25 - The darkest night will pass…

After a week of prowling the streets alone, dealing with vampyres who needed his attention, Kemp decided he had to take a break for a few hours. It wasn’t as if being a dhampir was a job that allowed for weekends off. It was dusk to dawn seven days a week. But even Trevor admitted they were allowed to let things slide occasionally for some free time for themselves.

The problem was, he didn’t know what he wanted to do. The idea of killing time window shopping the Quarter held no appeal, and he wasn’t the least bit hungry, even if he was willing to pay Quarter prices for food. He could head back to the house, but he’d just rattle around feeling guilty for not being out protecting the innocent populace of the city.

Loud music from the various clubs assailed his ears as he passed them. Maybe now’s the time to take that first step. He knew which ones were predominantly gay spots, with a few curious tourists in the mix. He thought about going to Sinclair’s, but decided he didn’t want his ex-boss keeping a fatherly eye on him.

“Next bar I pass I go into,” he muttered to himself. “Okay, the next gay bar,” he added as he looked through one doorway to discover the place was filled with young straights on the make.

He smiled when he saw a sign a few yards down the street. He’d heard about the place. It was friendly, jumping and as safe as any bar in the Quarter could be

Once inside, he scoped the place out, settling for sitting at the bar where he could nurse a drink and watch the activity. The guys ranged from barely legal to old, but were predominately within his age range. At first glance none of them came close to interesting him—and that hadn’t changed half an hour later.

He was ready to call it a night and get back to work when he heard the music change in the adjoining room. Glancing over he saw what he’d missed before—there was a large dance floor there filled with writhing bodies. “Damn, I almost blew it,” he said under his breath as he got up to go check it out.

Slipping in he found an empty space along one wall and leaned back to watch. It soon became apparent something was going on at the far end of the room. Probably go-go boys showing off their talents. He remembered when he and Owen had gone to one of the clubs which featured them. The guys had been cute and sexy and hands-off. Owen had been both shocked and enthralled at the same time and Kemp had… He pushed the memory away. That was the past and he had to keep it there if he was going to move on.

Inching his way along the wall he finally got close enough to spot the entertainers between the bodies of the men gathered on the floor in front of them. The two he could see were slim, well-built, and very good at keeping just out of reach of groping hands.

He froze suddenly, sensing the presence of a vampyre.