Club Angel's Kiss

“Is she okay?”

I rolled over, tucking the covers further under my chin. The elbow of my cast was stabbing into my side so I moved it to make myself comfortable again.

There was talking going on around me, keeping me from drifting back into my dream filled sleep. I guessed that the first voice was Matt, but I couldn’t make out who the second one was immediately.

“Yes, she’s fine.”

Oh, Zacky!

I opened one eye. Matt and Zacky were standing by my door, their backs to me. I could see they were trying to talk quietly as to not wake me. And the way they spoke meant I wasn’t supposed to hear. I quickly closed my eyes again and did my best at pretending to be asleep.

“The meeting lasted longer than I expected,” Matt was saying. “We had to work out some issues that popped up.”

“Like what?”

“The other Chicago coven is becoming restless.”

I heard Zacky curse loudly, as if this was something terribly horrific. I squeezed my eyes shut further.

An enemy coven becoming “restless” did not sound good at all. To me, in my human thoughts, it sounded as if they were going to attack or something. Or they were thirsty.

I shivered at the thought and pulled the covers over my head. Thankfully, I could still hear their conversation through the comforter.

“Is that what Inez was practically screeching about last night?” There was amusement in Zacky’s voice.

Matt sighed. “Yes and no,” he muttered. “She was throwing a fucking fit because of something else. Something that has to do with our lovely Queen over there.”

“What the fuck was her problem?” Zacky shot. He sounded angry, and I couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Well, I was saying that the other coven always gets restless when we get a new queen.” There was a pause. “And I said that we might have to protect Amber a little harder than we have with the others.”

“Ah.” Zacky laughed. No, he cackled maniacally. “And that pissed Inez off?”

”Naturally.” Matt laughed along with him for a moment, but stopped when he wanted to continue. “But, really. I said that it’s possible we would have to, um…”

Again, there was a pause. But it was a very uncomfortable silence that stretched out after Matt’s voice trailed off.

“You really have to do that to her?” Zacky sounded pained.

“I think it might have to come down to that.”

I felt my body tense. This was making me sick, whatever they were talking about. I didn’t want to know where this conversation was going. It was time to “wake up.”

Slowly, I stretched my good arm out above my head and made a loud sound, as if I were just waking up. I made sure it was loud enough that they heard it.

Psht. Of course they would hear it! Their hearing was fucking amazing and inhuman!

I cracked my eyes open and groaned at the sight of the sun falling in wild patterns across my bed.

It worked.

Matt and Zacky fell silent and turned in my direction. I hoisted myself up in the bed.

“Good morning, boys,” I greeted, smiling brightly despite the nauseous rolling in the pit of my stomach. “What are you doing?”

“I came to check on you, my Queen,” Matt said, walking forward with his hand held out. He took my hand in his cheek and smiled.

Zacky shifted on his feet, watching the ground.

I pulled my face from Matt’s hand and slung my feet over the side of the bed. I walked over to Zacky and patted his shoulder.

“Thank you for taking care of me last night,” I whispered.

His eyes met mine and a shiver coursed through my body at how amazing he looked in the dim lighting of my room, with the sun streaking across his face and ark clothing.

I pressed my hand against my stomach and turned back around. “Um…Can I get dressed?”

Matt nodded and moved quickly out of the room, Zacky on his heels. When the door closed, I took three deep breaths and headed for my bag. I fought my way from my pajamas and struggled into a white sweater and jeans. I did my normal morning routine, then hopped down the stairs to the kitchen.

“Hey, Queen.” Rave was sitting at the island.

“Hi, Rave. How are you this morning?”

“Great.”

I looked around quietly. “Um…where are the others?”

“You mean Matt?” she asked quickly.

“Uh…Well…” Was I looking for Matt or Zacky? My thoughts were unclear. I couldn’t decide. Well, I could, but I didn’t want the rest of the coven to know that I wanted Zacky. And not just in the obvious way. “Yeah, sure. Where’s Matt?”

”Throne room.” Rave pointed out the archway.

“Thank you,” I called over my shoulder as I headed through the archway and down the narrow hallway that would lead me directly to the throne room. A few coven members were standing around as I passed. They nodded to me or said hello, and I attempted at remembering their names, but gave up until I passed one that I knew.

“Hello, Obsidian,” I greeted with a fake smile. “How is your day going?”

The brunette vampire fell into step beside me, his hands shoved in his jeans pockets. “My day is going great, Am. You?”

