Page 4 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

Phantom

I f the stomach thing was weird, the minute I put my stiletto-heeled sandal to the pavement was weirder.

I felt flush all over.

Right, this wasn’t good.

Was I having some sort of panic attack?

Before I could decide, Gayle encouragingly tucked her arm through mine, pulled me fully from the craft and forward while Cat waved something on her Palm unit at one of the doormales.

He jutted his chin to another doormale, who broke off and guided us down the pavement.

We followed, and as for my part, I did it deep breathing and concentrating on the chill autumn-is-right-around-the-corner air to help combat that weird flush.

Thankfully, this worked.

He stopped well down the pavement, standing against the glossy black exterior of the skyscraper where the Pink and Black Club took most of the lower floor (save the lobby). It was also rumored Prince Aleksei not only owned the building but had a penthouse at the top of it.

“First time?” the doormale queried.

Before Catla could pretend we were regulars (something she would do), Gayliliel piped up, “ Yes .”

He nodded. “ You’ll go in. To the left, check your units with the bot on duty. You’ll walk through a scanning tube. Any weapons, send, receive or recording units will be identified in the tube, so check them before you enter. If you don’t, you’ll be ejected from the club and banned from returning.”

We all nodded, unsurprised that rich people protected their safety and privacy at all costs.

He put his palm to the shiny black facade of the building and an until-then invisible panel shifted inward before it slid to the side.

Nifty.

“Enjoy your evenings, ladies,” he murmured as we trooped in.

I noticed, as Gayle moved at my side, he had his eyes aimed at her behind. This meant I further noticed he was fae, and he was hot.

Hmm.

The door sealed behind us in a manner that was mildly alarming, but Cat was already handing over her Palm to a bot standing behind a counter in an alcove to the side. I dug mine out of my shimmery pink evening bag, surprised that the bot on duty was not one of the more expensive humanoid ones.

Then again, the polished black metal that made up the body of the machine couldn’t be on theme if it looked like a human.

It took our Palms , scanning our left retinas for pickup purposes, then we headed into the tube, the blue and green lighting circling the five or so feet of it being the only lighting in the narrow space.

“One at a time,” the bot’s mechanical voice came at us as we moved as a group to the tube.

Cat, as ever, went first.

Gayle pushed me in next.

I lifted an already achy foot (these shoes were fabulous, but they were also torture devices) to step into the tube.

And I froze.

I did because a feeling made itself known in my chest. Like a feather fluttering. Almost imperceptible. But I felt it.

I felt it .

And I knew what that feeling was.

Longing and melancholy assailed me.

Gods.

After I got home from the hospital, I’d looked it up and learned there could be phantom sensations of your beast, even after it was gone.

There’d also been reports of a beast communicating with you, when that could no longer happen.

This occurred especially if you elected not to have its essence surgically removed after death, which I absolutely elected not to do.

She was lost to me, but I couldn’t let her go. Even after the staff at the hospital, regardless of my fragile state of mind, pressed very strongly for me to make the opposite decision, I refused.

Very few shifters made this choice, so truly, I was surprised how hard my doctor and nurse pushed it.

“Laura?” Gayle asked, concern in her voice.

Okay, I was freaking about being out in the world. I’d successfully avoided this by having food delivered and avoiding the Subterra and Monorails , instead springing for private crafts to take me when I hung out with Cat , Gayle , Monique (or any combo of the three).

Sometimes I’d have to hit a work meeting, but since the current gig I was on hadn’t started production yet, and wouldn’t for at least a few more weeks, I hadn’t had to worry too much about that.

I’d hit the corner shop, of course, but Mr . Tanugu was more of a father to me than my own, so that didn’t seem like a big adventure or any threat, but instead like going to my pop’s, having a gab at the same time buying bananas.

Therefore, this reaction was not a shocker. I should have planned for it. The last time I was out in the world, truly out in the world, I’d been brutally assaulted. So brutally, defying my control, my beast had torn out to defend me.

And she had died for me.

So of course, this wouldn’t be easy.

