Feed.

Another cocktail waitress passed by, her blood as delectably scented as the first two. Through sheer force of will, his fangs retracted. He blinked and forced himself to look for Natalie again. She was still at the bar, but now she was talking with one of the waitresses. The girl looked nervous, and he could see a vampire—one acting as bartender—watching the two from a distance. They were well within hearing range and Baojia knew the other vampire would hear anything Natalie was saying. There was no time to lose. If the ruse was to work, he had to get control of himself. He also had to not kill the bartender who was eyeing Natalie’s neck. He felt wild and edgy. The instinct to tear Natalie away from prying eyes and clamp his mouth to her vein was almost overwhelming.

In a few short steps, he was standing behind her.

“—Rosa, I just want to know a little more about Lourdes. How long did she—”

He slid his hand along the back of her arm, letting his amnis flood her mind. Natalie stopped talking and looked over her shoulder with a dazed expression. “You?”

“Natalie.” He leaned down and kissed her neck possessively, then looked up at the waitress, his fangs falling again at the combination of the girl’s scent and the smell of Natalie’s skin. “You may go.”

The frightened girl shot a look at the bartender, then darted away. Baojia pulled Natalie into his arms and held her close, brushing back her hair and whispering in her ear as she clutched the front of his jacket.

“You’re standing out again, Natalie. They’ve already noticed you asking the waitress questions.”

“I knew there was something… What are you—?”

“You need to be quiet and let me talk.” He slowly walked her away from the bar and toward the VIP lounge. It would be nice to think he could escape without talking to Ivan, but that was not going to be an option. She stumbled along with him. He tried to balance the influence he was using so she was unable to talk, but could still walk at his side. His arms stayed around her waist. “We’re going to meet some very dangerous people, Natalie. And you’re going to do exactly what I tell you. Exactly. You’re going to play along because if you don’t, you’ll die. Do you understand? I’m going to lessen my influence now and you need to answer me.”

He paused near the stairs and cupped her face as he saw her eyes blink into focus.  K/sp/span>

She whispered, “Who are you?”

He stroked her cheek and brushed a kiss along her jaw, playing the part of the indulgent lover as he lessened the energy that flooded her mind. “Questions later. Do you understand what I told you?”

“No. What do you mean, play along? I know these are dangerous people, but I was only—”

“Please don’t make me use my amnis again. I need to know whether you can be trusted to play along or whether I can’t allow you to speak.”

He saw the fury in her eyes. “Can’t allow—?”

“Again, Natalie, I need to know whether I can trust you. Do you want to die?”

He saw her pause and think. Baojia continued stroking her cheeks, which had flushed with anger. It gave her a lush, tempting color he knew the other vampires would notice. He had to make them believe she was his. If he couldn’t, they were both in very serious danger.

“What’s your name?” she finally asked. “Your real one.”

He heard the edge of compromise in her voice. “My name is Baojia.”

Her mouth dropped open, a round, tempting “O” that he leaned down and captured with his lips before she could speak again. His fingers grasped the nape of her neck and he pulled her closer, letting the edge of his tongue touch hers before it danced back. Her mouth was soft and warm, her taste… The smell of the blood pulsing around him made his fangs throb. A frustrated growl left his throat as he pulled away from her mouth to whisper in her ear, his hand still tangled in the riot of red waves at her neck. “And you won’t forget me again. But I need to know if I can trust you, Natalie.”

“Okay.” Her breath was hot on his neck. “But I want answers later.”

“That’s unavoidable at this point. Now play along and pretend to be dumb for a while.” There was no more delaying; he had to go up the stairs. Tucking Natalie under his arm, he strode up to the VIP balcony, so much like the one at Boca. He knew video monitors were watching. Knew that his appearance and Natalie’s was being catalogued. Even as they walked, her picture was being sent to spies in Tijuana, San Diego, LA, Mexico City. It was a matter of hours before her identity was known.

One of Luis’s cautions in the car leapt to his mind again. “You know you might be creating the vampire equivalent of an international incident, and all over a girl, right?”

Nope, he was never getting back to his life in LA. They reached the top of the stairs.

“Ivan.” Baojia didn’t try to be overly friendly. Ivan would only be suspicious. “I offer my apologies for arriving unannounced like this.”

The black-eyed Russian looked him over but did not offer a seat. Ivan, despite his name, was Mexican by birth, son of a Russian emigrant to Northern Mexico who was turned at the beginning of the twentieth century, if Baojia’s information was correct. His face had been scarred in human life, giving the young man a vicious-looking grin that made humans and vampires around him cringe, even without his reputation. He sat on a red velvet couch with a girl on each side, the very picture of every vampire cliché Baojia could imagine. He had to force himself not to roll his eyes.