Page 102 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding

“What? It’s tonight? We just got back in.”

“I know. The timing is awful. But it was the only time we could get Nocturnum to agree to such a large party. They’re booked solid for the next four months. If we didn’t jump on this, we were going to have to think of a different plan. Besides, you are probably flying off that blood after three days of starving.”

Lucy wasn’t wrong about that. The exhaustion that had been pulling at her eyelids just half an hour before had disappeared after just a couple of sips.

“OK. You’re right. Better to get this over with. After this, things should calm down. At least when it comes to my family interacting with Victor.”

“That’s the spirit,” Lucy said, pulling up outside Pandora’s house.

The two of them climbed out, and Lucy paused to grab two garment bags out of the boot before following Pandora inside.

“Oh, there you are, my dear!” Ravenna said, rushingtoward Pandora to wrap her up in a crushing hug. “So glad you got back in time for your party.”

“Me too.” Pandora gave her great-aunt a smile.

“How was Morocco?”

“Beautiful. We had a wonderful time.” Out of the corner of her eye, Pandora could see Ambrosia watching from the doorway of the dining room. “Victor bought me new-and-blue earrings for the wedding at a little shop there. It was just the stress relief we needed.”

Perhaps she would feel guilty about embellishing the truth if it weren’t for the fact that she knew her great-great-grandmother had sent them on the trip to attempt to break them up.

“Oh, that is so lovely,” Ravenna said. “That is a good man you have there. OK, go, go. Get ready for your party. I can’t wait to see this club.”

Was it weird to have family members who were hundreds or thousands of years old going to your hen party? Probably. But Pandora didn’t have a ton of friends, so she was glad to have family to celebrate her upcoming vows with.

Plus, they could all have a good time. Without, you know, feeding on anyone who wasn’t willing.

Pandora, Lucy, Kora, and Maribelle spent a few hours in Pandora’s room. Doing their make-up, getting dressed, chatting.

And then they were all piling into a limo as Dante, Elias, and the other cousins and uncles headed out to pick up Victor, who’d been a good sport about the sudden party, despite likely suffering some jet lag and wanting to just rest.

“Elias said they even managed to get in touch withVictor’s best mate,” Lucy told her as they drove toward the club.

“Sebastian.”

“Yeah. Figured it would be nice for him to have at least one person from his life there,” Lucy said.

“Here we are!” Ravenna cheered, clapping her hands as the limo pulled up to the curb.

The entrance to Nocturnum was hidden in plain sight, marked only by a worn brass plaque beside the door and a single red bulb casting the front of the seemingly abandoned building in an eerie light.

The group made their way inside and the city sounds – the distant rumble of cars, faint echoes of conversation, the occasional shriek of a siren – faded as Pandora made her way down the narrow spiral staircase.

Each step felt like a deliberate departure from the mortal world above. The very air felt thicker, an intoxicating scent of aged leather, sandalwood, and something darker, more metallic, that Pandora was trying hard not to think about.

At the base of the stairs stood a towering figure in an expensive suit, his handsome features obscured a bit by the club’s rouged lights.

The doorman’s gaze slid over the eclectic group. From the tight, short, low-cut dresses worn by Pandora, Lucy, Kora, Maribelle, and Bellatrix, to the long, ornate, heavy dresses and gowns worn by the older vampires.

He shook his head a bit at them, but reached to pull apart the thick velvet curtains.

The scene unfolded before Pandora’s eyes.

It was a sprawling, dimly lit lounge just about as far as the eye could see. Everything was in shades of crimsonand black. Heavy chandeliers dripped from the ceiling, casting muted maroon over the club’s patrons, rendering their features otherworldly.

Shadows clung to the corners and Pandora couldn’t help but wonder – or fear – what might be happening just out of sight. Especially since, right there in the open on one of the many black leather couches, two female vampires had their fangs stuck into either side of the neck of a male human donor.

A deep, persistent bass reverberated through the floor, felt rather than heard, a rhythm eerily similar to a mortal heartbeat.