Blood Secrets-Valorian 1 by Vivi Anna Page A

the questions. I got it.” Sighing, she opened the passenger door and jumped out. What did he think she was, stupid? She remembered all too well when the vampire clerk jumped on her, his grotesque fangs drooling over her neck. The thought still gave her shivers.
    She rounded the vehicle, grabbed her kit from the back and followed Caine closely as he went into the building.
    The first thing that hit her when she stepped into the dimly lit bar was the metallic smell.
    Blood. It was overpowering—like bleach in the wash. The odor almost made her eyes water.
    She sidled up next to Caine. “How can you stand it?”
    He looked around, put his nose in the air and breathed. “To me it smells no different than if we were to walk into a human bar and the strong odor of beer wafted up my nose.”
    With that, he continued into the room. Mahina was at the bar waiting for them.
    As they walked, the sparse clientele watched every step. Well, Eve thought they were tracking her every move. She could almost feel their gazes moving over her, like fingers playing up and down a piano keyboard. Some were strictly sexual feelings, but others she could feel were far hungrier.
    Subconsciously, she pressed closer to Caine, so close she could feel the solid warmth of his body.
    He stopped walking, looked down at her and whispered, “I said stay close, but don’t glue yourself to me.”
    She took a distancing step away. “I’m sorry. It’s just everyone’s looking at me like they want to eat me.”

    Caine glanced around at the patrons, then back at her and nodded. “They do want to eat you. Your blood probably smells like an aphrodisiac to most of them.”
    Her body quaked as she pictured his words in her mind. She glanced up at him. His eyes glowed just a little like white coal in a barbecue. “Do I smell like that to you?”
    She didn’t know why she asked, particularly at that moment, but she wanted to know.
    Especially with the way he was looking at her. Like she was dessert. She didn’t find the thought unappealing. In fact, she liked that he looked at her like that, and that frightened her a little.
    He dropped his gaze, putting it on the floor. “No.” He cleared his throat. “Mahina is waiting for us, let’s get this done.” He continued walking. Eve followed.
    Caine was lying. He couldn’t look her in the eye when he answered. He was hiding his emotions from her. She wondered what his feelings encompassed. Did he just see her as food, a fresh blood supply? Or something a hell of a lot more? Either way, Eve wasn’t sure if she was strong or daring enough to find out.
    Mahina smiled when they approached. She shook Caine’s hand, and then nodded politely to Eve.
    “I showed Clive—” she pointed at the bartender “—a picture of the deceased and he doesn’t recognize her. And I know he’s telling me the truth because I already threatened to revoke his blood-serving license.”
    Clive nodded his head. “I’d remember a girl like that.”
    Eve noticed his fangs were extra long and that they hung over his bottom lip.
    Caine slid another enlarged picture across the bar counter toward Clive. It was the one of the vampire boy band he had discovered under the victim’s mattress. “Do you know any of these guys?”
    Clive glanced briefly down at the photo. “Shit, yeah. That’s Crimson Strain. They’re in here all the time.” He smiled at Caine. “They even played here once.”
    “Do these boys have names, by chance?”
    “Sure, that’s Gnash—” he pointed to each member “—J.C., Phoenix, and that’s Xavier.”
    Eve perked up with the last name. Xavier. With a big old X. Caine glanced back at her and raised a brow. He was thinking the same thing she was. They had an Internet moniker of vamploverX. X as in Xavier? Maybe.

    “Any of these guys in here right now?” Caine asked as he slid the paper back into his pocket. “If they are, please don’t point, just nod in their general direction.”
    Clive