Slamming my half-drunk coffee cup on the worn counter, I stomped through the apartment to my bedroom to grab the invitation. After a beat, I heard Geordie’s footsteps following after me. Tearing into my bedroom, I made a beeline for the dresser to grab the invitation and wave it in his face. Except… it wasn’t there.
“Where did it go?” I shouted, pulling open the top drawer and shuffling clothes around before dipping down to check the floor around and behind the dresser.
“Where did what go?” Geordie asked.
“The damned invitation! It was sitting right there,” I pointed angrily at the dresser top, “when I got home this morning.”
“B,” Geordie started slowly. “Are you sure you didn’t imagineit? It wouldn’t be the first time you thought you saw something after a long night. Remember about a year before we found this place and were sleeping in the park? You swore you saw a man having a conversation with a wolf.”
“It was here, Geordie!” I huffed, plopping onto my unmade bed. “I wasn’t that tired when I got in last night, and I’m not crazy.”
Geordie moved to sit beside me on the bed and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “I didn’t say you were crazy. Obviously, there’s no invitation here, so maybe it was just a really vivid dream, B. I know I’ve had some pretty out there ones that took me days to realize were just dreams.”
Taking a deep breath, I blew it out slowly. “Yeah, okay. It could have been a dream.” I conceded.
“Look, why don’t you go back to sleep. You don’t have to be up for the club for a couple more hours, and I doubt you’re resting if your dreams are that vivid. I’ll have the coffee pot set up for you and a BLT in the fridge when you get up.”
“Yeah,” I replied, yawning suddenly. “That’s probably a good idea. I’m sorry I snapped at you, Geordie.”
“It’s okay, B.” Geordie chuckled, standing up from my bed before tucking my blanket against my chin once I’d gotten comfortable. “Get some rest. I need to hurry up before I end up late to work.”
I mumbled a response, sleep already sinking its claws into me and working to drag me under. Geordie’s footsteps retreated to the door, and I could have sworn I heard him mutter an apology before my door clicked shut behind him.
The strange invitation and murmured apology were both long forgotten by the time I pulled into the gravel employee parking lot at Sinful Seduction for my shift that night. The club was packed, the front parking lot overflowing into the street. Waving at the security guard posted on the back door, I slipped inside and hurried to the dressing rooms to change. The thumping bass vibrated through the souls of my worn-outsneakers and sent a trill of anticipation through my body.
“Hey, B!” One of the other girls called out, as she adjusted the barely-there strip of material that acted as a skirt.
“Hey, Nat.” I answered, “Good crowd tonight?”
“Oh, yeah. Owen said they’re turning people away at the door tonight.” She grinned. “Loads of big spenders tonight, too. It’s like there’s something in the air.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic!” I cheered back, moving to my cubby and working to change quickly.
I’d been working at the club since I was eighteen. Without an education or G.E.D., there weren’t many options for a barely legal, homeless kid. Four years in and several clubs later, I’d long since learned that there weren’t any places I could pull in the type of money I did at Sinful Seduction. It didn’t hurt that Sin had strict rules about touching the girls. Any would-be creep trying to cop a feel would be bounced before he knew what happened. Owen, the bouncer who usually manned the main club, seemed to have a second sense when it came to keeping us safe.
When I was finally changed, I made my way to the main club and couldn’t help the smile that split my face. Nat was right. The club was packed. I let myself get lost in the music, working the crowd and picking up tips in between my turns on stage. As the night wound down, I had made nearly enough money to surprise Geordie with the con tickets he was working so hard for. The thought was enough to convince me to take one last private dance just before closing.
The club was all but deserted when I led my patron back to the main club to cash out his tab. Owen hovered nearby as I made my way behind the bar to close the man out, following a few steps behind once he was done to see him out.
“I’ll be back in a sec, if you need someone to walk you out!” Owen called over his shoulder.
“I’m good, thanks!” I replied with a wave.
There were still a few members of the bar staff cleaning and preparing the club for the next night’s opening when Iwas finally changed into a baggy T-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants. Securing the large wad of cash into the inside pocket of my duffle bag, I called my goodbyes into the main club and made my way to the back exit.
The streetlights flickered with the first hints of daylight, and my eyes scanned over the nearly empty lot. A shiver ran up my spine, and I stiffened when my eyes landed on the large man leaning against my rusted-out Corolla. His muscular arms were crossed in front of his chest, causing his biceps to bulge and his light gray t-shirt to strain against his chest. My mind screamed for me to turn around and head back inside, where it was safe. For me to grab Owen and have him scare the stranger off, but my body had another idea.
Gravel crunched under my shoes, causing the man to straighten to his full height. My hand instinctively reached for the pepper spray in my duffle bag as his arms dropped loosely to his sides and his eyes raked over me from head to toe. The man was at least six-and-a-half-feet tall, my head tilting farther back to keep his face in view the closer I got to him. I couldn’t make out his features, obscured as they were by a puff of steam he’d blown through his nose, so thick it could be mistaken for smoke.
My mind finally seemed to catch up with my body, and I stopped just out of arm’s reach. Craning my neck back, I could just make out the amber color of his eyes and the way his nostrils flared as he leaned toward me.
“Bechora Knight,” He spoke, his gravelly voice sending a pulse of need straight to my core. “I’ve come to escort you to Blackthorne Academy.”
I blinked at him slowly, his words taking a moment to register. “I—”
“We must be going, Ms. Knight.” He spoke, cutting off my confused protests and reaching for my arm.
The moment his rough palm touched my bare skin, a jolt of lightning shot through me. A needy whimper tore from my throat, and the man frowned, his hold relaxing for justa second before tightening painfully. My mouth gaped open in shock, my eyes flitting between where he held me and the molten amber of his eyes as my tired mind tried to figure out what just happened. A low growl seemed to vibrate from his chest as he waved his free hand, and a large, black hole opened behind him just before he pulled me through.
