Still muttering in Latin, he backhanded me. When he raised his right arm, the blade shimmered in his hand. I threw up my arms in a crisscross motion seconds before he swiped at my neck. Pain lanced my left forearm.
“Get the hell off me!” I angrily thrust my legs upward and then flipped him onto his back.
I bit his arm, and the blade fell out of his hand and skittered across the floor when he swiped his arm upward to get away from my choppers. Though his long hair curtained his face, I could see his eyes closing as he continued muttering Latin. This guy was in another world. Straddling him to make sure he didn’t go anywhere, I turned away from the wall to see what was going on.
Simone had teamed up with the furry customer as they circled the crazy Mage with the broken beer bottle. Gold lights showered them in an open area near a gilded cage. She threw some kick-ass punches, but these men were high on magic and difficult to control or predict.
Across the way, what remained of the crowd scattered like leaves in the wind. From a crouched position by a cluster of chairs, Claude slowly raised his head, his lips dripping with blood. He’d bitten the Mage, who was lying motionless beneath him.
Between Simone and Claude was the red sofa where Romeo was having the sex of his life. They were both nude from the waist down, and he pounded into her as if his life depended on it.
I winced when fire seared the flesh away from my skin. The pain intensified, and when I closed my eyes, I stood on a pyre, flames dancing at my feet and scorching my lungs.
The Sensor, now lucid, pushed dirty magic into me through my upper thighs. I punched him in the face and then seized his wrists, slamming his hands against the floor. When our palms locked, I juiced his energy to dangerously low levels. “How do you likethat? Huh? I can make your toenails hurt.” Once he was weak enough, I blasted him so hard that I smelled burning hair. “Lights out.”
His eyelids fluttered and his chest heaved. When he finally lay motionless beneath me, I let go and took a breath.Holy crap.His energy was so vile that I doubled over and retched. I still had intermittent pain from the lion attack and torching, and the whole room was vibrating because of it. I scooted back and leaned against a pillar.
Flynn hovered. “Are you all right?”
Just then, Romeo and the woman sang out an orgasmic duet.
“We’re going to have to burn that sofa,” Flynn muttered.
The furry-chested boyfriend had fled the scene, and we were finally getting the upper hand. Claude pinned the bald Mage down while Simone struggled to get the Lone Musketeer under control as he waved the broken bottle at her. There were lingering spectators, but most had put distance between themselves and the chaos. A few were sitting at the bar, enjoying their drink as if nothing was happening. The music still played, but all the dancers were helping to keep the crowd away. A few people on Flynn’s team were cleaning the tables and chairs where dirty magic had spilled.
Ready to end this, I stalked behind Simone’s foe, locked my arm around his neck, and swept his feet out from beneath him. He dropped like a stone, and I wrested the makeshift weapon from his hand, cutting my own in the process.
Simone pounced on him like a lion and then slammed her hands against his chest. As an ominous red glow lit beneath her palms, I turned and walked away. I didn’t want to hear his screams in one ear and the cries of pleasure in the other. After crossing behind the bar, I reached for the bottle of tequila I’d hidden on a shelf. Bad energy coursed through me—Sensor energy. My arm was still bleeding, my eye swollen, and I couldn’t be certain if I’d lost a contact during the scuffle. I wrapped a towel around the cut to stanch the bleeding. The cut on my hand was superficial and had already stopped bleeding, so I wiped it off with a rag while watching Flynn and his men hauling bodies toward the back of the club. The servers righted the chairs while the dancers got back to dancing.
Officially off the clock, I poured myself a double.
“That was some show. I have to admit, half the fun of coming here is watching how well the bartenders handle the disorderly.”
I looked up at Mr. Crawford, who was combing his dark grey hair. I used to think guys like him were too sophisticated for clubs like this, but nothing surprised me anymore.
“You want a drink? I’m about to take off.”
He licked his bottom lip while sliding me a business card. “If you want to earn extra money, give me a call.”
I discreetly took the card and stuck it inside my shorts. “I’m free now. We can talk outside.”
A smile curved up his cheek. “Clean yourself up. Get some sleep. Then call me.”
Flynn appeared at the bar. “You all right?” He gave Crawford a long look that made me uncomfortable.
Mr. Crawford inclined his head and left.
Flynn watched him sit down by one of the caged dancers. “What didhewant? Because it wasn’t a drink.”
“Nothing.”
“You should stay away from him.”
I wrapped my fingers around my glass. “Why?”
He rested his elbow on the bar and cast a critical gaze at Crawford. “Slander is against the law. Just trust me on this one.”
I knocked back my drink. “I’ve had enough for the night.”
