Page 266 of Enemies

My shock and joy are overshadowed by dismay. Tonight, something thrilling is going down, but if we do our jobs, something dangerous will follow. “You guys can’t be here.”

“I get it, the club is sold out. I can get us in,” Beck says, smirking.

“As usual, Hollywood misses the point.”

I turn to see Ash jog down the stairs.

“Ash! Tell them they can’t be here.”

He cocks his head at me. “Well, they are.” He cuts a look at my friends. “Quiz: What would stop you from seeing Raegan’s show tonight? Warning from a mysterious oracle?”

Annie shakes her head, Elle snorts, Tyler frowns, and Beck lifts a brow.

“How about plague of locusts? Pestilence? Nothing?” Ash grins, grabbing my shoulder before I shove him off. “Sounds like they’re staying.”

27

RAE

By the time I head to La Mer, I’m so amped up I could explode.

“Don’t worry about us,” Annie insists. “The nanny is looking after the baby here. We’ll be over in a car closer to the start time of your show.”

I hug each of my friends in turn.

Toro insists on driving me, and Harrison holds the back door.

“What are you doing?” I ask as he shifts inside.

“Going with you.”

I’m grateful to have his presence.

We drive over in silence. There’s so much to be said, but given the amount of our relationship devoted to banter and argument, the quiet is too precious to break.

When we arrive, Harrison kisses me hard. I don’t think he’s going to let me go, but finally he pulls back.

“I’ve got your back. We all do,” he murmurs against my lips.

I nod.

At the back entrance, I get out. My security followed us in another car, and they come with me.

I’ve always wanted to be here, and now I am. The club is huge and empty, but as we wind through the halls, it occurs to me that tonight it’s mine.

Not Mischa’s, not even Harrison’s.

You can’t buy a feeling. Can’t own an emotion.

No matter what happens beyond the dance floor, I can give the people on it everything I am.

The prep is a blur. I catch Eva’s eye once, in the hall outside the green room, but don’t see Mischa.

I get on stage as the lighting tech cuts everything to black.

There’s nothing but the energy of the crowd. A pulsing, throbbing beat.

It’s my heart.

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