by Trina M. Lee
The nightclub itself was relatively big considering its location. More than enough space to pack in a few hundred people looking to get shitfaced. Nothing stood out as special or memorable about it. From floor to ceiling it was a drab gray. More standing room than sitting areas, apparently they didn’t want anyone to get too comfortable.
“We should really do this more often.” Dalyn slammed a shot glass down on the weird standing table the three of us clustered around. “A night out. Just us.”
“If you say so,” Tavi snarked, watching the band with a critical eye. When the waitress brought by the next round of drinks, Tavi received twice as many as Dalyn, as it had been all night so far.
Shifters could handle more alcohol than humans, but they weren’t nearly as adept at processing it as Tavi seemed to think. When she reached drink number six in less than an hour, I watched her more closely. Her relaxed and unusually calm energy didn’t feel right.
The full moon was two nights away. How it might affect her, I didn’t know, but the way Rayne told it, the wolf’s instincts and mentality were strongest during the three days when it was fullest. So strong that some shifters couldn’t handle being in human form at all, let alone retain that humanity in wolf form. He said instinct had a way of taking over, which I understood in my own way.
Trying to keep the conversation flowing, I added, “It’s nice to get out of that house for a while without it involving a car chase.”
“The night’s not over yet,” Dalyn giggled drunkenly, aiming her phone to take a photo of the pink cherry-topped cocktail she’d ordered.
The bright red maraschino cherry mocked me. I could hear Nova’s alluring tone when he called me cherry bomb. My loins tensed, and I consciously shoved away thoughts of Nova.
“Don’t jinx us, Sabrina,” I joked, nudging her elbow.
“Only Ghost gets to call me that,” she protested with a laugh. Plucking the cherry from her drink, she popped it into her mouth, dropping the stem on the table. “Speaking of that sexy as fuck vampire, do you think he’d kill me if I tried to sleep with him?”
Before I could respond, Tavi beat me to it with a sly and slightly slurred, “I don’t know but Blaze definitely will. He’s one of her bones, you know.”
Mortified, I picked up the abandoned cherry stem and twisted it between my fingers. “Tavi, what the hell?”
“Is he really?” At the first hint of juicy house gossip, Dalyn was all over it. “Are you doing Ghost too? You lucky fucking bitch. Can I be you? Just for, like, a day? No, make it a week.”
Wishing I could drop off my chair and disappear under the table, I shot Tavi a pointed glare.
She smiled and downed another drink.
“Ghost was a one-night stand before we both came to the house,” I explained, trying to keep it short. Girl talk was fine, but I’d rather not have my personal life be the main subject of discussion. “We’ve reconnected, but it’s not the way Tavi makes it sound.”
Tavi chuckled, loving my discomfort. “Oh, I’m sorry. I must have been mistaken by the sound of your threesome last night.”
Damn keen werewolf hearing. Had Corr also heard?
“Damn, bitch, please trade me lives. For one hour. I might know a spell that could make it happen.” Dalyn’s loopy laughter made it hard to tell if she was joking or not.
I waved a hand to brush off the whole thing. “Give me a break. It’s not nearly as exciting as Tavi makes it sound.”
No, it was far more exciting than I could begin to describe, which is why I wouldn’t try. Also, as much as I enjoyed my time with these ladies, I wasn’t ready to open up and spill everything.
“Honestly, it sounds fucking terrible.” Tavi’s sour opinion wasn’t entirely surprising. “That’s a lot of dick to keep happy and for what? Eventually it’s gonna go south, and you’ll still be stuck in the house with them, if you don’t die first.”
“Thanks, Tav. Your positive demeanor is always appreciated, like a light on the darkest of nights. It warms my cold, undead heart.” My deadpan delivery wasn’t appreciated by the moody wolf, but Dalyn kept up her giggles between sips of cocktail.
Tavi wasn’t all terrible. On occasion, the person inside that she tried so hard to hide slipped out. “Hey, I don’t blame you for getting yours. But I swore off men the night my ex tried to rip my throat out. Hell, I swore off people.” She stopped herself before she could reveal more of her history.
