“Areyou sure you want to gohere?” I asked Mia as the cab pulled up to a dark nightclub whose music I could hear from the vehicle. A simple sign readOBSIDIANin clean letters. Black glass surrounded the edges of the building, but beyond that, it was fairly unassuming. No flashing signs. No neon. Just the quiet confidence of a place that didn’t need to beg for attention. It radiated authority, danger, and indulgence on its own.
A velvet rope stretched across the front, guarded by men in tailored black coats who looked less like bouncers and more like sentinels. People lingered nearby anyway—dressed too well, pretending not to stare, clearly hoping to be noticed. A low thrum of bass vibrated through the pavement beneath my feet, felt more than heard, like the building had a pulse.
Warm light spilled from narrow windows high above the street, golden and inviting, hinting at something decadentwaiting inside. Expensive cars lined the curb, engines purring softly before disappearing into the night.
Beyond the crowd at the front, a line of people stretched down the sidewalk, curving around the building. They were adorned in sequins, expensive jewelry, leather, and lace. The men could have killed me with a glance. The women seemed worse, like predators in heels. I thought I glimpsed steel beneath a coat, a gun perhaps, though that might have been my active imagination.
This place didn’t feel like nightlife. It felt like a hunting ground disguised as a club.
Mia’s karaoke bars suddenly seemed tame, like safe little cages compared to this. Those usually consisted of smaller bars with a special on tequila and people singing karaoke badly in the corner. I used to think I hated that, but this didn’t look any better.
At least at those other bars, I felt like I somewhat belonged. Here, it was clear that I didn’t.
As we stepped out of the car near the front door, I looked down at my outfit and frowned. Mia had helped me get ready after she came over, lending me a pink mini dress that clung to every inch of my skin. The hem was mere millimeters from flashing everybody in the entire city, and the fabric squished what little boobs I had so tightly that they felt like they were in my face. I paired the dress with a leather jacket and matching boots. Mia curled my hair and lined my eyes with thick eyeliner and lots of glitter, though she left my freckles untouched.
Every person in that line was wearing only black, and I suddenly felt out of place in the only color. I felt girly and cute in my outfit with my necklaces and dangly bow earrings, my lipstick matching the dress. But I felt wrong too.
Not to mention, I was freezing because of the cold weather. Half of my body was exposed to the wintry elements. Cold bitinto me, sharp as a blade, exposing both my skin and my nerves to the dark night. I shivered, not entirely from the temperature, while Mia looked for a quicker way in.
I opened my mouth to tell her we weren’t going to find one when a slightly accented voice I didn’t recognize called out, “Eva?”
A man a few years older than us—close to Jules’s age—came bounding over to us, his dirty blond hair flopping into his sky-blue eyes. He was biting back a grin, eyes assessing me standing next to Mia, who moved closer as if to protect me from the stranger. Her glare was a fearsome thing, as was the pepper spray keychain she held in her grip.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” she snapped.
The man held out his hands in surrender, winking at her. “Calm down, princess. I just came over to chat.”
“Chat over.”
“Mia,” I elbowed her softly before holding my hand out to the guy with a small smile. “I’m sorry. Have we met before? You’ll have to remind me of your name.”
He accepted my outstretched hand, squeezing once before shaking it. “We haven’t, but we would have soon anyway.” Before I could ask him what he meant, he added, “I’m Nikolai Drakov. Aleksandr’s cousin.”
Alek’s cousin,I realized, my mouth going a little dry. I wasn’t prepared to meet any of Alek’s friends and family tonight, especially not dressed likethis.
Wait.
“Is Alek nearby?” I couldn’t help but ask, pulse hammering.
I wasn’t sure whether I was terrified or craving him—or both. The thought of him here, in a place like this, made my stomach twist with anticipation. Seeing Alek was like getting a hit of a drug. I knew I needed to get away—he practically oozed danger—but I couldn’t help but crave more.
Nikolai’s grin widened. “I’ll ask around. What are you two doing here?”
“What does it look like, dumbass?” Mia grumbled. “Trying to get into a nightclub.”
“I apologize for my friend,” I said to Nikolai, sending a warning look to Mia. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into her tonight. But, yes, I think we were going to go to Obsidian, but I don’t feel like waiting in the line in the cold, so I think we’ll go somewhere else.”
“Eva, no. I’ve been wanting to go here all week, and you?—”
“I can get you guys in,” Nikolai said, cutting off the beginnings of Mia’s pleas.
She turned to him, eyes narrowed but no longer hateful. Had she met this man before? What was with her random hostility? Mia was normally super welcoming, yet she looked at Nikolai like he was less than dirt on the bottom of her shoe, which I didn’t understand because Nikolai had been nothing but polite so far.
I turned to Nikolai. “You can?”
“Yeah. Come with me.”
Before we could question him further, Nikolai started walking toward the bouncers at the front, gesturing for us to follow him. I shrugged before stalking after him, my legs wobbling both from the slightly too-tall heels on my boots and from the ache between my legs.
