“No, ma’am,” the man said so naturally that I had to believe him. His words and actions were so innocuous and unvampiric, that I had to sniff twice to make sure he was one. I hadn’t realized how much of the vampire identity stemmed from attitude. And as I scanned the lower floor, I decided it was like any upscale restaurant, more mundane than when it had its MPL.

The wait staff was appropriately dressed with most of their scars hidden, and they moved with an efficient quickness that wasn’t the least provocative. My gaze roved over the pictures above the bar, faltering when I saw a blurry shot of Ivy in her biker leather, riding her cycle with a rat and a mink perched on the gas tank. Oh God. Someone had seen us.

Kisten gave me a wry look upon seeing where my eyes were. “Steve, this is Ms. Morgan,” he said as he handed my borrowed coat to the bouncer. “We aren’t staying long.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said, then stopped in his tracks and turned. “Rachel Morgan?”

My smile grew wider. “Pleasure to meet you, Steve,” I said.

A rush of fluster ran through me as Steve took my hand and kissed the top of it. “The pleasure is mine, Ms. Morgan.” The large vampire hesitated, gratitude passing behind his expressive eyes. “Thank you for not killing Piscary. It would have made Cincinnati hell.”

I chuckled. “Aw, it wasn’t just me; I had help bringing him in. And don’t thank me yet,” I said, not sure if he was serious or not. “Piscary and I have an old argument, and I simply haven’t decided if it’s worth the effort to kill him or not.”

Kisten laughed, but it sounded somewhat forced. “All right, all right,” he said as he pulled my hand from Steve’s. “That’s enough. Steve, will you have someone get my long leather coat from downstairs? We’re leaving as soon as I open the floor.”

“Yes, sir.”

I couldn’t hide my smile as Kisten moved his grip to my elbow and subtly guided me to the stairway. I decided that though he kept touching me, it wasn’t for any ulterior motive—yet—and I could tolerate him moving me around like a Barbie doll. It kinda went with my sophisticated look tonight and made me feel special.

“Good God, Rachel.” His whisper in my ear made me shiver. “Don’t you think you have enough of a badass attitude already without dumping blood on the floor?”

Steve was already gossiping to the help, and heads were turning to watch Kisten escort me to the second floor. “What?” I said, smiling confidently at anyone who would meet my eyes. I looked good. I felt good. Everyone could tell.