But I wasn’t a shifter and Dathal wasn’t my soulmate.
I was just plain old fucking jealous.
And I had no right to be, especially when I’d made up my mind not to go there.
Ignoring Rys, I focused on Talis instead. He looked far too sombre for someone supposedly out to enjoy themselves. “Everything all right?” I asked, setting a pint in front of him. They’d asked for a shot of aconite in the beer, and Talis took a huge gulp.
“Yeah.” That one word held a wealth of meaning, and nothing that pointed to Talis beingall right. My gaze drifted to Axel. Then back to Talis.
Ahh.
Leaving that well alone, I placed the rest of Rys’s drink order on the bar. Axel and Mase wandered over to collect theirs, but Dathal was still happily chatting away.
He’s not yours. He can do what he wants.
I just wished he wasn’t doing it in my fucking club.
Kevin finished clearing up the mess on the floor, but the bar suddenly got busier, and I was stuck helping him serve. Not that I would’ve gone over to interrupt what was looking more and more like a potential hook-up, but I could’ve gone elsewhere so I didn’t have to watch it.
Mase moved to the end of the bar where I was serving and sat on one of the bar stools. Axel joined him.
“I’m surprised Rys is letting you out of his sight.”
Mase shot me a withering look. “Don’t take it out on me because Dathal’s talking to Syrian, who just so happens to be really, really hot.” He smirked at me over the top of his glass.
I wanted to tell him I didn’t care either way who Dathal spoke to, but what came out instead was, “You know him?”
“He’s a member of Falon’s pack. We met him when we went to talk to Callum Walker on Thursday.”
“Hmm.” So Dathal already knew him. That made it even worse, somehow. I finished serving the people next to Mase, then onto the next one.
By the time the rush had died down enough for me to slip away, Axel had gone, leaving only Mase sat watching me. A glance down the bar showed no signs of Rys, Sasha, or Talis either.
“Where did the others go?”
“Sasha disappeared into the throng pretty much as soon as we arrived.” Mase pointed in the direction of the dance floor. “Axel dragged Dathal off for a dance, and I think Rys and Talis went upstairs.”
Of course, I immediately wanted to go and check out the dance floor now, but I forced myself to remain rooted to the spot. I wiped the counter in front of Mase and then rested my elbows on it. “How come you didn’t go with them?”
He shrugged. “I’m not in the mood for dancing tonight, and Talis is still pining after Axel, even though he denies it, so I’ve left Rys to deal with it.” He met my eyes and winced. “Those booty shorts are so not helping the situation.”
“No, I imagine they aren’t.” I recognised Axel’s pulling gear when I saw it, and he was definitely a fae on a mission tonight. Did that mean Dathal was too? Had Syrian joined them on the dance floor? I swallowed thickly, not liking the thought of that one fucking bit. “So… this Syrian guy. What’s he like?”
Mase raised an eyebrow at me, his fae-ness a little more obvious when he did that. I needed to remember how well he could still read me. “I thought you weren’t interested in Dathal.”
“I never said that. And besides, that’s not what I asked.”
He studied me hard, and I stared right back, doing my best not to let anything show this time. I loved Mase like a brother, but I didn’t need any more unsolicited advice where Dathal was concerned.
I hadn’t decided yet how I felt about it all, let alone start explaining it to him. Or anyone else. It all seemed to come out of nowhere. Wednesday morning all I had to worry about was Zane leaving me this club to look after. Now I had a hot-as-fuck fae taking up space in my head.
But judging how the evening had gone so far, I wasn’t taking up any in his.
And that stung.
I’d worked at Midnight long enough to know that more fae than just Axel came here. But nothing like the amount of other non-humans that came through these doors. TheFaewere still enough of a rarity that when any ventured here, they caused a stir.
Beautiful and mysterious.
