Groaning, I looked up at her.
“I hate when they do this.”
“And some women feel shame when their nipples harden and seek to hide them with padded bras. It’s a waste of time, just as wearing sunglasses would be. Most people are too worried about their own insecurities to notice yours. And those who do notice and are immune to your special talents will seek to use your insecurities against you.
“You’re too high on the food chain to be viewed as prey, baby. It won’t end well for them.”
“Chocolate martini,” Ymir said with flare. “And she’s right.”
I looked up at him, and he winked at me before helping the next person.
Sighing, I took my drink and turned away from the bar. My very black gaze scanned the crowd in an idle search for Jenna or Fenris as I sipped liquid chocolate.
“Their dancing is atrocious,” Mom said. “Any chance you’ll go out there and show them how it’s done before they give my club the wrong name.”
She watched a group of students near the human entrance.
“Since all your current patrons are my peers and won’t be able to return here until they obtain their marks, I highly doubt what they do tonight will tarnish Blayz’s reputation.”
“Perhaps you’ll change your mind for the right partner.”
I gave her a warning look. Fenris’s name had popped up repeatedly during our shopping excursion. Jenna, having already been let in on what tonight would entail for her, had kept mostly quiet on the topic. That hadn’t mattered to Mom. She’d kept trying to get me to talk about him.
“Raiden is an idiot,” Mom muttered before taking a cleansing breath.
“I think I’ll go upstairs and sit for a bit. I promised your father I wouldn’t overtax myself.”
She walked away, ignoring the dancers and party-goers she’d invited. They didn’t ignore her, though. No one could ignore a succubus dressed like she was, no matter the age difference.
One of my classmates approached me, a needful gleam in his eyes.
“Whatever you’re thinking of doing or saying, forget about it and walk away. I’m in no mood for your company.”
He immediately veered in another direction and lost himself in the crowd of dancers.
Someone in the crowd let out a wild yell. Probably one of the mermaids. Mid-eye-roll, my gaze caught on a dark head of hair.
My pulse skipped, and my hands grew sweaty. He was here. I’d known he would be, yet I felt completely unprepared at the sight of—
His head turned, and brown eyes met mine. But they weren’t the ones I was hoping and dreading to see.
Eugene grinned at me as he continued to grind against a siren, and my mouth dropped open. That boy was going to get himself killed. Setting my drink aside, I forgot all about my dress and my pull on people as I hurried across the floor and threaded my way through the dancers.
Eugene gave a startled yelp when I reached him and grabbed his ear, tugging him down to my level.
“What are you doing here?”
“Relax, Eliana. I’m safe. Adira had a druid ward me, your mom promised to watch over me, this place is warded against human death, and the only way out for me is through the human door or a portal.”
I gave him a flat look. More than likely, I was the reason he was here, and the poor fool didn’t even realize it. Like Adira had promised him, I wouldn’t kill him, and I wouldn’t try to leave with him. But I’d change him forever, in ways he wouldn’t like if he had the ability to think for himself afterward. I was willing to bet that whatever ward Adira had the druid put on him would work to repel everyone else but me.
“Don’t be foolish enough to blindly trust Adira’s promises of safety. That didn’t work well for Ashlyn. She disappeared from a place just like this.”
He gently pried my hold from his ear then held my hands in his.
“I came here because I would have died where I was. Staying closed up in a house? That’s not living, either. Let me live, Eliana. For however long I have, let me live it.”
I sighed and pulled my hands free.
