Club Nexus (Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective) (5 page)

“Nothing that bad,” he said.  “Just kid stuff.  Plus, that
was the old Puck.  I’m a reformed sinner.”

“What made you change your ways?” I asked.

Crap, it sounded like I was flirting, but I was actually
curious.  In my experience, guys didn’t change much, even when they wanted you
to think they would.  How many times had I heard, “I’ll stop cheating, I
promise” from one of my exes?  But maybe when a guy lived for centuries there
was room for change—maybe being the operative word.

“Everything changed after Oberon left court,” he said, face
darkening.  His gaze seemed to turn inward for a moment until he shook his head
and shrugged.  “But that’s ancient history.”

I
had
heard of Oberon, the king of the Seelie court,
and how the king and queens of Faerie had disappeared from their courts
hundreds of years ago, but I didn’t have time to consider Puck’s comment.  A
new song started and Ivy gave me an encouraging thumbs-up sign from over Puck’s
shoulder.  I rolled my eyes and looked around for Forneus.  Not that I really
cared what he was doing or anything.  I was just curious, that’s all.

“Oh, wow, Jinx loves this song,” she said.  “Don’t you
Jinx?”

I nodded wondering what Ivy was playing at, since I’d never
heard music like this in my entire life.  Puck scraped a hand through his fly
away curls and flashed a smile from beneath long lashes.

“Care to dance?” he asked.

The faerie held out his hand and I hesitated.  I’d wanted to
dance, but Puck wasn’t really my type.  I looked around, trying to think of an
excuse to put him off, when my eyes fell on Forneus.  He hadn’t gone far and
was now watching me and Puck with a frown marring his lips.  On impulse, I
grabbed Puck’s hand and slid from the barstool.

“I’d love to,” I said.  “Ivy, you’ll be okay here?”

I dropped my crossbow onto the barstool I’d just vacated,
since I didn’t plan to shoot anyone on the dance floor.  I might as well leave
Ivy with the extra arsenal, just in case.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, waving me off.  “Go, have fun.”

I pulled Puck toward the dance floor, letting my hips sway
as I sashayed away from the bar and Forneus, just in case the demon was still
watching.  I glanced over my shoulder to smile at Puck and could have sworn his
face held the sly, hungry look of a fox in a henhouse.  But strobe lights
flashed on and off and the look was gone as if I’d imagined it.  I probably
had.  Obsessing over Forneus was making me crazy.

Even preoccupied with demon watching, I couldn’t help but
notice that Puck was a popular guy.  Male and female faeries flirted as we
waded through their intricate dances and more than one vamp whispered something
about ice.  Maybe Puck worked here tending bar or waiting tables?  If so, he
was obviously off duty and gave each vamp the brush off, mentioning something
about pleasure before business.  It didn’t take him long to get down to his
idea of pleasure on the dance floor.

“So, Jinx,” Puck said, pressing close.  “Is that your True
Name?”

He stroked the inside of my palm in slow circles with his
thumb and I dropped his hand to adjust my dress—without much success.  It was
like trying to toss away a booger tissue; the damn thing just wouldn’t let go.

Puck mashed himself between my hips, swaying to the music
and pulling me along with him.  He cupped my ass with sweaty hands and pulled
me close enough to know he was interested in more than dancing.  I figured we
were giving Forneus quite the show, which had been my intent, but now that we
were on the dance floor, I felt the urge to flee.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was
something about Puck that set off my internal bullshit-meter.  I just wasn’t
buying his harmless kid act, and I was pretty sure his groping wasn’t due to
inexperience.  With the bruises from Hans’ temper still visible every damn time
I washed off my makeup, I was on high alert for abusive asshole warning signs. 
And Puck squeezing my ass?  Yeah, he was making me wish I’d brought my crossbow
onto the dance floor after all.

“No, but all my friends call me Jinx,” I said.

I tried to force a smile and bat my eyelashes.  Let the faerie
creeper think I was a dull-witted human.  I was only going to finish out this
one dance and then tell him to get lost.  I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell
him my real name; I wasn’t stupid.  There’s power in a name, especially for
stalkers and magic wielding fae.

“Well, you can call me Robby,” he said.

Puck, or Robby, or whatever bent down and I watched his lips
descend toward me like two bloated worms.  Oh hell no.  This had gone way too
far.  I was not kissing this guy.

