“I’ve experienced the werewolf’s version of a night on the town. It scares me to think how much worse a vampire’s could be. Anything you want to share?” she asked with a sidelong look.
Strictly speaking, I couldn’t say I’d ever experienced the vampire equivalent. I’d come close. Gone out with the enforcers a time or two, but those excursions had mostly been tamer versions of Caroline and my own nights out.
From the taunting grin Nathan had given me, I had a feeling he wasn’t going to hold back this time. I was going to get the no-holds-barred, 360 panorama, stereo definition version tonight.
“I have,” Deborah volunteered, her mischievous grin widening until it almost split her face. For a moment, her eyes glittered with anticipation as she twitched the curtain open. “All I can say is buckle up. It’s going to be a wild ride.”
“This is going to be a disaster, isn’t it?” I asked, watching Deborah sashay away.
Caroline’s nod was resigned. “Probably.”
“That’s just lovely,” I grumbled, following her out of the dressing room and into the store where Nathan and Connor were waiting for us.
Like us, the boys had undergone a change of clothes. They both looked dashing in a nice pair of dress slacks and expensive looking shirts. The deep blue of Connor’s brought out his eyes while Nathan had gone with a simple and classic black that paired well with the expensive watch he was wearing.
“I thought you went with Thomas,” I said with a frown at Anton.
“And miss this? Not a chance.” A seductive smiled teased Anton’s lips before he turned serious. “He’s in a safe location and Daniel has him covered. He gave me the rest of the night off and told me to go have fun. That’s what I intend to do.”
“I’m not sure I can handle your level of fun.”
Nathan was going to be bad enough. Throw in Anton, the enforcer with the wildest reputation, and I was in trouble.
“Nonsense.” Anton began ushering us toward the exit. “Everything has already been taken care of. You just need to relax and enjoy.”
Why did that not make me feel any better?
“Shall we, my lady?” Anton offered his arm to Deborah, who took it with a smile.
Connor glided silently in their wake.
Nathan slung an arm around my shoulders as he steered me after the rest. “I noticed Caroline’s friends are already gone. What’s that about?”
“They had something to take care of. They’re going to catch up with us later.”
Nathan’s arm dropped from my shoulder. “If you say so, bestie.”
The floor of the casino was a chaotic and overwhelming place. The din of slot machines and the sound of so many humans in one place was difficult to manage with my heightened senses. To say nothing about the undercurrents of magic that flowed back and forth throughout the entire space like blood through an artery.
I swayed, momentarily overcome.
Nathan caught me. “Easy now. Just do like I taught you and tune it out. Focus on one thing.”
It was difficult, my attention wanting to splinter in a thousand directions.
With effort, I pushed the stimuli away, concentrating on Nathan. The deep base of his voice. His hand around my arm.
Gradually, it grew easier, my senses stabilizing.
Nathan held on for a second longer. “You haven’t had an episode like that in a while.”
“It’s the magic. It’s everywhere.”
Cloying and thick. Like a humid, hot day. The kind that made you feel like you were wrapped in a damp blanket the second you stepped out of your house.
Nathan was one of the few with whom I’d shared my secret voluntarily. Most everyone else had discovered it on their own. With Nathan, I’d gone out on a limb. Trusted him with an important—and potentially dangerous—piece of myself. All because I considered him a friend.
You could say that moment was a bit of a turning point for me. The Aileen of before finally finding someone worth taking a chance on in this new life of hers.
