The barkeep stalked back to her without missing a beat. “You want to feed your vampire?” He looked left and right and dipped beneath the bar, clanking around and returning with a small golden saucer, upon which sat the wide base of a matching goblet, the mouth covered entirely by a red cloth napkin. “Good luck,” he muttered, then stalked away without another word.
That was easy, she thought, balancing the heavy cup atop the saucer in the palm of her left hand, mimicking the graceful way Hedwig would do it. She headed in the direction of the stairs. It was much harder than it looked, and she had to stop it from falling off with her free hand several times. No one batted an eye in her direction.
There was then a flash of unmistakable honey blond off to the right, and she nearly spilled over, wobbling in place. “Bastion?” She turned, frantically rising on her toes and craning her head; he’d just passed her, a couple grinding bodies away. “Bastion,” she said, raising her voice.
Bastion was already gone. She swore it was him. Even if the crowd and music probably drowned her out, how had he not smelled her? Lilac swore under her breath, looked back at the nearby staircase, then moved forward in Bastion’s direction, steadying the goblet again. The last thing she needed was to enter his chamber covered in someone else’s blood.
Then, there it was again. That feeling, the tug behind her navel. This one threatened to take the breath out of her, so prominent she could almost name it. It was familiar, an echo of the emptiness she’d felt tossing and turning in bed the last few days—except this wasn’t coupled with the dread of the world crumbling beneath her. This felt different, urgent. Instead of a warning pull on her wrist, this was a choking fist upon her throat.
It was a demand.
She might’ve been able to fight it, but trying would only draw attention. Seething, she turned back around, gritted her teeth and climbed the stairs, one stubborn foot after the other, finally moving in agreement with the dark sanguine magic urging her forward.
At the top were several other courtesans and denizens in the hall; two of them stalked out of another room and didn’t even blink in her directionas they passed her on the way to the stairs, while another sat outside a room, humming to herself and puffing at a pipe. The force pulled her attention to the left, and her body pivoted, following suit. Leaning against the wall to the left of the balcony and cast half in shadows, were the two women she’d first spotted upon arrival.
The third—the last to join them—was nowhere to be seen.
One was in an ivy-green knitted shawl with her glass held loosely in one hand, and the other, a pretty brown kirtle that came up to her knees. They watched her coldly as she approached, and one of them made a noise of shock when Lilac turned toward the door on her right. She reached for the knob. Fighting it was no use, even when it was obvious the door was locked from the inside; she tried to turn it this way and that, but the door would not budge. The moment she tried to tug her hand off, a wave of nauseous dread hit her.
Lilac blinked, stunned by the peculiar sensation, and continued jiggling the knob.
“He didn’t orderyou,” one of them said behind her.
She reddened and turned halfway. “And how would you know that?”
The woman’s eyes widened in surprise, her scoff deepening. “Because they’re not supposed to eat the whores here.”
“Perhaps he ordered me to sate his other appetites.” At this, the force driving her arm seemed to wane slightly, but not without one last embarrassingly violent shake of the knob. Lilac willed with all her might for her hand to release it, tugging hard. She stumbled back before finally rapping her knuckle upon the door of her own accord.
No answer. Only muffled voices from within, a thump and scrape here and there, although neither sounded like sex or a struggle. Lilac glanced at them again from over her shoulder, just as she finally pried her hand free from the door. They regarded her with a mixture of wonder and disgust.
“Where’s your friend?” Lilac asked as she faced them.
The one who hadn’t spoken yet shifted against the wall. “What friend?”
“The woman you brought here. I saw,” she added, so they wouldn’t bother lying.
They whispered to each other, and the second one nudged her friend.
“Stop it, Nellie,” the first speaker snapped.
“But Elona,” Nellie groaned, looking nervous.
“She’s in there with another guest,” Elona said, her eyes narrowing. “What of it?”
“Just wondering,” Lilac pried, sick with envy, though they didn’t seem to notice. They seemed only concerned with the competition she presented. “It’s obvious he hasn’t been satisfied since I was summoned to help,” she said, managing a suggestive smile. “Have you considered going in there with her? Maybe three is better than one? Four even?”
“It wasn’tus.” Elona’s lashes batted in offense. “He was so hungry, he couldn’t sleep with us. And he certainly wouldn’t want to fuckyou.”
“You’re probably right about that.”
“He was adamant,” explained Nellie. “He said he couldn’t do anything until he had blood.”
“When we first heard there were two vampires here tonight, we thought it’d be easy,” Elona said, her pupils hazy. “But the older one is downstairs dancing, and no one seems to be able to get him to a room. We thought that was what they were here for… having sexandfeeding. The sensation is like no other.”
Lilac felt like she needed to vomit. “Why didn’t you offer him your necks?”
“Because,” Nellie said, frowning at the door, her face shifting in confusion. “He insisted heonlywanted to feed. That the only appetite he’d entertain tonight was for blood. And that…” Nellie looked down, picking at her nails. “He said?—”
