My hands curled into fists, and I was two seconds away from vaulting over the railing to the floor below when Falon nudged me again.
“Look over there by the back wall.”
I followed his direction to see Max, phone in hand, looking for all intents and purposes as though he was focused on it. I knew well enough to know he wasn’t though.
His shoulders were tense, as thoughwaiting, and every few seconds he’d look towards the dance floor. Subtle, but easy to see from our vantage point. I sought out Gabriel again, now facing Nick with his arms wrapped around his neck, laughing at whatever Nick had said like he didn’t have a care in the world.
My low growl was lost in the music around us, but Falon heard it and shot me a curious look. I shrugged, so not willing to get into that discussion with him right then. As I watched Gabriel, unable to look away, it dawned on me that they were dancing closer to where the guy Falon had spotted stood.
Max had moved closer too.
“They’ve seen him.”
Falon rolled his eyes. “Of course they have. What the fuck did you think they were doing?”
Dancing.
Flirting.
Having fun.
Everything he’d done with me at one time.
But we’d never danced like that. There was a fluidity to his movements that he hadn’t possessed when he was nineteen.A confidence that drew more than one pair of eyes on the dance floor around them.
As if by an unspoken agreement, Gabriel spun away from Nick, coming to a stop right in front of their target, just as Max appeared from behind the pillar.
The guy startled but didn’t make any move to leave. He smiled at Gabriel, then at Max, and I’d have given anything to listen to what they were saying, but even my superior hearing couldn’t cut through the heavy beat of the music.
“You think he’s who we’re looking for?” The sudden roughness of Falon’s voice caught my attention, and I snapped my head round to look at him. He looked as eager to get down there as I’d been a moment ago, and about twice as murderous.
“I don’t know,” I said carefully, edging closer to him so my arm rested against his. “But whether he is or not, we need to let them handle it.”
He said nothing, but the white-knuckled grip he had on the railing told me all I needed to know.
“Falon,” I hissed, angling my body to face him. “You can’t afford to get into any trouble, not with hunters in the area. Some of those bastards are just waiting for one of us to step out of line.”
No, not all hunters were like that, but I’d seen and heard enough over the years to know there were plenty who took great delight in goading a non-human into losing control. Claiming self-defence was an easy stance because, although hunters could be armed to the teeth, we had natural weapons at our disposal.
That thought sparked an idea in my head, but Falon was already moving before I could process it further. “Hey.” I caught his arms as he moved past me.
“They’ve let him go,” Falon hissed. “I want to know what the fuck he told them that they just let him walk out of here.” He barged past me and headed for the stairs.
Cursing under my breath, I rushed after him.
Thank fuck the guy was long gone by the time we got down there. I wasn’t sure what Falon would do to him, but I doubted it would be pleasant. Max and Gabriel were still on the edge of the dance floor when Falon reached them.
He got right in Max’s face. “Why the hell did you let him go?”
Instead of pushing him back like I would’ve done, Max turned to face him, voice calm and measured when he spoke. “The only evidence tying Blake Tehlin to Callum is that they talked last Saturday night. I can’t arrest him for chatting a bloke up in a club.”
“So that’s it?” Falon seethed, anger barely restrained.
We were getting a few curious glances from those around us, and I put a hand on Falon’s back. “Calm the fuck down.” He shot me a glare, but after taking a deep breath in, he slowly relaxed his stance. “Sorry.” The anger seemed to fade, and he scrubbed a hand over his face.
“I understand your frustration, Falon, believe me,” Max said still using the same calm tone. “But you have to let us deal with this. It’s our job.”
Falon sighed and took a small step back, giving Max his space and including Gabriel in the conversation. “What happens now then?”
