Courts and Cabals 2 by G.S. D'Moore (best novel books to read .txt) 📕

“He doesn’t get out much,” she gestured to the crowd. “This might be a little too much stimuli.”

I still saw confusion in the vamp’s eyes, but she nodded anyway. It wasn’t her job to judge. It was her job to make this a good experience. “He’s scheduled for two, but I can see if they want to move it up by switching with someone else?” she asked.

“Yeah, that works,” Dani replied before I could ask what they were talking about. “How about we go somewhere quiet and get a bottle of water?”

“How about something a little stronger?” I chuckled. I might only be eighteen, but I’d aged myself a good fifteen years with my glamour. Plus, no one was going to card a VIP.

We found the VIP lounge on the map and headed there while Layla followed; typing away on her phone. The hustle and bustle of the main convention floor disappeared as we entered a guarded stairwell and headed up a flight of stairs. Calming music hit my ears when we emerged into a comfortable space with only a handful of people present. All looked like the rich and famous types who would be VIPs at an event like this. Since I looked closer to someone who should be brawling over a half-eaten sandwich, they unconsciously moved away as we entered. That was fine by me.

“Tom Collins,” I ordered, because I’d always wanted to try one. As I expected, the bartender didn’t card me.

I grabbed the drink the moment the cocktail wizard – and he was an actual wizard by the smell of magic in the air around the bar – put it down in front of me. It was only gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water; but it was exactly what I needed. The carbonization in my mouth, throat, and stomach distracted me from my paranoid thoughts.

“Anything you want to tell me?” Dani asked from the seat next to me.

“Sorry,” I offered, and that seemed to surprise her. “You and Lilith went to all this trouble to get me this awesome Christmas gift, and I’m fucking it up.”

“Well . . . that’s the stupidest bunch of self-absorbed bullshit I’ve heard in a while,” she fired back, and looked into my eyes with a fire and passion that was so Dani. I must have looked completely shocked, because she continued. “The last time you were out in public a lot of people tried to kill you, and the last time you thought you were safe, a vamp tried to take a bite out of you,” she cocked her head at Layla. “I get if you’re a little skittish, and it’s okay,” she placed a hand on my knee in a non-sexual way. “If you need anything, I’m here to help.”

It was incredibly sweet of the dwarf. “Who are you and what did you do with Dani?” I asked, but I smiled.

“Oh, don’t think I’m going soft on you,” she laughed and gestured to her glamour. “But this is your Christmas present, so I’ll give you some peace before I take my revenge.”

“We’ll see about that,” I downed the rest of the Tom Collins, and felt it warm me up.

“We will,” she gave me a grin that promised victory would be hers as Layla reappeared.

“I was able to pull some strings and get him in now,” her eyes narrowed on the empty drink at the bar. “He’ll be fine, right?”

“Better than ever,” Dani replied, hopping down from the stool. “Now,” she turned to me, “part two of your gift. Lilith was able to get the tickets, but this is all me baby.”

“What?” I scrunched my eyes in suspicion, but Layla was already moving.

She led us down a hallway away from the lounge and the main convention center. She looked back and forth between the door numbers until she found the right one. “Here we are,” the vamp opened it and practically pushed us through.

The two imps, who’d kept a low profile so far, took up guard positions outside; so just me and Dani entered with our guide bringing up the rear. The room was a studio of some sort. People with headsets around their necks were walking around with a purpose, there were a trio of cameras set up, and one guy with a GoPro on his head. A greenscreen was draped across a far wall and a single chair sat at the center of it all.

“Talent on set,” someone yelled, and three people flocked to me.

“Jesus,” one muttered under his breath when he saw me. I didn’t blame him.

“You’re my ten o’clock?” the guy with the GoPro asked in a tone that irrefutably announced he was gay. The way he looked me up and down, with his hip cocked, like I was a piece of meat, only reinforced that fact. “I’ll make it work. Get him in the chair,” he shouted the last sentence, and the three people hustled me toward the center of the room.

Then, they started taking my clothes off. “What the . . .?” I protested, and looked at Dani, but she just smiled.

The production assistants pulled off my jacket, shirt, shoes and socks. They left my jeans, but a girl definitely copped a feel. She looked back at GoPro man and gave a nod. I could practically feel his sigh of relief from here. They plopped me down in the chair and started messing with the lights.

I squinted as they cycled through different types of lighting until a door behind them banged open and an entourage of people flowed in. The GoPro man stopped what he was doing and ran to greet them.

“Sarah, darling; you’re gorgeous, beautiful, stunning,” he showered the person at the center with praise, and kissed her on both cheeks.

“Let’s get this over with,” she replied with a purr as GoPro man stepped aside, and