The more death you see, the more you want to live and the more important living the way you want becomes, or so I had come to understand. It was the only reason I could imagine, that a vampire of over a thousand, would still guard her heart and independence so securely—but I did, in more ways than one. I didn’t do relationships with anyone, alive or dead, and I kept well away from any idiot with a sharp stick.
So why was I here, in the middle of a fairy bar? Not that it was full of homosexuals, these were actual fairies. Dancing and stripping and making human and supernatural women howl with delight. I was here because I had to collect a little bit of insurance. I had to ensure I could keep living my life the way I wanted, the bonus was a little bit of revenge.
“Welcome to Fade, Las Vegas’ premier fairy club. Would you like a seat near the main stage?” A young fairy woman approached and started her spiel before realizing I wasn’t a human. She was wearing the uniform of all the waitresses here—short black tutu and striped knee-highs, tube top in lime green with the word fade across the front. She had short black hair and pointed ears that the tourists all thought were silicon, or possibly a fancy implant. They would all freak if they knew that everyone who worked here was an actual fairy, with wings and magic and all.
She looked at me strangely, trying to place me, then decided on a category. “Oh, welcome. Right this way.” She started off in the direction of the designated vamp area—a place where some of the poorer fae risked certain death by allowing themselves to be bitten for a price. I wasn’t surprised, I looked most like a vampire. I had the pale skin, enchanting blue eyes and sharp fangs. What she was picking up on and so confused by, was the fact that before I’d become a vampire, I’d been a fairy and not a human. My ears were just as pointed as hers under my short black hair. At one time my skin had shone like glitter naturally—at one time I had been a part of this world in an entirely different fashion.
“Actually, I would like a seat near the main stage, I hear Falcon is dancing tonight.” I spoke with just enough excitement to press my point without seeming like an overeager fan who might be dangerous.
The young fairy’s eyes lit up and her smile was huge. “Yes, he is about to go on. I can get you a good seat if you don’t mind sharing space with a couple humans.”
I was sure she was asking me if I was going to try and kill them in my excitement, or irritation, or boredom. “I can handle myself.” I hadn’t freaked and killed anyone in a very long time. I was far from a danger to anyone in the club, other than Falcon.
“Great! My name is Sandira and if you need anything, your waitress will be Genevieve.” She led me to a small table where two women wearing tiaras were sitting, sipping something pink with umbrellas. She gave me another curious look before walking away, but I knew she wouldn’t figure it out.
It was nearly impossible to turn a fairy into a vampire, I was the only one as far as I knew. Fairy blood is so thin, it takes a very clear head to take just the right amount, bring the fairy to the brink of death, then slip them some vampire blood. Most often the fairy died in the process, more than a couple deep sips and they would be drained dry and there was nothing you could do to bring them back from that short of a deal with the underworld lord himself. As far as I knew, Osiris wasn’t accustomed to letting people out of the underworld. Not to mention, once you skipped out on death once, you weren’t allowed back into the underworld. You just kind of… dissipated the next time you inevitably died. I wasn’t sure which was worse, but I wasn’t interested in finding out any time soon either. Life, no matter how lonely, was something I was interested in keeping.
I shook myself out of my dark thoughts and back to the here and now. One of the women at the table with a halo of red curls under her tiara was wearing a sash that read, Bride to Be. She was dressed in a white mini dress that hugged her very ample curves, and she was obviously already drunk. Her friend was dressed in bright red leather pants and a cheetah print tank top, cut so low that her tits were about to fall out. This is how most of the women who came here looked and I had done my part to fit in. I’d put on a black leather mini skirt and a silver halter top. No one would guess that I had a small knife tucked into my underwear at the hip or that I had applied a fairy poison to my lips before entering the club.
“I hope you ladies don’t mind if I join you.” I said the words but didn’t mean them, I was already sitting and they could just deal with it. Of course, if they started to fuss, I would just mesmerize them into agreeing. Human minds were easy to control.
“No problem at all!” The bride slurred her words and then took another big gulp of her drink.
I couldn’t help wondering if she was drinking to forget what a big mistake she was about to make, tying her life and happiness to the whim of another. Or, if like so many humans, she thought she couldn’t have a good time unless her inhibitions were well lubricated. I envied them that choice, the only way I could get a similar feeling was if I fed on someone who had been highly intoxicated, and even then, the result was miniscule compared to what the human was feeling.
“My name’s Lisa and I’m getting married! This is my maid of honor, Julie,” the woman continued.
“Well congratulations, Lisa. My name is Vivian and I am just here for the show.” So basically don’t talk to me again, I wanted to add but didn’t. Humans were easily offended.
“My name is Genevieve; I’ll be your server. Can I get you anything to drink?” The fairy who came to take my order looked nearly identical to Sandira, except her tutu was neon pink.
She did a double take when she saw me. I smiled quickly, showing my fangs. “I’ll take a glass of red.”
She looked briefly from me to the two humans then shrugged, it wasn’t her job to keep the humans alive. There were security somewhere that would step in if needed though, I was sure. “Right away.” She hurried off to grab my order and the lights lowered dramatically, the music switched and the show began.
Falcon strutted his stuff out onto the stage and the women went wild. Tonight he was wearing a pair of enormous white angel wings, shiny metallic silver spandex shorts, and a black bowtie. It was surprising that he bothered with the fake wings; fairy wings were much more impressive, translucent and shimmering with a rainbow of colors. I guess humans thought bird wings made more sense, they knew nothing. His long, white-blond hair was in two braids that each reached his waist. He was a tall man, over six feet for sure. His eyes a shade of purple that humans would think were contacts, I knew better, he’d been born with those pretty eyes much like my own had been. He wasn’t bulging in muscles, but what he had was well defined and perfectly proportioned. Humans thought he was male perfection, and they paid good money to stare at him almost naked. I wasn’t impressed, after a thousand years, nothing much impressed me anymore.
