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“I’ll buy the next round of drinks,” he stated, looking away from me with an ease I found off-putting.
I blinked and did the same, confused by my reaction. Was this some kind of side effect? I wondered how everyone else was feeling right about now. Bellatrix seemed kinda hazy and overly happy, but otherwise fine while Amber was drunk and high in her own world.
Alex and Jacob had hit the dance floor almost immediately, leaving Tyson, Collin, and Sasha at the table we’d managed to claim.
The line moved again, and we stepped forward along with it. I counted six people in total still ahead of us. This wait was killing me, I didn’t want to be in one place. I wanted to dance or run around the room, anything other than standing still.
Malachi moved so that he was in my direct line of sight the moment I glanced in that direction again.
“Impatient?” he asked with a slight smile.
“Yes, extremely.”
“What are you drinking?” Nico asked.
“Um, apple…?” I poked my sister in the side, causing her to giggle. “Which drink are we on?”
She looked confused, laying her head on my shoulder like I’d done to her minutes before.
“It all tastes the same. Can’t we pick at random? It’s fruit.”
“Really?” Amber questioned drunkenly.
I didn’t know what to make of that. All I could do was laugh at how completely out of her mind she was. Bellatrix lifted her head and spoke directly in my ear.
“Does this stuff make people dumb?”
“Trix!”
Nico’s low laugh sent a shiver rolling down my spine. “I know what to get.”
He walked right up to the bar, swerving around the people standing right in front of us.
None of them uttered a single protest. Bartenders nearly fell over themselves in their haste to get to him.
“Wow,” Amber slurred, angling her body towards Malachi. “Do you guys have connections?”
“You could say that,” he replied tersely. His accent was just as thick as his brothers', but the gravelly undertone wasn’t as intense and held a hint of huskiness.
Nico returned in what felt like a matter of seconds with a table number in his hand. “They will bring the drinks to us.”
“Oh, okay…” I hadn’t realized they did that unless you were ordering food. “So, we don’t have to stand in this line anymore?”
“Never again,” Malachi answered.
Nico grabbed hold of my hand and began leading me away from the bar. I couldn’t open my mouth to object.
Part of me didn’t want to, the other was lost in a sea of calm the second he applied a slight amount of pressure.
Mindlessly, I reached back and grabbed my sister’s wrist to make sure we didn’t get separated. Nico seemed to know exactly where to go. The crowd parted like the red sea, moving out of our way as if in a trance like state
I spotted our table at the same time a perspiring Alex spotted us. He saw who we were with and all but slapped Jacob in the head to get his attention.
“I thought you hated tourists?” he yelled when we were close enough to hear him.
“I don’t remember ever telling you that,” Malachi retorted. Like his brother, he had a voice that carried with disbelieving ease over all the sounds surrounding us.
Amber broke away from our huddle and swayed her way to the table.
“I think we need to get you back to the room,” Sasha observed with a laugh.
“Why? I feel great!”
Bellatrix moved from behind me and went to assist her the rest of the way.
Malachi stepped forward, lightly touching my side as he moved closer to me and his brother. He smelled good too, like spice and something woodsy. His head slowly swiveled, taking in everyone gathered at the table.
“Is this the full group?”
“The boy is missing,” Nico answered.
“If I can’t handle that much, I’ve lost my touch,” Malachi.
Boy? I looked around and finally noticed Collin wasn’t there. Not understanding what they were talking about and unable to make myself care, I remained lax, allowing Nico to keep hold of my hand.
“Are you two joining us?” Jacob asked.
He continued to move his upper body to the beat of the music, as if he were oblivious to Nico and Malachi’s private conversation.
“You’re not worth any of my time.”
Malachi laughed and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t be rude, Nico.”
“That was a compliment.” He forced the table number into Malachi’s front pocket and then turned towards me, still holding onto my hand.
“Angeline.” My name rolled off his tongue as if it were a rare delicacy. “Come with me.”
A softly spoken, firm command, sunk into a deep recess of my brain. With a magnetism, I couldn’t defuse my body began to move closer to his. He smiled slightly and said something to Malachi I couldn’t hear before leading me away from my friends.
There wasn’t a trace of panic or desire to protest.
