“Of course. Please, follow me.”
He led us into the large entryway with marble floors, columns, fantastic woodwork on the ceiling, and too many bouncers. There hadn’t been this many last time, as though this year they were expecting trouble.
Was I that trouble? I might have the magic, but I still didn’t know much about using it.
We walked through a small side door that blended into the wall, then curved down a hall, and were escorted into a plush waiting room. The bouncer stood at the door for us all to go through, nodded, and closed the door behind us.
“Okay…firstly, wow,” Piper said, studying the oil paintings on the wall. “Swank doesn’t even begin to cover this place. It’s like a freaking museum.”
“This place is sweet,” Noah said with a boyish smile, sitting down on the brown leather couch.
“Why are we here?” Jack asked with a closed-down expression, not looking at anything but me. “How do you know Dormetrian?”
“How much detail did they give you on your assignment?” I stayed by the door. I hadn’t seen this room before, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t as fine as Emeric’s suite. That I had seen plenty of, while not noticing much of it at all. He’d taken my whole focus.
“Just that…” He shook his head, his expression troubled. “They want to talk to you about a low-level assignment. I figured you’d…” He glanced around at the others. “I figured you’d joined the organization and were trying to shirk your duties…or something. They just told me to get you in through the door, and suggested it wouldn’t be hard if Piper was going.”
“And look, they were right. Congratulations.”
“But—”
Jack cut off as the door opened.
A slight man entered the room. He wasn’t much taller than me, middle five feet, with loose limbs, a pleasant smile, and eyes you didn’t want to look into for an extended period of time. His horns were short and stubby, filed to mere nubs so that his enemies couldn’t grab them in a fight, and his canines extended down past the rest of his teeth. Dormetrian was the type of demon who’d likely inspired the myth of vampires. He enjoyed consuming blood straight from the veins of his victims, though he didn’t require it for sustenance. No, he liked to taste his enemies as they died.
This guy was not the “good” kind, either.
He gave me a once over. “Ms. Von Brandt. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have a special request.”
“Of course.” He inclined his head slightly.
“Have someone take Piper out of here.”
“No!” Piper said. “I’m staying with you. We talked about this.”
Dormetrian flicked his hand, and her words dried up. Her mouth kept moving, and when no sound came, her eyes increased in size. She reached for her mouth, wondering what was happening.
“You better not have stolen her breath,” I said quickly, my animosity rising.
“Of course not, Ms. Von Brandt. Merely her words. Something you would know if you’d been training as you ought. I am aware of what she means to you. She will come to no harm. Where would you like her taken?”
“Wherever she wants to go, as long as it’s not here. If she goes to another party, give her a sexy escort. She and Jack are done.”
Jack jerked as though struck. He opened his mouth to say something, only to shut it again when he caught Dormetrian’s gaze on him. It was the first wise thing he’d done all night.
“As you wish,” Dormetrian said, bowing slightly.
“We talked about this, remember? It’s inappropriate for you to say that to me. You’re not my Wesley, and I’m not your Buttercup.”
He stared for a solid beat, death in his eyes. “Of course.”
I grinned, knowing full well I annoyed the shit out of him and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Not while his boss had an interest in my well-being. And given Emeric needed me for his grand plans, I was safe in my taunting of his second-in-command.
“Make Jack leave, too,” I said, “but if he goes near Piper again, kill him. Sorry Pipe, but this crossed a line. Also, his involvement with this place will change him. It’s best to say goodbye now, eternally if necessary.”
As far as my being good or bad…if you couldn’t beat ‘em, as they said…
“And the other two?” Dormetrian asked.
“Let them stay and enjoy themselves. Get them goodie bags. Piper too.”
“Of course. Will that be all?”
I hesitated. “Emeric knows I’m here?”
“He was alerted the moment you stepped out of the SUV,” Dormetrian said without inflection.
Butterflies swarmed my belly. I nodded and turned toward the door. I was here now. Emeric apparently wanted a piece of my mind, and he was going to get it.
“And Ms. Von Brandt?” Dormetrian said.
I turned back with my hand on the doorknob.
“He will greatly enjoy your costume. Very fitting.”
I tightened my lips but didn’t respond. It was time to go to war.
3
The club felt pulsing and alive as I walked through it. Lights flashed in multiple colors, highlighting tables, flaring across the various dance floors, and shimmering along the nude bodies of the demons dancing within golden birdcages hanging from the ceiling. On the dance floors, glitter sparkled from bare shoulders and the curve of breasts. A man wearing a beast mask passed by, his cut abs oiled up, leading down to furry trunks. A woman followed in a rainbow bathing suit and a Mardi Gras mask. Clearly, she hadn’t felt like putting a lot of effort into a costume.
I headed toward Emeric’s reserved table in the back corner of the first floor. My heart rattled in my chest, and excitement wound through my middle. I hated him—even more so the position he’d put me in by claiming ownership of me—but five years hadn’t dulled the memory of his lips on my heated skin.
People laughed and smiled within their dark booths. Glasses touched lips, and hands touched thighs. I’d half hoped to find him before he found me, but his VIP corner booth, behind a heavy velvet rope and a curtain of dangling magical beads, was empty. If the wrong person tried to part those beads, they would fry from the inside out. Their death would be undocumented, and their body would never be found. How Emeric’s minions managed that with so many witnesses, I didn’t know. I also didn’t know how the curtain would react to me tonight. I wouldn’t be venturing in to find out.
On my other side, the dance floor throbbed in time to the music. Bodies gyrated, their limbs entwined and their hips grinding against each other. Smoke from a fog machine curled through the pink and purple haze.
My magic gave a mighty throb. With a gasp, I slapped my hand to my chest, as though that would stop the call.
I looked around wildly. My magic had gone off without warning, which meant one thing: Emeric was close. Watching me, probably. Stalking me, like a predator.
Emeric was my soul-mirror.
Humans had changed the term into soulmate sometime in the distant past. They’d changed the meaning of it, too. The original version wasn’t all hearts and flowers. Not in Emeric’s and my case, anyway.