I take a deep breath and feel the leather expand as my chest pushes out and constrict as I exhale. The leather is soft and virtually soundless as I move to follow Logan out the door.
Chase has helped him to suit up, and the sight that is Logan Thatcher causes heat to flush between my thighs. He’s covered in black leather with flashes of silver on his hips, thighs, forearms, and calves, and he has a black leather harness that is fitted with throwing knives across his chest and shoulders. He’s a badass sight to behold. My lips twitch as I fight to hold off the possessive smile I feel lurking.
Chase and Logan trot down the hall, and I jog after them. We make our way down the steps and into the foyer, where we are greeted by the rest of the team, all cleaned up and in black leathers like us. They are all armed with various blades, throwing stars, daggers, and swords. Miles walks out from behind the crew with a massive sword and a silver crossbow. He extends the sword to Logan. Logan situates it in a sheath that Josie offers him.
Eli walks up and moves around behind me as he slips a holster over my head and pulls each arm through so he can fasten it beneath my arms. Miles hands him the crossbow, which he places against my back with an audible click that lets me know it’s secured. Its feather light and compact enough that it won’t affect how I move.
Eli steps back in front of me and explains how the crossbow is fitted with a magnetic apparatus that will automatically lock it into place when it’s within reach of the harness. He goes through the motions of showing me how to pull the arrows from the quiver he’s hooking around my waist. It dangles off my left hip.
“But I’m right-handed. Wouldn’t it make more sense to put it on my right side?” I ask nervously. His face is pinched as he flips his head to the left and the floppy blond hair that was falling around his eyes shifts out of his line of vision. His fingers work methodically to fasten and buckle me into my equipment.
He finishes with the last of the buckles and shrugs at me. “No. You’ll pull from the left hip, then across your right side to load it in the arrow groove, as you’re pulling the crossbow over your left shoulder.” He moves behind me and places his cool hands over mine to show me the motion he’s talking about. It’s quick and fluid, and it immediately feels right. I practice it a few times until he nods in affirmation and moves to the corner of the room where Duncan is talking with Thad and Logan.
Josie walks over to me, and I notice that she has her long blond hair winding in a tight braid that starts at her left temple and ends at her right ear, where it falls in a few winding curls. Even now she’s beautiful. I know I look like I’m going to the gym, with my workout headband and hair slicked back into a functional ponytail. Whatever! Now isn’t the time to worry about appearances.
She gestures to the door. “Everyone is waiting outside in the truck.” I follow her as we step out into the brisk midnight air. By truck she means massive SUV. I step up to an open rear door and peer inside. Kayla is driving, Triston has shotgun, Josie and Miles settle into the second row of seats with Eli, and that leaves the third row for yours truly, Logan, and Thad. I glance back to question where Chase is going to sit, but before I can voice a word I hear a low hum moving closer to the back of the truck. I step back and look to the rear of the vehicle to see that Chase is riding a cherry-red Ducati motorcycle. He pulls the visor up so I can see his grinning face.
“Makes you randy, doesn’t she?” I laugh at his audacity and turn back to make my way to the rear of the truck.
“Just ignore him. He thinks all women want to shag on a motorbike,” Josie calls out over the noise as Chase revs it up and then flies by in a red and black blur. As my head whips by, trying to follow him, I see Duncan giving Logan a firm talking-to on the front steps. Logan’s jaw is locked with tension, and Thad is pulling his arm, trying to get him to move. He finally nods, and Duncan claps him on the shoulder in a fatherly manner. When Duncan turns to go back inside, Logan and Thad exchange a few hushed words and then trot over to join the rest of us.
When Logan settles in next to me, I whisper, “Is everything all right?” He lifts his left arm and pulls me into his side.
“Everything’s fine, love. Don’t you worry about a thing. Keep your head on straight tonight, yeah?”
