Building From Ashes

Once upon a time, she was told vampires had lived at ease among oblivious humans, but these days, the surest way of spotting a vampire was asking to borrow their mobile. Want to know whether that cute lad with the devilish grin was really an immortal, blood-drinking monster? Just ask to borrow his phone, then wait for the quick smile and the brush across your skin, wiping any memory of the encounter from your mind.

Most of them kept to themselves. In a way, Brigid was more at home in the vampire world than the human one. She snorted when she saw two clueless girls cozying up to a tall, blond vampire who was eyeing their necks and brushing his fingers along their skin.

“Dinner is served,” she muttered, looking around the club for Emily. She spotted her at the bar, chatting with a boy from Parliament House. This was definitely one of Murphy’s clubs.

“Hey there!” She heard a friendly voice over the pounding music and looked to her right to see a smiling boy about her own age. He was a little taller and had a slim, runner’s build. Brown hair fell over his forehead, and he wore a pair of thick-framed glasses around beautiful dark eyes.

Brigid smiled. “Hi.”

“I like your shirt. Have you ever seen them in concert?”

She looked down at her black Buzzcocks T-shirt. “Um, no. I wish.”

“Me, too. I’m Mark.”

“Brigid.”

“Can I get you a drink?”

She looked around. Emily was still at the bar, still talking to their neighbor. “I think my friend’s getting me a drink, thanks.”

“Cool.”

Brigid was standing against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest, wishing she could flirt like Emily. Wishing that the thought of Mark crowding her didn’t make her heart race in terror.

“Do you want to dance?”

Yes.

No.

Do you want me to throw up on you? “I’m not really a dancer, but thanks.”

Faced with the prospect of a still-as-a-board companion, Mark seemed to lose confidence. “Well… um, it was nice meeting you, Brigid.”

She couldn’t help but feel the pang of disappointment. “You, too.”

He held out his hand, but she just looked at it. In her mind, Brigid imagined reaching out. It would be warm. Mark looked warm and comfortable. Friendly. Safe. In her mind, she reached out her hand to take his, but then his hand squeezed tight. Tighter. Until her knuckles were crushed beneath his strong grip. She could almost feel the phantom pain in her fingers as her throat constricted.

Mark blinked and stepped back, tucking his hand into his pocket and retreating.

“Well, like I said. Nice to meet you. Great shirt.”

She nodded and tried to smile, but she was afraid it came out more like she was in pain. The boy left and she stared at his back in longing. Why couldn’t she be normal? Then she bit the inside of her lip in disgust. Why did she even bother?

Brigid was standing against a wall, avoiding eye contact with anyone who got too close, when Emily came back with a drink for her. Her friend shoved the pink concoction at her and grinned.

“Try it!”

She glared at the fruity-looking drink. “What is this?”

“It’s a new drink that Mike was mixing at the bar. Really, try it.” She held up her hand. “See, I’ve got one, too.”

Brigid took a sip. It was incredibly sweet. She hated sweet drinks. “Em, this really isn’t—”

“Come on. One drink. Mike’s a friend, and it’s this new cocktail he just made up. He’s trying to get a bunch of people to order it to impress his boss.”

Brigid looked over Emily’s shoulder to see a boyish-looking young man grinning at them. He waved his hand as his head bobbed along to the music. She sighed. “Okay. But just one. I’m not going to lie, this is disgusting.”

“Just finish that one.” Emily was still grinning. “Trust me, you’ll love it.”

They drifted through the crowd, sipping their drinks, until Emily spotted the blond vampire Brigid had noticed before. “Oh my God, that’s Axel!”

Brigid frowned and looked around, squinting in the direction Emily was looking. “Who? Tall, blond, and…” Immortal. She looked around. “You know. The one in the booth?”

“Yes! I heard he was amazing in bed.”

Brigid snorted. “Really? After however many years and who knows how many girls, I’d hope so.”

Emily slapped her arm, but for some reason, Brigid didn’t flinch. In fact, as she sucked down the last of her drink, she realized she was beginning to feel a little sick. Still, the sound of the music seemed to be more pleasant in her ears, and she was beginning to sway to the rhythm.

“Let’s go over and say hi.”

“What, to the blond one?”

“Sure! I’ll tell him we’re friends of Murphy’s. If nothing else, maybe he’ll let us sit down. My feet are killing me.”

“I told you not to wear those shoes.” Emily was right, though. All the black leather booths that surrounded the dance floor were filled except Axel’s. He had one friend—security of some kind, from the way the human was watching the room—with him, but otherwise, the vampire was alone. Brigid wondered what had happened to the two girls he’d been entertaining earlier.

Maybe they weren’t his type.

His blood type, she thought with a giggle.

A giggle?

Emily started toward the booth, and Brigid followed behind her. They came up to Axel, and he smiled.