Sorry for the wait. I went back to uni this week and have been pretty busy.

Chapter Ten

As soon as I had stepped inside Poppy's dark and brooding atmosphere I immediately felt my spirit lifting. The heavy base, the friendly faces of the other girls, the loud chatter – everything just seemed right. It was just so normal. I relished in the familiarity. After two days of complete chaos my brain finally knew what was what and who was who. I felt at home.

There was however, one thing dampening my mood.

"And then the sea horse said to the mussel-"

"Piss off."

My head snapped round to the tall foreboding figure standing over my shoulder. He was glowering intently at the skinny nerd who had been telling the joke. The nerd started stammering.

"Dmitri!" I chastised. "Don't worry Luke, he's harmless, just a big bully."

Dmitri slumped down in the chair in between me and Luke and crossed his arms on the table, in a way that purposely emphasized his muscles. He glared at Luke. Luke promptly scarpered.

"Dmitri, stop doing that! I earn most of my money from tips and so far you've scared off all my customers! Do you want me to become destitute?"

If it knocked some sense into your head.

"Do you think these things on purpose or are you just insane?" I tried to keep my voice down so not to attract too much attention. It didn't work very well. The man at the next table gave me an odd look before turning back to the dancer on the stage.

"I am trying to protect you!" Dmitri hissed back at me.

"By getting me fired?"

"Xander could be in disguise. He could be any of these customers and you would just be chatting away and flirting with him!"

"You know, it kind of sounds like you're jealous." I coaxed him, positive that would flip him out. To my surprise he didn't react, but just kept his eyes narrowed in the same accusing way. I raised my eyebrows. Are you?

Of course not. As much as it may surprise you, you are not the centre of the universe.

He sighed and leant back in his chair. Then why are you so angry at me? I can tell, you know, your eyes are lighter than normal. That's one of those freaky vampire things.

"Dark One."

And I'm angry because you seem to have no real grip on reality.

I chuckled, "With what's going on right now, I have no idea what reality is anymore."

That does not give you the excuse to go around flaunting your body to random strangers!

I stood. "I knew you'd react like this. You're just one of those stuck-up jerks who judge people without really knowing them." I started walking away. I'd had enough of people looking at me and thinking that I must be some horny slut that got a kick out of people ogling them in my life. I didn't need Dmitri to start doing the same. I forced a smile on my face and starting towards the bar where I spotted a guy looking at me hopefully. I looked down at the hand that had clasped my wrist.

I'll give you fifty pounds to stay and talk to me instead of one of these perverts.

I blinked and slowly rotated to face Dmitri. "What?"

"Fifty."

I yanked my arm out of his grip. I cannot be bought!

"Then why do you work here?" he whispered angrily at me. "If you just wanted the money you'd stay with me, so you must secretly love the attention."

"I cannot believe that-"

"A new pair of shoes."

Huh?

Dmitri sighed. "I will buy you a pair of shoes of your choice if you agree not to leave my side tonight."

"I-" Ok, this was so not fair. A battle raged inside me and I saw that Dmitri knew he had me pegged. Half of me hated the idea that he had the nerve to try to buy my company when we both knew how much we despised each other. The other half just liked shoes. Morality versus tinsel. The battle of the great. I narrowed my eyes. "Any pair of shoes?"

"As long as it is not too expensive."

"How much is too expensive?" Dmitri looked at me as if considering what the lowest he could offer without me walking away would be.

"A hundred."

I let out a short shallow laugh and started towards the bar again. I could make more than that from tips in a night if he would just leave me alone.

Two.

You suck at bargaining.

There was a growl in my head before a defeated voice spoke again. Three.

I paused. There was that amazing pair of leopard print Cesare Paciotti heels I so desperately wanted and had never been able to quite save up for. How much were they retailing at again? No, Kali, think of your morals! But they were so pretty.

Make it three-fifty.

Fine.

I trotted over to a near table and sat down, a big smile on my face. Dmitri slumped down darkly beside me.

I can't believe you would spend three hundred and fifty pounds on a single pair of shoes.

"But they're pretty!" I whined. And butt out of my head.

"To quote your favourite playwright, 'Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.'" And you butt out of mine.

"'I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.'" I recited back. He frowned.

"I doubt a pair of three hundred and fifty pound shoes would qualify as a simple pleasure."

"They're pretty!"

"So you said."

I sat and pouted. Would anyone ever understand my point of view? Women just had to have shoes. Anyone who said otherwise was a traitor to womankind. I tapped my finger on the table, both in annoyance and boredom. Dmitri wasn't the epitome of what I considered good conversation. If you wanted a good argument, then yes, he was your man. But conversation? No. I think not. I suppose that dark, brooding thing was all part of the vampire persona.

"Why do you work here?" he finally spoke up. I looked up at him. He was peering around the room in a condemning glare. He obviously disapproved. I controlled myself. Now was not the time to start a fight, especially if I wanted those Paciottis.

I shrugged. "Can't do much else. Utilise your skills, that's what I think."

He turned his gaze to mine. It changed to a questioning glance. "And your skills would be?"

"Being able to pull off a turquoise bunny suit and make mindless chatter with strangers."

He rolled his eyes. "You are quite the academic."

I winked. "That's me."

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, lightening his face. When smiling he didn't actually look like the complete ass he was. It was an accomplishment he should be proud of. I guess he wasn't that bad after all. Maybe. And he was so deliciously attractive. I quickly looked away. This Beloved thing was annoying.

