The Darkest Touch

Kaia fluffed her bright red hair. “Of course. Strider picked my outfit.”

“Mine’s so awesome I must have sewn it with my own two hands,” Viola said, and she didn’t look like a woman who’d recently been tortured. She looked happy and carefree. “Sewing is one of my many talents, I’m just sure of it.”

She didn’t know? Huh. Maybe she had a Time Out box of her own.

They drove to a nearby club, an underground playground for naughty immortals. It was dim, the darkness broken only by the colorful flash of strobe lights. There were multiple mirrors on the walls. Black leather couches where couples made out or just straight-out had sex.

I miss Torin.

No! Won’t dare go there.

As they strutted to the bar, Nike threw her arm around Keeley’s shoulder and shouted over the loud, erratic pulse of music. “If you don’t see a man you like, I’ll pretend I’m bi-curious and we can go at it like little monkeys. Atlas wouldn’t care—he’ll just insist on details.”

“How kind. Thank you.” Strangely enough, her reply wasn’t mocking. “But I’m not interested in pleasure. Just...forgetting.”

If that’s true, why haven’t I utilized the Time Out box?

Just because, that’s why!

Kaia offered her a sympathetic smile. “I’ve been there myself.”

At the bar, Anya ordered a round of something called Legspreader, and after a toast, they each downed the contents of their glasses at the same time. It burned going down but settled in her stomach like liquid rainbows with a pot of gold at each end.

“More!” she demanded. And she was still commanding it eleven shots later. Clouds had settled in her mind, and the cold had melted from her bones. The numbness was starting to wear off, but instead of more rainbows and gold, she began to experience flickers of pain, her misery making itself known. She ignored it.

“I’m amazing,” Viola shouted to the world, throwing out her arms and twirling. “Drink me in!”

Through the threads of the bond, Keeley felt the girl’s extreme self-love, but underneath that... Oh, wow, Keeley had thought her own pain vast. This girl suffered.

“I’m made of so much awesome it’s probably illegal,” Keeley said with a nod. “And Torin is a bastard.”

“Whooo hooo,” the girls sang.

Keeley tossed back two more shots.

A group of immortal shifters came over, smiling like they’d just won the lottery. The one in the middle, the tallest, only had eyes for Keeley.

“The moon isn’t full tonight, but I bet you could make me howl,” he said.

“I could probably make you howl twice,” Viola told him.

But his gaze never left Keeley. “What about you, sweetness?”

“I could make her howl twice, too,” Keeley told him. “As for you, I’ve sworn off men.”

He spanned his hands across her waist and squeezed. “Give me a chance to change your mind.”

“I could change your mind,” Viola said.

“Do not touch without permission,” Keeley snapped at the male. She backed away from him, thinking too much, too fast. And wrong. Torin had looked at her with adoration mixed with desire, as if he were memorizing every detail about her. This man wanted her, yes, but there was nothing but lust in his eyes. He would forget her the second he’d gotten what he wanted.

I will be just as miserable.

“You should totally give him permission,” Kaia said, patting her on the shoulder. Pity wafted through the bond. “It’s not like Torin has been flying solo.”

Keeley lost the ability to breathe. “What?” He’d already moved on? Wasn’t lost in his own misery, lamenting his stupidity? Wasn’t missing her as desperately as she was missing him?

Anya slapped Kaia on the back of the head. “He just went to a club,” she said to Keeley. “That’s what Lucien told me anyway. My honey saw him yesterday morning. He also mentioned the fact that Torin is a mess. That he looks horrible and has a raging temper no one can assuage.”

Torin in a club. Afraid to touch Keeley—but not others? On a bender that would make him reckless, uncaring?

The walls of this club began to shake.

When the shifter put his hands on her a second time, she shoved him away with a stream of power so intense it knocked him to the other side of the building.

“You are one handy chick to have around,” Nike said as people were knocked out of the way and into others, toppling bodies and furniture.

Multiple fights broke out.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Nike asked.

“Absolutely. This is our cue to rule this school!” Kaia said, raising her fists.

Keeley stood in place as the girls launched into action. Viola busted a Fae male over the head with a chair. Anya struck a vampire in the stomach with broken glass. Kaia reached inside the fiery mouth of a Phoenix and ripped out her tongue.

On and on the violence continued, until finally the girls were the only ones left standing. Bloody and bruised, but standing. They high-fived.

“May we go?” Keeley asked.

A thousand conversations played between the girls as they made their way to the door, each new one beginning with “Did you see when I...”

Outside, cool air caressed Keeley’s overheated skin.

“Majesty?” a feminine voice proclaimed.

Keeley searched the area. The golden light of the moon blended with the white light of the streetlamps, illuminating a lovely Fae female with pale hair and big blue eyes. Common traits among the race.