Page 21 of The Mermaid’s Bubble Lounge (Sam Quinn #8)

TWENTY-ONE

Everyone Has Their Suspicious Squinty Eyes on Us

It wasn’t a long drive to the nocturne, but I spent it scanning for what might be the pooka before I remembered where we were going.

“So, who am I meeting tonight?” I asked from the back seat.

“Ahmed and Adaeze are the African Counselors,” Clive explained. “Joao and Pablo are the South American Counselors. And Thi is the last remaining Asian Counselor. Each will, of course, arrive with an entourage of underlings. No one travels alone.”

“For good reason,” Vlad added.

“True,” Clive agreed.

“And do we know all of these people?” I asked. “Are they cool?”

Vlad scoffed at that description but didn’t respond.

“I’ve met all of them,” Clive said. “Some I know better than others. Ahmed is Egyptian and I probably know him best. He is very old, has immensely strong mesmerizing abilities, and is—as much as any of us are—quite honorable.”

Cadmael gave a grunt of agreement.

“Joao is Brazilian and innately charming. He uses that charm to disarm. Vampires who are older and should know better often fall into the trap of sharing more than they should with him. It may seem as though he’s merely chatting to pass the time, but he is paying attention to every detail and storing it for future use.

“And Thi, I met in Vietnam perhaps two hundred years ago. She is quiet and easy to underestimate. One does so at their own peril. She is deadly and they never see her coming.”

Cadmael nodded.

“The other two,” Clive continued, “I’ve only met briefly.” He looked in the rearview mirror and to his right. “What about either of you? Do you know Adaeze or Pablo?”

“Pablo, yes,” Cadmael said. “Climber. Ruthless.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Vampire.”

My phone buzzed in my bag. I had a new text.

Godfrey: Visit me now.

Me: We’re on our way…

I waited but there was no response.

Clive’s gaze flicked to me in the rearview mirror. “Problem?”

“I don’t know. Godfrey texted me to visit him right now.” I looked around. “We’re here.”

The gates were just closing behind the car. Clive drove to the far side of the courtyard and parked. Voice low, he murmured, “He’s not asking us to hurry up. Find him in your head. See what we’re walking into.”

I tipped my head back against the cushion, closed my eyes, and looked for the dead, or the undead, as the case may be.

Three strong green blips with me and a concentration of far more close by.

I zeroed in on the nocturne and found Godfrey quickly.

He and Russell were almost as familiar to me as Clive.

I pushed on his blip. You rang?

Bloody hell! I’m waiting for it, and it still creeps me out when you do this.

Yes. I rang. Audrey and I are picking up on some weird vibes with these Counselors.

They’re strangely suspicious of us. We’re just hosting.

We’ve done this countless times for other groups over the centuries.

Normally, the hosting nocturne is treated like a hotel.

We’re here to facilitate, but the meeting has nothing to do with us, so we go about our business.

What’s different this time? I asked.

Audrey says Thi, the Asian Counselor, is hiding some very strong hostility.

Thi is quiet and hasn’t done anything unusual, but Audrey says she’s seething.

The Master thinks they’re too interested in Clive and whether or not you’re joining him.

He told me to contact you, tell you not to come. It doesn’t feel safe for you, missus.

Unfortunately, we’re already here. I’ll let the guys know. Thank you.

I relayed our conversation to the men in the car.

“I wondered at the time,” Vlad began. “There were a lot of vampires in that training room in Budapest when Cadmael decided to expose you to everyone.” The look he shot the back of Cadmael’s head was dark. “A message could have gone out before we quieted them all. I meant to check phones, but—”

“It couldn’t have been done,” I told him. “How were you planning to unlock phones and check while we were dealing with a possessed vampire and bombs?”

“I’ll take you home,” Clive said, restarting the engine. “Maybe ask Dave to stay with you while I’m out.” He was mostly talking to himself as he put the car in reverse.

“Clive, stop.”

