The Children of the Sun (3 page)

“Hi, Thomas.”

“Evening, Two. How are you tonight?”

“I’m doing great. You?”

“My bar is jumping, I’m surrounded by beautiful ladies, and the tips have been good. Can’t complain!”

Two laughed. “Awesome. Can I have the usual?”

“No problem. How about you, my man?”

“Talisker eighteen, please,” Theroen said. “Just a drop of water.”

“Sure thing. Coming right—”

“Oh!” Naomi cried, leaping again to her feet. “I’ll be right back. I simply
must
dance to this song.”

Two watched, amused, as Naomi made her way to the dance floor. Once there, she had her choice of several partners and picked a tall, muscular man with long, dark hair. Drunk or not, Naomi knew how to move her body, and her partner was quickly pressed against her, undulating in sinuous rhythm.

“What the hell have you got her drinking?” Two asked Thomas, who had stopped mixing drinks for a moment to openly stare at Naomi’s sensual dancing.

“Already like that when she got here,” he replied. “Actually trying to slow her down a little …”

“She’ll be fine,” Two said. “I’ll make sure.”

Thomas nodded and set their drinks down, moving on to other customers. Two picked up her bourbon and sipped it, then she glanced at Theroen and smiled.

“How you doing?” she asked him.

Theroen lifted his glass of scotch to his nose, breathed deeply, smiled, and set it back down.

“I used to drink this on trips to London,” he said. “I am well, Two. It’s good to see Naomi relaxing a bit.”

“Now we just need to work on you,” Two said, giving him a sly grin.

Theroen chuckled and took a sip of scotch, clearly savoring it.

“Can I try?” Two asked. Theroen handed her the glass and she tasted it, then made a face.

“Oh, my God …”

“It’s an acquired taste,” Theroen conceded.

“It’s like taking a swig from a bottle of liquid smoke!”

Theroen laughed. “Yes, that’s not far off.”

Naomi was returning to the bar, having turned down an invitation to keep dancing. Her temporary partner looked unhappy, but he had grudgingly given up and settled for following her rump with his eyes as she strode away.

“I think he likes you,” Two commented, tilting her head toward the man, and Naomi smiled a little.

“The dancing was enjoyable. Too bad he absolutely bathed in cheap cologne,” she said.

“The perils of
L’Obscurité
,” Two replied, and Naomi nodded. She finished her glass of wine in a single gulp and set it on the bar. Thomas swooped in to refill it without a word, moving just as quickly on to his other patrons.

“Do you want to find a … oh,
merde, comment dit-on
? One of those places where you … sit?”

“A booth?” Two suggested.

“Yes! Sorry.
Desolée
. My English sometimes escapes me when I’ve … had a lot of wine.”

“Are you OK?” Two asked. She had seen Naomi this drunk, but only a few times in her life, and never this early in the evening.

“Do I look not OK?” Naomi asked in a tone that warned Two against answering the question, but before Two could make a choice, Naomi stood and began making her way through the crowd, leaving her companions to follow. Two glanced at Theroen, who raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Guess she’ll tell us if she needs to,” Two said, and Theroen nodded. He turned and began to follow Naomi. Two picked up her glass and made her way after them.

Once comfortably settled into the booth, situated in a dark corner of the club, Naomi seemed fine. She chatted with them easily, the conversation moving in a fractured, circuitous way as she latched onto different topics. She spoke of William, her mentor and the head of the American council, and of the inroads they were making with the Burilgi. She spoke also of a recent fashion show she had attended, and of her plans to visit South America in the winter.

“We never get the chance to talk like this at the council meetings,” she said. “I know I’m prattling on, but I don’t even remember the last time we got together to talk. How have you both been? What’s new in your lives?”

Two glanced at her shoulder and smiled. “Well, Jakob almost chopped my arm off at practice earlier, but he says I’m ready to go fight at the clubs.”

“Oh, how exciting!”

“And let’s see … Rhes and Sarah had their baby. Did you know she was pregnant?”

