by Sarra Cannon
And as bad of a friend as it made me seem, I wanted to beg her not to ask me to take her home.
I desperately wanted to stay. There was something different about this place, and I wanted to figure it out.
“I think that bartender was trying to drug us or something,” Katy said. “Did you see that smile on her face? Like she was playing with us. I think we should get the hell out of here.”
My shoulders fell. “I don’t want to go home,” I said. “I think this place is kind of cool.”
“Cool? It’s freaking me out,” she said. “There’s not a single fat or ugly person in this whole place. And that drink was not normal. There's something more than weird going on in this club. I think it’s dangerous here. We need to go, Franki. I know it’s your birthday and all, but I don’t feel right about this place.”
I sighed. What could I do? I couldn’t abandon my friend and tell her to find her own way home.
I was trying to find the cab driver's number in her phone when the door to the bathroom opened and the bartender who'd served us walked in. She was carrying a small bottle in one hand. Water, maybe.
She approached us with a sympathetic look on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said, looking at Katy. “I didn’t know you weren’t... Well, I didn’t realize. I wouldn’t have given you that shot if I’d known.”
“Known what?” I asked.
She turned to look at me, confusion wrinkling the skin around her eyes. “I didn’t know you weren’t both the kind of girls who belonged here.”
Her words were gloriously vague. I wanted to ask her what kind of girls did belong here, but she didn’t give me the chance.
“Here,” she said, pushing the clear bottle into Katy's hand. “Drink this. I swear it’ll make you feel right again.”
Katy held the bottle at arm’s length. “I don’t think I should take anything from you, no offense.”
The bartender’s face softened. “I know. I completely suck for doing that to you,” she said. “We don’t get many normals in here and I was getting such a strong vibe there by the bar. I didn’t read you right and I messed up. I’m genuinely sorry, and I don’t blame you for not trusting me.”
“Normals?” I asked, but neither one of them even acknowledged my question.
“Do you think you could call us a cab or something? I just want to get home and get to bed,” Katy said, shoving the bottle back toward the girl.
She wouldn’t take it back. She closed her hands around Katy's and pushed it back toward her. “I promise you, all you have to do is drink this and you will feel completely, one-hundred-percent better. Just take a sip. You’ll see.”
“It’s not water?”
She shook her head. “It’s more like an antidote for a very nasty shot. Please.”
Katy stared down at the drink in her hand for a long moment, then unscrewed the cap and took a single sip. She waited and I held my breath.
She took another sip, then let her head rest against the tile wall.
I waited, completely, acutely aware of the weirdness of this entire situation. Who had an antidote for a shot? Or even a hangover? And why had she come in here after us?
Katy's eyes opened and she let out a long sigh of relief.
“Better?” the bartender asked.
“Much,” she said. “Wow. My head was pounding and my stomach was all twisted up and now I feel fine. What is this stuff?”
The girl’s entire body relaxed. “I’m so glad,” she said, avoiding the question. “I would have felt awful if you went home sick. I swear I just didn’t realize.”
I took a step back and crossed my arms across my chest. “Okay, so what’s with the cryptic messages and the weird drinks and everything? What is this place?”
I loved the way the shot had made me feel, but I didn’t like the way this girl was implying that my friend was ‘normal’ and I wasn’t. That had not been totally lost on me, and I wanted to know what the heck she meant by it.
The bartender shook her head, her long blonde curls caressing her shoulders. “You really have no idea where you are, do you?” she asked.
It was a question with too obvious an answer. We obviously had no clue where we really were.
“How did you end up here, then? I mean, it’s not like we’re on the main strip with a big sign out front. Most people don’t find us on accident.”
Her tongue tripped over the word people and it sent a shiver up my spine. Plus, her words were eerily similar to the ones Selena had used out front.
“Franki here got an invitation to come to this place, but no one seemed to know where it was,” Katy said. “You know, you really shouldn't put your main entrance down a dark alleyway. That can't be good for business.”
“So, how did you find us if no one told you where it was?”
Katy pointed at me. “Psychic wonder over here had a feeling about it. She just knew it was here. Don’t ask me how.”
The bartender turned her focus on me, looking me up and down. For the first time since she'd come in here, I noticed how icy blue her eyes were. I shifted uncomfortably, not sure if I should thank her for helping Katy or punch her in the face for serving us something weird to begin with.
“What?” I asked, annoyed. The booze—or whatever it was—flowing through my veins was taking away both inhibitions and good sense. I opened my arms and stepped forward. “Why does everyone here keep staring at me like that? Just what do you think you see?”
Her eyes widened and a startled smile broke out on her face. “I see—”
Someone pounded hard on the bathroom door. “Azure? Get your ass out here. We’ve got customers.”
The bartender shrugged, her thoughts cut off. “Sorry, that’s my cue to go,” she said, turning toward the door. “Stay and hang out a little bit if you want. Drinks are on the house. No funny stuff, I promise.”
