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“We’re here,” I said shortly, turning into a parking lot so hard that Dominic’s head cracked off the glass window as I pulled to an abrupt stop. The handle above the passenger seat fell right off with a clatter as Emmy gripped it like she was on her deathbed. “Call a different ride home, Mr. Kent.”
I grabbed a shoulder bag that contained my pink pepper spray, a change of clothes, and toiletries for spending the night. Arguably, my pepper spray would be quite useless in a room full of the most powerful paranormal creatures in the universe, but it was a habit.
Most importantly, my bag contained a small flask of tequila that I’d packed in case my magic started to go on the fritz around all these paranormal types. I had a feeling I might need a few nips of alcohol to keep the tug of magic in my gut from exploding all over everyone around me, seeing as I’d be surrounded by an overwhelming display of magic for the next twenty-four hours.
“Tequila, really?” Dominic joined me as I strode angrily toward the front door. “I thought you were more of a cheap cabernet sort of girl.”
I rolled my eyes at him.
“Ah, I see,” Dominic said cheekily. “That bottle-to-missile cork was a special launch just for me. I’m flattered to have been your target.”
“Leave me alone,” I said. “I have no desire to speak to you ever again. Won’t see you ever again, anyway, since you’re kicking me out of my home.”
“I’m not...” Dom raised those muscled arms in exasperation. “It’s a business decision. I’m not kicking you out of anything because I don’t like you.”
“At least we can agree you’re a selfish jerk.” I fished in my bag for the summit invitation as we reached the front door of the hotel building that’d been taken over for the weekend’s event.
I handed it to the goblin security guard waiting at the door. The goblin sniffed at my bag, wrinkled his nose.
“The scent you’re picking up is just tequila,” Dom said with a knowing little smirk as he handed over his own embossed invitation. “Nothing magical about it, though I understand the disgust. It’s quite vile.”
The goblin sniffed again, nodded his head without speaking, though the distaste on his face was evident. Granted, it was pretty low rent booze, but I’d owed Chopstix a lot of money, and I hadn’t had a lot extra for superfluous purchases like my purse stash of tequila.
Once we were inside, I pointedly took out my flask. I took my sweet time unscrewing the top as Dominic watched my every move, his eyes filled with an intensely calculating stare. I felt nervous, bare, like he could see right through my dress and beneath my skin.
I took a step closer so that our chests were almost touching. Dom breathed deeply, and I noted it was the first breath he’d taken since I’d met him. As if his breath literally hitched in his throat, and I was amazed at how human, how mortal the gesture made him seem.
Vampires didn’t need to breathe all that often. They opted to do it on occasion, especially if they were trying to appear human, but it was more of an afterthought than a basic bodily need.
Dominic didn’t move. He was a hard wall of muscle before me, his lips pinching together like it took every inch of restraint he had not to reach out and touch me. Or to knock the bottle of tequila out of my hand that was so offensive to him.
I lifted the bottle, took a deep drag. Then I smacked my lips with relish.
“Now that I smell awful like tequila, you can keep your distance.” I took another sip, trying to keep my eyes from watering as the alcohol scorched a trail from my throat to my stomach. “It’s really better for us both if you stay away.”
Dominic looked like he wanted to say something, but I turned on a high heel, my dress swishing as I moved to find Emmy. I slid an arm through hers, steadying myself, more from the shock of having gotten into Dominic’s face than from the alcohol I’d ingested.
“The two of you are burning up this place,” Emmy whispered, glancing over her shoulder. “Are you sure you hate him? Because I don’t think he hates you. I think he wants to eat you alive.”
“He’s a vampire,” I retorted. “He wants to eat everyone alive.”
Emmy laughed, but as she did, she slowed to a stop.
“Wow,” she gasped. “This place is incredible.”
I agreed with her, but I supposed the summit wasn’t quite as much of a novelty to me as it was to Emmy. As a new witch, she hadn’t had much experience with professional paranormal events. She wasn’t used to the excess, the glamor, the ritz and pizzazz. She craned her neck, looking around at the lobby.
The Circle had commandeered a five-star hotel, then used their combined magic to pump the venue up to twelve stars. The ceilings had been vaulted higher, the windows stretched larger, the sunlight glowed brighter. The chandeliers were bigger, the fairy lights daintier, the chocolate fountains sweeter. Everything was more. Shiny. Sleek. Perfect.
Events like this were made for people like Dominic Kent, not for people like Trixie Gardens.
Once Emmy got over the gawking stage, events like this would be made for her too. She ate this stuff up, loved it like it was in her DNA. She studied magic like it was her calling. She had the purest, most genuine love for magic out of anyone I’d ever met. She would truly appreciate and respect events like this as she grew in her paranormal status. She wouldn’t be sipping gross tequila out of a flask and ignoring her summons letters.
A pinch of guilt sat in my stomach. I felt bad that I’d been invited but not Emmy. I should’ve been grateful to receive a summons in the first place. But it was hard to feel grateful when it didn’t feel like I’d earned it after shucking my magic powers ever since that day.
“Let’s go, Trix. They’re calling everyone into the auditorium,” Emmy announced. “We’re running late, and I want to get good seats so we can see everything.”
I gave a huge sigh, took one more fortifying swig of tequila, then felt myself being dragged by Emmy as she pulled me toward the place where the future of The Circle would be decided.
