She started to slide past him, but he stepped to the side, half blocking her path. "Aren't you going to tell me your name?"
"Can't you find that out on your own? You figured out plenty of other things. "
His smile returned. "I could, but it's easier to ask. And I'd like to think of you as someone other than 'chickie' later tonight. . . when I'm remembering those velvety brown eyes of yours. " His voice had gone silky again, thick with the Irish.
"It's Macey. " With a quick shift to the side, she went around him and walked away, trying not to imagine Grady lying in his bed thinking of her eyes. Trying not to imagine Grady in his bed at all, in fact.
But it wasn't an altogether awful thought, she admitted privately, wending her way toward the table she and Flora shared. He did have broad shoulders and probably a very fine chest attached to them. And his mouth, the way it tipped up at one side when he was debating vampire literature with her, and slightly fuller in the bottom lip, was a very tempting shape.
Macey was about halfway to her destination when the music stopped abruptly, and most of the lights went out. Someone gave a surprised little shriek, and a hush fell over the club as everyone stopped.
Then all at once, shadowy figures burst into the room and everything turned to chaos. "Raid!" someone shouted.
People were running, pushing, and screaming, and Macey felt someone brush past her. Another person shoved her, and someone else stepped on her foot as she started to make her way toward one of the exits. irritations blood
The club was lit with a dull brown illumination by the few lights that burned near the entrance. Everyone was shadowy and muted, and Macey, with her imagination running wild, even fancied she saw the faint glow of red in twin pairs. Like eyes.
It was the first police raid she'd ever experienced, and even though she'd done nothing wrong, her heart was slamming in her chest. That prickling chill washed over the back of her neck again, colder and stronger now, as if someone had left a door open to a winter's night. She felt almost nauseated by it, unsettled and upset.
There was an awful scream, suddenly choked off in a sort of gurgle that had the hair rising all over her body. Then a soft, ugly sound that seemed to fill her ears-kuh-kuh-kuh-like someone drinking.
She didn't want to know what was happening.
Her hands clammy and her insides upset and churning, she waited for the sounds of gunshots or the stt-stt-stt of machine gun fire. Why hadn't they brought Jimmy tonight?
"Flora!" she called, knowing it was in vain-there was too much going on, too many people shouting and shrieking. The last time she'd seen her friend, she'd been on the other side of the dance floor. "Flora!"
More screaming. More shouting. More awful, ugly gurgling, suctioning sounds. People pounding on the walls, or doors, on the floor. . .
She became aware of an odd smell, earthy and pungent-like. . . blood? Macey went cold and weak. Then someone else screamed long and shrilly, the cry ringing in her ears. She again saw twin flashes of red and watched as one of the shadowy figures seemed to fly across the room.
This was not a police raid. Or gangsters.
Icy fingers seemed to curl around her heart and lungs. She froze behind a pillar, her heart pounding. Red eyes. Superhuman speed. Blood.
Vampires?
No, no, impossible. Imposs-
Someone grabbed her arm, and Macey shrieked, jolting in surprise. She whirled, hopeful and yet terrified. But it wasn't Flora, and it wasn't Grady. In the dim light, she saw it was the elegant Negro woman who'd been watching the place.
"This way. " The woman tugged at her arm. "Hurry. Hurry!"
Macey had no argument with that, and she stopped pulling and allowed the woman to direct her toward the back wall.
Her companion was tall and quick, and very agile, and Macey found herself stumbling as she rushed along with her. She crouched as low as she could, as if that might keep the. . . whatever they were from seeing her. Nor did she ask where they were going. She just followed.
The next irritations bloodthing she knew, her guide had led her into a dark corner, and all at once the wall moved. Macey followed her into a dark room, suddenly nervous.
"Move it," said her guide, as if sensing her hesitation. "They can smell you. "
Macey swallowed back the question that rose to her lips as the wall moved back into place behind them. The other woman knew where to go, despite the darkness. They rushed along until suddenly there was cool, clean, crisp night air as they erupted into a back alley lit by stars and a waning moon.
When Macey would have paused to drag in her breath, the tall, caramel-skinned woman refused to let her. "Come, it's not safe yet," she said in her throaty voice, propelling her through the alley.
"But what about the people still inside?" Macey turned to go back. She couldn't leave without Flora, and what about Grady? And Chelle and Dottie-
"They're either safe, or it's too late by now. They'll be out after you as soon as they realize you've escaped. "