“Falon and I want to watch people as they enter the club. Can’t do that if they’re already inside.”
He grunted in response.
Like all non-human clubs and bars, Midnight had a magic-dampening arch that everyone entered through. It gave off a faint glow as you passed under it, identifying the type of non-human for the club’s records. This helped work out who was involved if there was any trouble later. It also marked the start of where all magical abilities ceased to work.
Once past that point, neither me, Falon, nor Talis would be able to shift. And whatever magic Axel had as a fae wouldn’t work in here either.
The club wasn’t empty, but it was nowhere near how busy it would be later. The scents were already overwhelming. Sweat, alcohol, aftershave, sex. Goddess, and it was still early. Talis and Falon tensed beside me at the sudden onslaught, and I grimaced. It was only going to get worse. But coming this early gave us an opportunity to walk around and have a look at whoever had already come in. But first things first.
“Let’s get a drink.” I didn’t want to stand out, and wandering around without a bottle in my hand wouldn’t help with that. And maybe adding a little aconite to my beer would take the edge off my senses. The music was loud enough to make me wince, but I’d learnt to dial back my hearing with some effort. My sense of smell? Not so much.
Midnight had three bars and a dancefloor downstairs, another bar on the first floor, and a balcony that overlooked a good portion of the floor below. I headed for the closest bar, faltering as I noticed who was serving drinks.
I was tempted to go to one of the others, but Axel moved ahead of me, grinning and making a beeline for the empty stool at the end of the bar. A snarl slipped out as I thought about him and Gabriel and how cosy they’d looked in that bar.
Axel heard it and his head whipped round. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” My gaze returned to the bar to find us being watched.
Axel turned to see where I was looking and frowned. “You got a problem with Nick?”
“You know him?”
“I do.”
Something in his voice had me turning to look at him, eyebrow raised.
“Oh, come on, look at him. Tall, dark, and handsome, with all that lovely ink? Wouldn’t you?”
I rolled my eyes. But that bit of news was oddly gratifying. “You still seeing him?”
“No.” Axel shook his head but didn’t look the least bit sad about that fact. “The mutual scratching of an itch, that’s all.” He shrugged. “You know me.”
I did.
Axel didn’t do relationships. I often wondered if it was because he’d return to the Fae Realm one day, and there weren’t many non-fae who got permission to live there. My father being an exception.
“You still on speaking terms?” Maybe Nick could be useful after all.
Axel smiled. “Of course. Nick’s the assistant manager, so technically I work for him when I tend bar here, and also who knows when we might want a repeat.” He leant closer. “Witches are so hot in bed.”
A noise from behind us stopped me from commenting. It sounded suspiciously like a growl, but when I spun around to see who the fuck was growling at us, only Talis and Falon stood there. Falon was giving Talis serious side-eye, so I figured it must’ve come from him.
“Problem, Talis?” I asked, gaze darting around us, searching for the threat.
“Nope.” Talis fidgeted, something I didn’t think I’d ever seen him do before. Roughly the same height and build as me, he was doing a piss-poor job of trying to make himself look small. He’d edged behind Falon and looked seconds from bolting.
I glanced back at Axel only to find him with his eyes narrowed and a calculating look in his eyes. Axel had lived in my forest for so long, I often forgot that he was fae and everything that came with that. But in that moment, he looked every bit as mysterious and unpredictable as I knew they could be.
His eyes seemed to glow in the dark lights of the club, violet-tinged and otherworldly. Then in a blink of an eye, he smiled, back to his usual charming self and I wondered if I’d imagined it all.
I needed that drink now more than ever.
“Everyone good?” I asked, meeting Falon’s gaze and gratified to see he looked as bemused as me.
“Yep.” Talis stalked past me, seemingly on a mission to get to the bar. “What does everyone want?” he called over his shoulder, and I shook my head. What the fuck was going on?
Nick was already uncapping Talis’s beer as we joined him. He greeted Axel with a smile and a wink and me with a rather cooler smile.
