Chapter 1
Life in its basest form may be worth living, but to an immortal, it became a joke.
So, how was the time passed when it had only been twenty-five years and boredom reigned supreme?
Pushing life to the edge, of course. Or at least, that’s how Alekos had decided to live his life. Much to his mother’s chagrin, that is, but he had already faced the truth–he was not his mother’s favorite. He was fairly confident that he wasn’t his father’s favorite either.
He was a disappointment to all.
His uncle was the only one who ever seemed to care to check in with him. Even his communication lacked any finesse and was inconsistent.
No, Alekos was on his own. And he liked it that way.
“Fuck,” he mumbled, standing in front of the club his contact suggested he check out.
A gaudy neon sign above the door in purple cursive said Evermore. He thought it was a stupid name for a nightclub, but what did he know?
He tugged on the sleeve of his black button-up shirt so it stuck out of his black suit jacket more, a minor nervous tick that was less conspicuous. One he learned to prevent himself from showing his unease when in public.
Walking up the few steps, bypassing the long line of patrons waiting to go in, Alekos stood before the large Hispanic man whose long hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. The bouncer’s scowl made him appear deadly and not one to be fucked with.
Alekos attempted to walk past the bouncer into the club as he did everywhere he went. His reputation was well-known in this town and it was earned. However, the bouncer held up his hand and prevented Alekos from entering.
Lifting his eyes, Alekos stared at the bouncer who was about an inch shorter than him. A growl rumbled from Alekos’ chest as a warning. But the bouncer held his ground.
Turning to face the bouncer head-on, an average-height man with a small potbelly walked out from a side door. The man’s graying blonde hair was slicked back and his pale blue eyes looked over the long line of visitors waiting to get in. The older gentleman’s gaze fell on the encounter happening with the bouncer and Alekos and his eyes widened in horror.
“Mr. Svetoslav!” He stated, running up to them. “Adrian, let him pass. He’s one of our VIP clients.”
Client. Yeah, right. This guy wished, Alekos thought but made no expression.
Adrian, the bouncer, sighed and stepped back as he unclipped the rope and allowed Alekos to enter.
Alekos glared at Adrian with a single brow raised and his lips pinched into a thin line. Daring the man to say something. He could use a good brawl. A decent opponent was hard to come by.
“Mr. Svetoslav, let me apologize for my man’s interference. I was not aware you were going to come by today or I would have had you on the list.”
The list, Alekos had to bite back his laugh. He’d never been on a list, he didn’t have to be. No one dared to prevent him entrance.
“I will have him fired for his insult to you.” The man was rambling now and it was grating Alekos’ nerves.
He held up his hand and the man finally shut the fuck up. Alekos could almost sigh with relief. “No need,” he stated with his deep voice.
The man bowed at the hip and Alekos had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes. The ass-kissing was the bain of his existence. “If you need anything, my name is Grigoriy Kozlov.”
Alekos knew the name of the Russian who was fairly high up in the criminal syndicate. He’d crossed paths with a few of Kozlov’s guys and they weren’t always pleasant. Well, not for them anyway.
The man ran dirty money through the club and used it to hide several of his family’s businesses. Not that any of that was Alekos’ problem, but it always made for interesting characters to run into.
Walking further into the club, the pounding beat of the music was barely tolerable to his overly sensitive ears. Scantily clad dancers littered the floor, their heightened arousal finding Alekos’ nose and making it itch.
Blowing the mix of body odors, perfumes, and hormones out of his nose with a loud huff, he bypassed the main bar filled with people. He walked up the stairs where he found a second bar. The sound up there was marginally more quiet, but it was a lot less crowded which suited his needs just fine.
“What can I get for you, Sir?” The woman behind the bar asked. She was dressed in a pair of tight black slacks and a shirt that was a halter vest. The lapel-like collar wrapped around her long neck and dipped down to expose her massive breasts.
Alekos’ gaze ran across the beautiful woman who was leaning forward slightly to expose her breasts even more to him. “Double Johnny Blue. Neat,” he said coldly, ignoring her advancements.