A strange quiet settled over the table, made more awkward by the voices and music all around us.
In an effort to lighten the mood and steer the conversation back on course, Dalyn blurted, “Well I need to get mine too. It’s been at least six months since I got laid. Blaze can have every guy in the house for all I care. I want a man that doesn’t know where I live.”
Both Tavi and I laughed at that. I gestured to the packed nightclub. “Take your pick. I’m sure there are dozens of guys in here who’d happily service you.”
“Service me,” Dalyn repeated, rolling her eyes at my word choice. “I don’t want to be serviced. I want to be screwed senseless. At this point any fuck could be my last. I need a man who can bring it.”
We spent the next ten minutes helping Dalyn pick out potential hotties, most of which she never planned to approach. Until Tavi got it into her head that she needed to force Dalyn to take action.
“Just go talk to him. Look. He’s sitting alone.” Nodding toward a man who waited for his friend to return, Tavi gave Dalyn a push in his direction.
Drunk and lacking regard for how much stronger she was than the human witch, Tavi’s shove sent Dalyn toppling into the group of women gathered around a table next to us. With no hope of keeping her balance in stiletto heels after being overbalanced by a careless werewolf, she fell on her ass, splashing her cocktail everywhere, including all over two of the women, almost taking one of them down with her.
I leaped up to grab Dalyn’s arm, helping her back to her feet. “Are you ok?”
Before I could turn to give Tavi shit, the woman who’d almost fallen shoved Dalyn into me. What the shit? Drunk humans had stupid amounts of fearlessness.
“Watch yourself, bitch,” the woman hissed at Dalyn, as if it had been her fault.
I held up a hand, prepared to explain that she wasn’t at fault. No need. Tavi swooped in, stepping up to snarl into the woman’s face. The irises of her glassy, bloodshot eyes slowly seeped across the whites. Shit.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Tavi’s hands clenched into fists.
Couldn’t make fists with claws, so good sign, right? I couldn’t be sure. If she wolfed out in here, she’d be sentencing herself to certain death.
To Dalyn I said, “We have to get her out of here.”
Wide eyed and somewhat sobered by the sudden turn of events, she nodded, unable to tear her gaze from the scene unfolding before us. An intoxicated werewolf days before the full moon wasn’t going to come quietly.
“I said,” the angry woman shouted into Tavi’s face. “Watch yourself, bitch.” She hit the emphasis on bitch so much harder this time.
That was all it took. Shocking us all, Tavi’s fist flew. It slammed into the woman’s jaw so hard she went down with limbs flailing. The woman’s friends jumped into action, shouting for the bouncers and moving to help her sit up. Nose bloody, she mumbled incoherently, eyes rolling back in her head.
I grabbed Tavi’s wrist, ready for it when the other fist swung my way. I blocked with my forearm. “We are leaving. Now.” My tone left no room for argument. Maybe I couldn’t growl or flash giant fangs, but I was stronger than her. I caught her other wrist tight, making sure she remembered it.
“Get off me, Blaze.” Tavi tried to shake free, her eyes all wolf.
I let her go, and she stormed toward the exit, not as steady on her feet as a werewolf should be. Loaded. I exchanged a concerned look with Dalyn, and we followed, keeping Tavi in our sights so she couldn’t lose us in the parking lot.
“Well, that
escalated quickly,” Dalyn breathed softly when we stepped from the noisy club into the much quieter night.
Knowing Tavi could hear us, I just pointed up at the waxing gibbous moon.
Although I was ready to chase her down if she bolted, Tavi got into the backseat of the SUV we’d arrived in without issue. When I got into the driver’s seat, I noticed that her fingertips were now claws and fangs poked out from beneath her lips. Was it safe to have her at my back while I drove us home? Dalyn seemed to have the same thought. In the passenger seat, she slid a small white charm from her purse and stroked it softly.
We were almost back to the house, having driven in awkward silence aside from the radio, when Tavi said with a slur, “She had it coming and you both know it.”
