“Of course not. Just like I didn’t know until recently that one of my stars had joined the club. I call us Masters of the Night.” Chip showed a hint of fang in his smile this time. “Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
“Much nicer than freak or bloodsucker. I’m sure you’ve been called that a time or two. I know I have.” I smiled, picked up my glass and inhaled. “Mmm. This is something special, Mr. Rollins.”
“Please, call me Chip. Only the best. That’s my motto in all things.” He glanced at Ray, who was obviously not a happy camper at being strong-armed away from the party. “My recording artists included, Ray. I won’t talk business tonight, but we will talk soon.”
“Great. Looking forward to it.” Ray picked up his goblet and took a swallow. “This is good stuff. A club? Yeah, Glory said there might be a secret handshake.” Ray smiled. “I draw the line at matching T-shirts.”
Chip laughed. “So do I.” He glanced at me. “You should teach your protégé to mask his thoughts better. Ray, I’m not insulted when you think I sound like a character from a comic book. Who do you think wrote those things back in the day?” He nodded toward the suit in the glasses, who took a bow. “I told Eric next time to make us the heroes. Vampires as superheroes. Why not?”
“Better than bloodsucking fiends, I guess.” Ray smiled and let his fangs show.
I sent Ray a mental message to remember who signed his checks. His attitude was surly despite the smile. Guess he didn’t like being surrounded by another vamp’s bodyguards. Neither did I. Now I regretted refusing to bring Brittany along. She was worth two of these guys. I looked them over again. Well, maybe not. Now, Valdez . . . Forget it. We were on our own. And Chip wasn’t about to harm one of his moneymakers anyway. I smiled too, minus the fangs. I knew Ray had just offered an insult to our host. Obviously we needed more lessons in vampire etiquette.
“Ray’s initiation into the club is a recent thing, Chip.” I toyed with my glass but didn’t drink. Damn this diet. But my dress was cutting into my middle already.
“Oh, I know that. I do my homework, Gloriana. I believe that’s your favorite, um, flavor. AB negative? You should try it.” Chip touched my hand and I shivered. “Or are you still dieting?”
I set the glass down without tasting it. “You know a lot about me, Chip.”
“Of course I do. No vampire enters my territory without being vetted.” He turned to Ray. “I must say I was surprised you and Gloriana went out to see MacDonald so soon after arriving.”
“Didn’t realize we had to get permission. Oh, got to piss. Do I have to raise my hand?” Ray looked like he was spoiling for a fight.
One of Chip’s men put his hand on Ray’s shoulder and Ray winced.
Chip laughed. “Point taken.” He leaned forward and I could see Ray doing his best not to show the slightest reaction to the implied threat as Chip invaded his space.
Sorry, but we could all feel Ray’s fear. New vampire. Not a chance he could mask his feelings that well. I gave in and sipped the synthetic. God, it tasted great and gave me a jolt of courage I needed.
“Listen to me, Ray. I get that you want to see daylight. Hell, we all do.” Chip looked down at his own hand, a nice tan that had to have come from a spray. In fact, Chip could have fit right in with Ian’s surfer dudes. “We’re investigating MacDonald’s claims. The Council here is on top of the situation. You’d be wise to wait for our findings. You don’t want to go off half-cocked, do you? And wind up toasted?”
“What the hell do you care what I do?” Ray wasn’t going to back down. Dumbass.
I wanted to reach out to him. Do something. But Chip was between us and in Ray’s face. And it was clear the man was giving Ray a chance to learn a lesson. I just hoped to hell Ray paid attention. I tried to send Ray a mental message but he wasn’t receiving, totally focused on the man in front of him. Which was the first smart thing Ray’d done since we’d entered the bar.
“I care, Ray, because I own you. Ask your buddy Nathan Burke. He made you a sweet deal. A long-term deal. With more money than you can ever spend. Or at least it was until you became immortal. Don’t throw that chance away.” Chip picked up his glass and took a healthy swallow. “Forget this. Bring me the redhead. I’m going upstairs with her.”
He nodded and one of his muscle men “helped” Ray out of the booth.
“Nobody owns me, Chip. I can buy my way out of your damned contract. There are other record companies.” Ray held out his hand and I slid from the other side of the booth.
“Don’t be an idiot, Ray. Who else is going to understand your special needs? Your weird recording and appearance schedule, for instance. When you can only go out after dark. And did I complain when you couldn’t do all those promos on the talk shows?” Chip laughed and leaned back. “Hell, no. Because we’re brothers in this fraternity. I also understand that in a few years you’re going to have a little problem, bro.”
