She might not have a clue what was going on, but she was picking up speed fast.
“I think we would have seen Zoe and Chloe if they were up here,” Zane said. “Let’s check the next level down.”
They were heading downstairs when Zane spotted a woman with cobalt-blue hair running up the stairs, nearly shoving people aside in her haste to get past. For half a second, he thought it was the girl from the front entrance, but then just as quickly realized that while she was almost assuredly related to her, she was twice the girl’s age. Her mother maybe?
The woman’s lavender eyes filled with panic as she skidded to a stop in front of them. She ignored Alyssa, instead focusing all of her attention on him and Jake. “You can’t be here. My daughter should never have let you in. You need to leave—now. Before anyone sees you. I’ll take you out the back way.”
“What are you talking about?” Alyssa said. “Why can’t we be here? We’re not breaking the law.”
The woman flipped her long hair over her shoulder and turned her gaze on Alyssa, looking at her like she was an idiot. “I’m not saying you can’t be in here. I’m talking about them.” She jerked her thumb at him and Jake. “It’s a death sentence for those two.”
Zane opened his mouth to ask what she meant by that, but Jake cut him off.
“Holy shit. There they are.”
Zane followed his gaze to see Zoe and Chloe working their way through the packed dance floor. Bloody hell, the twins were there. The strobe lights bounced off their platinum hair and pale skin, making it seem like they were glowing. Dammit, he’d told them to stay at the hotel!
The woman with the cobalt hair cursed. “There are more of you? What the hell was my idiot daughter thinking letting you all in at the same timetheydecided to pay me a visit?”
Zane couldn’t miss the emphasis on the wordthey.He suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that the woman with the blue hair, the twins, the weird smells, and Stefan’s presence here was all connected. How, he wasn’t sure yet.
“Oh crap,” Alyssa muttered. “Stefan’s on the far side of the dance floor and he’s locked on Zoe and Chloe.”
Zane scanned the lower level until he found Stefan. The wanker was flanked by a crew of oversize security goons.
“Rachel. Diego. Get your asses back to the main room we first walked into,” he said urgently into his mic, his gut telling him this situation was about to go to hell in a carpetbag fast. “You’ll find an archway near the back of the dance floor. And hurry up. Stefan’s found his next targets, and they’re Zoe and Chloe. It’s about to get ugly.”
He and Alyssa brushed past the woman with the blue hair and were already starting down the stairs after Jake when a stench so overwhelming hit him that he almost gagged. It was a combination of old blood and dirt mixed with the odor of something long dead. He swung his gaze around the dance floor, trying to see where the horrible smell was coming from even as the woman with the unusual lavender eyes shouted something about damn werewolves getting them all killed.
Zane ignored her, still searching for the source of the odor. It was coming from three of the men with Stefan. They were standing so far back in the shadows behind Stefan that Zane wouldn’t have seen them if he didn’t have such keen vision. Dressed all in black, they weren’t heavily muscled, but they were tall and put off a vibe that made anyone who wasn’t in Stefan’s immediate group steer clear of them. Despite how crowded the club was, there wasn’t a person within five paces of them. Even as he watched, people stumbled over themselves in an effort to keep their distance.
The tallest of the three men moved forward to stand beside Stefan, and Zane did a double take as he stepped out of the shadows. His eyes were so black and lifeless they seemed to swallow the light. They reminded Zane of a shark—or a corpse.
Lifeless gaze locked on the twin werewolves in the middle of the dance floor, the man nodded.
As one, Stefan’s crew waded into the crowd, some of them pulling their weapons out as they began shoving people aside in order to reach their targets.
Zoe and Chloe must have realized they were in trouble because they latched on to each other’s hands and backed away. But there wasn’t anywhere for them to go on the crowded dance floor.
Before he realized what he was doing, Zane gripped the railing with his good arm, intending to vault over it, when a deep growl ripped through the air, followed by a shout of pain as Jake engaged with one of Stefan’s men on the floor below. The sounds were loud enough to be heard over the blaring techno music, and for a fraction of a second, everyone froze. Then the shooting started, and the club lost its collective mind as the crowd below erupted and people started crawling over each other in an attempt to get away.
Zane felt the muscles in his legs and arms twist and spasm as his body began to partially shift. At the same time, his claws and fangs extended, the tangy taste of blood filling his mouth as the bones of his jaw cracked to make room for all the long, sharp teeth. He knew it was a terrible idea to shift in a room full of people, but he couldn’t stop it. Alyssa was already on the dance floor, inundated by the tidal wave of terrified people and cold-blooded killers. If she didn’t get shot by Stefan’s men, she’d be trampled by the crowd.
Fear tore through Zane at the thought. He tightened his grip on the railing and vaulted over it. He had to save her, even if it meant revealing what he was.
Chapter 9
Alyssa tried to tell herself she’d imagined the terrifying growl she’d heard right before everything went to hell in a shopping cart. Maybe she’d heard someone shout and mistaken it for a growl. But as more of the sounds echoed around the dance floor, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, she was forced to admit she hadn’t imagined anything. There was something scary out there on the dance floor, and everyone in the club knew it.
She was reminded of that fact when a big guy with long, curly hair slammed into her on the way to the exit, nearly knocking her down. She spun out of his way just in time, but then barely avoided the next panicked person shoving past. Okay, in retrospect, maybe venturing into the middle of the dance floor hadn’t been the best idea. But it wasn’t like she’d had an option. When she’d seen the terror on the twins’ faces as Stefan’s Neanderthals closed in on them, she knew she had to do something. So, she followed her instincts and charged into danger. As crazy as it sounded, that was what she did for a living.
Alyssa directed people to the stairs even as she tried to work her way toward the last place on the floor she’d seen Zoe and Chloe. Why the hell hadn’t they stayed at the hotel like they were supposed to?
She pulled up short as one of the Neanderthals stepped in front of her. She had a split second to realize he was one of the guys from the other night in the alley before he lifted his weapon and pointed it at her. Alyssa’s training kicked in and she darted to the side, lifting her gun at the same time. But she already knew it was too late. She wouldn’t be able to get her shot off before he did.
Another one of those deep growls reverberated in the air as someone flew from above, smashing the man with the gun to the floor. More growls followed, and she caught a glimpse of impossibly long fangs and claws as her rescuer straightened to his full height and tossed the man’s broken body aside like a toy.
Alyssa blinked, recognizing Zane from the way his injured arm hung at his side even before he turned to look at her. The strobe lights made it difficult to see his face clearly, but it was hard to miss the sharp fangs extending beyond his lower lip or the glowing, yellow-gold eyes.
