I look back at the room. Honestly, I think it looks pretty good considering Dark Eyes has such a vibe of its own; mahogany wood furniture appliqued with velvet, tall ceramic vases with stately pampas grass, the mirror-backed, well-stocked bar lined with gleaming brass finishes that would fit in any film noir. Maybe some of the Halloween decorations look childish and cheesy but that's what he gets when I shop at the Dollar Mart. At least Luke being in charge of the cobwebs gave the place a realistic, creepy quality that reminds me of the lobby in the now-defunct Tower of Terror at Disneyland.
"You did a good job, Amanda," Eric adds, and from his patient tone, I know he's trying to placate me.
"Thanks boss," I told him.
"Boss?" he asks. "New nickname? Makes me sound like a crime lord."
"Well, you kind of are."
Not only does Eric look like a mob boss with his expensive Tom Ford suits, black hair, and piercing stare, but he sort of runs this town. Not just the vampires, either; he has a lot of influence with humans (and witches too). Everyone wants to be him and yet they fear him at the same time. It hasn't helped that he's done things in the past—like the time a vampire attacked Tina during a ball and Eric reached into the vampire's chest, pulled out his beating heart, set it on fire, and then stuck it back in his chest until he went up in flames. I missed that scene, but it sounded pretty fucking hard-core.
Also, there's the fact that Eric, Ezra, and Luke are a trio of miscreants. They've run a business for years that involves kidnapping vampires and handing them over to witches, and sometimes kidnapping witches and handing them over to vampires. The former is so they can get magic (yes, like actual magic) from the witches and gain more power. The latter is when they feel they've pissed off too many vampires lately and need to make amends in the community.
That said, aside from hosting feedings and social gatherings, they rarely make amends. The three of them seem to revel in being outliers sometimes, even if it means there's always an air of danger around the house. Eric may be powerful, but he's made some pretty powerful enemies in the past.
And vampires have a lot of past.
"Appetizers are here!" my mother says from behind me, and when I turn around I see her standing in front of the doors, proudly displaying two trays of canapés. But what has me doing a double-take is the fact that my mother is dressed in a French maid costume. Not a sexy one, thank god, that would be weird, but a costume nonetheless.
"Yvonne," Eric says to her, his voice tinged with delight. "Why, you look just like a maid I had in Lyon, back in the early 1900s. Brigette, I think her name was."
"Mom," I exclaim, coming over to her and taking the trays from her hands. "When did you do this? You look amazing."
She grins bashfully but does a little twirl in her knee-length dress. "It's been so long since I went to a dress-up party, thought this would be a little tongue-in-cheek."
"If you're not careful, Yvonne, you'll attract more attention than you're used to," Eric points out. "I can't promise everyone will behave."
Her face goes red at that. Like a mother, like a daughter. She waves him off. "Oh, Mr. Stavig, you are too kind sometimes."
The thing is, she does look great. My mom had me young, so she's only fifty-three and has been single for as long as I can remember. She had a relationship with a guy called Teddy, back when I was in high school, and they were together for a couple of years before they called it quits. She seemed happy with him, and he was a nice guy and I had hoped that it would work out, that she would finally find love after my deadbeat dad screwed her over so badly.
Alas, that wasn't the case, and unfortunately she's not going to meet anyone eligible here. The vampires are all off-limits and the humans are of the weird variety. In fact, I don't normally like it when my mom is in Dark Eyes, around the vampires from outside the house. I'm protective of her and it feels like we're inviting danger.
"Well, Amanda," my mother says, taking one of the trays back from me. "Let's get to work, shall we?"
I nod and we start putting out the trays, my mother heading back upstairs as the first vampires arrive. Tina appears out of nowhere, drinking her wine and laughing with Eric as they greet the vampires, conveniently not helping (I'm not bitter—she's my boss's lover after all). Luke mans the door, sparkling under the lights to everyone's amusement (he's taking his role as Edward Cullen in-stride), while Ezra disappears and then comes back dressed as Al Pacino from Scarface (and there's a female vampire here conveniently dressed as Michelle Pfeiffer's character).
Then the humans arrive and it's my turn at the bar (and yes, I realize it's weird for me, a human, to think of other people as "humans," but working in this place rubs off on you). While I start making drinks for vampires, a surprising amount in costume to my delight, sparkly Luke starts bringing the humans to the feeding room.
Except one of the guys who was told to wait for the next available slot, walks across the club, right over to me, and leans on the end of the bar.
"Amanda," the guy says, and I try to remember his name. "I need something strong."
The guy—William, I think it is—is maybe a year or two younger than me. He's tall, pretty cute, dark spiky hair, tattoos. Would totally be my type, but after I hooked up with a few volunteers back in the early days, I quickly learned that I shouldn't mix business with pleasure. Most of the volunteers are so wrapped up in being part of the vampire world that they'll use you to try and get closer to the vampires.