Guards appeared at the doors, trying to open them for us.

Clive slid down the window an inch. “A moment,” he said, sounding aloof and far too important. The guards stepped back from the vehicle.

Voice so quiet it wouldn’t be heard outside the confines of the vehicle, he caught my eyes in the mirror and said, “I’m not taking you into a possible ambush.”

I held up a hand, trying to settle him. “First of all, we’re already here.

Everyone knows we’re already here. Leaving now will just add fuel to the suspicion fire.

Second, we need to know what they know and what—if anything—was passed on.

I don’t cherish looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.

Third, I want to meet these people. I can pick up a lot when I’m with them.

Plus, once you guys meet me, you never think I’m actually dangerous. ”

“She has a point there,” Vlad said.

I gave him a dirty look. He didn’t have to agree so quickly. “And let’s not forget, I can hold my own against vampires.”

Cadmael gave a grunt of annoyance. “Vampires or pooka. Decide. We can’t sit in this car all night.”

“But if we did,” I pointed out, “wouldn’t it be super comfortable?” I looked at Vlad, whose mustache twitched. “Clive, this is silly. I’m the only one around with a heartbeat. They know I’m here. Let’s just go. Besides, it’s not like you lot couldn’t kill them all.”

“But then we’d have even more positions to fill,” Cadmael groused.

“Stay where you are,” Clive ordered. “You don’t open your own door.” He got out and opened my door, while the guards opened Cadmael and Vlad’s.

Take no chances, love, and stick to my side. Clive wrapped his arm around me and the four of us made our way to the nocturne entry, Fergus on my other side.

Unlike most vampires, Audrey, Russell’s second in command, didn’t wear black.

I loved that about her. My guess was she knew it was too harsh against her pale English complexion.

Instead, tonight she wore a soft dusty rose blazer over a silver top and charcoal slacks.

Her long blonde hair was coiled into a perfect chignon at the back of her head.

Big blue eyes assessed our group as we approached where she stood by the open front door.

In life, Audrey had been a lady’s maid. She’d been turned about two hundred and fifty years ago when the lady in question didn’t want to lose a servant and so killed and turned her.

Audrey had no idea she’d been working for a vampire, and one with the strong mental skills to keep Audrey mesmerized, chained to her and under her power.

Audrey had only recently shaken off the shackles and was now living a more independent undeath, which included choosing her own clothes in colors and designs she enjoyed.

When Russell became the Master, he’d asked Audrey to be his second.

Godfrey didn’t want the job. He much preferred being a third.

Less was expected of him, which suited him just fine.

Russell had recognized in Audrey someone he could trust. Her integrity made her an easy choice for second.

Though she was not new to being a vampire, she was new to exploring her own innate skills.

Like others in her line, she too had strong mental gifts.

In her case, she was able to sense the emotions of those around her.

Audrey inclined her head to our party. “You are welcome to the San Francisco nocturne. Our Master Russell is inside. Please join us and slake your thirsts.” She smiled at me, touching my sleeve and whispering, “This dress is gorgeous on you.” She fiddled with my hair.

“It’s lovely, ma’am, though I want to put it up for you.

I think that would look better with the line of the dress. ”

We were whispering, but I knew all the vampires could hear us, so I said, “Maybe once they start their meetings, you can fix it for me. You know I can’t do fancy things with my hair.”

“I’d be right pleased, ma’am.” She started to walk ahead and then paused, leaning into me again. “Oh, and Godfrey has a soda for you.”

“Thank you.”

One of the nocturne’s vampires appeared with a tray holding goblets of blood for the vampires. Clive had been handed a poisoned cup of blood in Budapest, so this whole situation made me nervous. He sniffed the blood and then glanced at me, letting me know it was safe.

Godfrey appeared at my elbow. “Good evening, missus.” After passing me a glass of soda, he leaned in, scratched behind Fergus’ ears, and said, “I found a new one of those unexplained mystery shows for us to watch tonight.”

