Angel of Fire - Chasing Destiny - Book Three ***COMPLETE!!!***

Nocturne's Oasis

Chapter 16

Jade frowned, studying me hard. “Why do I get the feeling that the twinkle in your eye is meant for someone other than Vy?”

I pulled my hair over my cheeks to hide an incriminating blush. “Never mind about that. Let's just say the sight of blood gives me the squeamies. Especially mine.”

Frown deepening, she shook her head sarcastically like she thought I was one fry short of a Happy Meal. “Are you opposed to going to a blood bar?”

My brow crinkled in surprise. “What exactly do you mean by blood bar?”

Legs noticeably wobbly, Jade put an arm on the back of Vycandor's chair to steady herself. I was suddenly glad there were no mirrors in the lab. She would freak if she saw how hollowed out her cheeks had become. The need to feed was all but taking over her animal instincts. Incisors lengthening dramatically, she looked like she was itching to sink her teeth into a good meal.

“Nocturne's Oasis is a restaurant with a nightclub and bar that caters to the bite-curious, as well as drinkers and drainers. You can order a fresh cocktail made with your favorite blood type, listen to music while you shoot the shit, and eat people...ah, I mean...meet people.”

I almost threw up in my mouth. “Sounds disgusting.”

“It's fun. I promise,” Jade insisted, glancing down at Vycandor. “I could never get him to go with me, but what choice do we have now? If you won't help, it's either Nocturne or death. You choose.”

Rolling my eyes, I groaned, “Don't you think you're being just a little dramatic?”

She flashed a pair of pointy fangs. “I'd rather be a little dramatic than a lot dead.”

I glanced at Vycandor. He was passed out cold. “How am I supposed to get him to drink anything like this?”

“When you get there, ask for Ruby. She'll know what to do.”

Lifting my head, this time my gaze landed on Doctor Drool. He was busy setting up all the medical tools and equipment needed to conduct his experiments, and hopefully find a cure. “I don't think it's a good idea to leave you alone with him, Jade. He's more dangerous than he looks.”

A growl erupted out of the back of her throat. “You've gotta be kidding me. Goldilocks couldn't hurt a fly. Besides, I can take care of myself.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Where is this place anyway?”

“It's five minutes down the road in Oshtemo.” She paused and we both watched Drool pick up a huge needle attached to a glass syringe. Very carefully, very slowly he inserted the needle into a vial and began to fill the syringe with a clear liquid. Jade put on a brave face. “If you hurry, you'll get back in time to watch me get turned into a pin cushion.”

Now I was the one dragging my feet. “I'll never be able to get Vycandor to the car. We parked it all the way out front by the gate.”

“Here,” Drool interrupted, tossing me a set of keys. I snatched them out of the air one handed. “Take my work truck. It's parked out back.” He pointed over his shoulder at a door I hadn't even noticed. "Get the drainer, or whatever you call him, something to eat so he can regain his strength. I still need to run some tests on him.”

Without waiting for me to leave, Drool held out his arm to assist Jade up on top of the operating table. Enamored by his good looks, she willingly complied. I watched frozen in place as he pulled on a pair of purple latex gloves, before tying a thick rubber band high on her bicep, and swabbing the crease of her arm with an alcohol pad. When finished he searched for a large protruding vein, picked up a needle from a nearby sliver tray, and without any hesitation sunk it directly into her vein. Hitting his target, dark crimson blood flowed through the syringe into a tiny glass vial that he switched out with another once it became full. The seconds ticked by and soon he had accumulated over a dozen vials with no end in sight.

Haunting images of my own blood being drained from my body flooded my mind. Throat filled with bile, I turned around to avoid the grotesque scene without looking where I was going and knocked into a counter. The impact sent hundreds of delicate glass beakers filled with colorful bubbling liquids crashing one after another to the cement floor in a domino effect.

Drool seethed with rage. “Chaos, do you know what you have done?”

“Sure. I can never un-see what I just saw.”

He ignored my rant. “You wiped out years of my research in a single day.”

All I could think of to say was, “Oops.”

“A bull in a china shop would be more careful than you.” Pointing to the door he ordered, “Take your friend and get out. Don't come back until he can walk on his own two feet.”

I bent down, hooked Vycandor's arm around my neck, and headed for the door. Opening it, I gave Drool a little warning of my own. “If you hurt Jade, I will destroy you. Do you feel me?”

A trace of amusement slid behind his robin egg colored blue eyes. “Yes. Now go. Before you break something else.”

“Hey, Chaos,” Jade called. “Bring me back a Bloody Mary. Hold the tomato juice, and tell Ruby I want A-positive this time instead of my usual O-negative.”

I blinked hard. “You're shitting me, right?”

“Oh, and tell her to add an extra shot of her signature, tongue-blasting Tabasco sauce. I like my drinks spicy.”

“Whatever makes your fur stand up.”

I dragged Vycandor outside without looking back and stuffed him in the passenger seat of the waiting vehicle. Doctor Drool's work truck turned out to be a black GMC Sierra, outfitted with more high-polished chrome accents than I could shake a stick at. Turning the key, the powerful engine roared to life. Before taking off, I typed the name of the nightclub into the GPS and waited for driving directions to pop up. Jade was right. The place was literally right down the road in Oshtemo.

Flicking on the headlights, I eased the truck around to the front of the immense property and followed the long, winding driveway back to the wide open security gate. Careful to avoid hitting the parked Mustang, I turned left at the end of the drive and let the female voice of the GPS system guide me to my destination. Hidden behind the facade of a run down paper mill, the entrance to Nocturne's Oasis was guarded by an intimidating, heavily muscled bouncer named Zeus who easily weighed over three-hundred-pounds. If it wasn't for the fact that Vycandor was clearly knocking on death's door, we might never have gained access. And the fact that Zeus admitted he had a soft spot for redheads in crisis mode also worked in my favor.

Once inside and seated comfortably in a secluded alcove to wait for a waiter, my eyes drank in the darkly alluring venue that featured a Londonesque outside-meets-inside décor, complete with antique street lamps, old fashioned park benches, and quaint red chairs paired with white tables. Other retro-edged seating consisted of long black couches separated by red satin curtains. A striking visual display of polarized mirrors hung suspended behind an immense granite bar, while cleverly hidden black light accents illuminated the drinks, making them glow in shades of blue, green, and yellow. But it was the eerily glowing fangs of patrons milling about in their best gothic finery that grabbed my attention most.

Vycandor wasn't the only drainer with a flair for the dramatic. Fangless and decidedly under dressed, I stood out in this crowd of monsters like a sore thumb.