“I’m fine, and I would much rather you call me by my given title.” I clutched my good hand into a fist and gritted my teeth together. Out of all the vampires in this place, the only one I couldn’t stand (besides Inez) was a brown haired, blue eyed asshole that could not deal with the fact that every girl didn’t want him.

Obsidian grinned over at me, but I didn’t return the gesture. He quickly looked away, back to where we were walking.

From the corner of my eye, I saw that he was smirking.

“So, how did last night go? With Vengeance babysitting you and all.”

I glared at him. “He wasn’t babysitting me,” I shot. “I’m too old to be babysat.”

I saw the throne room doors coming into view and I sighed happily. I would be away from him soon!

“You heading to the throne room?”

Like he already didn’t know! Oh dear god.

“Yes,” I answered swiftly.

“Ah.” He turned around and stalked away. I knew he wouldn’t go in that throne room with Matt and me in there.

I laughed as I opened the door and slid inside. Matt sat at his chair with Inez crouched in front of him, talking too quickly and too quietly for me to hear.

I cleared my throat. “Hey,” I said, raising my voice a little louder than I had to.

Inez stood up quickly and disappeared from the room. Matt turned his head toward me, a scowl on his face.

“What’s her problem?” I muttered.

“She doesn’t like you,” Matt replied.

I laughed. “I knew that.”

Matt patted his leg, gesturing for me to sit down. I ventured over and sat gently on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to his body. I laid my head on his shoulder.

“Why is she the only one that hates me?”

“Because you’re beautiful, of course. And you stole my heart.”

I made a face. Just like the rest of those innocent girls that you made into your Queens! I thought bitterly, scrunching up my nose.

“Mhm,” I muttered. I had to feel angry because what the fucking scam he was weaving was a stupid, ignorant one. It went against absolutely everything I believed in.

I really needed to talk to Zacky!

I shifted and stood up, pulling myself out of his arms. He stared at my face.

“Where are you going?”

“Do you know where Zacky is? I would like to talk to him.” I smiled innocently, trying to hide anything that might give away my feelings.

Matt jabbed his thumb to a door below the raised platform. “He’s down in the club,” he answered.

“Thank you.”

I hopped off the platform.

“What do you want to talk to Vengeance about?” Matt called.

I stopped, my hand on the doorknob. I had to think fast. Otherwise I wouldn’t be getting out of this conversation without some sort of consequence. “I need to talk to him about last night. We didn’t get to finish our conversation because I fell asleep.”

I smiled. The best lie I had yet to come up with.

Matt nodded, giving me permission to leave, and I removed myself from the throne room very quickly.

Down one flight of dark concrete steps, I burst through the staff only door and immediately spotted Zacky standing on the stage, saying, “Check…Check. Dammit, Rev. Is it working?”

Jimmy sat at the DJ table, waving his hand around, his head bent as he stared down at the many buttons on the machine.

Brian noticed me first, from where he sat on the bar, watching with amusement at Zacky’s frustration.

“Hey, Amber!” he called, jumping off the bar and jogging over to me. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed my temple. “How are you today?”

I laughed and hugged him back. “I’m fine,” I stated. “Why are you so happy?”

“Because I know a secret.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What secret? Are you really keeping a secret from you queen?”

He knew I was only joking, so he laughed and turned his gaze back to the stage, where Zacky was currently calling Jimmy an array of colorful things.

I abandoned Brian’s side and ran up the stairs on the side of the stage. Zacky didn’t turn around when I came up, so I threw my good arm around his waist in a surprise attack, laughing.

“Shit!” he yelled. “I’m being attacked. Brian, who is on my back?”

“Don’t freak out. It’s only Amber.”

Zacky pried my arm from him and turned around. “What are you doing down here?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” I smiled. My heart beat skyrocketed, pounding so quickly I feared I might pass out.

He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Good. I wanted to see you, too, but I’m currently much too busy trying to get this microphone to work.” He wiggled the mic around in his hand, obviously annoyed.

“What are you doing with the mic?” I questioned before finally waving at Jimmy, who was repeating my name over and over to get my attention.

“Getting it ready for tonight. The club is having live entertainment,” Jimmy answered, joining us on the stage.

I made an interested “ooh” sound.

“Who is our live entertainment going to be?” I asked, keeping my eyes on Zacky’s face. I couldn’t take my attention away from him, from his absolute, incomparable beauty.

Apparently, he couldn’t look away from me either, because he stared at my face, smiling ever so slightly.

“We’re having some…girl,” Brian said. “Does anyone know her name?”

Jimmy quickly answered that he didn’t, but Zacky remained silent.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Brian mouth something to Jimmy, and I silently wished I knew what he said.

