Yearnings: A Paranormal Romance Box Set (12 page)

Her heart swept up into the lyrics, aching with meaning. She wanted to laugh and cry and dance all at once. The song bled into the next. The shift in beat brought her down to earth and she glanced through the bodies again, searching for blond
e
hair, a statuesque physique. And she realized, for dark hair as well. Nearly black, softly curled at the temples. Elijah. She sighed, closing her eyes, and chastised herself. Why couldn’t she stop thinking about him? Her eyes ached to see him, the song bringing back memories of the kisses she dreamed of. Flying skyward in his arms, hope in her heart.

Why did that day have to have been such a disaster? This song would be a nameless emotion if she’d never laid eyes on him. Her heart wouldn’t be aching for a dream. He would be some jerk with a stunning face instead of a too real fantasy adhered to her brain.

She forced her limbs to slow enough to walk through the crowd to the nearest edge. Sweat cooled her neck. Her mouth was dry. Had Jake ever gotten the drinks? No blond
e
hair, leastwise not belonging to Jen, in sight.

Panic slithered into her belly. What was the
backup
plan again? Oh yeah. The bathroom. Meet Jen outside the women’s bathroom. Or was it inside? Sadie made her way toward the rear of the club
, b
ut it was the front instead. She turned around, walking faster. God, it was hot in here. Her toes pinched in her shoes. Her hands shook as she fanned.

She hadn’t been gone long. Had she? No more than ten, fifteen minutes at most, could have passed since she’d left Jen. Right?

Her throat constricted.

She needed water.

She bypassed the bar, seeing a hallway ahead that gave her hope. Bathrooms.
Please be there, please be there
.
She strode down the dim hallway. Bunches of girls elbowed past her. No Jen. She ducked her head inside the bathroom, surveying the short line. No Jen. “Jen?”

The line of girls turned her way, varying degrees of what
-
the
-
fuck on their faces.

“
Jen?”

No Jen.

Panic? Not yet. She’d wait for a few minutes, keep her eyes on the club. Maybe she’d spot her, or Jake.

Fifteen minutes and two unanswered texts later, Sadie decided Jen must be in the same spot from before Sadie’d given in to the music’s seduction. Sadie must’ve gotten turned around. If her palms would stop sweating rivers. It wasn’t so surprising or worrisome that Jen hadn’t texted back. She’d been rapt in conversation. The club was loud, dark. Jake probably found them and told Jen she was still dancing.

Two girls brushed past her. “Are you okay?” one asked.

Sadie nodded. She was okay.

Everything was okay.

She would find her cousin. Wiping her hands on her skirt, she arched her feet higher. One turn around the dance floor perimeter couldn’t hurt. She’d look for Jen, come right back here and wait again. She could get some water. The little corridor was hot and was filling with more female bodies by the minute, like their bladders were all in sync. The club would close soon. Wouldn’t it?

She forced her features smooth and attempted to appear impassive. The riot in her stomach certainly showed somewhere in her body language
,
though. Subterfuge wasn’t her forte. Thankfully, as she weaved in and around the clusters of people, no one particularly noticed.

How could so many blondes be in one place? Jen was distinctive. Wasn’t she? Jen would stand out, like always. The restrooms came back into view. A hollow abyss formed in Sadie’s belly. Dread pooled there, the feeling rising ever so steadily.

One more time. Slower this time. She’d look at the dance floor, too. Blonde after skinny blonde filled her vision. Not Jen. Not her. A flash of luminescent blue caught her attention. Her gaze shot after it. The lights from the dance floor. Couldn’t be what her heart, what her silly brain, had thought. Him. Her dreams. Glowing. Beckoning. Of all times, now was not the time to hallucinate.

Her mind rationalized. She was in a panic and part of her wished for a hero. Someone to come to the rescue and deliver Jen. Logically, her mind would conjure dream Elijah. Because her psyche had developed a hero worship for him powerful enough to make her dream of him almost nightly. Powerful enough to make her a fool in her waking hours over him.

Fool or not, as she zigged and zagged through the crowded periphery, her vision flickered with the same light blue. She stopped short, drawn by impossible hope. A familiar silhouette interrupted the beautiful blue. Her distress dissolved. Shivers raced in her veins.

She didn’t need to discern his features to know, to her core, she saw Elijah.

~ ~ ~

Chapter Eight

Sadie
recognized the outline of his body. Her mind knew without a doubt, it was Elijah. Her heart thumped faster. She could swear she saw the curves of two sheer, blue wings just past his broad shoulders. She crept closer, needing to understand what she was seeing. Her insides flipped over. It was as though her dream had materialized and no one saw him but her.

Or could he be real and this was the chance she’d wished for? A second chance at a hot impression?

In a blink, a different face popped in front of her. “There you are,” Jake said, grinning widely and proffering an umbrella-laden drink, unmoved at her startled reaction. He completely blocked her view.

Seeing him reminded her
—
Jen! Where was she? “Where’s Jen?”

He drank, grinned, nodded.

Had he not heard her? Dread slipped back into place, anchoring Sadie back into reality. “Where’s Jen, my cousin, the one your friend was talking to?” she shouted, leaning in for good measure.

The ice shifted in her glass, the exterior trickled with watery sweat. Her throat tightened. She drank two sips, tasted little to no alcohol, and took three gulps. The cool liquid soothed her throat. Thank God for cold drinks and nice guys.

“
Oh, other side, I think. Spencer likes hip
-
hop. Dancing.” He grinned again.

Having some idea where her cousin was gave her some relief. She looked past Jake for the blue outline of Elijah. Gone. Moments passed and her pulse returned to a near normal rate. Not calm per se, but nowhere near the panic of moments ago. A tinge of unease shifted through her every few seconds, making her feel like an outsider, a fake.

