Page 25 of Somnium

“I’m getting a drink,” she announced, not waiting for a response before slipping into the crowd toward the bar. She didn’t even want anything, as she fully planned to stay sober to avoid leaving her car in the city. What she did want, though, was to put several layers of bodies between herself and Damon.

She shouldered her way to the glowing blue bar, leaning her elbows against the smooth plexiglass where she waited patiently to be noticed by one of the scantily clad goblins mixing drinks. Normally she would flag someone down, but tonight she was in absolutely no rush to get back. The bartenders, however, had a vested interest in keeping the crowd at the bar rotating, so Cadi was forced to place an order when a goblin with a bright green mohawk jabbed a spindly finger in her direction.

“Cider!” Cadi shouted, over-enunciating the word to be understood above the deafening music. The goblin nodded and turned away to rifle through the small fridge. Cadi drummed her fingers against the bar, lazily scanning the crowd. Clubs weren’t her usual vibe, but judging by the colorful turnout, she was sure she’d see something interesting if she watched long enough.

Midway through her second sweep, the silver door leading to the back swung open, catching the overhead lights and nearly blinding her in the process. Once the dots had finally cleared from her vision, Cadi studied the two men who had appeared at the end of the bar, their heads bent low in what appeared to be a serious business conversation, judging by the tablet clutched tightly between them. She immediately clocked the man farthest from her as an employee of Club Ambrosia. His perfectly shaped pompadour was dyed to match the same bright pink hue as the club’s lights and blended effortlessly with the fabric of his tailored waistcoat.

Cadi angled for a better view of the other man, nearly tipping into the patron next to her. Even with his back to her she could tell he was fit, his plain gray t-shirt somehow managing to compliment his lean muscles.

Curiosity swirled inside her, and she found herself unable to let this go, to the point where she barely registered when the green-haired goblin set a bottle of cider in front of her. A sharp tap on her wrist pulled her back to the present, where she found a very annoyed bartender glaring at her from across the blue plexiglass. Cadi quickly paid for her drink, keeping her eyes glued to the man’s back as she stepped away to make room for the next customer.

Edging her way through the crowd, she searched for a better vantage point that wouldn’t completely give her away. She finally leaned back against one of the pillars framing the dance floor, only for the two men to turn away from her to study the wall of liquor towering above the bar. Letting out a groan, she started to turn back into the crowd and accept that this particular itch of curiosity was destined to remain unscratched, when the pink-haired man pointed in the direction of the dance floor just past Cadi’s shoulder. Her excitement soared, only to disintegrate into cold panic at the sight of a pair of all-too-familiar brown eyes. His eyes.

And they were looking right at her.

Cadi spun around, tearing her gaze from Elias’s with a quick movement that nearly threw her off-balance, and brought her face-to-face with the textured surface of the pillar she’d been leaning against. If she was going for casual, this definitely wasn’t helping. Maybe he hadn’t seen her; there was always the chance that he had been looking at something else and it had just felt like he was looking at her. Right?

Turning back toward the bar, her stomach dropped when her eyes locked with Elias’s again, a look of quiet amusement settling over his features as he lifted his hand in a small wave. He was definitely looking at her.

Cadi mimicked his movement, lifting her hand quickly in response before slipping back into the crowd and weaving her way to the other side of the dance floor. She didn’t know why, but her gut felt like it was doing a poorly choreographed gymnastics routine at the idea of facing him after their last interaction. He probably thought she was batshit crazy with the way she’d been crawling around the transit station, snapping at him to leave her alone when all he was trying to do was help her. Plus, she didn’t even know what she would say to him

Hey, sorry for biting your head off and pushing you away, but thanks for seeing through me and somehow tracking down this tiny necklace that I’d thought was lost forever along with my pride?

Sure.

From her new hiding spot, she peeked her head out to look for any sign of Zoe, and quickly spotted her shimmering pink dress in a row of booths that bracketed the brightly lit dance floor. Her nerves tangled together when she saw that Celine and Damon were also with her, the three of them tossing back shots of a glowing blue liquor, adding the empty glasses to the growing stack covering the table between them.

Cadi crooked an eyebrow when Damon swayed and brushed a finger against the scales running up the side of Zoe’s neck. Zoe let out a surprised squeak that carried across the dance floor as she slapped Damon’s hand away, only for him to chuckle in response. Cadi quickly decided that she was wildly uninterested in any part of that, opting instead to sip her drink and resume her self-imposed role of observer for the rest of the night.

The minutes slipped past, and by the time her bottle of cider was only dregs, Cadi had witnessed at least one breakup, a few sloppy make outs, and what she suspected might have been a Dust deal, though she couldn’t be sure and had no intention of finding out.

She sighed, swirling the last bits of liquid before downing the final swig. With her drink now gone, she realized her options were to either brave the table with her now very drunk friends, or risk running into Elias back at one of the bars. Neither option sounded particularly appealing, but at least at the table, there was a chance she could guilt someone else into getting her another.

Pushing off from the pillar, she kept one eye on the bar as she made her way to the other side of the dance floor and toward the booth where she had seen Zoe and the others. With her focus elsewhere, she barely made it five steps into the crowd before slamming into someone. A pair of hands quickly gripped her arms to steady her. Cadi looked up, an apology poised on her lips, but the words died the instant she spotted a familiar gold chain peeking out from beneath the buttons of a white dress shirt.

“Newbie! Did you know … you’re really good at hiding.” Damon’s words bled together, a clear result of the alcohol saturating his breath. Cadi winced at the fumes that radiated off him as he leaned in close, his eyes bleary and bloodshot.

“Not hiding, just wandering,” she explained, twisting her arms to release his grip. His fingers tightened, sending pain shooting into her shoulders.

“Why you wanna wander when all the fun is right here?” He tugged her closer, pressing his body against hers as his hands moved to her hips. Disgust roiled in Cadi’s gut, and her heart began hammering.

“Damon, you’re drunk. Knock it off.”

She reached down and ripped his hands from her body. But he just put them right back, this time slipping lower to cup the curve of her ass, yanking her against him again.

“Drunk or not, I could still make your night.”

The stench of beer and liquor overwhelmed her, forcing her to swallow hard to keep from gagging. She pushed against his arms, trying to break his grip.

“Damon, stop. Seriously.”

“C’mon, don’t be such a tease, Newbie.”

Ignoring her plea, he took a step forward. Then another, forcing her to move until she felt the wall at her back and his body at her front.

Something compounded inside her, fueled either by adrenaline or the fact that she was just thoroughly over his shit, she couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that she didn’t want him touching her and he wasn’t listening. So she would make him listen. Bracing a forearm against his chest, she shoved.

He stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and falling against a metal chair. Conversations went quiet as heads swiveled toward the sound of metal scraping against the polished floor. Damon struggled to right himself against the table, his eyes shooting up to lock with hers. Cold crept through Cadi’s body as she watched the shift. Where before she had seen hunger and lust in his gaze, now there was only rage.