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“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.

Once again, I feel like I’m facing a test I didn’t know I was going to be taking. I don’t even know what to say to the barb without sounding like a child, so I turn my back to him and pretend like he hadn’t skimmed far too close to the truth.

It’s been, what, like six weeks since Kai and I first kissed?

Six weeks of confusion and trying to keep my feelings under control.

Trying to keep myself from falling head first into the fantasy of it all.

Six weeks of fearing that it’s all going to be ripped out from under my feet.

Six weeks of trying to wrap my head around how I managed to fall ass backwards into this situation in the first place.

Six weeks of waiting for Kai to come to his senses and ghost me.

If I thought knowing how to say hello was complicated, I was completely unprepared for the possibilities of this place, and being here with Kai .

While we came here together, we technically did come separately as two separate groups.

Does that mean that he’s here with me? Or are we just here together?

What if he finds someone else that he wants to hook up with while he’s here?

He’s never been short of options before, and I doubt it’s going to be any different here.

At the end of the day, they did plan this trip on their own originally and they probably had a reason for that. If I try to stop him from being with someone else, would that mean it’s over for us? For our friendship, I mean.

He technically doesn’t owe me anything. And even if we were together, he’s never outright said he’s monogamous. He grew up with three dads, after all. Not that that necessarily means he’s polyamorous—or that it’s a bad thing if he is. It’s just not for me.

If we were in a relationship that is.

Which we aren’t.

Gods’ tits, why have we never discussed anything? At all?

Well, I know why I haven’t. I’ve spent six weeks trying to not spook him into realising what he’s doing.

But why hasn’t he? Does he just assume that I know all these rules? Because I thought I was pretty explicit about me being clueless about everything.

Nikolo doesn’t say anything, he just watches me spiral, with that neutral look on his face. Only, it’s looking a little less neutral. Maybe he has a heart after all, because I think—if I squint very carefully—I can see the tiniest sliver of sympathy in his eyes.

It must’ve been a trick of the light.

Where are those drinks ? I need one, pronto. Anything to help me shut up my own stupid head.

I can’t see the four of them out on the dance floor, or in the line for the bar. But whoa , I can see something else .

In the middle of the dance floor a fae-looking being is wrapped in the arms of a vamp.

Technically, I think they are dancing, but the fae’s arms and legs are wrapped entirely around the vamp, humping impressively against their waist. Impressive because the vampire is a good foot shorter than the fae and scrawny to boot.

The vampire's mouth is very obviously attached to the fae’s neck, while they sway to the music.

“I thought you guys said that this wasn’t an orgy?” I ask Nikolo, tipping my head in the direction of the couple.

He shrugs haughtily, flipping the tight coils of his hair over his shoulder. “I hardly think two people enjoying themselves on the dance floor counts as an orgy. Kai and I have certainly had our fair share of fun out there.”

Jealousy flares and he clocks the burst of emotion on my face with interest before he tips his head in the direction of the couple doing it in the dark. Two security guards have come to break them up, probably to send them to the private rooms.

When I look back over my shoulder at Nikolo he has an eyebrow raised, as if to say “see?” and I decide I’m done talking to him. Thankfully, the others return, rescuing me from Nikolo.

“Man, this place is nuts. I can’t wait to get out there, see what happens.” Lusce claps his hands, rubbing them together excitedly.

“Everything okay here?” Kai asks quietly, bumping my shoulder when he sits down, nearly right on top of me. With him back by my side, the vicious thoughts recede to nothing but nagging whispers.

“Yeah, no problem.” I take a quick drink of the blood he passes me, relishing in the much needed blood and the way Kai watches my mouth with painfully hungry eyes.

“Good. You better drink up. Gotta stay hydrated. It’s important.

For things.” A giddy thrill skitters through my veins with his ramble, his eyes tracking the bob of my throat when I swallow.

He licks his lips and then, like he’s trying to hold himself back, his fangs dig into the slickened, plump flesh.

Fuck, I wish they’d sink into me. Feeding off each other last weekend, my teeth and my cock deep inside him, was the single hottest experience of my life.

I have replayed the night a thousand times at least this week, but nothing compares to the real thing.

Hopefully we can do it all over again before dawn.

“Right, clock is ticking,” Jax declares, eyes not leaving the dance floor and throwing back his drinks. “Let’s get this party started!”

We all cheer back at him—well, not Nikolo, but he’s an asshole—and the orc leads the charge down to the dance floor.

In the short time it takes us to get down the steps, it feels like the number of beings on the floor has doubled. Nikolo is immediately a lost cause, blowing Kai a kiss and telling him not to wait up before disappearing from sight.

Willan watches him go with a stony face, but as soon as Nikolo’s golden curls are chewed up by the crowd he loosens up and gets into it.

We dance all together as a group. It’s too crowded to dance in a circle, so it’s more of a huddle.

Kai obviously loves to dance, throwing himself into the music with enthusiasm. He looks fucking good doing it too. It’s like his body is made of sex itself. He dances with me, he dances on his own, he dances with my friends, with Lusce taking absolute advantage of the situation to rub all over him.

The thing is, when Lusce does it, it’s funny. When the other beings in the club do it, it takes everything in me to swallow my feelings, the harsh reality check Nikolo delivered earlier haunting me .

It’s around eleven when I decide to have a double shot of something called the Assassin to take the edge off.

It works. Maybe too well. Definitely too well after my second Assassin. Maybe because I got myself a double.

By the third double shot of the lethal concoction, I don’t have a care in the world. How can I when I’m surrounded by my friends and Kai, and I have such a fun, tingly buzz in my fingers and toes.

Willan insists on walking me back to the bar, trying to order me a straight blood, but when he’s distracted by something, I manage to stand straight enough to convince the bartender to give me another Assassin.

The silly vamp even winks and calls me “cutie” when he slides it across the bar top to me.