Page 5 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

My attention immediately went to the booth, now directly across from where I was standing. I vaguely noticed the people in it were sliding out, all but that one male who was sitting dead center at the back.

I still couldn’t see his face in the shadows, but I could see the breadth of his shoulders, which were astonishingly wide, and considering my vocation, I noted again the cut of his suit, which was superb.

I could also feel his pull.

Whoever he was, he was somebody. Somebody important. Somebody magnetic.

Gods, maybe he was even the prince.

The prince was tall. He had very wide shoulders. He’d have reason, even in an exclusive club, to hide himself in the shadows.

And he always wore impeccably tailored suits.

“She doesn’t have a mate,” Gayle said, helping me hike my rear on the stool.

Once settled, I gazed up at the demon, who’d had a fae friend, with thick, leonine hair and lilac eyes, join him to stand in front of us.

“ Just to make you being kind enough to give me your seat even more awkward, I haven’t been out in a while because of some…

life stuff. And I’m not really a going-out type of person anyway.

So I think my body’s just having some difficulty getting into the swing of things again.

That’s some TMI when I don’t even know your name, but I’d rather TMI than you thinking I’m weird. ”

Okay, so, maybe I’d rather him think I was weird than blurting semi-personal stuff two minutes into not quite meeting the guy.

Ugly side effect of being shy number one: you often blathered stupid things that made you seem weird.

Side effect of blathering stupid things that made you seem weird: in order not to put yourself in this excruciating position, you became a homebody.

He grinned again, my stomach reacted with a pinch again, but fortunately not as strong this time, and he said, “ Honesty is never too much. And we’ll rectify part of that. I’m Bash .” He gestured to his friend. “ This is Tay .”

Cat inserted herself into the conversation, thank the gods.

“That’s Laura , this is Gayle , and I’m Cat .”

“Ladies,” Tay’s deep voice rumbled over us.

“Drinks?” a bartender asked.

We all twisted to order, and of course I asked for my one of my usuals, a pink fizz.

“On my line,” Bash said to the bartender, putting our drinks on his credit line.

“That was kind, but not necessary,” I said softly.

“I disagree,” Bash replied, matching my tone.

Right, this male seemed kinda lovely.

“So what do you all do?” Tay asked.

I wasn’t in the zone for a hookup, and Bash seemed nice, and he was very easy to look at, so I announced, “ Cat manages the Tempera Gallery downtown.”

Both Bash and Tay turned right to her.

“Seriously?” Tay asked.

Cat executed a move that was something else in her repertoire I envied, preening without looking like she was preening.

“Yeah,” she confirmed.

“So you’re the one who cornered Terrinton for the first-ever showing he’s attended that’s happening next week,” Bash noted, not hiding his interest.

Cat shrugged with faux humility. “ Guilty .”

“Impressive,” Tay said.

Cat sent him a dazzling smile (in case you’re keeping track, yup, I was also covetous of her dazzling smile).

I watched under my lashes to see if Bash was dazzled.

It was as if he felt my gaze, and he looked right at me.

“And what do you do?” he queried.

Damn, not dazzled by Cat .

But maybe, against all that was right in the world, dazzled by me.

I struggled for words that would make what I did sound a lot less interesting than it was, when Gayle , having a different goal entirely, answered for me.

“Have you seen Sheets or The Sunny Glade or Rumors and Tremors ?” Gayle asked him.

“All three,” Bash answered her while watching me.

Gayle hooked a thumb my way. “ Laura was the lead costume designer of all those vids. She also did all four seasons of Rain and Pavements . Got nominated for an award for that. And she got another nod for The Sunny Glade .”

“I lost,” I said swiftly. “ Both times.” I then leaned forward to look around Gayle , who was sitting next to me, to Cat . “ It seems these guys are interested, so maybe you have a couple more invites for the Terrinton showing?”

“We have room. I can certainly add a few names,” Cat purred.

“That’d be fantastic,” Tay said.

“Are you going?” Bash asked me.

“Actually,”—shit!—“yes.”

Tay seemed into Cat , when Bash needed to be into Cat , and Tay should be into Gayle , not because they were both fae, but because, clearly, I could barely handle a night out at a club. I didn’t need to be flirting or fielding requests for dates or actually making dates.

If I couldn’t walk into a bar without nearly fainting, what would happen if I had to go out to dinner with a male?

I’d been looking forward to the Terrinton exhibit.

His art was wild, but I loved it. As such, my personal goal in coming out tonight had been an attempt at cutting my teeth so next week I wouldn’t do something foolish, like bow out of the hottest ticket in town (outside the Midnight Masque at the Palace that was, which I would never get an invitation to, though Cat was going), vomit on a hot male’s shoes or pass out at the feet of the great and mysterious Terrinton .

“Digi-post?” Bash called to the bartender.

The bartender slid a digital memo card on the bar between Gayle and me. Apparently , without being allowed our ’tronics, that was how you shared deets when you met someone you wanted to meet again outside the club. A nice little bonus, since those cards didn’t come cheap.

Bash reached for it, and as he did, his fingers brushed my upper arm.

I jumped when he jerked his hand back, hissed sinisterly, and his black eyes glowed red.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

His eyes remained red as he scowled at me and accused, “ You’ve got a mate.”

Was he crazy? Why on earth would he say that?

“I—” I began to deny it.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but it isn’t fucking cool,” he growled.

“I—” I started again.

I got no further that time because we heard an officious, “ Gentlemales . Ladies .”

Tay and Bash stepped aside, and a human male with dark, thinning hair, a slim mustache across his upper lip, a slightly shorter than average stature, and a barrel chest, wearing a splendidly cut suit locked his attention on me.

“You are Laura Makepeace , shifter,” he declared, like I didn’t know that.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“The prince requests your presence at his table.”

Ummmmmmmm…

Every molecule in my body stopped moving and my throat got tight, both of these things good as, because of the first, my gaze didn’t dart to the booth at the back, and the second, I didn’t release a scream.

After a very long, very heavy moment of pure shock, I had to force the word “ What ?” out.

“Prince Aleksei requests your presence at his table.” He paused, glanced through my company, and came back to me. “ Now .”

“Go,” Gayle wheezed, clearly having the same difficulty I did with this stunning turn of events.

She added shoving me off the stool.

Bash swiftly sidestepped me touching him in any way, but I noted this only distractedly as the barrel-chested man had begun sauntering through the seating area toward the booths, doing this like he owned the place.

Precisely—yep, you guessed it—he was heading for the center booth where now only one male sat, his wide shoulders seeming impossibly wider, his attention, even if his face was still hidden in shadow, I knew was on me.

There was no feathery flutter in my chest as I moved behind the human.

No.

Instead, it felt like my beast was there, alive, real, tugging me forward like a happy puppy on a leash, yearning to tear out of my chest and gallop across the space to the prince.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay .

What was happening?