do.”
Although he lost interest in Carmen long before Lilith discovered their affair, Jules didn’t want to spend any more time alone. Knowing her parents were away, Jules made his way over to Carmen’s Park Avenue high-rise. The doorman nodded in welcome, recognizing him from previous visits.
Jules pushed the buzzer on the front door of the Duivel apartment. He knew Carmen was home because he could hear music playing inside. When no one answered, he leaned on the buzzer again. The volume of the music dropped suddenly and he could hear the sound of bare feet on the hardwood floor.
“Who is it?” Carmen asked, her voice muffled by the door.
“It’s me. Open up.”
There was a lengthy pause before the door finally opened to reveal Sergei Savanovic standing on the threshold, barely wearing his black leather pants. Jules looked past him and saw Carmen sprinting into the kitchen, naked as a baby bat.
“Sorry, dude,” Sergei said with an apologetic shrug. “Carmen’s busy.”
Jules was completely at a loss to understand how, in just a matter of days, he had gone from Mr. Popularity to having no one to hang or party with.
While he was accustomed to Lilith getting mad and dumping him, what he wasn’t used to was her staying mad and refusing to take him back. Not only had Cally shot him down, Lucky Maledetto had made it plain that he was better off not trying anything further with her. Now, adding insult to injury, Carmen had not only moved on—she had taken his closest friend with her.
Oh, and he could forget about hanging with Oliver or Xander from now on, too, thanks to Lilith. The other Old Blood girls he could hit on were all Bathory students, so whatever Lilith was saying about him at school, odds were they had heard it, too. What if they all knew the truth? What if they all laughed in his face and called him stupid? What then?
As he walked down the street, he spotted a couple of young coeds sitting at a patio table outside a nearby bar. They were giggling over their apple martinis while not-so-secretly checking him out. The world was filled with women who found him desirable and would do anything to be with him. He returned their interest with a cocky smile, and they invited him over. In a sudden flash Jules realized his girls didn’t need to be Old Bloods—or even vampires, for that matter. If he kept his cool and his distance, Lilith would eventually weaken and come back to him, like she always did. If she thought he was going to beg her to take him back, she had another thing coming.
CHAPTER 11
“ I ’m sorry I’m late, Sis,” Cally said. “Getting set up took longer than planned, but I’ve got the rest of the collection here, ready to go!” The undead servant accompanying Cally trundled a wheeled garment rack out of the freight elevator as she spoke.
“Perfect!” Sister Midnight fingered the blue suede dress. “My seamstress team will handle the actual fittings once the runway models are selected,” she said, motioning to the undead who sat hunched over the sewing stations and cutting tables that filled the huge, open third-floor space. “Tonight you need to decide which models you’ll be using and which look each girl should wear. Plus you need to confer with the dressers about the makeup and hairstyle you want for each look. It’s very important to get all this right. Remember, you only get one chance to impress the audience! It doesn’t matter how wonderful a particular outfit is if it’s being worn by the wrong model.”
“I understand, Sis.”
“Come with me, then,” the older woman said, ushering Cally down a corridor, away from the hum of the sewing machines. “I’ve set aside part of the loft for an audition. You’ll be looking at girls I normally use to model clothes on the shop floor….”
“Are they undead?” Cally asked.
“Sweet hell, no!” Sister Midnight laughed. “My customers would never buy anything modeled by the undead, no matter how
Although he lost interest in Carmen long before Lilith discovered their affair, Jules didn’t want to spend any more time alone. Knowing her parents were away, Jules made his way over to Carmen’s Park Avenue high-rise. The doorman nodded in welcome, recognizing him from previous visits.
Jules pushed the buzzer on the front door of the Duivel apartment. He knew Carmen was home because he could hear music playing inside. When no one answered, he leaned on the buzzer again. The volume of the music dropped suddenly and he could hear the sound of bare feet on the hardwood floor.
“Who is it?” Carmen asked, her voice muffled by the door.
“It’s me. Open up.”
There was a lengthy pause before the door finally opened to reveal Sergei Savanovic standing on the threshold, barely wearing his black leather pants. Jules looked past him and saw Carmen sprinting into the kitchen, naked as a baby bat.
“Sorry, dude,” Sergei said with an apologetic shrug. “Carmen’s busy.”
Jules was completely at a loss to understand how, in just a matter of days, he had gone from Mr. Popularity to having no one to hang or party with.
While he was accustomed to Lilith getting mad and dumping him, what he wasn’t used to was her staying mad and refusing to take him back. Not only had Cally shot him down, Lucky Maledetto had made it plain that he was better off not trying anything further with her. Now, adding insult to injury, Carmen had not only moved on—she had taken his closest friend with her.
Oh, and he could forget about hanging with Oliver or Xander from now on, too, thanks to Lilith. The other Old Blood girls he could hit on were all Bathory students, so whatever Lilith was saying about him at school, odds were they had heard it, too. What if they all knew the truth? What if they all laughed in his face and called him stupid? What then?
As he walked down the street, he spotted a couple of young coeds sitting at a patio table outside a nearby bar. They were giggling over their apple martinis while not-so-secretly checking him out. The world was filled with women who found him desirable and would do anything to be with him. He returned their interest with a cocky smile, and they invited him over. In a sudden flash Jules realized his girls didn’t need to be Old Bloods—or even vampires, for that matter. If he kept his cool and his distance, Lilith would eventually weaken and come back to him, like she always did. If she thought he was going to beg her to take him back, she had another thing coming.
CHAPTER 11
“ I ’m sorry I’m late, Sis,” Cally said. “Getting set up took longer than planned, but I’ve got the rest of the collection here, ready to go!” The undead servant accompanying Cally trundled a wheeled garment rack out of the freight elevator as she spoke.
“Perfect!” Sister Midnight fingered the blue suede dress. “My seamstress team will handle the actual fittings once the runway models are selected,” she said, motioning to the undead who sat hunched over the sewing stations and cutting tables that filled the huge, open third-floor space. “Tonight you need to decide which models you’ll be using and which look each girl should wear. Plus you need to confer with the dressers about the makeup and hairstyle you want for each look. It’s very important to get all this right. Remember, you only get one chance to impress the audience! It doesn’t matter how wonderful a particular outfit is if it’s being worn by the wrong model.”
“I understand, Sis.”
“Come with me, then,” the older woman said, ushering Cally down a corridor, away from the hum of the sewing machines. “I’ve set aside part of the loft for an audition. You’ll be looking at girls I normally use to model clothes on the shop floor….”
“Are they undead?” Cally asked.
“Sweet hell, no!” Sister Midnight laughed. “My customers would never buy anything modeled by the undead, no matter how
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