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Vi poured multi-coloured juices and liquor into the copper-and-silver shaker like she’d been doing it for years, clicking her tongue. I’d have to test if her free pours were at all accurate another time, but damn if it wasn’t sexy as hell to watch her work like she owned the place.

She capped the shaker, her hands moving like lightning as she turned a cheeky, kilowatt smile on me that showed off her straight human teeth.

“How aboutsir,then?”

The glass splintered in my hand with an audible crunch that I hoped the music covered. But even if the sound was lost to the noise of the club, the uptick of Vi’s glossy pink lips told me that she’d noticed the rivulet of liquid dripping from the crack.

She raised an eyebrow, gaze flicking from the ruined cup, to meet my eyes, to my lips and back again far too slowly to be casual.

If it could, I’m sure my heart would be pounding. Instead, I was left with a sort of achy buzzing excitement at her obvious interest.

Speechless.

I was going to have to sink my teeth into every girl in a five-mile radius to keep my hands off her.

My tongue darted out to wet my dry lips, partly to taste her perfume in the air as I leaned into her warm body, my eyes flicking from hers to her lips and back again in a clear response to the path she’d made herself.

“I suppose I could tolerate it,Pet.”

vi

. . .

It turnedout that bartending was sort of like riding a bike—you never really stopped remembering what an ounce of Cuervo felt like.

I wiped my hands on the rag I’d tucked under the counter, adding to the mottling of red blotches staining the ivory fabric.

While the spirits were second nature, what Ididhave to get used to was the consistency of the synthetic blood products that O kept behind the bar. I’d failed all but once to get the thick liquid into a glass without making a huge fucking mess.

Though I guess I should’ve been happy that Alpha Nutrition and A Plus even existed, since it meant that vampires weren’t out stalking us humans in the dead of night anymore… mostly. There were creeps in every species.

“This is disgusting,” muttered a reedy vampire, his carnelian eyes narrowed at me as he leaned heavily on the bar.

He was young, and if I had to guess, it was his first time inside. O had serious restrictions on the sort of vampires they allowed inside, given the free and giving nature of the facility. Rigorous background checks for every coven that joined andsteep fees in place to deter casual guests in favour of the annual membership.

But, there were still day passes. Meaning if you were fairly well off in your mortal life, even a freshly turned vampire could find themselves inside… If they were willing to spot the fee.

I blinked, the familiar embarrassed heat that usually accompanied making a mistake snaking up my spine. Pulling the ticket off the silvery spike, I glanced over his order again.

A glass of B negative. No additions.

Slice the bag and pour it into the cup.Easy.

“I’m sorry,” I said, smoothing my hair nervously and replacing the ticket. “Came right out of the pouch. Maybe you’d like to try something else?”

“Tastes like it’s been sitting for days, and it's cold,” he muttered, making a face. “I thought you served top shelf here.”

“Er—” I started, my eyes swinging to Ren, who barked a laugh.

“If you wanted a premium experience, you shouldn’t have that wristband,buddy,” she snarked, snapping the golden plastic against the vampire's wrist. “The live bar ismembers only.”

Sel, a slight, masculine vampire with a short, dark pixie cut not unlike Ren’s, snickered, fangs flashing. “You think a newbie like him can afford the fees?”

Irritation flashed across the guy’s face, dark brows moving low over his eyes. He downed the rest of his glass, pressing his lips together angrily.

Ren smirked and met my gaze with a look that saidobviously notbefore her eyes carved a trail down my body to rest on my bare thigh. I tried not to let it turn my knees to jelly.

I’d been doing that all night, ignoring the way that the beautifully handsome vampire made me feel weak. And, with anight’s worth of practice? It was starting to feel like riding a bike too.