Varik was born to be a vampire. He had Hollywood good looks, oozed charm, and had an edge of danger that left most people drooling.
Sky had caught sight of Rafe once from afar while he’d been chatting with Gideon. He would never be brave enough to talk to the powerful vampire, and that was just fine with him.
“I still can’t believe you two met Gideon,” Red muttered.
“And you didn’t think to invite us along!” Moon cut in.
Mad chuckled. “We were more than enough for him and his boyfriend to handle. I don’t think he wanted to meet with an entire table full of witches.”
“Still, I would have liked to have met him or at least gotten his autograph.” Moon pouted.
Red snorted, almost choking on his drink. “Yeah, ’cause who doesn’t want to hand their signature over to a fucking witch?”
Sky rolled his eyes and turned partially away from the table to gaze out at the Friday-night crowd. It was full of all the regular clubbers in skimpy, clingy clothing. The main bar was already packed with people waiting to be served, and it wasn’t even midnight yet. Well, he wasn’t planning on having another drink, anyway. He’d driven into Hartford rather than taking a rideshare. That shit was too expensive.
Moon could bitch all he wanted, but Sky’d never expected to meet Gideon. It just so happened that the vampire had gotten his hands on a haunted trunk and had needed to get it unhaunted, fast. The job had been easy and had given him the chance to meet some of the Variks—not something he’d ever thought possible. The Varik Clan was the ruling vampire clan. Not only of Hartford and Connecticut, but freaking North America.
The paranormal world could be boiled down to a few simple rules:
Vampires stick to the vampires.
Shifters stick to the shifters.
Witches stick to the witches.
Nobody trust the necromancers.
Whatever. Losers feared a little death. No big deal.
The important thing was that he had his core group of close friends who weren’t afraid of what he could do and would always have his back. It was better to not be in the middle of all the power struggles and politics that seemed to consume the vampire world. He liked his quiet life, which included drinks with friends and helping people resolve issues they had with the dead.