“Oh, yeah? What? My voice will be golden forever.” Ray picked up his goblet of synthetic, took a swallow, then slammed the glass on the table. I moved close to him and grabbed his hand. He had a wild look in his eyes and I worried he’d try something we’d both regret.
“Right. Sure, the voice will sing as sweet, but, Ray, you won’t age. How long can you stay in the public eye and not have that noticed? Hair plugs and face-lifts can explain away only so much.” Chip chuckled. “So you’ll have to disappear. And maybe reemerge after a few decades with a new look and start a new career as somebody else. You may not get to sing in public at all the next go-round.” He turned to the man in the glasses and said something in a foreign language. I had no idea which one.
“Ask Eric here. We started out together centuries ago in the Balkans. We’ve been everything from Dutch to Russians to whatever. Doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs.” He and Eric laughed. “Okay, the Indian thing was too much of a stretch to try. The last twenty years it’s been L.A. and the music biz. That’s got about another twenty years of shelf life, then it’s on to something else and I’m a new person. Chip is no more.” Chip smiled at me. “Smart vampires live forever. The others . . . ? Gloriana can tell you, we reinvent ourselves. Over and over and over again. Am I right, lady?”
“Ray knows that, Chip.” I made myself smile too, though I didn’t like Chip’s attitude.
“Sure. Next life I’ll grow a beard and run charters down in the islands.”
“Night charters?” Chip didn’t bother to hide his amusement.
I saw the truth hit Ray hard. Just one more nail in his vampire coffin. He’d had one after another since that night he’d been turned. His grip tightened until I had to bump him with my hip to remind him to ease up. He dropped my hand and leaned both fists on the table.
Chip’s bodyguards quickly moved in but Chip held up a hand and they stopped just short of jerking Ray up and slamming him against a wall or tearing him apart. Violence fairly shimmered in the air and I wanted to run the hell out of there. I laid my hand on Ray’s back and sent him frantic mental messages of caution.
“Thanks for laying it all out there, Chip. Makes it easier for me to make a decision about my future.” Ray smiled tightly.
Chip drained his glass. “You’ve been given a fantastic opportunity, Ray. I hope you have the balls to see this gig through.” He turned to me. “Gloriana, you’re his mentor. I think it’s time you showed Ray some of the wonders of being vampire. And, lady, if you don’t know what they are, I feel for you. I really do.” He gestured and I knew we were free to go.
“Come on, Ray. Don’t we have another party to hit?” I grabbed his arm when I was afraid Ray was about to take a parting shot.
“Just a minute, Glory. Now that I’ve got Chip here one-on-one and we’re frat brothers, so to speak, I have a question for him.” Ray gestured at the banner on the wall behind the booth. “What’s with all the initials? What does M.A.S. and O.B.G. stand for? No one knows or will tell, anyway. Drives Nate and me crazy. Now that I’m one of your Masters of the Night,” Ray said mockingly, “maybe you’ll let me in on the secret.”
“Ray! Chip doesn’t have to tell you that.” Especially since Ray hadn’t exactly been Chip’s buddy for the last few minutes.
“Relax, Gloriana. My vampire friends know and enjoy the irony. M.A.S. stands for Music At Stake, Ray.” Chip nodded and one of his men pulled a small and lethal-looking stake out of his jacket pocket. “We’re always vulnerable, aren’t we?” He laughed. “Put it away, Danny. You’re making our guests nervous.”
Ray didn’t acknowledge the truth of that, just shrugged. “Okay, so what about O.B.G. Sounds? That’s my label.”
“Yes. The one I use for my rockers.” Chip winked at me. “I spent the sixties in England. Did some producing with Paul and the Fab Four before it was time to head to L.A. So O.B.G. is for Only Bloody Great Sounds. You’re damned lucky I thought you were worth keeping under contract, Israel Caine. The way you were headed, the vampire deal and going on the wagon saved your career, my man.”
“Yeah, got it.” Ray nodded, clearly finally ready to get out of there.
“And don’t put down the Masters of the Night thing. If you stick around L.A., you’ll find there are some serious perks that go along with membership.” Chip leaned back, his smile full of fang. “Does your buddy Nate know you’re vampire?” He shook his head. “Of course he does. Rookies. Be careful who you let in on our secret, Ray. That’s a lesson I learned the hard way a long time ago. Now, run along, enjoy the party and think about what I said. You have an amazing talent, man. And an opportunity to live forever. Don’t blow it.” He turned when the beautiful redhead approached his table. “Ah, dinner is served.”