“You all right?” Catla inquired.

“Do not walk back through the tube,” the bot ordered. “ Forward only, into the club.”

“Just go,” I whispered to Catla . “ I’ve got this.”

Cat scanned my face. Then , wearing a worried expression, she glanced over my shoulder at Gayle .

“Go. Let’s get her a drink,” Gayle urged.

Cat nodded, and with one last study of me, she turned and moved through the tube.

I stepped into it and slowly did the same, that feather-flutter coming back, and getting stronger.

I loved it and hated it because I missed it with all that was me, but I knew it wasn’t back. It was just panic and an illusion.

By Lilith , this was torture.

The flush had also returned to my skin, and by the time I made the end of the tube, I felt short of breath.

Right.

What was wrong with me?

I was stronger than this, surely.

Yes, I was.

I squared my shoulders.

The club lay before me, and I wanted to take it in, but instinctively, I stepped aside so Gayliliel could join us, and my eyes went directly to a half-circle booth, the one dead center of a line of them that covered the back wall.

The lighting was dim, but I noted five people sitting in that booth.

The ones around the edges of the group were illuminated (two females, two males).

But the being at the back, I could only make out he was male (not to mention the well-cut suit on his obviously well-honed body), but I couldn’t make out his face. He was obscured by shadow.

I strained to see him, I just couldn’t.

However, I could make out the fact that his head was turned in my direction, and I could swear he was looking at me.

Actually, it felt like we’d locked eyes, and he couldn’t only see me, he could see inside me.

That was when every inch of my body started tingling.

By the gods, I was totally losing it.

I had to pull myself together.

With effort I wrenched my attention from that booth in order to scan the club.

This section of the P the bar stools that lined the bar; even the shelves of booze and mirrors behind the bottles of liquor.

Small , onyx-shaded lamp drones hovered over tables and above thoroughfares, genius in their placement and illumination.

Just enough to see, not enough to expose.

Most every seat was filled, the hum of conversation subdued, as if the entirety of the company was talking in whispers, but it wasn’t crowded.

It was elegant, refined, minimal yet sumptuous.

For a person with my disposition, it was so much better than the Pink Club , it was startling.

If it didn’t cost a fortune, I’d happily be here on the regular, chatting with my chicks, drinking fun drinks, and hoping Cat ran into someone she could love with all her heart, who loved her that way in return.

“I spy a couple of stools, let’s hit it,” Cat said, and forged along the plush soot carpeting under our feet, her trajectory: the bar.

I tried not to look to the booths as we moved, which probably cost more to reserve, which meant there were likely very rich, very famous, very aristocratic or (maybe!) very royal people sitting in them.

I was an avid people watcher and had a job where I was frequently around celebrities, so I’d honed my skills to such a point I’d take it as a personal fail if it came off as gawking.

Mostly, the sensation I felt when entering the club, more precisely from seeing that male at the back of it, had unnerved me, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to revisit that feeling.

Therefore, I focused on the fact that there were really no other shoes I could wear with this dress, but I still lamented wearing them. I’d barely been standing for fifteen minutes, and I wanted to unstrap them and donate them to the nearest resale pane.

Thus, when we hit the two open barstools, I eyed there being only two with a very unsisterlike intensity, because neither Cat nor Gayle were wearing footwear that was comfortable, and at that point, I might engage in physical combat to claim one.

“Take mine,” a deep voice said as a male slid off the stool next to one of the empty ones.

I looked up at an exceptionally handsome black-haired, black-eyed demon.

He smiled at me, and that was exceptionally handsome too.

On this thought, my stomach twisted so brutally, I nearly bent double with the pain.

“Lord of hellfire, you okay?” the male demon asked me, bending from his tall height to look into my face and reaching out, possibly to guide me to the stool he vacated, but before his hand even touched me, he murmured, “ Shit , the heat coming off you is mately.”

The pain had subsided, so I looked at him, bemused at his words. “ Sorry ?”

“Is your mate here?” he asked while glancing around.