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Even though rage poured out of those mismatched eyes, raw, sexual energy pulsated off him like a beacon drawing me in. I was surprised my feet hadn’t started sliding across the floor toward him. Fire licked at my lower half, and moisture dampened between my legs, which should have sickened me considering the lusty reaction stemmed from a nightworlder.
The lights bounced over him, glinting on the thin steel hoop piercing his nose and the one on his bottom lip. A few more metal bits dotted his ears.
Demons loved tattoos and piercings. He had to be a demon… but the eerie golden eye wasnota demon feature.
Hawk cursed, and his kisses ceased. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Panic shot through my heart, and I opened my mouth to deny that I’d been practically eye-banging a nightworlder when I followed Hawk’s eyeline to Roxie as she disappeared beyond the curtain where Wrath & Ruin held Rapture parties.
“What is she thinking?” I pushed through humans and nightworlders to exit the dance floor, tugging Hawk with me. Roxie liked to cause trouble but messing around with magical drugs and nightworlders was crossing a line.
As I stomped toward the room guarded by a large demon, Hawk blocked my path.
“You stay out here while I get her.”
My head jerked back. “I’m not some idiot who needs to sit on the sidelines—”
Hawk pressed his index finger to my lips, cutting off the rest of my rant. “You know how dramatic Roxie can be. If you go in there and try to drag her out, she’ll only cause a scene. I’ll end up getting into a fight, which you’ll have to break up, and I can think of better ways to end this night.” Those dimples winked at me as he smiled.
I clamped my mouth shut against the protests dancing on my tongue. “Fine. But if you’re not out of there in five minutes, I’m coming in.”
“Ten minutes. You know I’ve got to finesse her out.” Hawk’s head lowered, and his lips gently pressed against mine in a quick kiss. He lingered for a moment and then pulled back. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
My brain malfunctioned, and I watched him walk away without saying anything. I touched my lips, still feeling the imprint of his. It hadn’t been some mind-blowing, off the charts, steamy kiss, but he’d never done that before.
My gaze automatically lifted to the balcony even though I knew the nightworlder had disappeared. I didn’t feel him anymore.
What in the actual fuck? I couldn’tfeelhim anymore?
A shudder rippled over my body, and I dragged my hands through my hair, pulling on the waves left behind from the braids I’d worn earlier. I had to be experiencing weird side effects from The Calling spell because my reaction to that nightworlder wasnotnormal.
* * *
My bladder criedat the line to the women’s restroom stretching halfway along the far right wall of the club. Females of all species shifted from foot to foot, waiting for a chance to freshen their makeup or pee. More nightworlders loitered at the beginning, no doubt skipping ahead with magic.
There had to be another bathroom in this place.
I jogged to a VIP section and ignored the lounging human patrons, jumping on the arm of a couch to get a higher view. Being short definitely came with some disadvantages. A door markedEmployees Onlyacross the club near the bar was an excellent place to search for another restroom.
The couch didn’t so much as shake as I hopped down, the customers oblivious to my presence. Strobe lights bounced on the brunette nearest me, shining on the bobby pins tucked into her updo. I gingerly drew two of them out without disturbing her as a wry smile tugged at my mouth. I might as well have been invisible.
Once I reached the door tucked away in a corner, I tested the knob first to find it locked, so I lowered to one knee and got to work with the bobby pins.
This particular skill I learned long before Coltrane found me.
After a few moments, the lock gave way, and I opened the door to an unoccupied employee lounge with black leather couches, glass tables, and dim blue lights running along the navy walls. I tiptoed in and checked the first door, finding a coat closet. The next was a storage room, but the third time was the charm.
“Bingo.” I slipped into the single-person bathroom with a sink inserted into the simple white counter and a toilet on the right.
After doing my business and washing my hands, I grabbed the knob as voices flowed into the lounge.
I cursed and slammed my hand across the light switch to cut it off so they wouldn’t see it through the thin gap at the bottom. Almost immediately, panic rushed over me as invisible bands of iron tightened around my chest, making it hard to breathe. Dark, cramped spaces always affected me after living at Rena’s.
The scars on my wrists tingled with the phantom feel of coarse ropes digging into my flesh. A trickle of sweat ran down my nape, and even though I couldn’t see them, the walls grew closer. The ceiling lowered, pressing in on me.
Stop. Stop. Stop.
I wasn’t a little kid anymore. I wasn’t in that closet. The dark couldn’t hurt me. The walls werenotclosing in.
