“Oh my god.” I grip Orfeo’s arm and try to yank him back. “That’sBowen.”
Orfeo furrows his brow and squints at the crowd. “Professor Bowen? Where?”
“There!” I point discreetly toward his pale, exposed back. Bowen chooses that moment to shift into the flashing blue-purple lights. Suddenly, a masc vampire appears at his waist, popping up like a groundhog with their long, blue tongue traveling up from Bowen’s waistline, up over the swell of his belly, and I watch my professor’s head drop back in pleasure.
I gasp and spin away, covering my eyes. “Fuck! Never mind! Oh my god.Run.”
Orfeo laughs as I shove at him, grabbing my hand again and dragging me to the other side of the club to what looks like a series of dressing rooms lined up along the wall, to the left of the stage. Underneath the doors, I can make out feet pointing in all sorts of directions. Orfeo pulls me into one of the booths.
Thankfully, the music is nothing more than a distant thump in here.
Unfortunately, the patrons of the booth next to us seem to be having a very good and verywettime.
The booth is lit by a small reading lamp on a table, and there’s only a single seat. Orfeo tells me to sit before descending into a squat so we’re almost face-to-face.
Even in this light, his beauty shocks me. The strength of his features, the suppleness of his lips.The intensity of those yelloweyes.There’s nothing quite as gorgeous as the sight of his eyes glowing between my thighs. The memory makes me shiver.
“Okay, we don’t have much time. Leo should be off duty by now. I am going to slip out front to speak to him. I need you to follow me, with just your spirit. You will be safe in here, no one will try to open the door as long as they see your feet.”
“I don’t know if I can do that?”
“Why?”
I avert my eyes. “Uh, well, every time I’ve been in or around Hades House while I’m decoupled, I make some sort of…mistake.”
A small smile creeps over his face. “Like what?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Accidentally flickering lights, breaking bottles.”
“So that was you the other night?”
“What other night?” I say, but I know my expression is betraying me. I swat at Orfeo. “Oh, shut up. Like you’ve never been somewhere you weren’t supposed to be.”
He laughs softly, leaning forward and hooking his finger under my chin. His touch is electric—so decisive yet gentle. He tilts my face up. “This is very, very important. You need to hear everything I say to Leo. I’m going to move as quickly as I can to get downstairs. We’ll be by the front door, but if we have to move, follow me as best you can. If you feel like you can’t take it anymore, just extinguish the lights out front. When you do that, I’ll stop our conversation and come upstairs immediately. Okay?”
I nod. Then, he lowers his mouth to mine. For a single, breathless moment, we kiss.
Orfeo makes his way out of the booth and I lock the door behind him. I take a few steadying breaths, shake off my nerves, and settle back onto the seat.
I tap into the well of my power and unleash my extra sense. It comes undone, unwinding like a silk ribbon in my stomach. Cold and quick. The tingles in my extremities start, turning into a burn that builds and builds. Meanwhile, I focus my thoughts, blocking out all the noise around me and rendering my destination as best as I can in my mind’s eye.
The portico with its gingerbread trim.
The gas lamp sconces.
The blistering cold night air.
The edges of my consciousness warble, buckling under the weight of the supernatural forces around me. I brace down on myself, sucking in a deep breath. I focus my energy, collapse it into a single beam of power.
The smell of the river.
Leo’s broad frame.
Orfeo’s face.
I feel it. The pulling, the tearing, the lift off, and…
“You know I am in debt to Alfo,” Orfeo says, his voice foggy and distant. I try to steady myself, but my spirit sways like an unmoored boat.
