"Why are all the dots blue today?" Ashley asked with a frown as she peered over Brandon's shoulder.
"Because you're too stubborn to listen to me."
"A vamp is a vamp."
"Not when some of them are Jonny's and he knows where we live."
Ashley shook her head. Jonny hadn't come after her a second time last night. Was he giving up on warning her off or too busy doing real work to bother? Either way, she viewed her second takedown of his vamps the previous night as a personal victory.
"Isn't it your night to dance?" Brandon asked in irritation as she stood over him.
"I was going to go beat up vamps instead."
"Go dance. You've been driving me crazy all week. I'll plot out a few spots for you to hit when you're done."
Ashley debated silently. She did love dancing on Friday nights, mainly as a stress release. And this week, she felt like she needed it more than usual with the Jonny issue and her frustration understanding what to do if she couldn't exact her revenge as planned.
"Okay," she said. "Maybe it'll help me think straight."
"God I hope so."
She slapped him on the back of the head and marched to her room. Changing quickly into leggings, a hip-length tunic and comfy sneakers, she then tucked her cell phone into her sock and left Brandon with his computer.
She was waved into the club by a bouncer who knew her on sight. Ashley started to relax the moment she walked onto the packed dance floor. She joined the crowd, unconcerned with dancing alone when everyone else had a partner, and closed her eyes. The techno beat swept her emotions aside so she could focus purely on the physical act of dancing her heart out.
She danced for a couple of hours, until the hair at the back of her neck was damp and the muscles of her body were warm. Partners rotated in and out with her, as usual, and she opened her eyes to smile at someone occasionally before squeezing them closed to focus on the music. Every once in a while, someone brushed by her or bumped her, and she moved away automatically, unconcerned by the crowded space.
At least until the touch of a stranger sent a warm electrical charge through her that reminded her too much of every time she'd been grabbed and bitten by Jonny.
Rousing herself from the near trance, Ashley opened her eyes. No vamp stood before her, no one but a few college girls giggling and dancing together. She started to turn.
"This is what you do when you're not out tracking my vamps?"