“Get up,” Jack said, his voice trembling with restraint, and Lucian scrambled to his feet. “Get out of here before I rip out your throat.”

“You shouldn’t have brought her if you didn’t want to share her!” Lucian shouted, almost plaintively.

Milo made a move towards him, but Olivia grabbed his arms and held him back. Lucian snuck past them and hurried away.

Jack glared after him for a second, but before Olivia released Milo, Jack turned and dropped to his knees next to me. He touched my forehead and let out an uneasy breath. With great effort, he pulled his eyes away to look me completely over. His breath came out in shallow rasps, and I felt a hungry panic from him that I didn’t understand.

“Are you okay?” Jack asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Are you? What’s the matter?”

“I’m okay.” His hand trembled when he pulled it from my forehead, and I noticed something dark staining his fingers. “You’re bleeding.”

“Oh no,” I whispered.

“Alice… do you trust me?” Jack kept his eyes fixed on me. I nodded. “Good.” He leaned over and gently, he kissed my forehead.

Milo yelled in protest, but Olivia restrained him. Softly, I felt Jack’s mouth on my wound, and that simple touch sent shivers of pleasure through me. He wanted me so badly I could hardly stand it. I moaned, and Jack sprang back from me, panting hoarsely.

“What did you do?” Milo shouted.

“I needed the bleeding to stop!” Jack licked his lips and looked at me hungrily. “My saliva will make it heal quicker.”

“Take her out the back way,” Olivia said, sounding far more worried than I felt. “It’ll be easier than going through the club.”

I couldn’t feel worried or frightened. Jack overwhelmed me with his thirst, and that left me wantonly reciprocating.

I sat on the floor with my back against the wall, only vaguely aware of my throbbing headache. Jack crouched across from me, pressing himself tightly against the other wall. His blue eyes stayed locked on mine. He willed himself to stay there, and I wanted his will to break.

“Jack!” Milo said, and he gripped my arm painfully as he yanked me to my feet. He hadn’t gotten the magnitude of his new strength, and I was lucky he hadn’t snapped my arm in half.

“Sorry,” Jack mumbled, standing up. Milo managed to break us out of the trance, but we were both pretty dazed.

“We gotta get out of here,” Milo said, looking back over his shoulder.

“Yeah, right, okay.” Jack nodded but made no effort to move. He just stared dumbly at me, and he shook his head to clear it. “I, uh, I don’t know where the back exit is.”

“Oh, hell.” Olivia rolled her eyes. She slid in between us, her long hair brushing like silk across my skin. “Grab the girl. We have to hurry.” She was already jetting ahead, gliding lightly in her knee-high boots.

I could never keep up with her, and I was about to say that when Milo tried to put his arms around me. At the same time, Jack made the same play, and they bumped into each other.

“I got her.” Jack scooped me up in his arms before Milo could stop him.

“Just be careful,” Milo warned.

As soon as Jack had me in his arms, he flew after Olivia. We raced down winding passageways that appeared to be an intricate labyrinth in the basement. At least that’s what I could tell from what I could see, but most of it was completely black.

Abruptly, we burst through a set of heavy doors. We were outside, with a set of cement stairs leading up to the sidewalk.

At the top, Jack set me down, and I looked around. I could see the marquee for Barfly glittering brightly, but we were hidden in an alley, next to a stairwell I had never noticed before.

Olivia waited for us, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that pushed out her ample bosom. A full moon splashed in between the buildings, lighting her face, and she was even more exquisite than I had first believed.

“Thanks,” Jack told her. He moved a couple feet away from me, because he didn’t trust himself right now.

“You have to be careful,” Olivia cautioned him. “What were you thinking bringing her here?”

“I don’t know.” He scratched his head and looked at the ground. “I’d never brought anyone here, and the girls I’d met here never seemed like they in were any danger.”

“That’s because they’re whores.” Olivia looked at Jack like he was an idiot. In response, he kicked an empty bottle with his foot. “They let people bite them! If you had wanted to share her, you probably wouldn’t have had a problem.”

“What the hell happened in there?” Milo asked.

“I don’t know really.” I shook my head. “There were these vampires, Violet and Lucian. And they were into me, and Jack went to look for you, so they pounced.”

“What were you doing?” Jack lifted his head to look at Milo. “You disappeared in there.”

“I was dancing,” Milo said. “I didn’t know we’d have to run out ten minutes later because you didn’t realize it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring a human to a vampire bar!”

“You guys can sort it out later,” Olivia interrupted. “You should get out of here.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jack said. “Thank you. You’ll never know how much I appreciate what you did tonight.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been there,” Olivia shrugged, but her expression got more severe. “You need to hurry up and turn her, unless you’re ready to bury her.”

“It’s complicated,” Jack sounded exasperated, and I knew it touched the same raw nerve it did me.

“Maybe, but death is simple.” She pointed to the end of the alley. “Now get out of here.”

“Thank you,” Jack repeated.

“Thanks,” I echoed.

“Take care of yourself, kid,” Olivia smiled at me before going back down the stairs, into the darkness that led to the hidden vampire club.

Jack took my hand as we walked towards the car. All the clubs downtown were letting out, so the streets were more crowded than before. Milo and Jack had put me in between them, and Milo scoured the crowd, as if a vampire would attack us on a crowded street.

Neither of them said anything until we reached the car.