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“Hey!” he yelled, dropping me. I landed on the filthy carpet with a thud. The guy loomed over me. Blood coated his fierce scowl. But then his expression changed from anger to recognition. “Wait, aren’t you—”
“Fire!” The shout broke through the chaos. I looked up in time to see the bar explode into flames. A flash of gold flew by my head—Valva making a hasty retreat from her smoldering impromptu stage. I had no idea how she’d managed to set the thing on fire, but I had a more pressing issue to worry about at the moment.
I leaped to my feet, pushing the angry male aside. Obviously, the situation was way beyond diffusing. Time to just cut our losses and disappear. I spun to locate Adam and slammed into an unmovable object. One with an impossibly broad chest, a leather vest, and tattoos.
I looked up slowly and cringed when my gaze reached his face. Fang’s expression wasn’t so much angry as apocalyptic. He grabbed my arms. “What the fuck have you done?”
“Fang, I—”
The heat and flash of the fire caught my eye. Flames licked across the floor, searing a path to the stage. On the platform, eight or ten vampire strippers continued their bloody battle. Apparently Fang’s strippers had some unresolved personal issues because they were whaling on each other, using any weapons at their disposal. Chairs crashed into heads. Thongs became garrotes. And jugs of baby oil—
“Oh shit!” My gaze flew back to Fang’s face. “Is baby oil flammable?”
He squinted hard. “Huh—”
Too late. The flames already reached the base of the stage. “We need to help them!”
Either he couldn’t hear me or he was so enraged he chose not to listen, but Fang’s grip tightened and his fangs flashed ominously. A flash of light and a burst of heat exploded through the club. The stink of singed hair and broiled skin brought bile to my throat. And the screams. Terrible, terrible screams.
Looking directly at the stage turned pyre was almost too horrible. Looking like ghouls with melted wigs and blackened skin, the burning strippers danced around like scorched marionettes. Still, shock kept me rooted to the spot.
Fang burst into action, tossing me to the side as he leaped toward the bonfire, shouting for water as he ran. I went the other direction, intent on finding Adam and the others. I didn’t get far before I saw Giguhl running in my direction with Valva in his arms. Her expression resembled that of a toddler about to throw an epic tantrum.
“Adam?”
Giguhl jerked his head toward the inferno that used to be the bar. “Over there!”
I nodded and took off, yelling, “Stay here!”
I hoped the demon could hear me over the yells of those who were trying to fight the fire and the screams of those trying to escape it. As I passed the group trying to help, I saw Fang yelling orders. He looked up as I passed, and the hatred in his once-friendly eyes made my stomach contract.
Adam’s golden-brown head should have been easy to spot among all the redheaded vampires. But the thick haze of smoke clawed at my eyes. Climbed down into my lungs. I couldn’t see anything through the choking and the tears.
Rough hands grabbed me from behind. I spun into a crouch, ready to fight. Adam tilted his head and raised an eyebrow in greeting. Instead of witty comments or snarky asides, he grabbed my hand and hauled me back to the demon.
“Praise Asmodeus,” Giguhl said. “Can we leave now?”
The mancy glanced at me for confirmation. I looked at the fire. At the soot-covered faces. At the flames dancing over smoldering bodies. “We should stay and help them.”
“Red.” Adam sighed. “Normally I’d agree, but there’s no chance now that the Dominae won’t hear about this—or your involvement. We need to get the hell out of here before they find us.”
Electricity flashed through my veins. Considering I had cost Fang his beloved club, I wouldn’t put it past my old friend to go to the Dominae himself and tell him we were back in town. Guilt swelled in my midsection like acid, but I nodded anyway.
Adam put his arms around us. Started chanting.
The pressure began in my solar plexus.
The doors to the club burst open. The fire rushed toward the fresh oxygen. Then a dozen figures dressed in black ducked into the club.
My heart stopped. Their red hair and the golden fleur-de-lis insignias on their chests identified these new arrivals as Dominae guards.
“Mancy!” I yelled, urging Adam on. He didn’t respond. Just frowned and focused harder on calling the magic.
“Sabina Kane!” Guns pointed in our direction. “Freeze in the name of the Dominae!”
Magic rushed through me like static electricity, making the hair on my arms prickle.
“Ready!”
Unbearable pressure.
“Aim!”
Wind whipped up around us.
“Fire!”
Pop—we were gone.
An eternal instant later, my ears popped and my body landed on something springy. A heavy mass thumped next to me, followed by a loud groan. Two more thuds echoed nearby. Fighting against the nausea and dizziness, I forced my eyes open.
Beside me, Adam pushed himself up on his elbows and frowned down at me. “That was way too close for comfort.”
I licked my lips and tried to unscramble my brain. “Huh?”
“Are you okay?” His hands ran over my arms and torso, as if checking for wounds. I took a minute to enjoy his tactile inspection. But memories of the debacle at Fang’s intruded, ruining any enjoyment I was getting out of Adam’s nearness.
“I’m okay.” I rubbed my nose in a futile effort to remove the lingering odor of burned sequins and charred skin.
“You’re sure?”
I nodded. I didn’t like that we’d basically run away from a mess of our own making, but since our only other choice was to hang around waiting to either be retaliated against by Fang or captured by the Dominae or…Well, let’s just say that narrowed the options down considerably. “Where are we?”
He pulled away. The cool night air replaced his warmth. Standing, he gestured up with a wry smile. “Look for yourself.”
I glanced up to where he pointed and blinked. Several tall white letters loomed over our heads. “The Hollywood sign?”
“I wasn’t sure where else to go.” He shrugged. “This seemed like a safe enough place for us to regroup.” He held out a hand to pull me up. The momentum brought me back into contact with his body. Knowing the mage, he was doing it on purpose. Not that I minded, but it wreaked havoc on my ability to concentrate.