Turning around, he saw her shirt was low in the back and exposed her shoulder blades and a small tribal dragon tattoo in the middle. She reached for his scotch on an upper shelf and raised her shirt to expose another tattoo written in Sanskrit just above her waistband. यत् भावो – तत् भवति. You become what you believe.
He snorted at the absurdity of it but quickly cleared his throat so no one noticed his misstep.
“Strip me bare and slap my ass, I do believe I just witnessed a smile,” a deep, heavily accented Turkish voice pulled his attention.
The man standing next to him at the bar was massive and covered in colorful tattoos down both arms, over his chest, and his neck. He was equal in height to Alekos making him about 6’7”, but he was much bulkier and wider than Alekos. His enlarged traps gave the appearance that he didn’t have a neck which led up to his bald head. He was dressed in a skintight black tank top tucked into a pair of black slacks which made his heavily tanned skin stand out even more. But it was the addition of his black Converses, a pink fanny pack that had a cat with a glittered unicorn horn pictured on the front, and his overly large brown eyes that made him look more like a cartoon character.
“Bradford,” Alekos dipped his chin and returned his attention to the bartender for his drink.
Brad leaned his elbows on the bar and stared at the pretty bartender as she set Alekos’ scotch down. He puckered his lips and made a kissy face at her.
“What can I get you, big guy?” She asked him.
“You wrapped around my dick,” he replied with a seductive wag of his eyebrows.
Alekos stood there shocked, even though his face remained stoic. He waited for the slap that never seemed to come.
“My break is in thirty minutes,” she admitted with a shrug.
“Great. Then I’ll take a strawberry daiquiri while I wait.” She left them to make his drink and his attention returned to Alekos. “Alek, glad you could make it. So what do you think?”
“I think you are a god among men. How do you always do that?” Alekos asked incredulously.
Brad shrugged noncommittally as he picked up and took a big sip of his pink drink. “Women like transparency. Did you meet Grigoriy?” He asked turning his back to the bar and leaning his bottom against the edge.
“I did.”
Brad took another sip and stared at Alekos as if he were trying to read each tick of his muscles for his judgment. But as always, Alekos gave nothing away.
“Well…” Brad drew out the word, annoyed he continued to have to push Alek to speak more than a handful of words at a time. “What did you think of him?”
“Slimy,” Alek said, taking a sip of his scotch.
“With a capital S, my friend. He’s got so much dirty money running through this place it’d look like a Jackson Pollock painting under a black light.”
Alekos grimaced at the visual image of an actual black light in this place. The thought was gag-worthy. Brad’s point was received, albeit overly colorful per his usual MO.
“I noticed.”
“Does that make you want to do anything about it?” Brad asked with a raised brow.
“Nope. That’s your job,” Alekos replied coldly. He suspected Brad worked for one of those three letter government agencies, but Brad refused to confirm or deny it. With no badge, just an innate need to kill anyone hurting others was all Alekos knew about Brad.
Brad cut his eyes to Alekos knowing he was fishing for information again, but Brad kept his secrets. He opened his mouth to make an asinine comment when he saw the bartender walk into a back room. Downing the last of his drink, he set it on the bar with a loud clink.
“I’ll be back,” Brad said in a bad Schwarzenegger impression.
Alekos walked to the balcony and watched the dancers grinding against each other. It looked like a massive orgy from up there the way the crowd moved and swayed to the music.
He saw drugs and money pass between several groups of people as they moved around the space confirming his earlier suspicions. Exhaling heavily, he reminded himself that it was none of his business. Gritting his teeth, he played that mantra on repeat in his head hoping it’d stick.
“Care to dance?” A sultry voice like silk filled his ears about the time her perfume filled his nose.
“No,” he said stoically.
“Then buy me a drink?” He turned to see the woman in the bright red sequined dress that hugged each of her curves beautifully. Her bare arms were crossed under her breasts and pushing them up higher. Her plump, red-painted lips were poked out in a cute pout.