“You had mentioned it. How lovely for them! Was it a boy or a girl?”

“Boy. Nathan James. Born about a week ago. I have some pictures but haven’t seen him in person yet … they only got home from the hospital on Monday.”

“That’s so wonderful. I’m glad they still keep in touch. I know they mean a lot to you.”

“They’re good people, and they nearly got themselves killed just trying to help me. Least I can do is respond to a few emails and Facebook posts, right?”

Naomi smiled, nodded, drank from her glass and emptied it. “I need another.”

“Are you sure?” Theroen asked. The words were delivered in the same calm tone that was his signature, but the question nonetheless earned him a glare.

“I’m quite capable of handling my alcohol, Mr. Anders,” Naomi said. “You needn’t worry on my behalf.”

“It was only a question, Naomi. I meant nothing by it,” Theroen said. He finished up his drink and, glancing at Two’s nearly empty glass, stood up. “Let me make it up to you by making the trip to the bar.”

Naomi seemed to find this acceptable. She smiled and slid her glass across the table. “Thomas will know what to fill it with.”

“Of course,” Theroen said. He took the empty glasses with him on his way back to the bar. Naomi turned to Two.

“I’m going to go powder my nose … haven’t had dinner yet,” Naomi said. “Do you want to come?”

Two shrugged. “Sure. Should we wait ‘til Theroen gets ba—”

“He’ll figure it out. Let’s go!”

She stood, taking Two’s hand and pulling her up. Two was surprised as always by the strength Naomi possessed, hidden so well in the vampire girl’s long, thin limbs. She could feel Naomi’s aura, a kind of pulsating warmth, roll over her like a wave. It was a rare gift possessed only by a few vampires of her kind, and Naomi had been working with the ancient vampire Ashayt – the source of her line – to gain control of it. Two was unsure if what she was feeling now was intentional or merely a sign that Naomi had lost some control in her intoxication.

She knew what warmth like this meant. Two had felt it before, many times, usually while lying mostly naked in bed with Naomi, kissing and caressing. That time had long passed; it had been more than two and a half years since the last time she and Naomi had been intimate.

“Naomi …” Two could hear the caution in her voice, the accusation, and hated herself for it.

“Oh, relax,” Naomi said, not understanding. “He’ll be fine.”

She tugged on Two’s hand and pulled her toward the bathroom. Somewhat against her better judgment, Two allowed herself to be led.

The women’s bathroom was cool and dim, scented with lilac, lit by pink-tinged wall sconces.  The slate-tiled walls reverberated with the thud of the music from beyond the door. There were four stalls, none in use, and a black granite countertop housing four stainless steel basins. Two could see a few specks of what she thought was cocaine on the counter, not an uncommon sight at the club.

“Oh, boo … no one’s home,” Naomi pouted.

“Give it a minute.”

“Of course.”

Naomi leaned forward, her belly pressing against the counter, inspecting her eyeliner in the mirror. Two stood back by the door, feeling awkward, unsure why Naomi had invited her here and angry at herself for the suspicions running through her head.

The door opened and a young Hispanic woman with long, dark hair came bustling in. She was wearing what looked like half a dozen bracelets on each arm and a silver dress that barely hid her underwear. She ignored the two women, shouting into her cellphone instead.

“No, Stacey, Listen … you gotta come back. I heard him. Yeah, but … Stacey, come
on
. He’s not that bad.”

Naomi glanced at Two, smirking, and Two laughed a little.

“But I told your mom!” the girl whined, drawing the last word out into two distinct syllables. “Stop being a bitch and just … no, fuck
you
!”

The girl jabbed at her phone, ending the call, and stood there looking at it for a moment in disgust. She slowly became aware that the other two women in the room were staring at her, and she looked up at Naomi.

“What?! Don’t you have, like, anything better to do?”

Naomi grinned. When vampire bodies were preparing to feed, muscles in the gums pushed their two canine teeth forward, and the effect made her smile look very predatory indeed. The young girl, sensing that something was not right, looked suddenly nervous.