“That’s not the point, Tav.” I tried for a calm, rational tone. I wasn’t arguing with a drunk wolf. “It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t shoved Dalyn. We’re supposed to keep a low profile in public. Pretty sure that includes no bar fights. I mean, look at you. You almost wolfed out in there.”
She couldn’t argue that so she stewed in silence. When we got back to the house and I saw her stumble on the steps leading up to the front door, I made a mental note to cut Tavi off after four in the future. The wolf couldn’t handle her booze this close to a full moon. Or maybe ever for all I knew.
“Come on.” I put an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the stairs once we got inside. “Let’s get your annoying, drunk ass into bed.”
Tavi tried to shrug me off but gave up when I proved immovable. “Shit, Blaze, your ego is out of control if you think everyone in this house wants to fuck you.” Her delivery was so sincere I couldn’t be sure if she was messing with me or not.
From behind us Dalyn jokingly quipped, “I don’t know about that. Frankly, I’m curious what the big deal is. The guys seem to like her.”
I snorted in amusement. “I question the personal standards of killers, myself included. Can’t trust a single one of us.”
Once we reached the top of the stairs Tavi shrugged me off and practically kicked her door open. When she tried to close it in my face, I caught it and forced my way inside.
Dalyn followed right behind me. “Tavi, what’s going on with you? Are you all right?”
Tavi left the light off, so I switched it on, lowering it to a dim setting. The frustrated wolf moved about her room like a small tornado, stripping off her jacket and throwing it onto the TV set while upsetting a bedside lamp.
“Stay by the door.” Pointing a clawed finger at Dalyn, Tavi flopped onto the end of the bed, long black hair falling to hide half her face. “I can’t promise that I won’t snap again. I feel very… wolfy.”
She looked damn wolfy too. I put myself between the two of them, so Tavi would have to go through me to get to Dalyn. I racked my brain for the right thing to say.
Tavi filled in the blank spaces. Grabbing a pillow off the bed, she crushed it to her chest. “I can’t control the wolf. Once it’s free, it takes over. I don’t even know what I’m doing. The kill that landed me in here happened because I couldn’t stop it, not because I wanted to do it. That’s why I don’t shift unless I have to. Unfortunately, on a full moon night, I have no choice.” She paused, wolf eyes drifting over us. “So there it is. The truth about why I’m here. I guess this makes us friends or some shit like that.” That admission probably never would’ve come out without the booze.
“Of course it does, sweetie,” Dalyn gushed, hands clasped like it was all she could do to keep from rushing Tavi for a hug.
“Don’t ruin it by being disgustingly sweet, ok? Now get out. I want to pass out without the two of you staring at me like I’m some broken friggin’ doll.” Tavi threw the pillow in our direction, but it landed several feet away. She lay down on the bed and rolled over, giving us her back.
Dalyn left the room.
I started to follow, pausing in the threshold. “I know what it’s like to have an ability you can’t control. If you ever want to talk or—”
“Get out, Blaze.”
Without another word I closed the door. Tavi hated how vulnerable the truth made her. Yet she’d shared it anyway. Maybe it had been the liquor or maybe she just needed to finally share her truth with someone else. I was glad she’d told us, that she’d reached out in her own way.
We didn’t have anyone outside this house. Might as well try to have someone inside it. We were all broken here.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The night of the full moon was a prime time for every supernatural but most especially for the shifters and spell casters. Although the energy of the moon left an electrical charge on the atmosphere and added a little kick to my step, it didn’t move us vampy types the way it moved the others.
Which was why Ghost and I were stuck at Mayhem House on standby.
Nova had sent a message through Smudge, the watchdog team leader, who’d called me shortly after sunset. Full moon nights always drew shady FPA activity, and Nova wanted me ready to go if needed. Bastard incubus couldn’t even show his face to deliver the message himself. Shocker.
The shifters on our team would be running as wolves tonight in a safe place outside the city. Tavi too, despite her flippant remarks about preferring to be locked in the interrogation room downstairs. She’d been ordered to join Rayne and Corr, both solid choices for the situation she faced. If I were in her shoes, I’d have wanted them by my side.
