Two girls. Two secrets.
Only one can survive.
Years before Nelle Wychthorn plans her escape, Tabitha Catt may unearth something in a Horned God's lair that is the key to freedom.
Desperate to save her beloved aunt from a dark curse, Tabitha is out t...
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The electronic bass of the new wave song thumped through the smokey air and mirrored my excited heartbeat. The Monarch Towers oozed with glamour and its nightclub was a place where the elite mortals of Ascendria, and anyone else who could afford the ridiculous prices of drinks, congregated. The dance floor was a hedonistic playground of the rich. Strobe lights flashed through the plumes of smoke and across sweat-glistening skin as the dancers moved against one another to the pulsing beat of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The laser beams set white shirts and dresses into glowing neon light, stark against the gloom of the club.
'Relax,' an older song, still got played because of the dirty undertone to the lyrics, something spicy-romance-reader Tabitha was surprisingly unaware of. When I'd explained the nature of the explicit song while we'd walked the running trail exchanging favorite bands, her shocked expression had been precious and I hadn't been able to stop laughing for a good five minutes afterward.
Exhilaration pumped through my blood and there was a spring in my step as I shoved my way through to the VIP section where the Stag party was set up for the night. Holly Johnson's voice flowed through the enormous speakers set up around the DJ, who leaned over his setup, one hand cupping his headphone, the sleeves of his pastel jacket rolled up. While Holly sang, I tried to tell myself to relax too.
Relax, just relax, you'll see Tabitha soon.
I'd been uneasy ever since I'd kissed Tabitha in the coatroom earlier this evening and tasted wretchedness on her lips. Later tonight, I hoped to pry the truth out of her. We'd almost been caught out by Marissa too, and while she and Tabitha had spoken out in the hallway I'd gone into full panic mode trying to figure out how I could hide my big ass amongst the wet weather raincoats.
Afterward, I'd showered, dressed, and impatiently waited a reasonable length of time to seem blasé about turning up at the Stag Party. One of Romain's chauffeurs had driven me here and I'd joined the party late in the hour even though there was nowhere else I wanted to be.
I strode through a wall of heat and music and bodies. A massive disco ball hung from the ceiling and splayed light as it slowly spun overhead. The chemical smell of dry ice curled through the air and shoved itself up my nostrils. Lust with a slimy tackiness to it slithered all over my body from those from whom I'd garnered unwanted attention. I ignored flirty eyes and coy smiles and women with zero fucking shame making a beeline for me.
Bypassing the throng of patrons clustered around the bar jockeying to get the bartender's attention, I walked around the frayed edges of the dancers and where they took a breather between songs to sit around tables and drink. My gaze wandered, and in the intermittent flashes of laser lights, I encountered blissed-out faces with either fully dilated or pin-prick pupils depending on the drug they'd snorted or inhaled. Recreational drugs we infused with magic and distributed through the crime syndicates and their minions on behalf of the Horned Gods.
I reached the VIP section set up with bouncers guarding the short flight of steps to the raised area. Besides the drinks which I was paying for all night, I'd also requested the private area for the Stag Party. A nice gesture, given to Oswain under the pretense of thanking him and the servants helping out with Jurgana, but it was done to keep those attending the Stag Party corralled in one place. Here, they'd keep to the club's ground floor with easy access to the dance floor, while the rest of the club, particularly the second floor and its wrap-around balcony was dark and seductive and easy enough to disappear into with Tabitha.