“You’re not my type.”
She chuckled a deep and seductive sound. “I’m everyone’s type, Baby.”
He didn’t doubt that, but she did nothing for him. “I can’t afford you,” he tried a different tactic to get rid of her.
Slowly, she licked her lips as she eyed him like a prime piece of steak. “I highly doubt that. Silk, custom suit. Real leather dress shoes. Expensive aftershave and cologne. And an air of arrogance that only comes with loads of money.” She grabbed his glass and took a small sip. “Mmmm. And Johnny Walker Blue. Definitely loaded.”
“Beat it, Honey. He pitches for the other team,” Brad’s booming voice made her jump.
Eyeing him more closely, Alekos narrowed his gaze and waited for her condescending comments. “Too bad, you’d have been a good lay. I’m here all night if you’d like to switch sides for a change.” She blew Alekos a kiss before walking off, her hips swayed seductively.
“I leave you for only a moment and the hounds descend,” Brad taunted.
But if he only knew. Alekos was treated like a piece of meat everywhere he went. Anyone his age or younger was terrified of him, but the older women couldn’t get enough of him. He was cougar bait and he hated it. Why couldn’t he just be left alone?
Brad stood beside Alekos overlooking the balcony. He had a new strawberry daiquiri in his hand.
“That was fast,” Alekos teased.
“Doesn’t need to take long if you know what you’re doing.”
Maybe if you were human, Alekos thought with an internal sigh.
“See anything that peaks your radar?” Brad asked.
“Drugs and prostitutes for sure, but no proof their Grigoriy’s.”
“Wouldn’t doubt it if he were making a cut of their action to turn a blind eye.”
Alekos knew that was just smart business. You’d never do away with either in a place like this.
“I suspect human trafficking too,” Brad said with a sigh.
Alekos’ breath caught in his throat as the weight of what that meant. Men of power were always stomping over the weak and it made him see red.
It was none of his business.
“You have my software, track them and leave me out of it,” Alekos snapped before throwing the rest of his scotch back and storming out of the club.
He made it to the sidewalk when he closed his eyes and tried to inhale the cool night air. Slowly, he inhaled as he concentrated on slowing his pounding heart. And then exhaled out the anger.
It was working. Instead of hailing a cab, he decided to walk a few blocks to help clear his head. With his head clear, his senses were back on full alert when he heard someone cry for help faintly in the distance.
He followed the sound until he walked into an alley where a young girl was pinned against the brick wall by two larger men. She was struggling and failing to get away from them.
He felt his eyes turn solid black and his canines grow into fangs. “I’d let her go if I were you,” he taunted.
All three of them froze and stared at him. The two guys drew daggers and then laughed. They swung at him widely as he ducked and dodged their attempts. Grabbing the wrist of one of the attackers, the other managed to stick him in the side.
Growling loudly, he broke the first attacker’s arm causing him to drop his knife. Catching it midair, he swung and sliced the throat of the second attacker.
They both dropped to the ground as the one gurgled and slowly died and the other screamed in pain as he clutched his arm.
The woman was cowered in a corner away from the fight. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“Good. Run home,” he commanded and she didn’t wait around for further instructions.
Hissing, he grabbed at his side where the knife was still poking out. Removing it with a grunt, he looked at the bloodied knife and pocketed it.
He kneeled beside the screaming man, staring him in the eyes. “You should have just walked away.”
Opening his mouth wide, he sank his fangs into the man’s neck as he screamed out in pain. The warm blood filled Alekos’ mouth as he drank until the man’s heart eventually stopped. Dropping him to the ground, Alekos stood as his chest rose and fell in breathless pants. He licked the blood from his lips and relished the feel of the energy through his body. He felt the stab wound in his side close as it healed completely.
Looking down at the man with the puncture wounds in his neck, he scowled. Not at the dead man, but at himself. He was a monster. Roaring at the sky, he punched the wall in rapid succession until the self-hatred faded.
Walking back to the club, he quickly climbed into his car and went home.
“Fuck this place.”
