He excuses himself from his friends and makes his way towards us.
“’Sup, babe.” His smile is wide as he leans in for a kiss, his floppy blonde hair like a wave as he dips her, deepening their kiss.
He pulls back, righting them both as he pecks a final kiss to her lips, making her giggle before his gaze finds me.
Fi throws her arms around my shoulders. “Baby, this is Kaia, mybestestfriend in the whole world. Kai, this is Mac,” she introduces proudly.
His blonde hair is just short of being shoulder length, it’s messy in an attractive sort of way. He reminds me of a young Heath Ledger from a movie I can’t remember the name of. He’s got a boy next door vibe about him, and if it wasn’t for the leather cut-off vest hanging around his shoulders bearing the patch of his club, I could see myself trusting him, maybe even growing to like him. But it’s that patch on his back I can’t get over, but I force a smile for the sake of my best friend.
“Hey,” I offer.
Mac reaches to give me a loose hug. “Nice to finally meet you, Kaia. I’m starting to think I’m the third wheel in this relationship the way she talks about you, good thing I’m not the jealous type.”
“The way she talks about you has me feeling the exact same thing. I’ve only just met you and yet I feel like I know you already,” I joke.
He draws an arm around my shoulder, while he takes Fi under his other so he’s sandwiched between us. “Oh yeah? What exactly has she told you about me?”
“Things I shouldn’t know, thingsnobodybut your girlfriend should know about you.”
“I told her you’re hung like a horse and fuck like a porn star. That your cock i—”
“Oh my god! Enough!” I slap my hands over my ears, focusing on the thumping drumbeat to drown out her voice.
Fi laughs, enjoying embarrassing me a little too much.
“Nice to know I’m doing my job right, babe,” Mac says. “Now tell me more about my cock.”
She swats him on his chest. “Yeah, you wish. You can rein in your ego now, that’s the only inflation it needs today.”
“Not the only thing that’s inflated, babe.”
My cheeks flame. “Oh my god! You two!Stop!”
Fi throws her head back, cackling away.
“We should probably head downstairs. I’ll grab us some drinks. Meet you down there.” Mac gives her a wink before heading towards the bar. The room has largely cleared now, leaving only a few stragglers including us.
“Come on, it’s about to start!” Fi grabs my hand and tugs me through the bar towards a door along the far wall.
“What is?”
She finds me over her shoulder and wiggles her eyebrows. “You’ll see!”
We follow a group of guys through the door and down a narrow metal staircase that creaks beneath my feet.
“Where are we going?” I ask, but it falls on deaf ears as she leads me down the steps. I stop a few steps short of the bottom and take in the scene before me.
The basement is almost as big as the bar upstairs. The air is thick and stuffy, pungent with the scent of sweat and beer that stings my nose.
There must be in excess of a hundred people down here all surrounding an empty area in the middle of the room, making a square.
“There’s the star of the show!” She points to something inthe middle of the room.
With my elevated position, I have a clear view over the sea of heads in front of me. The empty area in the middle of the room is lit up with a huge spotlight that hangs overhead, the rest of the lighting is dimmed, bathing us all in an ominous red glow.
A man steps into the clearing. His back is to me as he tugs the black t-shirt over his head and tosses it behind him. His entire upper body is made up of pure powerful muscle that ripples with every movement, his skin a collage of intricate tattoos. A wing covers each of his shoulder blades, one with delicate feathers like an angel, while on the other, the wings are darker, weathered, all sharp angles and jagged edges.
Like the wings of the devil.
