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My throat bobbed with a nervous swallow when we stepped into the smoky room. The lighting was terrible—maybe Nat wouldn’t like this place—and it didn’t look like any nightclub I’d ever been in before.

It was literally just a basement. A huge one, yes, divided into sections by thick concrete pillars that had damp patches and indeterminate dark stains on them, but still just a rundown, dingy basement. When I glanced up, the ceiling was high above us and covered in fat exposed pipes, all of which were coated in condensation. The throng of bodies made the air hot and damp and sticky, and my own body responded, heart thumping harder with fearful exhilaration.

What was this place?

There was no single bar to get drinks. Rather, several shoddily made stalls had been erected along the wall to our left. Some were selling booze strong enough to knock out an orc—which meant it was lethal for other species—while others offered fried food, fae wine and huge bags of popcorn with toppings such as warm blood, mushroom mulch and wolf kibble. The booth with the biggest crowd around it had a sign that read, Betting Station.

“What are they betting on?” I asked Clarence.

He shrugged and looked around. “Not sure. Let’s shift, Niko. Let me see that sexy little incubus tail.”

I suppressed a shudder of disgust, but acquiesced and shifted into my true form, because this environment, the relentless energy pumping through the air, was making my skin itch anyway. I breathed a sigh of relief as my wings emerged, and I flexed them cautiously so I didn’t hit anyone walking by. I felt my tail snake down along my thigh before coiling briefly around my left knee.

“Gods, you’re stunning, Niko,” Clarence breathed. I couldn’t help but preen a little, reaching up to run a palm along my left horn.

“Thank you.” I forced myself to turn and look at him with a smile. “And you… look great too.”

His goat hooves were now poking from the bottom of his harem pants, and his legs were bending at a different angle under the stretchy fabric. He’d already shoved his sandals—and shirt—into his bag, and I could see the coarse brown fur that ended around his belly button, melting into the pale skin of his upper half. Curly horns emerged from his brown hair, smaller than mine, and his goat-like ears twitched where they poked out through the strands.

I wasn’t any more attracted to him in this form, I quickly realised, my shoulders slumping. There was nothing wrong with the way he looked, but I just…

Keep an open mind. I repeated the mantra in my head. We were in a new, exciting setting. Maybe once my blood got pumping, I’d be… more into it. Him.

Maybe.

“So do you think it’s live music, or…?” I asked as we took a few steps deeper into the crowd. Around us, people were drinking, laughing, talking, some of them yelling names and amounts at each other, clearly placing bets for… something.

My pulse leaped when I saw a fae couple practically fucking against one of the concrete pillars, my cock twitching from the energy pumping out of them. Wow, this place was a little wild.

Maybe Nat would like it.

“Not sure,” Clarence said, sticking close and breathing all over my neck as I wandered through the crowd, peering around in fascination. “But if it is, I hope they play ballads. I’ll hold you close all night, incu-baby.”

Suddenly I was praying to Lucifer and every other Demon Lord in Hell that it was not a live music venue. I spotted a gap between two pillars that seemed to lead into an even bigger space, so I headed that way.

Even though I had no idea what this place was, or what was going to happen, or even how safe it was to be here, this was already better than the date had been before. I no longer had to just sit there and nod every now and then while pretending to listen to Clarence talk about himself.

And I was intrigued. Extremely intrigued. I wanted to find out exactly what kind of club this was, what went on down here.

Oh Lucifer, what if it was a filthy sex club?

My cock perked up with interest before it remembered we were here with Clarence and drooped again in protest. A filthy sex club would’ve been amazing if I’d been with literally anyone else, but I didn’t want to lead Clarence on or give him the wrong impression.

Besides, what would people be betting on in a sex club? Who came first? Actually, that was pretty good action. I’d probably be amazing at it.

We reached the second, larger space, and I stopped dead when I saw what was dominating the centre of the cavernous room. Clarence knocked into my back, and his hands brushed over my wings, but I didn’t even notice despite my wings usually being ultra-sensitive.

I was too busy staring at the huge ring taking centre stage behind a daunting metal fence topped with barbed wire.

“What is that?” I asked faintly.

“Don’t know.” Clarence brushed my wings again, which was super inappropriate, especially considering he hadn’t asked me if it was okay. “Oooh, your wings are so soft, incu-baby…”

“No, they’re not.” I irritably moved aside so he couldn’t touch them, still staring at the ring.

Why was it surrounded by that ominous fence? And was that… Unholy crap, was that blood splattered all over the mat? Staining it dark brown and emerald green and sludgy grey in places?

Fuck. Maybe we shouldn’t have come here.