Zacky finally broke out staring contest and looked at Jimmy. “Would you like me to test something? To make sure it sounds alright before the girl gets here?”

“That would be nice.” Jimmy reclaimed his position behind the DJ set and pressed something.

The mic screeched to life, and Zacky held it out at arm’s length, cringing.

“Ew, that’s a terrible sound,” I muttered.

Zacky nodded. “I know.”

Soon the shrieking stopped and Zacky held it back closer to us.

“Okay, Zack. Try it out.”

Zacky lifted the mic to his mouth and said, “Hello.”

It sounded completely off, so he looked at Jimmy pointedly. He nodded and pressed a few more buttons.

“Try that.”

“My name is Zackary Baker,” he announced in the microphone. I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh. “I have an interesting story to tell.”

Brian clapped. “Woo! Go, Zackary! You rock!”

Zacky continued, grinning. “There’s this girl that I have only recently met, but I feel like I have known her for my entire life. She’s—“ He stopped and glanced at me.

Jimmy and Brian were both staring at me.

Only then did I realize he was talking about me. My mouth agape, I looked up at him, surprised. “Me?” I mouthed, pointing to myself.

He nodded. “Her name is Amber. She’s absolutely amazing and I fear that she has stolen my heart.”

Brian laughed and whooped. “I love this story!”

My cheeks began to burn.

Zacky wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “And, as I stand here with her, before all my best friends, I realize that it’s true. You have stolen my heart.”

Jimmy had come up onto the stage again and he stood, watching us.

“You two are cute,” he whispered.

And my cheeks increased in temperature.

How had this happened? How on earth had we become so close, like we were dating? Oh, God, Matt was going to be pissed off when he saw us.

No, I couldn’t let that happen. I would just have to make sure he never saw us being adorable. And if anyone questioned why we acted in such a way, I would merely tell them that we’ve become amazingly good friends.

I wondered if that would get me off the hook with some of the more annoying coven members, such as Inez or Obsidian.

Zacky glanced at Jimmy. “I’m guessing the microphone sounds okay.”

Jimmy nodded. “Yes, it does. And I loved the story.”

Brian clapped loudly, cheering. “I loved it! It was your best one yet.”

“Well, I did have a muse this time.”

I looked to the ground, shaking my head. “Can I talk to you, Zack? Alone?”

“I’ll take Brian outside,” Jimmy called, jumping off the stage. He hooked his arm around Brian’s shoulders and started walking forward. “We’ll try not to listen! And just call us when we’re allowed to come back in.”

The front doors slammed closed.

Zacky cupped his hand underneath my chin and lifted my head up so he was looking at me. Concern was etched across his face.

“What’s wrong, my Queen?” he breathed.

“Please, don’t call me Queen. Call me Amber. I miss my real name,” I complained with a sigh. “And…nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to ask you something.”

Zacky bit down on his lip ring, and I felt my heart melt. His beauty wasn’t making this any easier.

“Ask me anything.”

“Why have I suddenly stolen your heart?” I finally spat out.

Zacky chuckled as if it was obvious. “Amber, I love you.”

“You’ve known me for one day!” I cried, throwing my hands in the air. “Why does everyone fall in love with me after they see me once? I’ve never had to go through this kind of weird stuff before.”

Zacky looked a little taken aback at my outburst, but he recovered quickly. “You’re…different, Amber. We have never had another girl come into this coven that has taken up so much of my attention before.”

I looked at him skeptically. “So much of your attention? Zack, we spent one night together. And that was because you had to baby-sit me.” I cringed at the term Obsidian had used, but I wasn’t sure what else to call it.

“You’re wrong.” Zacky shook his head from side to side, his eyes wide. “From the day I saw you in the club, I wanted you.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Well, this wasn’t exactly going the way I thought it would, but I was not complaining. This was rather enjoyable, though I should have probably thought it was creepy. I mean, some guy only spoke to me once and suddenly he “wanted me.” Strangely, I was flattered.

He put his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. “You have no idea how…how…how strange you make me feel. It’s so unlike anything I have ever felt before. No other girl has caught my attention the way you have.”

I remained silent. I wanted him to go on, to get what he wanted out into the open.

“And, since that night in the club, I have watched you. You might not always see that I’m around, but I’m watching. And when Matt isn’t with you, I always end up on your balcony, watching you sleep or do your strange human things.”

“You’ve been doing this since I arrived here?” I murmured. I still felt torn between flattery and being creeped out. The whole situation should have been uncomfortable for a normal human such as myself, but I didn’t. I was eating it up. I loved it. I craved it.

