Page 57 of Wicked Deeds

Maia sidled up to me as Damon and Lia posed for photos. “The meet and greet is upstairs in the VIP area. We’ve done several sweeps. The guy you spoke to seems to be gone. Wego straight up there and then straight down to the car, once Damon’s done, got it?”

I nodded, and Maia settled into place behind me.

“Is something wrong?” Gwen asked.

“No, they’re always on high alert in crowds like this. It’s hard to predict what Damon’s fans will do.” I touched Gwen’s wrist, trying to reassure her. Decker’s was not one of the clubs that allowed illegal drugs, but there were plenty of legal stims that could make someone cross the line from fervent fan to dangerous in the blink of an eye. “It’s nothing you have to worry about. The team are pros and they’ve got this covered.”

She looked back at Maia, Jake, and Rufus standing behind us. “Three of them doesn’t seem enough.”

“There’s more than three of them. There are others upstairs, there are guys outside, plus all the Decker’s staff. You don’t have to worry, okay? Relax and enjoy the night. It’ll be a bit of a crush upstairs, but we can just hang back and grab a drink or whatever. Damon’s the one who has to press the flesh.”

“Is it always like this? So…crazy?”

“He doesn’t do a lot of smaller events like this these days. This is only because of the lead-up to the tournament. It’s great publicity. He does the rounds at a few of the big conventions, but that’s more keynotes than meet and greets these days. That only means when he does do one, it’s crazier than ever,” I admitted. “But mostly it’s not like this. We go to business things, fundraisers and galas and many long dinners with boring speeches. At those they’re more worried about playing power games with him than getting his autograph.”

She pulled a face. “Rather you than me.”

“Well,” I said, “it does have its perks. After all, I get Damon. But, yeah, it can be a lot. But then again my life isn’t always a bed of roses for him.”

“I guess not.”

Damon was descending the stairs off the side of the stage. He came over to us and bent down to kiss me quickly. I could tell he was riding the high of the game. He didn’t often get to play for the fun of it, and even though he was probably under some pressure tonight to win, I knew he loved when he got to play with his own creations and show them off to a bunch of people who appreciated the amount of hard work and genius that went into them.

“Congratulations,” I said when he set me free.

“You can congratulate me later,” he laughed.

“Oh, I will,” I said, slipping my hand in his. “Now I think the gang’s eager to get you upstairs so you can meet all your adoring fans.”

His smile slipped for a second. Short enough that no one else would notice. He was never rude to his fans, but I knew at times dealing with crushes of people like this was overwhelming for him, too.

“It’s not that many,” he said. “I think Alexei said fifty. Just a quick hello and a picture, and the team will move them on fast. We’ll be home before you know it.”

I squeezed his arm. “We’re fine. After all, there’s free booze, and I’m sure upstairs there’ll be some of those excellent snacky things they do.”

“Alexei knows how to throw a party.”

He turned to Maia. “Right. Let’s do this.”

She tapped her earpiece and muttered something under her breath, and two more of his security team appeared through the crowd. With one of them either side of us, two in front and two behind, we moved through the crowd easily enough. Once we reached the stairs, there was no one in our path.

Upstairs, the noise level fell considerably. Can’t have the VIPs annoyed by the masses.

One end of the room was set up for the meet and greet, with a backdrop of artwork fromSerenity Fallsand a couple of blinding photographic lights, along with a vidstream team and a photographer. The queue of excited Righteous fans were corralled behind a red velvet rope line.

Three of the guys accompanied Damon in that direction while Maia pulled Gwen and me over to a booth toward the back of the VIP space, mostly out of sight. “You and Gwen can wait here. Someone will come to take your orders if you want anything.” She scanned the crowd, screwed up her nose. “Fifty people, a couple of minutes each should be two hours at the most.”

Two hours was hardly short, but I hoped that she was right. It was going to be midnight before we got out of here at that rate. We retreated to the booth, which was covered in soft black leather. A trio of tiny brass lanterns sat in the center of the table, casting soft light. Larger versions of them hung above us. I settled back with a sigh and tapped the nearest lantern to summon the holomenu. One of the servers arrived at the table almost immediately. Gwen ordered chili fries and a salted yuzu margarita. I stuck to club soda and some sliders. Dinner felt like a long time ago and if we were going to be stuck here for two more hours, I wanted fuel.

The food arrived and we dug in. Gwen was full of questions aboutSerenity Falls, and I answered them as best I could. She’d almost finished the plate of chili fries when there was a crash of glass and a loud bang and something fell from the ceiling. Gwen cried out as it hit her, and then bounced, crashing to the floor, glass spraying everywhere.

Chapter Fifteen

I ducked instinctivelyat the sound of shattering glass but nothing hit me. I twisted back to Gwen. “Are you hurt?”

She gaped at me, eyes wide with shock. “What was that?” she said, her voice high and thin. She gasped, bending forward in pain.

I slid around the booth to get closer to her. “What’s wrong?”

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