Page 166 of Dark Souls

“Just water,” I said, and he nodded. When he placed it on the bar, I noticed the way his hand trembled before he quickly hid it by picking up a bar towel and wringing it through his fingers. I peered over my shoulder at the chaotic scene behind me.

“Have you worked forThe Undergroundfor a while?” I asked, pulling his gaze back to mine.

“Few years. Just bartending events at this club when needed,” he answered quickly, peering down before I could read whatever was going through his mind.

“This is the first time I’ve been to Fright Night,” I admitted. His attention remained focused on the glass he was washing in the sink. “Is it always this… anarchic? Is it just me or do members seem less controlled this evening?”

His purple eyes snapped up to mine. “No. Tonight’s a mess. If I were you, I’d leave if this isn’t your vibe.”

‘Hell, this is the last time I agree to work at this bar if The Dealer is truly gone.’

My chest tightened, trying to contain my pounding heart when I read his inner thoughts.

“Oh,” I sat down on a bar stool. “Then what’s so different about tonight?”

He lowered his voice, his eyes darting around nervously. “We are under new management.”

“New management?” I raised my eyebrows, acting only slightly surprised and more intrigued. “You don’t say? The Devil sold this place?”

He shook his head. “There’s a new Dealer.”One that isn’t capable or feared enough to keep these assholes in check. One that is more concerned with his own pleasure and has already let the power go to his head, so much so that tonight is going to be a complete shit show.

“What happened to the old one?” I asked, keeping my voice naturally calm and showing only a hint of curiosity when inside I was close to a heart attack. He wasn’t dead. I’d feel it through the bond if he was. The painful ache that had made itself a home under my rib cage was an indication of our separation, but I could still feel the bond between us. He was alive.

The warlock shrugged his shoulders and moved on to a new customer that had just leaned against the bar. I sipped my water, scanning the room once again for any sign of Wesley and trying to fight the panic that was rising. The ticking of an invisible clock in my head that resonated with every pounding beat of my heart was a constant reminder to me that my soulmate was truly about to lose his life. If The Devil had replaced him and made it known among the staff and members, there really was no coming back.

Who would he replace him with? Who would he trust enough to put in charge tonight? Surely, it had to be his nephew? I had to create a dramatic scene that would get me taken to The Dealer. But what? Immoral and horrific acts were being performed everywhere I looked. Racking my brains to think of a plan, I remembered tonight’s only rule. No violence towards other members.

I stared at the booth Sammi was still sitting in on the other side of the room. Alpha Hugo no longer had a woman between his legs but was now in deep conversation with another male member, completely ignoring her. I chewed on my lower lip. Maybe there was a way I could help her and get myself noticed by The Dealer. She would hate me for it but if it saved her from this asshole, then so be it.

Strutting across the room, I put everything into the sway of my hips, firmly placing my most provocative smile upon my face and demanding the perverted attentions of any straight man I passed. Alpha Hugo sensed my presence coming his way. His dark gaze from his only good eye drifted up my body as he leaned away from the man he was talking to and licked his lips. I purposely ignored the vicious glare coming from Sammi as I approached her man, not bothering with words and instead, lifted one leg over his thighs and plonked myself down on his lap.

Sorry, Mum and Dad for what you are about to witness through the hidden camera on my corset. But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

His lips kicked up into a sideways smirk as he hummed appreciatively when my nails travelled up his thick, hairy forearms and over his black shirt to his shoulders.

“Well, hello there,” he husked.

I leaned forwards into his chest, allowing my tits to brush against his hard pecs and whispered against the shell of his ear, “There is just something about a man with an eye patch that sends me absolutely feral. Violence. I love it. You are someone who clearly knows how to survive a deadly fight, even if it means losing an eye. I saw you across the room and I knew… you had to be mine tonight.”

He groaned, shifting his hips up beneath me to show just how much my words were affecting him. I sat back on his lap, grinding against him and ignoring the painful itch that crawled across my skin at being so intimately close to a man who wasn’t my mate.

“Is that right?” he questioned as his huge hands dug into my hips. His mind raced with depraved sexual fantasies of what he’d like to do to me as mine did the same, except my fantasies were of the deadly kind. Of all the wicked ways I could kill him.

I nodded, allowing my fangs to dig into the plump flesh of my lower lip as my eyes hooded. “Tell me how it happened… how you lost your eye? Make me fucking wet, Alpha.”

My fingers roamed over his shirt, playing with the buttons flirtatiously as I subtly moved my hips, grinding against his growing erection.

“You heard of The Dealer of this club? The vampire with no humanity?” His tone was dark and low as I continued to rock against him, my hips moving with every scandalous beat of the music.

“Yes,” I moaned, my fingers digging into his shoulders enough to cause a little pain. “He took your eye?”

Hugo scoffed. “He tried. But he was no match for me. Barely recognisable when I’d finished with him. That’s the reason he’s not here tonight. It’s the reason they had to find someone else to organise this event.”

‘Oh, you fucking liar.’

“Wow, you won against The Dealer? So I have the most dangerous man in this club between my legs?” I cocked my head to the side as he grinned.

Sammi scoffed, shaking her head with disgust as I turned my attention to her. Her eyes narrowed on me just as Alpha Hugo’s hand snapped out and grabbed her jaw, yanking her aggressively towards him. “Something you want to say, Sammi?”