“Yeah. I’m good.” I’m not about to tell him I’m scared shitless. I’ll fake it till I make it. The truck pulls off with a start as Kayla guns the accelerator. Triston reaches over, and the next thing I know, some band I have never heard before is singing about taking over the world. It has a rockabilly feel to it with a touch of metal, so I sit back into the plush leather seat and look out my window to watch the night sky slide by.
We pull up to a stone building with a bear of a man standing guard in a black suit and jacket with a white tie. I look over to Logan, and he offers up a strained smile and nods to the door, where the rest of the crew is slowly filing out. He stands and reaches behind with his left hand to take my hand in his. Our fingers lace together, and I follow him as he leads the way out of the truck.
“I’ll park and we’ll meet up inside, but first everyone needs to stand in a circle.” The group gathers quickly, and Kayla says a few words in a language I’ve never heard before. A low hum rushes over my skin, and then it’s gone. “All done.” She claps her hands together, hops back into the SUV, and drives off.
“What was that about?”
“Concealment spell. That way no one will question our weapons as we walk among the crowd.” I open my mouth to ask more, but Logan places his finger over my lips and shakes his head. “Not now. It’s not my story to tell.”
“Okay, fine. We’ll talk later.” I decide to let it go for now.
Logan tips my chin up with his finger and looks at me. “No matter what you see or hear, you stay with me, yeah?” I nod back. “This is going to be a bit of a shock for you, Sulwen, and it’s killing me to even bring you here…” His jaw tenses. “I don’t have a choice. This is where they find their prey…places like this.” He squeezes my fingers, and I feel my brows wrinkle in confusion. I don’t know what he’s getting at, but my curiosity is piqued. If this is what I think it is, I’m about to see a whole lot more than I ever bargained for.
“I’m fine, Logan. Let’s go; the others are already going in.”
He looks back over his shoulder to see Josie talking with the guard. Big Bear nods at her and opens the door for them to enter.
He sighs. “All right, let’s go.”
As we approach the open door, I can hear a sensual beat pulsing. Fluorescent lights accost my eyes as the door closes behind me. I squint a little to allow my eyes time to adjust. There’s a wall with a coat rack and what looks like cubbies for personal belongings. I look around to find all sorts of garments, shoes, and even jewelry tucked away in some of them. There are several that are still empty, but not many. Logan looks down at me with worried eyes. His body is tense next to mine, but he doesn’t say anything.
I look over to a stand where a hostess waits in fishnet stockings, a candy-pink see-through bustier, what look to be black boy shorts covered with pink glitter, and knee-high black leather go-go boots. She looks like a stripper, but her jewelry says otherwise. She’s draped in diamonds that adorn her ears, bottom lip, left eyebrow, and pierced nipples that glitter through her top. Fucking A…I knew this was a fetish club. I may not have straddled every cock in my county, but I’m not a dumbass.
I pull my eyes from her massive rack and glance at the guys to see if they are ogling Little Miss Sparkly Boobies, but they are all business, and if her appearance is appealing, they’re not letting it show.
“We need the VIP room, love,” Josie says. She leans up against the podium and twirls her hair around her fingers. Holy shit…Josie is flirting with the hostess.
“I don’t know if we have the room, sweets. Lemme check wi’ me boss to see if we can get ya somethin’.” Her accent is so strong that I find myself barely translating every other word. Josie nods and licks her lips. The woman’s cheeks
flush the same shade of pink as her barely there top. She gives a saucy grin and struts out to find her boss.
I look up to Logan, who has let loose of my hand and appears to be scanning the cubbies for clues. He walks over and rifles through a few of them but stops when the heels of the hostess can be heard coming back our way.
Josie looks over at me, winks, and flashes a shit-eating grin. This girl is crazy.
“You know the way, luvvies,” the hostess tells us as she reaches for Josie’s hand. She pulls Josie up against her, and they begin French kissing. It is the single most disturbing and erotic thing I have ever witnessed.
Logan walks over and closes my mouth with his finger and chuckles next to my ear. “Easy, love. That’s modest compared to what you’re about to see.” He grabs my hand again and pulls me behind him. I look over my shoulder to see Josie and the hostess in a full-on make-out session. Fucking crazy! Shaking my head, I turn and follow behind the guys.