“Oh, good. We can do that while Audrey fixes my hair.” I took a sip and glanced around. Audrey and Godfrey had done what they could to make me seem harmless. It was my turn to try to discover if any of the many vampires surrounding us were plotting against me or mine.

“Good evening, my lady,” Russell said, his deep voice settling my nerves.

Russell, a tall and very handsome Black man, was now the Master of San Francisco.

He had been Clive’s second for at least a hundred years.

Relatively speaking, he wasn’t as old as many of the vampires present, not as old as his second or third, but he had a strength of character that made people want to follow him.

“Is it okay to hug the Master?” I asked.

His face broke into a heart-stopping smile. He opened his arms, and I walked into them. I’d missed him. It was a short hug. Vampires didn’t really do displays of affection. The way Clive always kept his arm around me was unusual for vamps.

Speaking of which, Clive’s arms wrapped around my waist. “Russell, it’s good to see you. May I steal my wife? I’d like to introduce her to some people.”

Russell inclined his head and moved back to confer with Audrey.

Clive walked us over to two people standing together. Gesturing to a rather severe-looking man with dark hair and almost black eyes, he said, “Ahmed, this is my wife Sam. Darling, this is my friend Ahmed.”

I beamed. “Hello. It’s lovely to meet you.”

He smiled and his resting I’m-going-to-rip-your-heart-out expression transformed into an open, handsome face, complete with a dimple. “It’s good to finally meet you. I think we have all heard about the little wolf who tamed the ancient vampire.”

Laughing, I whispered, “Shh. He’s very sensitive about the ancient part.” I turned to the woman beside him. She was a stunning Black woman in a dark silvery gray dress that went to the floor with an elaborate gele head wrap in the same color.

She held out her hand to me. Vampires don’t shake, but she knew I wasn’t one and so was being polite. “I am Adaeze.” She smiled and I felt warmth run through me. She had gifts I needed to think about and prepare for. “Even in Nigeria,” she told me, “we have heard stories of the little wolf.”

In these heels, I was close to Clive’s height. “I think you mean the very tall wolf.”

Chuckling, Clive kissed my temple. “They mean one who is young and new to our world.”

“Oh,” I said, tipping my head back and forth. “Fair.”

“I hope your journey here wasn’t problematic,” Clive inquired.

Ahmed nodded. “Travel is always tricky, as you know. It is our winter, but your summer. A fifteen-hour flight is difficult to coordinate, though, at any time of the year when trying to avoid the sun. We ended up spending most of the day in a hangar until the sun went down.” He glanced at Adaeze.

“This is important, though. We have quite a mess to clean up.”

“We had that problem flying to Budapest,” I told them.

Vampires are quiet talkers, but the room got even quieter when I mentioned Budapest. Godfrey and Audrey were right.

All these vamps were on edge about Hungary.

“We left at night, flew all day, and then landed right before sunrise. It was touch and go as to whether the driver could get us back and inside on time.”

They’re all thinking about it, I told Clive. We might as well bring it up.

I agree.

“And how did you enjoy Budapest?” Adaeze asked. Her expression read politely interested but it was a mask. I felt her intensity like a punch.

“Oh, well. The town itself was gorgeous. I went for lots of walks and had some amazing meals. The Guild house had been remodeled. It was scary and decrepit on the outside but beautifully opulent on the inside. My issue was that there were no windows—understandably so. It felt claustrophobic to me. And the only way out during the day was down a long, creepy tunnel.” I gave a shudder.

“Then we had that crazy fae guy messing with everyone.” I shook my head.

“The town? Ten out of ten. The rest? I do not recommend.”

“Thankfully, Sam missed most of what went on. Her sleep schedule and jet lag meant she slept through the worst of it,” Clive murmured.

“What did happen?” Ahmed asked, his brow furrowed and dimple gone.

Clive glanced around the crowded entry and said, “Let’s discuss it in our meeting.”

Ahmed nodded, though he didn’t look happy.