I sucked in rapid puffs of air and belched.  Puck frowned
and I pulled away, one hand flying to my mouth.  I placed my other hand on my
stomach and blushed.

“I am so sorry!” I said.  “Wow, how embarrassing.  I should
never drink beer.  Do you think we could go sit down?  I don’t feel so good.”

Actually, now that the faerie creeper wasn’t trying to kiss
me, I felt just fine.  The belching was a childhood trick.  I’d been able to
suck in air and belch the ABCs better than all the neighborhood boys.  Who knew
it would come in handy getting rid of a faerie?

“Sure,” he said, smile returning to his face.  “Let me buy
you a proper drink.  No beer.”

He guided me back to the bar, his hand on my ass.  I didn’t
want a drink, but if it got us off the dance floor, I could turn him down at
the bar.

“Back so soon?” Ivy asked.

“Your friend wasn’t feeling well,” Puck said, reaching over
the bar and grabbing a bottle of vodka.  I could hear the sound of liquid
pouring into a glass and he turned around holding a drink out toward me. 
“Here, this will help settle your stomach.”

I’d never heard of vodka settling a person’s stomach and was
trying to come up with a way to politely turn down the drink when Ivy solved
the problem for me.

“Cheers!” she exclaimed.

She crashed her glass into the one in Puck’s hand, knocking
the contents to the floor.

“Oopsie,” she said, listing precariously on her barstool.

“How much have you had to drink?” I asked, moving toward my
friend.  Ivy hardly ever drank, she was too much of a control freak to get
sloppy drunk, but she certainly looked wasted now.

“Just a few drinks,” she said, flashing a silly grin.  “I
love you guys!”

Ivy opened her arms wide—considering her touch phobia, if
she tried to give us a hug, she was drunk for sure—and fell off her stool onto
the vodka soaked floor.  Puck glared back and forth between me, Ivy, and the
broken glass, his hands clenching fitfully.

“Um, sorry, Robby,” I said.  “Looks like I better get my
friend home.  Thanks for the dance.”

“Wait, we never had that drink,” he said, his frown again
eclipsed by that dimpled smile mask.

“Rain check,” I said, pasting on a false smile of my own.

He shrugged.

“Sure,” he said.  “I have business to attend to.  Some other
time.”

He flapped his hand in dismissal and walked away, heading
toward one of the vampires who’d approached us on the dance floor.

“You okay?” I asked, turning back to my vodka soaked
friend.  I shook my head.  She was a mess.  “We better get you out of here. 
Good thing you wore pants, or Kaye would be picking glass out of your butt
tonight.”

Ivy stayed on the floor, watching Puck through the curtain
of her hair.

“I’m not drunk,” she whispered.

Puck handed something to the vamp and moved on, making his
way to a door at the end of the bar.  When he was out of sight, Ivy stood and
brushed off her jeans.  She grimaced at the wet denim, grabbed two small, wooden
stakes from her belt, pulled her hair up into a tight twist, and used the
stakes to secure her hair at the back of her head.  Crap, I knew that habit. 
It was what she did just before weapons training.  I had a feeling we’d just
stumbled on a case.  Ivy was gearing up for a fight.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I watched Puck dose your drink,” she said.

Now Ivy’s drunken act made sense.  If she hadn’t knocked the
glass to the floor, I might have taken a sip.

“Why would a faerie want to ruffie me?” I asked.  “Can’t
they just use their magic powers, or something?”

“Yes, but I imagine using that kind of magic wouldn’t go
unnoticed and is against the club rules,” she said.  “He’d need you to
willingly go with him somewhere away from the watchful eyes of club security.”

I shuddered, remembering the key in Puck’s hands as he went
through the back door.

“Somewhere like a locked storeroom?” I asked, not liking
where this was going.

“Who knows how long he’s been going around drugging girls,”
Ivy said through clenched teeth.  “If there’s a chance he’s done this before,
there could be girls like us who he’s drugged in that back room.  I’m not
leaving without checking it out.”

“What about club security?” I asked.  “Can’t we just tip
them off?”

