Daniel strode to the dance floor, already moving his shoulders a little and swinging Eli’s arm in time to the music. Eli tightened his fingers in what Daniel assumed was panic, but Eli would be okay. Daniel wouldn’t let go or let him fall. Hell, all Eli had to do was let Daniel lead him. Daniel turned just as a couple moved away, and Daniel and Eli, moved into their space. He couldn’t see Finn and Talon, but he was more concerned with Eli anyway. Daniel put his hands on either side of Eli’s hips and nudged him to sway in time to what Daniel was doing. He leaned forward. “Just relax. I got this.”
Finn appeared. “Talon’s going to help Sawyer. I’m going to head for the bathroom, then wander around.”
Daniel nodded. Talon could do the same as Sawyer, just not in the same degree or as well. Finn needed to move around so it wasn’t obvious Talon wasn’t sitting with him. The blond, six-feet-tall giant stood out like a sore thumb. It was also the reason Vance hadn’t come inside. Vance couldn’t blend in if his life depended on it.
Eli let Daniel move him. He lifted Eli’s arm up, and before Eli seemed to know what he had done, Daniel had twisted him around so Eli’s back was flush to Daniel’s front. “Lean your head back on me so I can watch the room.” Eli closed his eyes and let Daniel take his weight, and Daniel felt his cock stir. Another guy bumped into Daniel, and Eli straightened up, turned, and faced him. He was still moving.
“If this is to be seen”—Eli leaned forward and spoke in Daniel’s ear. Daniel almost shivered at the warm breath that caressed his cheek—“then unless Caffrey’s got X-ray vision, it’s too crowded to be noticed down here.” And Eli took hold of Daniel’s hand and calmly and very deliberately led him to the stage.
He thought the doorman who took a step forward was going to stop them, but Eli just stared at him, and he stepped back out of the way.
“Are you telepathic or something now? Mind control and all that shit?”
“No,” Eli whispered in his ear. “I just sent him another sort of heat. Trust me, he wants to watch.”
Daniel took in the way the man stared at Eli and the obvious tent in his pants, and swung Eli around to face him. “Nope. He can look, but I’m the only one that gets to do this.” And Daniel very smoothly bent Eli back over his arm and twirled him around in a classic Dirty Dancing move. The crowd must have noticed because the cheering and whistling started. Daniel went into his groomsman routine and a few other tricks Xavier taught him. He finished pulling Eli flush to his chest, both their backs to the crowd. Daniel bent down to whisper in Eli’s ear just as Eli froze.
Daniel knew what was wrong before he turned Eli around to lead him off the stage. He carefully took hold of Eli’s hand and looked up.
And met Max Caffrey’s eyes.
Chapter Twenty-One
Eli stared for what seemed a lifetime. Icy blue eyes flickered, seeming harsh in the dimmer lighting from the stage. He gazed at the monster from his childhood, torn between the urge to run and the urge to vomit. Then he felt Daniel step up to his back and both of his warm capable hands rested on Eli’s shoulders, and Eli could breathe. “Well, you certainly got his attention.”
Eli glanced over to the table and noticed Gael and Jake sit down with Sam. Adam was clearing the empty glasses from a table behind them. He also noticed Caffrey walking over to where they were sitting.
“You can change your mind anytime.”
Eli opened his mouth to say exactly that just as Caffrey glanced back at them, and Eli saw the one thing in his eyes he never had before.
Fear.
And it gave him the courage he needed to take Daniel’s hand and the steps back to the table. Caffrey was standing in front of Sam, hand extended, when they got to the table. Gael had gone to the bar, and Jake looked like he wanted to hit him, but he shook hands like the rest of them.
“I think inviting you here was the least I could do after the incident at the units,” Caffrey said smoothly to Jake.
“To be honest I’m surprised you decided to go ahead with your foster son still missing.”
Caffrey’s polite smile fell. “My wife felt that the publicity surrounding the event might make Kai change his mind. He loved coming here with me to inspect the work. Took a real interest in it.”
It was bullshit. Eli didn’t need any extra ability to spot the lie, but then he was used to it. Caffrey turned to Eli. “It’s nice to see you made something of yourself.” He stuck out his hand and tipped his chin. “You don’t actually send flames out of your fingers, do you? I assumed that was for the press.” He was joking, almost goading him, but he didn’t know what else Eli could do. He had no idea. He still thought he had all the power, and he was wrong. Eli put out his hand, and their fingers touched.
Inky darkness.
A damp, cold, space that leached misery into Eli’s bones, then pain slammed into him so hard he stumbled back into Daniel. The smell. The most god-awful putrid smell that was so vile it took your air, and the crying. The desperate sobbing of innocents that Eli could never ever forget.
And the rapid gunfire that drowned out even that.
It took Eli a few seconds to realize the gunfire wasn’t a memory as real panicked screams rose higher and people threw themselves to the floor. “Silence!” came the harsh, bitten, broken sound followed by a rapid fire of shots that peppered the booth the DJ had stood behind maybe five seconds ago. The music stopped instantly. The muted whimpering of people trying desperately to hush their panicked cries was the only thing that could be heard. Eli stared—in complete disbelief—at what he was looking at.
And who.
Mo was standing, hoodie pushed back and face completely bare, with his arm around the throat of Denise Caffrey and his gun firmly pressed into her temple after firing it at the ceiling. Mo looked at Eli’s feet where a sniveling Caffrey had dropped to the ground in terror. “Caffrey. Either you get your murderous ass over here or she gets a bullet.” He waited out the shocked gasps from the crowd.
Mo met Eli’s gaze, and they stared at each other in painful, sickening realization. “You can’t stop me,” he whispered. “Not even you can stop this bullet.”
“I don’t want to,” Eli said slowly, and people gasped again. Denise closed her eyes and sobbed. “But you’re aiming it at the wrong person.”
Mo’s eyes widened as he took in Eli’s meaning, and Eli felt Daniel’s fingers bite into his arm as if he was frightened Eli would go over there.
Eli knew Talon and Sawyer, the two people who could disarm Mo were somewhere else, and he didn’t know how long it would take them to get back.
“And there’s a dozen cops downstairs and more outside, Mo,” Eli said. “You can’t get out of here.”
Mo nodded his head solemnly and tightened his grip on the gun. And it wasn’t in defeat. It was acceptance. Mo didn’t want to escape.
“Mo, don’t,” Eli begged. “He’s not worth it.”
“Not worth what?” Mo asked. “My life? Is that what you mean? Because my life’s been over a long time. Caffrey,” he bellowed at the crouching man. “Stand the fuck up.”
But Caffrey whimpered, and Eli felt Daniel tense. He knew he was thinking how fast he could get to his gun. But an ankle holster wasn’t that accessible.