I was supremely annoyed. None of my questions were being answered and the strange warmth flowing through me only seemed to heat up, the angrier I got.
“Wait,” I said, taking a step in her direction. “What was in that shot, anyway?”
She opened the door and stood half-in, half-out, the noise of the club almost deafening after the silence of the bathroom. “I really have to go,” she said. Her icy blue eyes met mine. “You guys should stay, if you want. Just be careful not to leave with anyone you don’t know. Selena will call you a cab and make sure you get home safely when you’re ready to go, okay? Promise me.”
I nodded as she turned on her heel and left the room. The bathroom door closed, leaving us in muted silence again.
This was definitely turning out to be the strangest night of my life.
And it had only just begun.
Chapter 8
Trust Me
Katy and I walked out of the bathroom and back into the neon glow of the main club.
“If you want to go home, I completely understand,” I shouted over the music.
She turned to me, her green eyes bright. “I feel great,” she said. “And I realize how completely insane that sounds after you were just holding my hair back so I could throw up in the trashcan, but whatever she gave me really helped.”
She looked down, as if realizing she was still holding the bottle of clear liquid.
“I wonder what’s in it?” I asked. “And what was in that shot to begin with?”
She shook her head and shrugged. “Hell if I know,” she said. “But the way I see it, we’re here, there’s music, there are a ton of hot guys on the dance floor, and there are still fifteen minutes left of your birthday. Let’s just have a good time and forget about the rest of it.”
She reached for my hand and I placed it in hers, smiling.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Just no more funky shots.” Katy laughed and together we worked our way through the crowd and onto the dance floor.
The buzz from the shot was still flowing strong in my system, somehow amplified by my anger earlier in the bathroom. A
nd now that we were out here on the crowded dance floor with the strange lights and pounding music, my entire body began to hum with energy.
I looked around, at first feeling a little bit self-conscious around all these beautiful people. But then I started to lose myself to the music.
I closed my eyes, letting go of everything else but the vibrations running up through the floor and into my bones. My lips parted and the lights and energy seemed to flow straight into my mouth and through my soul. My blood pulsed with the rhythm of this place.
I had always considered myself a pretty good dancer, but tonight, I was electric. It was as if someone had plugged me directly in to one of the speakers and turned me on.
My body moved in ways I never knew were possible. Smooth and fluid. Sexy and sensual and confident.
The taste of the cinnamon-flavored shot lingered on my tongue, warm and slightly sweet.
I pulled my long black hair up, letting the air blow across the back of my neck. Every one of my senses was amplified.
That’s when I felt him watching me.
A darkness washed over me, dread pooling in my stomach. The sticky sweetness of the drink went sour in my mouth, making me long for water and fresh air.
His gaze passed like a shadow across my skin, pulling me into the dark places where no one would see me. No one but him.
I let my hair drop heavily down my back and opened my eyes. I didn’t stop dancing or try to draw attention to myself, but I no longer felt free. Sadness and fear pushed through me and I shivered.
Who is he?
I knew it was a man, even if I couldn’t tell you how I knew. I just felt the maleness of him. The territorial claim of his eyes on my body. I didn’t like it.
I didn’t like it at all.
I turned and scanned the crowd behind me, concentrating on the shadowy places beyond the dance floor. He was up there somewhere, sitting down. Watching me from the darkness. Whatever I’d done to get his attention, I wished I could take it back.
Was this the same person who had sent the invitation?
I swallowed, my throat thick with syrup. Someone had invited me here, but who? Katy was right. It had been a mistake to come.
In my bones, I knew this wasn’t just some secret admirer or old friend trying to reconnect. This definitely wasn't my mother. There was something much darker at play here.
And much more dangerous.
Strong hands encircled my waist, fingers slipping into the belt loops on my jeans and pulling me back. I gasped. My body tensed and I tried to pull away. To turn around and see his face.
But his strength was too much for me.
He leaned forward, his warm breath against my ear. “Don’t struggle,” he said. His voice was rough and deep. “Just play along. Trust me.”
It was the way he said the word trust that calmed me.
This was not the man from the darkness. This was someone trying to protect me.
Only, I couldn’t shake the question of what, exactly, I might need protection from.
I turned my head, but still couldn’t see his face.
“Keep dancing,” he said.
Our bodies moved together, his hands firm on my hips as he pressed his solid, muscular body against mine.
I moved my hands to his and when our skin touched, an electric shock went through me for the second time that night. It was like a static shock times ten. I gripped his wrists and pulled his fingers from their hold on my jeans.
“I need to see your face,” I said, turning my head slightly so that my cheek was practically touching his.
He gave way, letting me turn around, but never taking his hands from me.
In the pulsing lights, I recognized the deep black of his eyes and the wild black hair.
The bartender who had been staring at me earlier.
