Bait

by Kasi Blake

After mailing Tessa’s personal items to her family, Nick met Jordan outside of a local club. When he arrived, she was busy wrapping the bouncer around her finger. Laughing at something the burly man was saying, she leaned closer to him and flirted with wide crystal blue eyes. There was a huge line waiting to get in, but the bouncer didn’t seem to notice the other people. His gaze was glued to Jordan in her skin-tight black leather pants and nearly non-existent blouse. Her top looked like it had the consistency of cotton candy. The usually pink streak in her platinum blonde hair was blue now. It nearly matched her eyes.

  She caught sight of him and shouted, “Nick! Over here!”

  Super paranoid about being recognized he wore a red baseball cap and dark sunglasses. He avoided eye contact with others and slouched so he wouldn’t appear too tall. If anything gave him away, it would be the fact he was with Jordan. She thrived on attention. He wondered what he would have to promise her to get her to cooperate and keep her usual grandstanding to a minimum.

  Latching onto his arm, she led him around the bouncer and into the club. Her fingers clasped his forearm. She pressed her lips to his ear, walking and talking. “I am so glad you called me. I’ve been missing you and Mike.”

  The club was filled with gyrating bodies bathed in revolving colored lights. Blue, green, red, and yellow spotlights searched the crowd. Arms swung, jerked, and flapped around, some bare while others wore wispy pieces of material. The music blared, pumped out of eight giant speakers strategically placed around the baseball field sized room.

  “You could have come back whenever you wanted. You didn’t need an invitation.”

  “And do what? Guard the border?”

  “Mike and I are just hanging at the school, showing off our combat skills, and Van ordered me to take some refresher classes. It hasn’t been that bad.”

  Nick and Jordan stood on a balcony overlooking the crowd. Jordan’s hand slid up his arm to his shoulder. She rubbed it while watching the dancers. “So I heard,” she said. “Mike called a few days ago and caught me up.” She hesitated, her uncertain gaze flickering to him before adding, “He also told me you’ve been spending way too much time with Van Helsing’s daughter. Good grief, Nicholas. I know you have a wild side, but this is going way too far.”

  “It isn’t like that.”

  “Then tell me how it is.”

  Before he could answer his gaze fell upon a certain dancer below. For a second he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He thought he was only seeing her because they’d been talking about her. Bay-Lee was dancing with Keisha and two local boys. Jealousy instantly burned in his veins.

  Jordan laughed. “Speak of the devil.” He frowned at Jordan, confused. How did she know what Bay-Lee looked like? She answered his unspoken question as if reading his mind. “Mike sent a picture of her to my phone.” Jordan’s expression turned to disgust. “Seriously, Nicholas, she isn’t even pretty.”

  That was a lie and they both knew it. Jordan was good at lying, probably because of all the practice she got. Nick didn’t know much about her past, but he suspected she’d endured a rough childhood. “I guess it comes down to personal preference.”

  The next hour was torture for Nick. He watched Bay-Lee dance with one boy after another. His nerves were taut, stretched to the limit every time one of them touched her by accident or by design. She was an amazing dancer. The expression on her face, a mixture of bliss and unabashed hunger grabbed him by the throat. He couldn’t have torn his gaze off her if a border monster blew into the club.

  Jordan abandoned him fifteen minutes into his hour long watch. She was currently at the bar, flirting with a small group of young men. They repeatedly argued over who would buy her next drink. She was in heaven, too busy to notice what he was doing.

  Bay-Lee’s wild mane flew around her face. At one point she lifted it off her sweaty neck while rocking her hips from side to side. Nick forgot to breathe. Keeping her in sight, he began his inevitable descent to the dance floor. His body reacted to hers like metal to a magnet. He went down the steps, pushed his way through the mass of bodies, and found her.

  Keisha saw him first, and her eyes widened slightly. With a cheerful smile and a wave she disappeared into the sea of dancers, leaving Bay-Lee vulnerable. Bay-Lee had her eyes closed. Her hand slipped beneath the dark curtain of hair, and she rubbed her neck as if it was stiff. Her eyes slowly opened.

  Nick smiled. “You come here often?”

  Startled, she scanned the faces around them, no doubt looking for her dance partner, the traitor. She visibly swallowed before leaning close and shouting. “Please don’t tell anyone about this! I needed a break from school!”

  He continued to smile.

  She blinked. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

  A slow song started to play. Lovers embraced. Nick bent forward and spoke in her ear, a firm command. “Dance with me.”

  “What?” Her gaze continued the search for her missing friend.

  “I want you to dance with me!” He grinned and yelled so she would be able to hear him over the music. “I feel like living dangerously tonight!”

  Before she could protest Nick placed his hands on her hips. He gently drew her forward, careful not to rush her. She looked stunned, wide eyed and innocent. His hands slid around her middle to rest on her back. Her body pressed against his, and her arms took a slow journey to encircle his neck. Their gazes locked and held.

  “Aren’t you supposed to stay away from me?” she asked.

  All the rational reasons for him to avoid a relationship with her went up in smoke. He couldn’t remember a single one. Her bare skin glistened with perspiration, and the feel of her flesh beneath his hands turned his brain to pudding. He made the mistake of looking into her dark eyes. They sucked him in and refused to let him go.

  “Do you want me to stay away?” he asked.

  “Hey, you were the one avoiding me. What’s changed?”

  “Complicated.” He didn’t say the word loud enough for her to hear. When she squinted at him, he repeated it. She nodded this time and he added, “I think I’d like to get to know you... Micki.”

  She smiled at the pet name. “I want to get to know you too, Tyler.” She made a sour face. “Actually, I want to get to know Nick Gallos. Rock stars aren’t really my thing.”

  They gave up the pretense of dancing. The people around them seemed to disappear, melting into the background. The music faded away. Bay-Lee smiled at him and his mind imploded, leaving startling clarity behind. They belonged together. This was his girl, the only girl for him. Alec might not believe in soul mates, but he did as of now. If he lost this girl, he would live a tortured, lonely life. That much was clear.

  The fortune teller’s prophecy rang in his ears and in his mind he saw her pointing an accusing finger as she blasted him in front of his entire family, friends, and strangers. You! You are the one who will destroy the world, the dark one who will open the doorway and unleash hell upon us all. It is your love for Van Helsing’s daughter that will be the catalyst of your fall. When you first meet her you will have the best of intentions, but she will make a mistake that turns you into a monster. Worse than anything this universe has seen, you will destroy us all… unless the clever girl kills you. There are two possible futures I see. Let us pray she is strong enough to banish you from the earth. Yes, let us pray.

  Because of the prophecy he’d lost his family, his childhood, everything. Giving into his feelings might lead to the end of the world. It would burn. Nick stroked fingers down her soft cheek. Let it burn. He didn’t care. As long as he could die in this girl’s arms while the world caught fire, he could live with it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  RED ALERT