The Darkening by Robin T. Popp Read Free Book Online Page A

closer. "It was nice meeting you," Josh said hurriedly before practically falling over himself to get away.
    Lexi turned on Darius. "You have no right to come in here and-"
    "Do you know that man?" Darius interrupted.
    She knew exactly where he was headed with this and stared up at him defiantly. "No-not that it's any of your business."
    Darius gave her a disgusted look. "But you'd have sex with him." He gestured to the room at large. "That's the only reason anyone comes to this place, isn't it?"
    Rather than answer his question, she asked her own. "Is that why you're here?"
    He gave her a lascivious smile. "If the gods are willing."
    She rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised you aren't already in the back rooms. What's the matter? Lose your touch with the women?"
    He frowned and took her gently by the elbow off to the side where they could stand and talk in greater privacy. "The Calling spell is supposed to summon us to where we're most needed, where death-magic forces are greatest. So why did I end up in New York City and not Seattle?" He paused to give her time to draw the obvious conclusion.
    "Because the demon is here?"
    "That's what I wanted to find out. When I focused on finding the strongest concentration of death magic, I ended up at this club."
    Lexi looked around, studying the faces around her, doing her best to sense an underlying evil. It was there, of course, everywhere she looked; vampires and demons luring humans and living-magic creatures into the back rooms. The vampires used glamour on their human companions to make them eager sexual partners, while the demons fed off the life force of their partners, leaving them with a high that was dangerously addictive. But these things were part of the thrill of coming to clubs like the Crypt and Blood Club. What Darius was talking about was something different. Something more powerful-and far more dangerous.
    "Rest assured, if the demon is here, I'll find him His gaze raked over her, making her conscious of just how snug and short her dress was. "Right now, I'm more interested in solving another mystery. Out of all the people in this city, why did the Calling spell bring me to you?"
    Lexi wasn't sure there was any big mystery to it. "Probably because I helped with the spell."
    "Were you the only witch from this area?"
    "No, of course not. There were about three or four of us.
    He nodded. "So why you?"
    She shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not the source of evil you're looking for, if that's what you're thinking. Maybe you appeared to me because I saw you during the Calling."
    "I never left Ravenscroft-how could you see me?"
    "Your face appeared in my scrying flame."
    "You command fire." It was more a statement than a question, but she nodded anyway. "It makes sense," Darius continued. "Fire is Sekhmet's element to command also, so it runs in my blood. It's only natural that the spell would deliver me to a witch who commands it."
    Lexi actually felt a stab of disappointment that there was no greater significance for why she was the one he'd appeared to, but before she could respond, a fight broke out across the bar between several male vampires. The crowd cleared from around them, like ripples in the water's surface after a stone has been dropped into a still pond.
    The four vampires squared off, fangs bared and eyes glowing with an unnatural light. As if by unspoken command, they rushed each other at once, and it wasn't long before Lexi caught the faint odor of blood in the air.
    "You should leave," Darius said abruptly. "It's not safe for you here."
    Lexi had never been one to take orders, especially from those who thought to protect her. "I'm not ready to leave. I came here to have a good time, and I'm not leaving until I do."
    Darius looked across the room at the dance floor, where the music still played and couples, oblivious to the fight, danced on. "Fine." He grabbed her hand firmly and pulled her into the crowd.
    The colored lights gleamed off the sweaty bodies of