“I had a date with AidanMichaels.”
“You what?” His eyes grew as wide as the flashlights the security guards were shining intobags.
I unzipped my cross-body bag. Once the guard let me through, I handed my ticket to the woman scanningthem.
“How do you even know him?” Everestasked.
“How do you think I knowhim?”
“Sandra?”
“Bingo.”
“Ithought—”
“He offered 3K. Couldn’t exactly turn thatdown.”
“3K?”
“Yeah.”
“He only paid half because Liam—whohappenedto be at the restaurant—made me leave. He says Aidan is a major creeper. Is ittrue?”
Everest’s face creased, in concentration or in surprise or maybe in something elseentirely.
“What?” I asked, combing the air to push away the thick smoke billowing from a foodtruck.
Slowly, as though he were trying out the words for size, he said, “Aidan Michaels hatedHeath.”
Bass jolted from nearby amplifiers, making my heart skip a beat. If Aidan hated Heath and I hated Heath, then maybe Aidan wasn’t such a badman.
“But is he acreeper?”
“I’d stay away from him.” Everest rubbed his hands on his jeans. “Want abeer?”
“Sure.”
He marched ahead of me toward a bar truck. Hollers and whistles pierced the purple air as the server filled two large plastic cups with the foamy liquid. I pulled a long swallow, then licked my lips. Exactly what Ineeded.
We traipsed through the thickening crowd. The opening notes of one of the band’s most popular songs rang out, and people went crazy. Bodies writhed, people shrieked, hands came up and pumped the air. I drank more of my beer so that it wouldn’t slosh all over me as we neared the stage. The drummer pounded on the percussions, and the orange-mulleted singer jumped in the air, belting out thelyrics.
I shifted my hips and raised one of my hands. The alcohol flowed through my veins, swirled through my body, and muted the thoughts and worries running on a loop inside my head. I drank deeper from my cup. By the third song, the entire content of my cup swished inside me, heightening the delicious beat and smoky voice of theband.
I felt a tiny bit happy. Even Everest smiled. He didn’t dance, but his head was bobbing to the tune. I bumped my elbow into hisside.
“Thanks for taking me! This is awesome!” I yelled so he would hear me over the group of chantinggirls.
He grinned, then grabbed my empty cup. “I’ll go get us refills. Don’t move, or I’ll never findyou.”
“Not going anywhere.” I swung my head from side to side, the music thrumming against my bones. The night air was warm and pungent with a thousand smells—hot dogs, ketchup, grass, beer, sweat, jasmine,apricot…
I looked for the origin of that scent, fearing I’d find Amanda. Sure enough, she was standing a couple feet away, enclosed in Matt’s beefy arms. Next to them stood the rest of the pack. A couple of the guys looked my way, eyes glowing in the darkness. Tamara was grinding up against Liam’s rigid build. His hands didn’t touch her body, but that didn’t deter her. Maybe he wasn’t into public displays ofaffection.
I’d promised Everest I wouldn’t move, so I stayed put and tried to pretend they weren’t all right there. As I directed my attention back toward the stage, my gaze landed on some guy in a white wifebeater and low-slung jeans. Instead of facing the stage, he was looking at me, and so were his two friends. I frowned when I saw them raise their chins and sniff the air. They whispered to each other, then casually approachedme.
My spine clicked into alignment, all of my nerves on high alert. Before they’d even reached me, I knew they werewolves.
“Ness Clark?” Wifebeaterasked.
