short-cropped, dark hair and white t-shirt and black jeans seemed a poor imitation. Not that such things mattered, especially when the urgency of the addiction had London fidgeting in the seat next to Selena.
On rare occasions Selena pulled out the limousine and tonight was one of them, mainly because they needed to haul more people than could fit in her Town Car. London leaned against the door, peering out of the dark-tinted windows at the streetlamp lit corner in front of The Dog’s Hind Leg, the bar where she’d met with the young vampires. “That’s them.”
“Pull over,” Selena instructed the driver.
London pushed open the door and called to them. “Alright, get in then.”
Charnel climbed in and shouted, “Limo!” Her mini-skirt barely covered her butt as she tried to walk inside the vehicle while bent ninety degrees at the waist. All in white, from her fake fur coat to her stockings and hip boots. What was it with some vampires and wearing white? Did they have a magic formula for getting out bloodstains? Or just liked the look of bright red blood against the canvas of snow white? Charnel looked like a rock star ready for the stage. The other vampires were similarly attired in party clothes. Jimmy held aloft an open bottle of Jack Daniel’s and howled when he climbed in and bounced his bottom down in one of the side facing seats next to Charnel.
Selena shot London a “for real?” look and London just offered a half apologetic shrug.
Brandy and Colin climbed in last. Brandy saw Selena, clamped her lace glove covered hands to her mouth and stifled a fan-girl scream. When the others gawked at her in confusion she waved her hands at her face and struggled to squeak out, “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Selena? The Selena?”
London grinned with a little too much amusement at Selena’s expression of “What have you gotten me into?” All four junior vampires jammed in around Selena with copious amounts of idle worshipping and chatter. London excused herself to the couch opposite the huddle and smiled sweetly at her friend, knowing that there very well better be a Sidhe at the end of this ride. At least witnessing Selena hold court among her fans offered some distraction from the craving the gnawed at London.
The Limo pulled into the side alley beside the Fairy Circle Shop, one of those new age kinda shops with so many scented candles, incense, and herbs that anyone breaching the threshold with allergies was doomed to a ferocious sneezing fit. The junior vampires all spilled out. Their laughter and chatter only sped up with their excitement. Selena followed with London bringing up the rear. She’d heard about this place. It fronted for a lot of the drug dealing for the parahumans, magic brews and potions geared for blood drinkers and weres. London hadn’t heard that the place dealt with the fey, too.
London lagged behind a little, letting to others push ahead as she cast searching glances around the dark alley. The vampires went in the back entrance and there was barely room enough for London to wedge in without getting all up close and personal with the fur of Charnel’s coat each time the vampire girl squealed and hopped on her three inch heels.
Selena handled the money exchange swiftly. It was then that London caught a glimpse of this Rand fellow. A Changeling, London was certain of it. The last few times she’d dealt with Changelings bad things happened. Despite the assurances of Charnel and her friends, London’s instincts went on high alert.
The Changeling worked fast, blinking in and out he teleported first Selena, and then the other vampires a couple at a time. It took all of maybe forty five seconds for the Changeling to ‘magic’ away the vampires, which left London alone when he blinked back in. Rand crossed his arms and sneered. “I don’t usually mix clientele. Vampires can get territorial when they feed.”
She tried to make a quick assessment to see if she could get a bead on his