No offense.”
I sighed. “Just don’t tell anyone it’s not true. Got it?”
“Gotten. I see since Barry isn’t here tonight, you’ve taken on the title of Little Miss Bossy?”
“And I wear that title proudly.”
He left with his drinks and I absently ran a wet cloth along the surface of the bar top. I was overthinking everything. That’s all this was. Ever since I’d been fired from my last job for sucking a drop of blood off my boss’s injured finger—I still shudder at the embarrassing and rather disgusting memory—I’d been “in between jobs,” akaVery Unemployed . I’d helped out where I could in getting the club up and running, but other than that I had a lot of time on my hands for worrying, thinking, and letting things fester away in my mind until they grew completely out of proportion.
My meager savings account was slowly dwindling away. I didn’t particularly want to bartend at Haven for the rest of my immortal life. I mean, George had recently told me he’d been a waiter for over twenty-five years. Yikes. I needed to start making some decisions about what I was going to do to make ends meet. I couldn’t live on credit forever.
Well, maybe for a couple more months.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blond-haired male sidle up to the bar.
I didn’t look up. “George, can you watch the bar for a sec? I need to go on a bathroom break.”
“Who’s George?”
My eyes widened and I looked up at the unfamiliar, lightly accented voice. Was that Russian?
A very attractive, well-over-six-feet, muscular, blond vampire gazed at me from the other side of the bar. He smiled.
“May I have a Jack Daniels on the rocks before you head to the ladies’ room?”
Feeling embarrassed, I nodded, and reached under the bar to grab the bottle and pour out the drink. I slid the glass across the bar to him.
His eyes were green. Very green. Like little green laser beams that fixed directly on me, making me acutely self-conscious. “This is a nice place. You just opened?”
“Last week.”
“I had some trouble finding it.”
“That’s sort of the point. We don’t want just anyone walking in here unannounced.”
“No, wouldn’t want that.”
George appeared next to the man. “Well, hello there, handsome. Welcome to Haven.”
“Thank you.”
“You should come and sit in my section.” He eyed me. “You don’t mind, do you MissSlayer of Slayers?”
“Um.” I blinked. “Of course not.”
The man glanced at George, and then back at me. “Slayer of Slayers?”
“That’s right,” George confirmed, with a knowing wink at me. “Our little Sarah here’s been kicking some hunter butt. She’s totally my hero.”
Now the man’s attention was focused completely on me. “You’re Sarah Dearly?”
I tensed. “Maybe. Who are you?”
He stared at me long enough that I felt like I wanted to crawl away and hide. I felt goosebumps form on my arms.
After another moment he flashed his fangs at me and finally spoke. “You are not at all what I expected.”
“You were expecting something?”
“Yes, of course. What I have heard led me to believe that you’d be larger, older . . . andmuch less attractive.”
Hmm. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad after all.
“Well, you know what they say about rumors,” I said.
“Slayer of Slayers. Yes, this is good. Very good.” He stood up from the stool and leaned over the bar,
his face coming within inches of my own. I froze in place, not knowing if I should back away from him or not.
A hand clamped down on his shoulder, bringing him firmly back down to a seated position on the barstool.
Thierry stood next to him. “Nicolai.” His voice was void of expression.
Nicolai tore his gaze from me and turned to the other vampire, surprise registering on his face for a split second. “Thierry.”
I watched them as they stared at each other and felt tension rising in the air.
Thierry finally broke the silence. “What are you doing here?”
Nicolai regarded him for a moment, his expression far from pleasant. “Is that any way to greet an old friend? I’m disappointed in you.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
Nicolai glanced at me. “Thierry, after so many years, you still manage to surprise me. I had no idea this club was yours. And hiding an angel away in a dark place such as this? What an absolute waste.”
Thierry’s gaze flicked to me. “Sarah is my bartender.”
And that’s all he said.
I felt the blood drain from my face. His bartender.
“Yes,” Nicolai said. “I can see that much. It all begins to make sense to me now. It was at one of your other clubs that the confrontation with the hunters took place in early December?”
Thierry crossed his arms. “An event I wish to leave behind us, for the sake of everyone’s safety. That is why we moved to another location.”
“I have heard all about it.” Nicolai turned to me again. “Such power in such a petite form. I am very impressed.”