* * *
The night air cleared Lora’s vision enough to ban the dancing lights shadowing her eyes. They were now in an alley around the corner, the noise of the club fading out like a song. Lora couldn’t remember the whole walk out of the club. She had a distant thought that she should care about her state of mind, but something else took precedence.
“You fucked it all up, Eyden. I was so close,” she yelled. Lora hit him on the shoulder and she finally got out of his hold on her. The bastard had stopped her from her mission. The crystal was still in the club. She had been so, so close.
Eyden stared at her, eyes blazing with frustration. “I did? Fuck, Lora, you were seconds away from telling that fae—everyone at the club, actually—that you wanted to take it from him. If I hadn’t intervened, you might have spilled all your secrets.”
“You wish. I had him right where I wanted!”
“Walking away from you?”
“Piss off.” He was an insufferable liar. He only pulled her away from Blue because he didn’t trust her to handle it. “God, you’re such an arse.”
He let out a short laugh before he said, “We have to keep going.” He tried to take her arm to lead her farther away, but she moved back, out of his reach.
“What? Is this funny to you? Ruining our chance at getting that…” Bloody hell, what was the word again? “Stone thingie,” she added angrily.
He laughed harder this time, the sound setting her skin on fire as her veins filled with anger and maybe something else too. Something she couldn’t make sense of at the moment.
“Screw you, Eyden. I’m going back in.” She turned and almost fell but steadied herself as she put a hand against the wall closest to them.
“Lora.”
“What?” She turned back and saw Eyden holding out the crystal before he quickly hid it in his pocket. Was she hallucinating? “How in the hell?”
The corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk. “I told you, I’m an expert at pickpocketing.”
In two steps, she was in front of him, throwing her arms around him. It threw him off so much that he almost tripped. Lora stumbled a bit too but Eyden steadied them. His hands were on her back, pressing against the thin material of her dress. She wasn’t sure if he was returning the hug or simply trying not to let himself or her fall over.
“We really do have to keep going. He’s going to realise it’s gone sooner or later,” Eyden mumbled as he broke their embrace. It sounded far away even though he was close enough that she could easily reach out and brush back the loose curl falling into his face.
His eyes shined bright against the backdrop of the haunting night. Beautiful pale blue was the last thing Lora saw before everything around her spun and her eyes closed slowly as she fell.
Chapter13
Lora
Lora felt disoriented when she woke up. Her head was pounding. She could barely open her eyes, the room was too bright for her. At least her bed was comfortable. She drew the cover closer and snuggled in then slowly opened her eyes again only to realise these weren’t her bed sheets. This wasn’t her bed. She sat up so quickly it felt like a hammer was thrown against her skull and she called out in pain.
“You’re awake. About time,” Eyden said. He was walking over to her from the kitchen, a cup in his hand.
Lora’s memories were a mess. Bits and pieces were flashing through her mind. She barely remembered getting here. The last thing she could picture was the blurry image of Eyden showing her the crystal he had stolen. Had she actually thrown herself at him? She shut down the thought and tried to concentrate on the present. The leftover taste of alcohol in her mouth almost made her gag. She was still wearing the grey dress. Her hair felt like a mess. And somehow, she’d ended up in Eyden’s bed.
“How did I get here?” she asked. She couldn’t help the accusing tone in her voice.
Eyden took a sip of his drink as he stopped next to the room divider in front of the bed. “Should I have left you in the alley? I’ll remember that for next time.”
“There won’t be a next time.” She glared at him.
“If that’s what you have to tell yourself.” The amusement in his voice made Lora’s blood boil. “You completely blacked out. I had to carry you here and when you came to, you threw yourself on my bed, so I figured it was best to let you sleep it off.”
If she could have died from embarrassment, she would’ve ceased to exist. Lora hid her face in her hands and gave herself a moment to process last night. She had made a complete fool of herself. But they had the crystal, so it was worth it. Nothing else mattered.
“How gracious of you.” Lora threw the cover back and got up on shaky legs, her head screaming in protest. “I only had two drinks. I think. How did I get this drunk?”
Eyden smiled mockingly. “Fae don’t get drunk as easily as humans. Our drinks are a lot stronger. I’m surprised you didn’t blackout sooner, actually. Or die of alcohol poisoning. That would’ve been inconvenient.”
She looked back at the bed and noticed her phone peeking out under one of the pillows. “Why is my phone not in the closet?”