 “We have no proof,” Ivy said.  Ivy poked at the shards of
glass with her boot, scowling at the floor.  The alcohol had already evaporated,
probably taking any evidence of drugs with it.  “And faeries take things like
honor and reputation very seriously.  If we falsely accuse Puck without solid
evidence, we could be up on charges of slander.  I don’t even think our demon
attorney friend could help us then.”

I looked around for Forneus, but the demon was nowhere in
sight.  Leave it to the jerk to take off right when he might have been useful.

“Okay, so what do you suggest?” I asked, slinging my
crossbow over my shoulder.

“I want to check out that back room,” she said.  “But if you
don’t want to come with me, I can ask Torn to walk you out.  He’s around here
somewhere.  I saw him flirting with a nymph not long ago.”

“No way,” I said, hands on my hips.  “I’m going with you. 
It could have been me in that back room.  I want to help.  But, you know,
Torn’s your ally.  Couldn’t you ask him to come with us?  He’s useful in a
fight and we have no idea what to expect behind that door.”

Ivy ran a gloved hand over her face and sighed.

“You’re right,” she said.  “He’ll probably refuse, but it
wouldn’t hurt to ask.  Wait here.  I’ll be right back.”

I nodded and Ivy took off, using her faerie quickness and
agility to flit through the thickening crowd.  I soon lost sight of my friend
and turned my attention to the door that Puck had gone through earlier.  I
watched a vampire leave the bar and swagger toward the door.  He was wearing
snakeskin boots, dark jeans, and a black fedora.  Holding my breath, I moved
further down the bar, hoping for a glimpse into the room beyond.

A beautiful, blue-skinned faerie upended a shot glass of
something dark amber onto an armful of linens and raced over to the door.  The
vampire scowled, but held the door for the faerie who rushed inside.  The vamp
followed close at her heels, the door snapping shut behind him.

I was trying to figure out how to get inside that locked
door when my jaw dropped open.  Forneus strode forward and tried to push a key
into the lock.  How the heck did the demon get a key?  Was he part of this
whole date rape drug thing?  If he was, I had a holy water dipped crossbow bolt
with his name on it.

He seemed to be having trouble with the key.  I moved even
closer as he focused on the lock.  A tiny flame rose from Forneus’ index finger
and he touched it to the lock.  This time when he tried the key, the door
opened.  The door was at the wrong angle for me to see inside, but I figured
that meant whoever was behind the door couldn’t see me either.

I leapt at the door as it swung shut, grasping the door knob
just before the lock could click.  I let out a shaky breath, wondering what I
should do next.  Ivy would be here soon, hopefully with Torn in tow, and I
should probably wait.  But the thought of Forneus taking advantage of some
poor, drugged girl clouded my vision.

I slipped through the doorway, pulled a stake from my bag,
and used it to keep the door wedged open.  Ivy would recognize the weapon, and
would know I was inside.  At least, that was the plan.  She could just think it
was a chunk of wood.

I shook my head and pressed my lips together.  No, Ivy was
good at finding people—it’s what she does.  She’d be able to read the clues and
figure out where I’d gone.  I turned away from the sliver of light coming from
the bar and blinked into the darkness.  I slung my crossbow from my shoulder,
pushed off the safety, and stepped quietly into the room.

I stubbed my toe on a metal rack and banged my shin on a
wooden crate, but I stifled the urge to cry out.  I was used to bumps and
bruises, but I hoped like hell that none of the cuts had drawn blood.  I knew
of at least one vamp who had come through this way, and there could be more
below.  Heck, there could be a whole nest of bloodsuckers down there.

I wiped clammy hands down the front of my dress and picked
my way through the darkness.  I focused on getting to the stairway that I’d
glimpsed when I’d first opened the door.  Too bad reaching the stairs wasn’t
much improvement.  In fact, it was pretty freaking terrifying.

I stared down from the landing, but it was black as bat
wings down there and sounds echoed up the stairway like it was a pipeline to
Hell.  Moans, cries, whimpers, and manic laughter mingled into a nightmarish
choir that set my heart pounding in my chest.

What the heck was I doing here?  I’d gotten myself into a
lot of messes, but this one might just take the cake, the icing, and the whole
damn serving plate.

I hesitated, one foot hovering over empty air as I
considered retreating back to the storeroom.  Waiting for Ivy would be the
smart thing, which was probably why Fate propelled me down the stairs at the
sound of Forneus speaking to someone below.