As we pass the wall and enter the club, I’m hit with about fifty different scents at once—the smell of expensive Scottish whiskey, the pungent odor of imported cigars—but the strongest smell is sex. All around me are people in various sexual acts.
To my immediate right, a blond woman is butt-ass naked, down on her knees, with her pert mouth wrapped around the impressive erection of a burly redheaded man lounging back in a semiconcealed booth. He’s wearing a black button-down business shirt with the tie halfway undone, and his slacks are open just enough to free him for the chick on the floor to suck him down her throat. He moans out loud as we step by, eyes closed tight, a blissful expression on his face, head lolling to the side, his tense body leaning against the back of the booth.
Logan’s fingers tighten around mine, and I realize I’ve stopped walking. I look up to piercing green eyes shining with want. This is turning him on, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t have an effect on me as well.
I offer a timid smile and swallow the lump of sand building in my throat. He nods and turns back to weave through the slew of bodies. I ignore the groaning and moans of orgasmic pleasure as we pass a threesome in full force next to the stairway leading to the VIP rooms. Logan gives a little tug, and we make our way up the stairs. From the top I look down over the club, and what I see stirs a pulse between my legs that I shamefully squirm to alleviate.
In the far corner is a woman wearing a black lace bra, no panties, and she’s strapped belly down over a bench. A man in a pair of loose-fitting blue jeans without a shirt is brandishing a whip. I watch with wide eyes as he raises his meaty arm and then swings it down to contact with a loud snap on her perfect ivory skin. I flinch when the whip cracks in rapid succession against her back, leaving bright red welts on her flesh.
“Shit, Sulwen. If you don’t stop looking at them like that, I’m going to pin you against this wall and…” Logan breaks off and shakes his head. I can feel the heat in my cheeks as excitement rushes over me. He runs his hand down his face. “Let’s go. We’re getting distracted, and that’s the last thing we need tonight. I’ll take care of you when we get home. That’s a promise, Sully.” I nod back enthusiastically, which causes him to crack the first sincere smile I’ve seen all night.
I think I hear him mutter “crazy woman” as we hurry to catch up with the guys who are already way down the hall, getting ready to enter a secluded room around the corner. We enter the room, and Logan closes the door behind him, which shuts out the music and noise of the clientele getting their groove on. He lets go of my hand and walks over to the TV screen that shows a live video feed of the level below. I turn around to take in the room as the guys scan the screen for a familiar it.
I walk around and take in my surroundings. The room is lavishly decorated with white leather couches and huge body-sized black pillows lying in various areas of the floor. The carpet is plush, and my shoes sink into it as I walk over to the glass wall and look out over the lower level.
I press my forehead against it and look down to see Josie and Kayla cutting through the crowd as if they’ve spotted someone.
“Guys. Hey, guys. I think the girls have someone.”
I turn around to find Logan and Chase approaching my side. They look down on the ladies as they move across the room, and that’s when I spot it. It has a woman against the far wall with its back to the crowd, fingers locked around her malformed neck. It’s then that I realize her neck is broken, and her body is limp in his arms. He’s pushing up against her in a rapid rhythm.
“Oh God, is he…is he fucking her dead body?” I cover my mouth with my hands. “Oh shit, he is. That is so sick. Why isn’t anyone doing anything to help her?”
“Because they don’t see what you do. They see a man making out with a woman against the wall. He’s cast a glamour,” Logan exclaims.
I turn to see Thad jumping over a couch and the rest of the guys following suit as they barrel out the door.
“Move, Sulwen.” Logan rushes in front of me, and I clamor to catch up. We beat feet down the stairs and meet Kayla and Josie right before they approach Mr. Nasty.
“Outside. Draw him to the left of the Dumpsters,” one of the guys calls out.
“On it,” Kayla answers, heading straight for him.