I wanted more of this boy.

More of every aspect of him.

“Yes. Since you arrived.”

“For six days?”

Zacky nodded.

I slowly leaned into him, placing my head on his chest, and hugged him with one arm. “I want you to know that you have sent strange feelings through me since I saw you at the club, too. You really excite me and the thought of you…”

He put his hand on my chest, over my heart. “I make your heart fly.”

“Yes.” I smiled. “Sometimes it feels like it might burst from my chest.”

“How did this happen?” he whispered, asking the question that I was thinking. “Everything has happened so fast, but nothing can ever come of this. Matt would never allow it.”

I shook my head, sadness overwhelming me. “Didn’t you say that the other Queens ran away? With over vampires?”

“I said exactly that.”

“Then why can’t we?”

“Because I love everyone here. I don’t necessarily want to leave them,” Zacky whispered, putting his arms around me and laying his head on the top of mine. “These coven is my life.”

I sighed. I couldn’t blame him. If I made him leave, it would be like he was leaving his family, much like I had to leave mine to stay here. I would never put someone through that. Especially not Zack.

“I don’t want to make you leave,” I muttered against his t-shirt. “But there’s no way Matt would let me be with someone else.”

No, he was much too possessive to let that happen. He thought his Queen as his property, though it really irked me.

“We’ll work something out,” Zacky promised. “I swear.”

I sighed and pulled away from him. “I think we can let Jimmy and Brian come back in.”

The front doors opened and the two boys sauntered in.

“You two were listening?” I guessed.

Jimmy shrugged. “Oops?”

“There was no way I was going to ignore your conversation!” Brian exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting for Zacky to talk to you for six days.”

I gasped. “You two have known the entire time?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy chuckled. “Zacky tells us everything. We’re his vampire buddies.”

“Why didn’t someone tell me?”

“Johnny did!” Brian explained.

I shook my head rapidly. “He most certainly did not!”

“Yes, he did,” Zacky argued. “Just not in so many words. He hinted at it when you two were going to get your clothes from your house.”

“Yeah! I believe he said, ‘Zacky doesn’t hate you, by the way.’ He was saying that he in fact was madly in love with you.” Brian grinned.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my head blaring with a migraine from hell. So much information in such a short amount of time hurt.

Damn vampires didn’t understand the pain of human thoughts.

We were much too simple for something like this.

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger, pained.

Zacky put his hand on my back. “Okay, guys. We’re obviously killing the poor girl. Let’s stop this conversation while we’re ahead.”

Jimmy sighed and headed back to his DJ set. Brian jumped over the bar and started shuffling through many bottles and glasses on the various shelves. Zacky remained at my side, his hand still on my back. I could feel his eyes on my face.

I choked out a breath. “God, my fucking head is killing me,” I mumbled.

Zacky pressed his lips to my temple. “What is it?”

“Migraine.”

Brian put down four glasses down on the bar counter. “Does everyone want a drink? I’m sure Miss Amber would want something.”

“Alcoholic!” I called, hurrying down the stairs to get to the bar.

Zacky and Jimmy flickered into place at the bar ahead of me, naturally. They sat down beside each other on the stools and Zacky patted the empty one beside him.

“Sit with me, darling.”

I obeyed and sat down, my head still searing with pain.

Brian poured many things into the glasses. I watched all the liquids combine in the bottom of the glass. I lost count after Brian tipped the third bottle above our glasses.

Even from where the glasses sat on the counter in front of me, I could smell the alcohol wafting up from them, mingling in the air around us in a strong cloud.

Zacky slid his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer.

“Okay. Drink!” Brian commanded, blossoming his arms out in front of our drinks.

Jimmy picked his up first and took a long drink, downing at least half of it. When he put it down and said, “Tastes pretty good.” Zacky and I picked ours up to taste it.

Brian was already working on his.

It was much stronger than anything I had consumed before, but it was nice. It made me forget the pounding in my head. It actually made me forget everything bad and focus on only one thing.

The vampire sitting beside me, grinning and laughing with his friends.

The vampire that wasn’t my boyfriend or my King.

I only focused on Zacky now, watching him smile widely. He took my breath away repeatedly during the fun time we had at the bar.

But we eventually had to get up.

Brian, Jimmy, and Zacky had to continue getting ready for the live entertainment and whatnot for the club. I began bidding them goodbye, but Zacky caught my arm as I was beginning toward the door.

He grinned at me. “Will you come down to the club tonight?”

“You can bet on it.”