I stepped back in surprise, but his arms reclaimed me, pulling me closer, as if we were lovers reuniting after being apart for far too long. My heart pounded so hard against my ribs, I was sure he would be able to feel it beating against his chest.
“What's happening?” I asked, barely able to hear my own voice over the music. “Someone is watching me.”
“Now they’re watching us,” he said, a hint of a smile on his lips that disappeared so fast I wondered if it was ever really there.
I let my hands wander up his arms, gripping the muscular biceps that bulged against the sleeves of his black t-shirt. He was taller than me by several inches and I had to look up to meet his eyes, pools of black liquid with veins of silver running through them. I disappeared into them for a moment. My knees went weak and I fell against him, blinking to force my gaze away.
I was not the swooning type, so I refused to believe I had just swooned over this dark-eyed stranger. Maybe my blood-sugar was low. There had to be a logical explanation.
“You okay?” he asked, steadying me.
“I’m fine,” I said through clenched teeth. “Or at least, I think I am. Something is definitely not normal about this place.”
His smile played another disappearing act. “You’re just now figuring that out?”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch him or pull him closer.
“Care to explain?”
He raised an eyebrow and shook his head, amused.
Punch. I definitely wanted to punch him.
But that was impossible considering the fact that our bodies were pressed tighter than I’d been with any man in months. And like it or not, mine was definitely responding to him. If I thought my skin was on fire earlier, it was burning up now. I thought I might turn to ash at any moment.
“If you didn’t know what kind of place this was, why did you come here?” he asked.
I narrowed my eyes at him. Why did everyone keep asking us that? “It’s a public place, right? People come here all the time? Why not me?”
He cocked his head slightly, studying me. “Not many people wander in here on accident,” he said. “It’s not that kind of club.”
“So I've heard,” I mumbled. “What no one seems to want to share with me is exactly what kind of club it is.”
The music changed and his hands shifted on my hips. The tip of his thumb brushed against the bare skin at my waist and I tensed, flames rising up through my core. I gasped for breath.
He raised his eyebrow again. He was getting a kick out of my reactions, and I hated him for it. I hated that one tiny touch of his skin against mine could tilt my entire world on its axis.
Maybe it was the alcohol still working its way through my system. That had to be it. Men just didn't affect me like this. At least none who had ever touched me before.
“You’re not going to answer me, are you?” I asked, my voice unsteady. I straightened my shoulders and tried to put a little space between us so I could think straight.
“Not until you answer my question first.”
He was toying with me. Why come over here to protect me from some unseen stranger if he just wanted to play with me?
I didn’t like to play games.
“I was invited by someone,” I said.
Darkness crossed his features. That wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting.
“Who?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea.” I shrugged, trying to pretend I wasn’t completely distracted by the way his body moved against mine.
“Someone you don’t know invited you to a strange club and you came?” he asked, his voice raw with anger. His muscles tensed against my hands. “Expecting what? Some kind of affair? A fun time?”
I pushed against him, but he only held me tighter.
“Who the hell are you to judge me? I don’t even know you.”
“You don’t know the person who invited you either,” he said.
“Why are you getting mad at me for that?” I raised my voice over the music a few heads turned toward us. “You don’t own me. You don’t even know me. If I want to come to a club to meet up with a guy, that's none of your business.”
“Or what?” I challenged him. I had been on my own for most of my life. I didn’t do well with people spouting orders at me. I certainly didn’t need this asshole telling me what I could or could not do on my own damned birthday.
He pulled me closer, bringing his mouth close to my ear again. “Or you’re going to end up getting into a lot more trouble than you bargained for when you walked through that door tonight. Trust me.”
There went that word again. Trust. Not a word to be taken lightly in my experience, and I wasn’t about to let this guy threaten me.
I moved my hand up his arm and shoulder, then around to the back of his neck. I threaded my fingers through his long dark hair and tugged slightly, pulling him toward me.
“In my world, people have to earn my trust, so don’t throw that word around like it means nothing,” I said. “Just because you’re stronger than me doesn’t mean you have the right to push me around, you got that? So if you have something to say, you’d better start talking.”
I loosened my grip on his hair and he pulled his head back, his eyes wide and the first solid smile on his lips.
At first, he didn’t say a word. He just stared at me, as if in shock. Then, after a long moment where I thought my heart might beat completely out of my chest, he pulled away from me and held out his hand.
I stared at it, not knowing whether to take it or turn and walk away.
“You want to talk?” he asked. “Come on, then. Let’s talk.”
Was he really offering me answers? Or was this just another part of whatever game he was playing with me? There was only one way to find out.
I took a couple of deep breaths, then placed my hand in his.
Chapter 9
In The Shadows
Katy grabbed my arm as I passed by her. “Who is that?” she asked, her face turned away from him so he couldn’t see or hear.
“One of the bartenders,” I said. It was the best answer I had at the moment.