Unbound

I looked over at Knox to find him smiling at me, a faint glow touching his eyes. “As you wish.”

9

I paused just off the entrance of the Dark Room, beyond the two empty coat check rooms, and looked over the club. The main floor was lit almost entirely by candles in wall sconces and in hurricane lamps on the tables. The walls were lined with booths that were cloaked in deep shadows that could be easily penetrated by our superior night vision. Thick burgundy curtains made of heavy velvet lined the entrance to each booth, ensuring just a little more privacy for its occupants. The music was a low, hypnotic beat, burrowing its way into the brains of the dancers as they swayed and moved with it.

The Dark Room was an alluring den of seduction and peace in a world that seemed to be passing with greater speed. In here, everything stopped for those few night hours and we were able to stop pretending to be something we were not. Of course, it meant that we had to find a way to live in harmony with each other while within the confines of the bar, but even that was a temporary arrangement as Bryce’s death had proved.

It was nearly midnight and the place was busy. The dance floor in the center of the main room was packed with writhing bodies and the booths were filled with others. It seemed as if they majority of the lycanthrope and nightwalker population had showed up. I hadn’t planned to make this a performance for both races, but then an audience had never deterred me when something important had to be accomplished. And in this case, it might prove to be useful.

Tilting my head back toward my right where Knox was standing behind my shoulder, I asked, “Do you know the group that he spoke of?”

“They’re in the booth at the far corner toward the right,” he replied in a low voice so that no one could hear us over the music that was pumped through the cool air. “Do you seriously know who we’re looking for?”

“Without a doubt. I’m just not completely sure of the why at this point, but I imagine we’ll know before the night is out.”

I descended the stairs down to the main floor and strolled back to the booth that Knox had indicated. Lycans and vampires both skirted me as I passed through the crowded region. Everyone knew of Bryce’s death by now. Everyone would suspect that I was looking for the killer, and no one wanted to fall under my searching gaze.

The booth consisted of two long benches that ran parallel to each other with a low table in the middle. It was easy to figure out which one of the three women that sat in the booth was Lauren. Her short blond hair and petite figure made her a relatively close physical match to not only Katie, but also the image that I picked out of Franklin’s mind. She lifted her blue eyes when I blocked the entrance to the booth, and she didn’t at all look surprised to find me standing there with my fists on my hips.

“So, I guess it’s safe to say that Franklin failed in his task,” she announced, drawing some confused looks from her companions.

“No, he managed to kill Bryce,” I corrected.

Her bright pink lips twisted into a moue before she coolly corrected my wrong assumption. “He was supposed to kill you, too.”

Her companions gasped and started to move as far from her within the booth as possible before encountering me. I had wondered if she had worked alone or if any of her companions had helped, but their utter shock and horror was easily picked out of their respective minds. This plot was Lauren’s alone.

I shrugged my slim shoulders, frowning at her. “He nearly did, but then, I’ve survived worse. Why do it? Your life is forfeit for involving the Daylight Coalition, for attempting to kill Knox and me. Why kill Bryce and Katie? Because I wouldn’t allow her to be reborn?”

“You stupid bitch!” she exploded, all her rage suddenly rising to the surface to mar her beautiful face. “You think that’s all. If it had been simply not allowing her to be reborn, then I would still have Katie. But that wasn’t enough for you. You had to have her memory wiped as well. Bryce took her from me!” Lauren’s fingers curled into shaking fists and she raised tear-glazed eyes to me.

I was beginning to realize exactly how wrong I had been about this entire situation. Katie had not been Bryce’s lover, but Lauren’s. Unfortunately, Lauren was too young to bring a human into our world so she convinced Bryce to secretly handle it outside Justin’s knowledge.

It was common practice to wipe the memory of any human that had been denied access to our world. It was too risky to leave them walking around with knowledge of our world. In a moment of anger at being rejected, they could strike out and talk to many of the wrong people, spreading knowledge of the nightwalker and even lycanthrope world. I had never considered what would happen to someone who hadn’t that intention but truly had a connection with a nightwalker.