Dalyn and Retta holed up downstairs, working on magic stuff in the library. Ira had popped his head into the kitchen to tell them he didn’t feel well and would be staying in his bedroom. Still recovering from that gunshot wound to the leg, he used it as an excuse to retreat from the rest of us and avoid as many duties as possible. He never interacted with us more than necessary, spending most of his time in his room.
Much to Dalyn’s relief. She’d admitted to being wary of his spell crafting.
“Think we’re going to get any action tonight?” I glanced at Ghost who shot balls around the pool table by himself while I lounged in a lazy heap on the living room couch.
He turned to me with a brow raised, a flash of fangs in his sly grin. “Baby, if you want some action, all you gotta do is ask.”
“You know if we do that we’ll definitely get a call to go out.” Stretching out along the couch, I propped a hand under my head, watching him line up another shot.
Ghost sunk the eight ball, laid the cue stick down, and turned to me with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “So let’s do it. We’ll fuck, or we’ll get the hell out of this place and make shit happen. Either way we’ll have a damn good time.” His brazen delivery made me laugh.
No part of me didn’t want to say to hell with it. There were certainly worse people to be stuck with and worse things to do while we waited. I beckoned him with a finger, and he prowled across the living room toward me, a hunter with his prey.
But I was a hunter too—
Before Ghost reached me, my phone began to buzz. Just as I’d called it.
“See?” I snatched my phone off the coffee table. “I knew that would happen. Hey, Smudge, what’s up?”
The sweet-toned vampiress didn’t piss around with small talk. “We’ve got a report of a shifted werewolf cornered by some locals in a neighborhood near the river. Try to get there before the Feds do. Do whatever you can to chase them off without drawing more attention to the situation. Report back as soon as you can.”
As soon as I confirmed that I understood, she hung up. After repeating our instructions to Ghost, I added, “We better get moving. Definitely no time for other things now.”
I got up off the couch, a sense of urgency driving me.
When I turned to rush out of the room, Ghost blocked my path, undeterred by the phone call. Sliding a hand around the back of my neck and into my hair, he kissed me. That deep, explorative kiss left me reeling when he pulled back.
“All right.” Ghost lingered, his lips barely touching mine. “We can go now.”
I had to remind myself that there was a werewolf in trouble and dart after Ghost as he sauntered from the room. A warm glow enveloped me in the wake of his kiss. Spending so much time in this house did not work in favor of my willpower.
“Wanna drive?” Tossing me the keys from the table in the foyer, Ghost held the front door open. “I like having my hands free in case we get a tail. Unless you want to run defense.”
A click and the shuffling of feet on the stairs above preceded Ira as he slowly made his way down, grumbling to himself about all the goddamn steps. With a slip of a glance in our direction, he dismissed us and entered the kitchen. I still didn’t know what he’d done to get here, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
“I’ll drive.” I jumped at the chance to let Ghost run defense. His skills were more fully developed and not as likely to kill us both. As far as I knew.
The sleek black Dodge Charger in the garage was new. So Nova had been taking some of our requests seriously. Yeah, I would happily drive the hell out of that monster on wheels.
I punched the address Smudge had texted into the GPS on my phone. Only about ten minutes away, that was still way too much time for a wolf cornered by people who believed it to be a real wild animal. Humans were the absolute worst. They call us the monsters, but at least we’re up front about it.
The drive over was relatively uneventful. Ghost and I settled into an easy quiet, broken here and there by casual conversation that didn’t feel forced or awkward. Despite the vampire’s mysterious air, I felt comfortable with him. And it wasn’t just because he’d had no problem blowing my mind in bed.
“That the place?” Ghost studied the abandoned gas station ahead. Muscles in his jaw flexed. “This doesn’t feel right. Don’t pull into the parking lot. There’s only one way in and out. Actually don’t stop at all. Just drive by.”
Immediately my skin crawled. Nobody was around. The businesses in this area hadn’t been in operation for some time, and the closest residential street was at least a few blocks away.