Josie has her daggers pulled with the handles in her palms and the blades lying flush under her forearms to hide them from plain sight. I turn to see Kayla pull a long blade from her thigh. It looks like a feminine version of a machete. She clutches it tight against her frame as she bumps into the thing screwing the dead woman.
It pulls back, and that’s when I notice it’s part human—or it used to be. It has blood all over its mouth and neck from feeding on the woman’s jugular. Its “thing” is hanging from a pair of dingy black pants. It reaches and folds itself back into its jeans and turns to follow Kayla out the back door.
I watch wide-eyed as the dead girl’s body begins to slide down the wall. Thad reaches her before she hits the floor and carefully pulls her into his arms. He nods to Logan and pushes his way to the emergency exit. I’m nearing Logan and the rest of the crew as they close in on the thing when I feel something bump into me from behind.
I turn, thinking someone is a little tipsy and needs to watch where he’s going, but that is not what I find. An extremely tall man is standing behind me. He’s wearing a dark red t-shirt with black jeans, and when I look up into his eyes I nearly stagger. Solid black orbs are staring back at me, swirling as if they’re made of liquid. His head is bald, and on his right cheek is a tattoo, a tribal symbol. My instincts finally kick in, and I scramble to defend myself.
Before I can reach for the blade on my thigh, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his chest. To the rest of the crowd, it looks like an intimate embrace, but I can feel magic surging all around him. The more I fight, the tighter he pulls me against him. It feels like an invisible blanket wrapping around my body, and my brain can’t seem to muddle through the thickness that is overcoming me.
I shake my head from side to side, working to loosen his grip, but he just pulls me in even tighter. I try to push against his chest, only to find that my hands are trapped between us, and the more I try to squirm out of his hold, the tighter he squeezes. It’s like being suffocated by a boa constrictor. White spots dance across my vision as my oxygen is hindered by the viselike grip he has on my body.
“P-p-please,” I stutter out.
“Master wants you. Master gets you.” His words come out with a slight lisp.
I feel the ground sliding beneath my boots as we move across the floor. I can no longer hear the beat of the music. I can no longer feel my arms. My body feels languid and numb. His magic surges all around me, raising the fine hairs on my neck and arms. Alarm bells are going off inside my head, demanding I get away. He’s siphoning energy off of me. I can feel it. I try to build a wall around my body in my mind, but that only seems to excite him more.
Wandering hands run up and down my spine. I can’t see anything but the back of my eye
lids as they flutter shut against my will. My tongue feels dry and thick inside of my mouth. I try to swallow, but it feels like clumps of matted dirt are filling my throat. Stop. Please stop. My mind pleads with the creature dragging me away from the safety of the crowd. Stop, I yell as loud as I can, but no words break through the invisible barrier sealing my throat shut.
“Logan…” Everything goes black.
Chapter
Ten
“Logan. Logan, where are you?” I yell, but the words hang like vapor in the air and dissipate into nothingness. Everything is hazy…like looking through a steamed glass at the world outside. Bits and pieces come in clearly but the more I try to focus the more they seem to blur around the edges and fade into the distance.
Looking down I see nothing but air. I try to reach my hands out but I have no hands to speak of. I am air. I look down and notice my essence is hovering over the group below me. I try to move only to be tugged forward. It’s as if I’m tethered to something I can’t pull away from. I mentally struggle to free my mind from this…whatever the hell this is, but the tug persists until I feel my essence moving toward the masculine form below.
It’s like a series of events playing, none of which I participate in or change the outcome of. I’m merely a watcher as life happens around me. I will my vision to narrow in on the person pulling me and discover its Logan. When he moves, I move. I can feel his every emotion seeping into me and sense his every thought as they race through his mind. We are somehow one and the same. I vaguely remember calling to him as the Narkarri pulled me away…my subconscious has somehow latched onto his. It’s the only explanation for this bizarre turn of events.
Logan steps out into the crisp night air and slinks along the side of the brick building. A hand motion to the team has them spreading out.
Kairos Page 18