“What?” Tyler yelled over the crowd. “Too dirty for you?” He placed his hands on my hips and moved me back to him. I screwed my face back into position and pulled his shirt to bring him to eye level.
“You have no idea.” I let one eyebrow rise in what I hoped was an alluring way. “Get me a drink?” I asked and wound my arm through his, letting him lead me the rest of the way through the crowd.
I didn’t feel comfortable attaching myself to one person, but if I was lucky, he would lead me right to Ryland. I tried desperately to focus on my character and not let my nerves sneak through to give me away.
I gave him a small smile as he thrust a drink into my hands. I could smell the alcohol before it even made it to my lips. Of course there would be heavy drinking; it made sense given the state that everyone was in. I lowered the glass and set it on the table next to us, I didn’t need any distractions.
The raw magical energy that had been boiling under my skin shifted. I checked to see if the barrier was still firmly in place. Being this close to the energies that controlled me was sure doing weird things to my body.
“You okay, little bunny?” Tyler asked in my ear. My irregular magic had caused my cover to slip. I put the face back on as I leaned into Tyler in a poor imitation of what Ilyan had done to me, but I failed miserably.
“You wanna get out of here?” he asked. I cringed—wrong direction.
“Let’s dance,” I yelled and dragged him back toward the mosh pit. Luckily, Tyler didn’t seem to object to my mixed signals; he must have been beyond drunk.
I led him deeper into the horde of people again, my body dancing to the thumping music. He danced behind me blindly, his free hand trailing over the bare skin on my back as we walked; I fought the urge to cringe against his touch.
We weren’t going the direction I needed to go, but now I was faced with the bigger problem of getting rid of him. My big idea had backfired.
I had only moved a few steps when my magic shifted again, this time taking the constrictive blanket with it. My magic reacted hastily to the unexpected freedom, and it took all my strength to keep it inside. Ovailia was right. I was in trouble. I was running out of time. My magic lurched again, still shifting in the same direction. I took a chance and followed the pull. The music continued to thump through me as I danced with Tyler, moving us through the crowd, grateful he was drunk enough to be led along on my little game.
My magic surged even stronger as we reached the edge of the crowd, this time near the DJ table. Tyler grabbed me and pulled me toward him into a position I was not comfortable with. I pushed him away and began to dance on my own, hoping that the alcohol surging through his system wouldn’t make him too possessive.
It did.
He came up behind me, grabbing me roughly as his hands snaked around my waist, lifting the front of my shirt. I jerked away from him, only to be pulled back against him aggressively. I could feel his fingers like claws against my back. Tyler attempted to get me to dance with him for a minute, but his fingers were starting to hurt me, and I fought him, pushing him away from me.
“Come on, baby!” he yelled, coming up to me again. “Don’t fight the power.” He smiled greasily and grabbed my forearm tightly.
I cried out in pain as I tried to fight him, but his hold on me only increased. “Let me go!”
“No, baby, not until you give me what I came for.”
I gasped as he yanked my arm, pain shooting through my shoulder.
“You’re hurting me!” I pleaded as I looked around me in a panic now, desperately searching for Ilyan or someone willing to help me.
“Come on, I know you like it like that.”
“Not with you. Now, let me go!” I yelled as I caught sight of Ilyan breaking his way through the crowd, his jaw tight in anger.
“What? You here to catch little, rich boy? He’ll just murder you like he did his other little bunny.” His fingers dug into me as he shook me, his words cutting deeply. I looked toward Ilyan; my heart plummeted to see him dancing again, staring dangerously at something behind me.
I turned myself roughly against Tyler’s grip to see what Ilyan was staring daggers at. I guess my plight hadn’t gone completely unnoticed. Ryland was striding toward me, his face screwed up in a more furious anger than I had ever seen.
Even with the anger in his beautiful blue eyes, his look made me feel like I was like coming home again. My body grew extraordinarily warm. I felt like I could fly away right then. I kept my energy and my desperate need to be with him under control, but just barely. My heart beat even faster as his blue eyes met mine. I could have run to him, if it hadn’t been for the vice grip around my arm.