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--From Treatise on Ascension, Philippe Reynard

Chapter 6

At eight o’clock Alison stared up at the sign hanging froht-iron standard The words THE BLOOD AND BITE glearound just like the card she’d found at her feet earlier

Beneath the words, like the card, a red rose lay prone

Why was she here? She pressed a hand to her stoed achy breath She could lie to herself and say she’d coure out why she had found a business card, bearing the club’s logo, lying at her feet But the truth went deeper--so deep she tre up at the sign, however, she shuddered The name of the club, the Blood and Bite, harked back to va so obvious and so absurd? She could only iine that those who frequented the establishment sported artificially sharpened incisors, tattoos, a whole lot of piercings

Though the quite beautiful sign alone offered sufficient warning to ht now she had to at least have a look inside

Taking another cavernous breath, she put her feet in motion

When she entered the club, the darkness of the environ strobes shut her vision down for a few long seconds As she waited near the entrance, her heart pounding, her fingers touched so, she discovered she was looking at a long length of scarlet velvet Her fingers glided down the soft fabric How strange

As her vision adjusted and she glanced once ht of a lot ht The choice struck her as bizarre, out of place, yet very sensual, which all added up to purpose A wouard in a place lined with such a sensual fabric She had an odd impression she’d walked into a velvet trap

TheGwen Stefani’s "The Sweet Escape"

Her heart rate kicked up another notch

The club was jaaze in the direction of the dance floor She could only see the bouncing heads and arms of a whole lot of people She could barely ht were rows of the velvet-clad booths, which, given their tall backs, provided a great deal of privacy Did she just hear a moan?

Two quite handsome men, at least as tall as she was, even in her heels, moved toward her They appeared to be dressed in expensive clothes that shouted Armani Another surprise

What kind of place was this?

Both men were loaded with confidence She really hadn’t expected GQ and swagger in a place called the Blood and Bite Once again she was struck with the sense of everything being not-quite-right

Their voices jabbed at her in quick alternating blows

"Are you new here?"

"You’ll like the club"

"It’s a little loud"

"But you’ll get used to it"

Again warning bells sounded because soe Underneath their spoken words, she felt a very specific and heavy mental pressure When she released her shields, different words, their words, flooded her mind

You’re so beautiful--and what a body …

You’ve coood care of you

Yeah, the best kind of care

She was stunned They were co telepathically Had she been without all her special abilities, she wouldn’t have been able to hear their enthralling words

Despite the fact that she disapproved of what these , she couldn’t believe she had actually found two other hus who could do what she could Yet soh she had recently conversed with anotherthrough her s, and another vas They had been fighting, with swords, in the air

She gasped at the hts took her into the stratosphere and she winced until she couldn’t reht it on As suddenly as it had come, the pain just floated away

The Arhtmare officially started as the one on the left pressed hard with his ive your neck freely, your blood, your body You’ll experience pleasure like you’ve never known before

The companion added, Open for us, lovely flower

Her muscles tensed They wanted to drink her blood? Okay, this was getting way too weird