“That isn’t just a normal club,” I said, my fingers turning white.
“No shit,” Jack said with a chuckle. “It’s the most exclusive club in the whole damn county. And this won’t be a normal party, either. Halloween at Possession is literally the hottest party of the year. People from all over the world come to this party.”
“I heard the invitations are rimmed with gold,” said Noah, a big dumb blond dude with a football player’s body. He’d never actually played the sport, but he worked out with guys who did.
“People literally watch their mailboxes for an invite, and I got one,” Jack said smugly. “This means good things.” He mumbled the last phrase, and the way he said it, as if he were affirming a decision he’d made, put me on edge.
“So was it rimmed with gold?” Noah pressed.
No, the invites weren’t rimmed with gold. They were dusted in it. But not everyone got one of those, just the VIPs.
I’d know. I got one every. Damn. Year.
My heart thudded in my chest as a thousand memories tumbled through me.
Jack didn’t need to tell me anything about the party. I’d gone once. Just once. That’s where I’d met him. Emeric, the uncrowned king of Firefell, Nevada. I’d been twenty and full of bad decisions. He’d been incredibly handsome, cavalier, and deliciously passionate.
It had been one wild fucking night.
In my dreams, I relived the sensations. His gentle touches and hard thrusting. The trail of fire his lips had blazed up the insides of my thighs. The incredible climaxes that had gone on and on.
In my nightmares, I remembered the horror of learning what I really was. What he was.
I always woke with the crushing fear of what I might become.
He’d said that he held my fate in the palm of his hand.
I’d told him to shove his hand up his ass and find a new personality. Then I’d forced my way out of the place, swearing I would never go back. Glorious sex wasn’t reason enough to wear a chain around my neck. He could keep his grand plans—I had places to be. Like out of this fucking city.
He hadn’t given up, though. His type never did.
Each year afterward, I’d gotten that gold-dusted invite, delivered with a personal, handwritten note, elegantly folded into the envelope and splashed with his mouthwatering cologne. Each year he’d signed it Emeric, the King of Firefell.
It was an expression of confidence that I would eventually give in. Because only I could raise him to the next level of power and make him a king. He couldn’t force me to, either. He might technically own me, but he couldn’t control me.
Each year, I’d resisted the temptation to run after him like a woman chasing an ice cream truck handing out orgasms. For five years, I’d avoided him.
For five years, he’d let me.
I finally had the money to get the hell out of this place, though—to go far enough away that the bastard and his organization couldn’t touch me. I just had to stay strong for another month and I’d be free.
“Take me home,” I ground out. “I don’t want to go. I was fine at that other Halloween party. Actually, take me back there. I did too much work dressing up to go home now.”
“You were fine at some waster’s house party when you could be at Possession?” Noah asked incredulously from my left. He chuckled and shook his head, scratching his dark five-o’clock shadow. “Girl, you’ve got your priorities all fucked up.”
“Says the guy who once skipped a job performance review in favor of a blowjob,” said Tom, whom everyone called Bo, from my left. The reason for the nickname? Because that’s what his niece called him on account of his constant body odor. His friends thought it was funny, and while he’d fixed the problem for tonight, I couldn’t help side-eying a man proud of his lack of hygiene. His bushy beard probably had a small animal living in it.
“I do not regret it, bro,” Noah replied smugly.
“Seriously, Jack, take me back,” I said. “Or just drop me off here, I don’t care. I’ll get a ride. Or walk. It isn’t that far.”
“It’s five miles, and you’re wearing stilettos! Are you out of your mind?” Piper turned all the way around this time, scowling at me. “Seriously, Jae, it’ll be fine. It’s been forever. That guy won’t be there, and if he is, he won’t remember you.”
I hadn’t told her who that guy actually was. He would definitely be there, since he owned the fucking club, and he’d find my outfit hilarious—as he ripped it off of me.
I smoothed my white angel costume against my upper thighs, keeping my knees close together so I didn’t give Piper a peep show. My fluffy white collar chafed my neck a little, but I’d left it on because it looked super cute. The halo, though. Ugh! The thing would not stay straight. I’d pinned it into my wavy brown hair within an inch of its life, but it was determined to slip. I was pretty sure the costume-in-a-bag company had not designed it as a crooked halo. Then again, it probably fit my personality better this way.
“Let me out. I’m not going!” I pushed Jack’s shoulder harder than intended, shoving him hard enough that he yanked the wheel in alarm. The car careened left wildly. He pulled the wheel in the opposite direction just in time, the bumper nearly skimming a parked car.
Whoops. Despite not working out, I kept getting stronger. My strength was awesome and terrifying, and I just needed to get away from all of this.
One month.
“What the fuck, Jaelyn!” Jack yelled, straightening out the car.
“Oh my God—” Piper clutched the center console. She looked back with wide, searching eyes, then let out a breath and brushed her blond ringlets out of her face. “Okay, okay. Fine, okay? Jack, let’s go back. I’ve heard that club can be dangerous anyway.”
“Are you out of your mind, bro?” Bo said, leaning forward and jostling me.
“We are going to that party,” Jack said.
“Jae doesn’t want to go, so we won’t go,” Piper replied. “It’s not fair that we tried to spring it on her anyway. I went along with it, but enough is enough.”
Jack didn’t so much as glance at the street coming up, an easy place to turn around. I could see the muscles in his jaw working stubbornly.
“Sorry, babe, but she has to come,” he said, resolute.
“Just let her out, bro,” Noah said. “Who cares? This area of town has, like, zero crime. She’ll be fine. Or I can take her home and meet you at the club.”
“You’d really miss out on Possession to get a piece of ass?” Bo asked incredulously, looking over me at Noah.
“I’ll just make sure she gets home okay.” His sly grin wasn’t fooling anyone, but it so wasn’t going to happen.
“She’s not leaving,” Jack said in a rough tone. “She’s our ticket into this place.”
Silence rang through the SUV. My heart was a panicked rabbit inside my chest.
“Come again?” I asked softly.
Piper looked at him with a furrow on her brow. The SUV sped up, only a few blocks from the club. Jack wanted to get there in a hurry.
“She got her own invite to this thing. Isn’t that right, Jae?” His dark eyes flashed in the rearview mirror. “The King of Firefell wants her there, and no one says no to him. My boss sent me to get it done.”