Sadie peered past Jake again. The blue was still gone. Of course it was gone. She sighed and finished her drink, the liquid cooling her burning throat. “Hey, can you help me find Jen? She has my lip-gloss,” she fibbed.

“
Sure,” Jake shouted over the music. Maybe he felt the awkwardness, too. He seemed nice enough, a gentleman. He’d brought her a drink, hadn’t he? Waited with her as she stood shifting from one aching foot to another. And he led the way to the other side, held her hand by the fingers, and guided her around the other side of the club.

No Jen.

“
Do you see her?” Jake shouted.

Sadie shook her head. “No.”

Not on the Fire side. Not on the Ice. Not in the bathrooms. Jen left her? She couldn’t believe it. Not Jen. Not for a guy she’d only now met. Damn it. The panic awoke again.

What if Jen’s perfect
guy
had showed? Would she break her own rule?

Her panic returned, bringing a bit of disorientation. Her thoughts didn’t want to be contained. The room of writhing bodies tipped
,
then righted itself. Her heartbeat drummed at her chest. Heat flashed over her skin. She tried to swallow but gagged instead.

She forced her gaze to Jake. Concern shone in his eyes. “You okay?”

Sadie tried to speak. Her tongue felt fat in her mouth. Weighed down under the dryness. She nodded, pointed toward the door. Fresh air. Water. He could figure that much out, couldn’t he?

He put his arm around her to support her clumsy limbs. What had she been thinking leaving Jen for one stupid dance? Two! Ugh. Whatever the drink was that Jake had brought her, it was threatening a speedy exit.

She needed air. Now.

“
Is she alright?” some distant voice said.

“
One too many,” another mocked.

Jake kept onward. Thank God. He’d be cleaning vomit off his lap and shoes if she didn’t get—a blast of air hit her face. Sweet, cold air. Outside. The confines of the club vanished. She pushed at the arm around her, starving for more of the clarity the coolness gave her. Lights and colors blurred. Her stomach wrenched. The arm let go, guiding her to a seat. She sank onto a hard surface. A bench? The nausea eased away, the panic too.

Was she safe then?

“
You’re going to be okay,” Jake said. “I found Jen. She’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

He’d found Jen. Safe. Sadie tried to peer through the darkness
,
but her vision blurred. She couldn’t speak. A fuzzy oblivion edged, closer and closer, until she imagined her body cradled like a babe, her anxiety crooned to sleep.

*

Elijah clenched both fists. It was too soon to make a move on this guy. As long as he could still see Sadie, he had to wait. No matter how difficult. No matter how loudly his body screamed to attack. “Human scum.”

So much for waiting for the right moment to approach her.

In his decades as a seeker, he’d eluded the cleverest of creatures, as deep and far as the edge of the soul realm, yet this girl had detected him. She’d seen him standing, watching over her. Every last doubt he’d carried about her potential had vanished in that single moment. He’d cloaked himself, repelling human and non-human interest alike. With only two or three immortals among the throng, it had been easy. Sadie had laid eyes upon him anyway. Worse, he’d sensed her attention, the change in her hum, two seconds too late.

She recognized him and damn it if she didn’t look right at his wings.

Ahead, Sadie sagged more and more. The club bouncers had given Sadie no more than a cursory check
,
then let them pass. Swallowing the urge to hiss his rage outward, he stalked after the pair. Simultaneously, he phoned Holly. “She’s been drugged. How fast can you get here?”

“
Faster if you transport me.”

Elijah debated leaving, even for a moment. Damn it. He had no choice. He teleported to the safe house, grabbed Holly by the waist and transported their bodies back to the club. Immediately, his gaze sought and located Sadie, still slumped at the bench, the scum caring for her.

“
We need to find the girl she came with,” he said, showing her a photo on his phone.

With a curt nod, Holly set off to do so.

Elijah spotted Holly’s flicker near Sadie’s cousin, not in fair form either, leaning against a wall and a shoulder, on the other side of the room.

Drugged. No wonder he’d lost Sadie’s sound in the crowd. The drug, probably Rohypnol, must have dulled her vibration.

Watching the guy holding her half-limp form sent a shot of rage through him. Mortals like these disgusted him. Parasites. Not that immortals were immune to exploiting the weak. Just looking at any bloodthirsty vampire showed how depraved an immortal could get. They wore their black on their sleeve, though.

Sadie shouldn’t have been an easy target. Elijah should have recognized the danger long before she stepped in it. He’d grown overconfident, maybe, distracted with images of her sultry writhing on the dance floor. She didn’t look like herself tonight. The light and energy had bathed over her shimmering skin with every bend and sway.

Sensing
Lyric
had arrived
,
as well,
c
almed Elijah a degree. This human would be easy to handle, but with immortals present
,
plus that changeling sniffing around for Sadie, Lyric’s vicious skills were a boon.

“
Where do you want me?” Lyric said, joining him near the entrance.

“
Stay with Holly. I already had to transport Holly here. If I have to transport Sadie too, the shifter in the rear might be trouble.” He didn’t know if Sadie could be transported at all, as human as she still was.

“
Nothing like a fight to start the night off right. Any take on his shifting preference?”

“
Her preference. I’m getting feline tendencies.”

“
Meow. Where will you take Sadie?” Lyric asked.

“
Depends on how badly she’s been drugged. Most likely her home.”

“
Astrid could heal her. Why not the safe house?”

Elijah shook his head. “I can’t just kidnap her even if she won’t remember a thing. And she can’t disappear.”

“
Looks like the human is about to make his move,” Lyric said.

Bile burned in Elijah’s throat. His anger climbed. Then a dawning hit him. Lyric wasn’t feeding off the human scum’s predilection for victimization. Perhaps the feeder was back in control after all.