"It's just so degrading." He said. I frowned. It wasn't that bad. Was it? Sure, it was kind of a bitch being stared at all night long, but it wasn't anything someone other than a complete feminist would complain about. "And that outfit…"

"You don't like it?" I asked concerned. I had chosen it from the selection the employees had on offer. I thought it suited me. And it wasn't over-the-top slutty, just sexy. But if Dmitri didn't like it then maybe it wasn't. Maybe my tastes were failing me! Dmitri raised an eyebrow at me. "But I thought it showed off my figure? And I like the colour. And it's hard to find something like this that emphasizes but still manages to keep these breasts under control. The first outfit I tried was hopeless; right in the middle of a shift they popped right out."

My words had caused Dmitri's view to slowly lower until it rested on the ample cleavage of the girls in front of me. I looked down at them then back at Dmitri. He suddenly coughed and looked decidedly in the other direction. I noticed in the fleeting glance I had of his face that his eyes were a deep green again.

"Um… yeah…" he croaked out.

I felt my cheeks gradually warm. Awkward.

"I need the bathroom." I said and stood. Dmitri stood with me. I narrowed my eyes. "I can go to the loo on my own, you know."

"No."

I threw my arms up in the air before stomping away to the back room. I couldn't see Dmitri following me, but I knew he was. Creepy vampire stalker techniques. He emerged when we reached the ratty door with the ladies sign on it. I stared at him and put my hands on my hips.

"Right, you are not following me in there." He slouched against the wall next to the door. I nodded, proud that I had won this round, before closing the door behind me.

The door burst open almost as soon as the scream had left my mouth.

"What's wrong?" Dmitri said frantically, looking around the small room for some sort of threat. I stared down at my feet, the moisture in my eyes increasing. Dmitri turned to me, a panicked look on his face. "Kali, what happened?"

I lifted my foot.

"I've scuffed my shoes!" I wailed. All expression left Dmitri's face. Then a new one surfaced. Anger.

"That's it?" he hissed. "You scream for that?"

"But they're ruined!"

"Then buy another pair!"

I stomped my foot back down and held him in a death glare, my finger pointed firmly at his face. "For your information, these were a vintage one-off Roger Vivier design! They should retail for over a thousand pounds! And I found them in a charity shop for twenty quid! If you can find me another pair like them then be my guest! But for now, just shut up!"

"But if they were only twenty quid then why-"

"That's not the point, vamp boy!"

"Dark One!"

"Vampire!"

"Dark One!"

"Vam-"

His lips were on mine before I even knew what was happening.

I stood there shocked for all of two seconds, not moving a muscle, but soon an incredible desire blossomed deep in my gut. My eyes fluttered shut. My hands reached out and rummaged into his hair. My lips greeted his eagerly. I heard the door close quietly behind him before his hands were on me, burning my sides where he grasped the silky material of the basque.

-pire.

He pushed me against the tiles on the wall and his tongue slipped smoothly into my mouth.

Dark One.

I nipped at his tongue and he groaned loudly. My arms slithered down and my hands started exploring the strong muscles of his back. One of his hands had found my backside and was squeezing it gleefully. A flash of images crossed my mind and I relished in the ideas Dmitri was coming up with. I needed to feel his skin properly. I tugged at his shirt until it fell free of his pants and slid my fingers up, stroking the velvety skin of his back hungrily. The hand that wasn't currently teasing the skin that connected my thigh to my ass snaked up and cupped my breast. I gasped into his mouth and arched my back as his thumb brushed the sensitive nipple through the material. His lips left mine and he started kissing his way down my jaw line.

"Oh, Christ." I muttered between shallow breaths.

I thought you were Muslim.

Stop ruining it!

He chuckled and the warm air hitting my throat tickled me in ways I hadn't felt before. The fire that had been burning in my groin flared to new heights. I shoved myself firmly against him and he answered by pushing me tighter to the wall. By the pressure that was now digging into my thigh I could tell he was enjoying this as much as I was. He continued sucking on my neck, leaving what I was sure would be a nice shiny love bite later, as his hand began exploring my thigh, gradually making its way closer to where I really wanted it to be.

My fingers were toying with the belt around his waist when the sound of an explosion nearby stopped us in our tracks.

Dmitri jumped away from me and stood, looking alert. I didn't feel as if I could quite support my own weight yet and leant against the wall.

"What was that?" I made out breathlessly. Dmitri put a finger to his lips to quiet me.

Then there was the scream.

The high-pitched wailed that pierced through the air was enough to get me standing again. I involuntarily grasped at Dmitri's wrist. He looked down at me.

Stay here.

What? He opened the bathroom door a tiny bit and peered out, checking the hallway beyond.

Do not move from this spot.

He glanced quickly back at me before swiftly disappearing out of the room, shutting the door as he went.

I stood for a full three minutes, enduring the horrible silence that had swept over the building, debating what to do. On one hand Dmitri had told me to stay here, I was almost certain that whatever was going on out there was because of my demon issue. On the other I couldn't just hide in a toilet whenever something bad happened.

I finally decided that Dmitri could go screw himself and pulled the door towards me slightly. I poked my head out and scanned the scene.

The corridor was empty.

I stepped carefully out and tried to be as quiet as possible as I made my way down towards the main bar, where I was positive the explosion and scream had come from.

Someone familiar stepped into my path and I froze.

Dmitri?

What is it?

I made a booboo.

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