“Hey, just … I’ll just go, OK? I didn’t mean to interrupt or like, whatever, so …”

Naomi was advancing on the girl, mesmerizing her with a combination of gaze and aura, the latter of which Two could feel from across the room.

“Why don’t we go into that stall, and I’ll give you a little kiss?” Naomi said, her voice low and husky and hungry. Two shivered.

“Oh, uh … ‘kay,” the girl said, breathless and unable to take her eyes off the vampire in from of her. Naomi led her into the stall and closed the door. Two heard a soft shuffling and a small thud. There were kissing noises, and the girl began to make a soft, urgent cooing that rapidly intensified.

“Oh!” the girl cried out, and then there was no noise at all for a few moments. Two leaned against the bathroom wall, amused and mildly aroused, waiting for Naomi to finish. Eventually the other vampire emerged from the stall, grinning and licking her lips.

“She OK?” Two asked.

Naomi nodded. “Oh, I think so. Too bad she won’t remember a bit of it.”

“How come I always remembered?”

“I never wanted you to forget,” Naomi said, leaning in close and looking Two in the eyes. “You know … you were the last woman I drank from. It’s been all men since. I missed it.”

“Sounded like you were having fun.” Two felt fidgety, hot, her skin prickly. She knew where this was leading, wanted to speak out against it, but she couldn’t seem to.

“Her lips tasted like peppermint,” Naomi said. “Let me show you …”

Before Two could reply, Naomi had leaned in and was kissing her, the aura flooding forth. Without thinking and not entirely in control, Two kissed back, and for a moment they were locked together in silence. Then the girl in the stall, still swooning, dropped her phone to the floor with a clatter. The sound of it brought Two out of her trance and she turned her head away.

“No!” Naomi said in a breathless little cry. “No, kiss me. Please!”

Two forced herself further away. She grabbed Naomi’s shoulders, not in an embrace but rather using them as leverage. Naomi pushed forward, still trying to kiss her.

“Naomi, stop,” Two said. “Stop it. I don’t … fucking
knock it off
!”

Two shoved with both hands this time, hard, and Naomi took a stumbling step backward. She nearly lost her balance and leaned against the metal wall of the closest stall, visibly deflating. She put her hands to her face and began to cry.

“I knew you were going to do that,” Two muttered. “Why did I come in here? I’m such an idiot.”

“I’m sorry,” Naomi sobbed. “Oh, Two, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have, but I just … I just want to kiss you! I want to make love to you!”

“So you thought you’d just, what … rape me?” Two demanded.

“No! That’s … I could see that you were turned on. I could
feel
it!”

“That doesn’t mean I want to get hypnotized and fuck you in a public bathroom!” Two said. She was forcing herself not to shout, but wasn’t hiding the anger in her voice. She wanted to end this, now, for good.

“Don’t say that,” Naomi wept. “Don’t make it out to be so … so dirty. I just—”

There was a bang from the far end of the room as the stall door opened and the girl in the silver dress stumbled out, looking bleary-eyed.

“Can you have your stupid dyke-fight somewhere else?” she asked. “I’m trying to piss.”

Two whirled on her. “Get your bridge-and-tunnel ass the fuck out of here before you get hurt!”

“PMS much?” the girl said, giving Two an exaggerated eye roll, but she made her way out of the bathroom. Naomi gave an incredulous laugh and rubbed at her face with the back of her arm.

“I’m so drunk,” she muttered.

“Christ, Naomi,” Two said. “Why did you have to go and do that?”

“I don’t
know
!” Naomi said. “I wasn’t thinking. I just … Mother Ashayt went to California and … and … I’m alone. I was so happy to see you, and I started thinking about London.”

Two closed her eyes, resting a hand against her forehead for a moment. She hated this. She hated that she had done this to Naomi, and she hated that she couldn’t fix it. All she could do was tell the truth.