He grabbed the forty dollars and waved me past as if I was a fly bothering him with my presence. It took a moment for the realization to register through my shock, then I ran inside before he could change his mind. He hadn’t said where to find Jeanine, so I was going to have to figure that out on my own. I was also burning through my cash a lot quicker than I had intended.
As I stepped through the doors, I let my eyes roam over the space. The most prominent thing in the bar, aside from the blaring music, were the cages hanging from the ceiling with dancing half-naked girls in them. Except these girls didn’t look fully aware and semi-bored like the ones at Eva’s. They looked … drugged, in a trance, eyes half-lidded, bodies moving as if they were on autopilot. Off to the left was a secluded lounge area with plush leather couches and black lights to set the mood. To the right was the bathroom and a set of double doors guarded by two large men; straight ahead was a long bar that took up the entire length of the back wall.
I started the herculean task of wading through the packed crowd and under the cages of half-naked dancers to get back to the bar. As I squeezed my way through, the crowd tightened and my body smooshed into the guy in front of me. I was the kind of person who liked my own space, so having my breasts pushed up against some strange dude’s back had my dragon on edge and my inner feminist ready to smash some testicles. Especially after what had happened at Eva’s club.
“Excuse me,” I piped up, because the crowd had pressed together under one of the cages, where the girl had just removed her bikini top. Fabulous. This was a freaking strip club. People were pushing in on me hard now and I was in a full-on panic, my breath coming in gasps, and I felt lightheaded. If I didn’t extract myself from this situation right away, I might faint.
I took my elbow and placed it between the shoulder blades of the guy whose back was assaulting my chest and I pushed. Hard. “MOVE!” I roared and I felt my dragon trying to come to the surface as my panic grew.
Shhh, we’re safe, I told her, and luckily the guy jumped forward two feet and I was given an opening. I shot out of the crowd panting and finally made it to the bar. I stood there a second, just letting myself calm down, not letting the fear overwhelm me. If my time with Logan and the pack had taught my anything, it was that when my dragon felt I was safe, she stayed in her cage—the cage being my human skin. The problem was I didn’t feel safe without Logan, without the pack.
Dammit, why did I always run from my problems? It was a horrible character trait of mine. If I couldn’t see a way out of something, I ran. My college boyfriend broke up with me sophomore year and I totally changed classes, and nearly majors, to avoid him and his new perfect girlfriend. Mom died and I abandoned our lease that I could no longer afford, left our house, sold all of our possessions but for a few sentimental pieces, and I ran.
I was a runner.
Maybe I should at least turn on my phone and see if by miracle of miracles Logan had texted me saying he didn’t care I was part monster and I was still “family”—and that, P.S., Dom didn’t want to behead me.
“Are you the pretty little redhead looking for me?” a powerful, gritty feminine voice called from behind me.
I spun around with wide eyes and my gaze fell on a woman who was tall enough to be a basketball player and thin enough to be a model. The combination was a bit unsettling—not so much her body type but the crooked nose and beady-eyed glare.
“I’m Jeanine.” She nodded, as if I had asked. Her hair was blond and curly, cropped short at the back of the neck. I liked to think I was a good judge of character, and this woman was giving off a major creeper vibe. Great.
“Hey. I’m S-Stacey,” I stuttered, deciding at the last minute to change my name. If I was going to start over, I might as well start now.
She raised a well-manicured eyebrow as if she didn’t buy my name bit and nodded.
“Well, Stacey, my consultation fee is two hundred, and then whatever else you need on top of that…” She held out a hand.
Damn. I tried not to gape. Two hundred just to talk with her? Reluctantly, I reached in my clutch and pulled out two one hundred-dollar bills. I had a feeling this thousand dollars cash wasn’t going to last me as long as I hoped. I noticed two large males standing just beyond Jeanine; one of them was talking into his wrist cuff like CIA agents did in the movies. Something told me Jeanine was a well-connected woman.
She pocketed the two hundred and then ticked her head at the far wall, asking me to follow. I gave a shaky breath and headed after her. While we walked, I concocted a story in my head about leaving an abusive boyfriend and pack. That I was in need of hiding and that my old pack had a powerful sorcerer, so I needed some type of cloaking spell so that no one searching for me could find me. I was making my way through the crowd that seemed to part for Jeanine and her two henchmen, when I saw a man that made panic rise up fresh within me. The druid. Steven. He was here, and he was combing the place as if looking for someone.
Oh. Shit.
In one quick maneuver, I pulled my red hair to one side and popped up the hood on my jacket. Then I twisted my hair back so that it was all covered and kept my head down. What were the freaking odds that this bastard was in California at the same club as me? My dragon was positively swirling, gliding across my skin, threatening to break free.
Maybe I should just forget this whole sorcerer spell thing and get the hell out of here? I was about two seconds from doing just that when Jeanine flicked her wrist and the heavily-guarded double doors swung open on their own, nearly knocking the two guards out of the way. Only a faint trail of yellow announced that she had used magic. This woman was powerful.
Her henchmen walked into the dimly-lit hallway and she followed, turning back for the first time to look at me. “Keep up,” she growled, and I had a decision to make. Leave this place or go through with it quickly and then get my butt to Colorado? After two seconds of internal freaking out, I ran to catch up before the doors closed behind me and my decision was made. The second they sealed shut, I realized that what I was doing was completely stupid.
Like epic levels of stupidity.
What the hell was I thinking, coming to a supernatural bar, in a different town, with no one to make sure I didn’t get chopped up into pieces or descaled? Ahead of me, Jeanine stopped short of a large ornate wooden door. One flick of her wrist and it flew open. I gulped. The doors opened to reveal a neat and sparse office, nothing like Eva’s cluttered mix of bottle and jars. Hers held a large wooden desk in the center, with two chairs, one behind and one in front of it. Then it had wall-to-ceiling shelves with black, closed-lidded boxes and no labels.
Jeanine gestured for me to sit, and when I did she simply leaned on the edge of her desk, towering over me rather than taking her seat.
“Alright, pretty thing. What can I do you for?” Her eyes were gleaming as I gathered my thoughts.
“I’m in some trouble. Left an abusive boyfriend in another pack. I’m afraid they will look for me so I need a spell that … makes me invisible?” I didn’t actually know if that was possible. I very well could be wasting my time and my two hundred dollars.
She leaned forward, her lips turning up to sneer. “Anything’s possible with magic, dear.”
She held out her hand and gestured for me to take it, I reluctantly did. The moment we touched, I felt my dragon clench and freeze. Jeanine’s eyes flashed yellow and her mouth popped open slightly.
“You’ve already got a complex spell on you,” she stated in an airy voice. “I know this work.” Then her voice went deadly. “Eva,” she declared with malice.
I ripped my hand back and held it to my chest. How the hell did she know Eva? Oh God. Leave it to me to pick the one place that had ties to the people I was trying to run from.