Page 56 of Bloody Temptations

The tour has keyed everyone else up—though they are desperately trying to keep their cool so they don’t get booted before the fun begins.

I’m right there with them, but I’m anxious too. Or maybe just overwhelmed. I cling to Kai as Matteus leads us to an alcove on the mezzanine level of the former ballroom-turned-nightclub and immediately retreats back to his duties.

The mezzanine circles the room, allowing a perfect view of the dance floor and bar below, already filled with vampires and their guests under the mirrorball and flashing lights. From our slightly raised position, I can finally see why Nikolo and Kai had been so explicit and plentiful in their warnings.

Because this place is explicit.

And plentiful.

It’s so thoroughly overwhelming to the senses that even Lusce has shut up for once. In his skimpy, metallic silver, retro space girl outfit, he looks a little silly plastered to Jax’s side like he is, stroking Jax’s bare chest. I don’t know if they are horny, or scared. Or both.

And zero judgement, because same. Hard same. Literally.

My eyes feel painfully wide when they drift over the crowd.

A vampire woman is dancing on her own, eyes closed, head thrown back in ecstasy, her arms circling in the air like she is calling on the Gods, her bare breasts and long skirt swaying with her rhythmic movements.

Two shirtless, body-builder type vampires feed from the thick neck of the minotaur between them.

A vampire couple dressed in antique fashions from at least a century ago, dance an equally antique dance in the middle of everything, completely heedless of everyone around them.

The more I look into the dark beyond the dance floor, the more the blurred, obscene shapes become clear. A vampire on their knees, feeding from the vein in a being's groin. The bare ass of another vampire as he appears to be fucking and feeding in the corner. The barest outline of a being under the skirts of another vampire in the long formal gowns of their own modern age.

Sensory overload and primitive, instinctual need has turned what began as nervous goosebumps into painful punctures of the skin. Unable to tear my gaze away, I reach out a hand blindly for Kai beside me on the small couch of our sanctuary. On top of it all, I can feel his eyes on me, and the weight of his anticipation.

He would have every right to reject me, but he doesn’t. Our fingers lace together and I feel like I finally have an anchor back to reality. He squeezes my hand, reassuring and firm.

“What do you think?” Kai leans against me to address the group at large.

“I don’t think I can think,” I mumble, when a vampire passes us holding three leashes in her hand. A thin male vampire and two other pretty, horned male beings follow her, her leashes attached to thick collars at their throat.

“No shit,” Bedeer breathes, pulling Jesminda tighter against him. She’s perched on his lap like a shield, which he probably needs. If I’m suffering from overwhelm, he’s probably close to drowning.

“I think I need a drink,” Willan’s voice is uncharacteristically dry. He stands up from the plush armchair he snagged, and snatches up the drink tickets Matteus left on the table. “Anyone else need one?”

Lusce and Jax are both far too eager to agree and join the masses writhing together on the dance floor.

“Someone should go with them.” I hint to Kai, nudging him with an elbow, because it really can’t be me right now and Nikolo is alternating between pointedly inspecting his nails and looking everywhere but at the three beings huddled excitedly at the alcove entry.

His forced passiveness is kind of pissing me off, to be honest. It’s extra annoying because he picked the matching armchair to Willan’s, which unfortunately puts him really close by, just on the other side of Kai seated on the end of the couch.

I don’t know what his problem is. Maybe he’s jealous because he doesn’t have all of Kai’s attention. Maybe he’s mad that we crashed their night out together. Maybe he just straight up doesn’t like me, and he’s being a dick to my friends by extension. But the more he acts like a pretentious jerk, the more I’m finding I don’t care what his actual problem is.

Naturally Kai, who isn’t a dick, picks up on the hint and gets up smoothly, snatching the drink tickets out of Willan’s hands. Once he’s grabbed everyone's drink orders the group disappears.

They seem to take all the energy from the alcove when they leave. I keep my eyes on the dance floor, trying to find them in the crush on their way to the bar, but it’s kind of a futile exercise. It’s still better than watching Bedeer and Jesminda make out. Or talking to Nikolo.

He’s looking at me, one leg crossed so his ankle rests on his knee. Considering his outfit, it’s quite a choice in seating position. Just another reason to not look in his direction, even if it’s starting to get really uncomfortable being watched like this.

“So what do you actually think?” Nikolo finally asks with what feels like judgement in his tone. Or maybe condescension? But I can’t tell if it’s real or I’m projecting my own insecurities, so I have to let it go.

I tear my eyes away from the crowd and my search for Kai at the small bar at the corner of the dance floor, flicking Nikolo a quick look. His impassive face does nothing to help me decide.

“It’s different. Definitely different from Bloody Temptations.”

“It is, isn’t it?” He looks me over, and it takes everything in me to not squirm or straighten my spine. I want to give him the same nothing that he gives me. I’m not as masterful as him, though. “I wonder if you are prepared for the reality of the situation when you leave the safety of your comfort zone.”

What in the everloving fuck does that mean? I swear, Willan is the only mage I’ve ever met who knows how to say what they mean without adding all the woo woo prophetic riddles to the conversation.

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