The Severed Thread by Dione C. Suto Read Free Book Online Page B

the moment, which I could probably attribute to my father’s position within the government.  I guess I had found something I could count on my father to provide – protection.  But I couldn’t delude myself into believing that the Lassiter name would protect me indefinitely.  I was being whisked away to meet a clan master without anyone knowing where I was going.  I could disappear, and no one would be the wiser that Liam McCallister was involved.
     

Chapter 5
     
    McCallister’s people had an Audi SUV parked about a block and a half down the street.  We made our way out my back door and into the night without the agent in the car out front realizing anything was amiss.  Someone definitely needed to ring his bell.  Why even bother watching the front and not the rear of a house?  The incompetence was mind boggling.
    Once we reached the SUV, I sat in the back with the redhead who introduced herself as Jacqueline.  The name was French, but she sounded more like a southern belle to me.  She kept calling me “ma’am” even though I was certain she was older than I, and could break my neck with a flick of her perfectly manicured hands.  The oddity of the situation would have had me laughing out loud if I weren’t about to collapse from stress and exhaustion.
    They took me to the River Walk, one of McCallister’s clubs located in the Manayunk section of the city. The area was famous for its steeply hilled neighborhood that descended straight to the banks of the Schuylkill River.  On the narrow flat stretch of land just above the water was Main Street.  For several blocks the buildings backed up to the Manayunk Canal, but once you got to the 4100 block, the establishments backed straight up to the river.  The whole area had an artsy vibe, and was lined with trendy restaurants and eclectic shops.  I was thankful I had not been taken to Free Fall, a club he owned off Delaware Avenue.  That one was located on the top floor of an otherwise vacant building.  It creeped me out when I drove by at night and saw the flashing lights leaking out of the windows, especially when all the subsequent floors where pitch black.  I had absolutely no desire to ever actually go inside. 
    We parked in a lot that ran alongside the building in a spot marked ‘Reserved’.  It was so hard to find a parking spot in Manayunk, and usually a sign was not enough to deter anyone.  Except in the case of vampire-owned establishments.  No one in their right mind would park at night in one of their reserved spots, especially one owned by the clan master.
    Lok led the way as we approached a side door manned by a vamp.  This one was average looking in the sense that he was not tall, he was not ethnic – he was not noticeable.  He apparently thought the same about me because he barely flicked a glance in my direction as we passed through the door into the bowels of the bar.  We walked down an alley of supply boxes stacked nearly to the ceiling.  A cursory look at a few labels indicated that they contained mundane things like stirrers and cocktail napkins. 
    We approached an interior door with another sentry.  This time, the vampire was anything but average.   He had an ebony complexion that looked nearly blue-black in the dim overhead lights.  When he spoke to Lok, his teeth were a snowy beacon in the midnight landscape of his face.  He glanced briefly at me before touching an earpiece fitted over his left ear and turning his head to speak softly.  With a jerk of his head he indicated that we should go up the stairs beyond the door.  Seamus remained at the bottom, while Jacqueline followed Lok and me up.
    At the top of the stairs was a balcony, which provided an unobstructed view of the entire first floor bar and dance floor.  It was still early, so there were not many customers, but the music was already pounding.  I could feel it pulsing up my legs from the floor below.  I followed Lok across the balcony to another