His gaze drifted around the crowd gathered about the stage, not stopping on anyone unless they held a paper bill. Then he would approach and very carefully accept it into his waistband. He was skilled, he never stopped moving in time to the music and he gave them just enough attention to keep them giving up the money. Soon he tore off the tiny shorts and revealed a G-string of matching silver metallic. The crowed got even louder and pressed closer to the stage. I witnessed one woman grab another by the hair and pull her out of the way to gain access to the stage. At first I thought I was going to see a full on fight, but the injured woman was quickly flanked by two other males who were working the crowd and she was satisfied with the personal attention enough to give up on a counter attack. I couldn’t help hoping she got a free lap dance for her trouble.
I kept back a ways from the stage, not offering any money to entice him near. I didn’t want to tip him off to my presence. I wasn’t sure if he would recognize me, it had been nearly a thousand years since we’d spoke. If he did though, my plan would be ruined.
“Your drink.” Genevieve set a wine glass on the table. I picked it up and took a sniff. It was warm and it smelled like A positive.
“Thank you.” I handed her a fifty and told her to keep the change. Her eyes lit up with appreciation. Fairies were greedy creatures. Humans thought trolls and leprechauns guarded their money viciously, but they had nothing on the fairies. It’s why they thrived in places like Vegas where they could take advantage of humans so easily. This business was not a surprising undertaking for a fairy, lot’s of cash flowing every night. “Where would I need to stand to slip something special to Falcon at the end of the show?” I knew she’d assume I wanted to give him my number or a proposition, it would be a pretty common move by women in the club and nothing to warrant any kind of alarm. “Somewhere we’d go unnoticed, I have a reputation to consider.” I hoped she would assume I had a husband I wanted to keep in the dark. If there were security cameras, which I hadn’t been able to spot, I didn’t need them catching what I was going to do.
Genevieve pocketed the money quickly and pointed to the curtain that had opened to reveal Falcon when the show started. “He’ll go there, to the right after the show. You can pass something easily there where the curtain meets the wall as he heads to the dressing rooms. No cameras back there, that way the dancers can have some privacy, not to mention they’re all pretty capable of taking care of themselves.”
I caught her drift; fairies weren’t delicate and certainly not in danger from a horny human. I bet the vamp section was heavily guarded against overzealous patrons, however. From the times I had staked the place out, it didn’t seem like anyone got out of line. Everyone was here to have a good time, and getting carried away with a bite and killing a fairy would close the place to the vamps pretty damn quick. There weren’t a lot of places we could sit down and order a cup of blood, no reason to risk losing one.
Which all boded well for my plan. Genevieve hurried away and I took a deep sip of the blood. It was quite good, surprisingly fresh. If I had to bet, I’d say they were bleeding guests somewhere who had overindulged on the alcohol and sexuality. Highly frowned upon, but not my concern. It was easy to tell the difference between a bleed out from the body and a stolen bag from a donation van, this had never seen plastic and it certainly wasn’t older than an hour.
It was nearing the end of the performance, he’d thrown his bowtie at a bride-to-be at another table, much to the horror of the women I was sharing a table with. I had to make my move. I took a hundred dollar bill out of my waistband and kissed it, transferring enough poison from my lips to the bill to do the job I needed. Vampires weren’t susceptible to iron, silver on my lips would have killed me quickly but not harmed a fairy at all. Since I was more vampire than fairy nowadays, a little iron didn’t do me any harm. It was curious that such simple things could bring down nearly immortal beings such as us. We lived for a million years then were sent to the underworld by a simple silver dagger, wooden stake, or iron trowel. Of course, decapitation worked too.
I finished my drink and thanked the ladies for sharing their table, they were still pouting over Falcon’s neglect. I was tempted to tell them that he was an asshole and not worth their time, but that wouldn’t matter, they wanted his attention so they could feel special for a fleeting moment. If he were a jerk to them but was talking to them, they’d shiver with enjoyment. Human women tolerated assholes better than any species I had ever met.
I moved to where Genevieve had indicated, keeping my head down so I wouldn’t give away my identity. I had to time it just right. I heard two voices, Falcon was passing the next fairy dancer who would take the stage. I stuck my hand around the thick red velvet curtain, displaying the poisoned bill between my fingers. I smiled maliciously as I felt his hand take the bill without a word. Full of himself asshole fairy was about to get what he deserved.
Then I heard the thump of his body hitting the floor. This was the tricky part. I scurried behind the curtain and into a dark hallway between the main stage and the dressing rooms. There’d been just enough poison to knock him out, not kill him, he was no good to me dead. I crawled over to his limp body and roughly shoved his head to the side, then I bit and I drank lightly while I dragged his body further into the shadows. I could hear the music start up again on a new beat and the women cheered as the next performer took the stage. Falcon smelled like baby oil and sweat, not something I loved, but the taste of him was intoxicating. Sweeter than human blood, and more empowering. Before long I’d taken as much as I could, without risking killing him. I licked the wounds so they would heal quickly, then dropped his head and leaned against the wall. I wiped the blood from my face and wished I could revel in the feeling of gluttony but I had to get this body out of here before the next act left the stage, and no doubt, came down this very hallway.
I shook off the lethargy that was seeping in and stood, hands on hips, looking down at the very large fairy I had to get out of the building. I grabbed his face between my palms and commanded him. “Open your eyes, brother.”
He obeyed.