“No clue.” She shrugged, turning back to the counter as the bartender came with our drinks. Moira took a sip of her martini and let out a little sigh of happiness while I stared at the swirling concoction before me. It was pale white with just the faintest hint of blue whorls. I took a daring sip.
“Oh,” I murmured, blinking. It was good! Really good. It reminded me of a pi?a-colada, but somehow tangy and less sweet.
“You like it?” she asked. I nodded as a steady warmth built in my chest. I felt lighter, but not out-of-my-mind-sexed-up like I was at the demon bar. I finished my drink within minutes and ordered another.
“Ruby?” I turned in my seat, just as someone put their hand on the small my back. I knew that voice, and it definitely didn’t belong in a club with me.
“Josh?” The steady buzz building inside me made my lips loose. “How’d you get in here?”
“I know a guy,” he said smugly. His hand still hadn’t moved. He was getting cozy as he placed himself between me and the empty barstool. I frowned.
“Stop touching me,” I said. The bartender chose that moment to appear with my drink and I smiled gratefully. Josh dropped his hand from my back, but didn’t move away from me otherwise.
“I just—I need to talk to you, Ruby. Me and you, without your…bodyguards.”
I took a long sip of my drink. Bodyguards…that sounds about right.
“Josh”— my voice was obnoxiously loud, even by my standards—“how many times do I have to tell you that—”
“You don’t get it, Ruby!”
I swallowed hard, considering his once bright blue eyes, now bloodshot…but there was something else there. It didn’t look human. What is wrong with him?
“I can’t stop thinking about you. I know you’re having a hard time forgiving me, but please hear me out,” he pleaded. I took another swig of my drink, prepared to cut all pretenses of civility from my voice.
“Leave. Her. Alone,” Moira said in a voice like death. “Stop following her. Stop showing up at our house to talk to her. If I see you come around one more time, I’m getting Rysten to come take care of your ass and make you disappear. You hear me, Josh? Go. Away.” Moira jumped to my defense with a fierceness I couldn’t have predicted, and what’s more, she even brought Rysten into it. I turned to my best friend, temporarily stunned, but her glowing green eyes were focused on Josh.
“You just don’t get it!” he said, louder than before. “I can’t eat! I can’t sleep! I can’t think about anything but Ruby!”
Devil fucking take him already. This was getting old.
His obsession was getting worse, and I wasn’t even around him enough to fuel it. Without warning, he placed another hand on my back, rubbing it in fevered, rhythmic circles. His need to touch me, to be with me, was getting out of control. I swung around in my chair and bared my teeth, the little bit of power I did have rose to the surface and made my hair crackle.
“Don’t fucking touch me. You’re crazy. Obsessed. And you know what? You and Kendall deserve each other.” Any normal person would have let me go by now, but he wasn’t normal anymore. This wasn’t normal. He was close enough to me that I could feel the hard on in his pants, and the way it twitched every time I spoke told me all I needed to know.
This is why succubi cut and run.
Humans were weak. I hadn’t even slept with him. Yet, he was just as crazy as the one I did sleep with at sixteen. The very memory made me shiver, but the fear turned to anger as more heat flooded my system.
Moira placed a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to swivel back towards her. She grabbed both shoulders and looked me in the eye.
“He’s not worth it, Ruby. We’ve been down this road before,” she said quietly. It was the subtlest of words that she could use to talk about what happened nearly seven years ago. “It’s your birthday, and I won’t let this loser ruin it. Okay?”
I nodded, and behind me, Josh let out the coldest, most deranged of laughs. In a club that was bursting with music and bodies, it was lost on all but us.
“You’re mine, Ruby.” That was the last thing he said before I felt his angry presence disappear in the crowd. Moira’s mouth was pressed in a thin line, but we both ignored him until he was gone.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?” she asked, tilting her head.
“For always being there.”
She eased her grip on my shoulders and slid her arms around me. “I’ll always be here. Even when you don’t tell me things,” she murmured into my shoulder. A shred of guilt ran through me as I hazily recalled the last few days.
“I’m sorry about that. I’m just…confused when it comes to them. I don’t even know how I feel about it myself—”
“I’m not getting after you, Ruby. You’re allowed to keep things to yourself, but I worry about you because of shit like Josh happening. The Horsemen don’t seem like that. I trust you know what you’re getting yourself into. Just let me know before I try to cock block someone and blow out their eardrums, eh?” I must not be the only one that was feeling the burn, because Moira was starting to slur her words a little.
“You’re drunk. The Moira I know never forgives this easily.”
Moira pulled away, a demonic glint in her eye. “It’s your birthday. Call this an exception. I’m not nearly drunk enough, and neither are you. Finish that,” she motioned to the half-full mystery drink. “Hey, bartender! Bring us some shots for the birthday girl!”
I tipped back the remainder of the cloudy sweetness.
Bottoms up.
Chapter 13
We only made it through two rounds of shots before we went stumbling drunk onto the dance floor. Devil knows how I made it in the heels I was wearing, but I did. The techno beat of the music kept me going as one song blended into the other. Around me, the room seemed to be gaining more energy as the club continued to fill with people. The lights dropped into a darker hue as the music became louder.
“I’ll be right back!” I yelled to Moira.
She turned her head fractionally and shouted, “What?”
“Bathroom,” I said back, trying to mouth the word so she could read my lips.
“Need me to come with you?” she mouthed in return, laughing and pointing to herself and then to me.
I shook my head no, waving her off as I began weaving through the crowd. The surrounding people pushed and pulled, swaying with the music like one living thing. I stumbled off the dance floor and caught myself on the stair railing that led to the next level.
The bouncer next to it smiled at me. He was the same one from outside, but it was only then that I realized I recognized him from somewhere.
“Have we met before?” I asked. He said something, but I couldn’t hear his response. The words came out distorted. They didn’t blend with the music; they warped around it. I needed to find the bathroom. Maybe some cold water would help me. It was difficult to communicate that I needed the toilets, but he seemed to know what I was asking.
He pointed upstairs and said, “Your boyfriend’s up there waiting for you.”
I must have heard that wrong. I didn’t have a boyfriend. Maybe he said bathroom?
He unclipped the rope and ushered me through. I was halfway up the stairs when I started to get dizzy. A sudden need to lie down hit me and gripping the rail was the only thing that kept me upright. I eased my way up the rest of the stairs and stumbled down the hallway.
My legs didn’t want to cooperate. I lost my footing and fell towards a door. Strong arms caught me, pulling me back.
“Thank you,” I slurred. One of the hands that caught me reached forward and opened the door. I stumbled in, my eyes having trouble adjusting to the low light. Hot breath fanned my skin as someone’s lips began trailing down my neck.
Behind me the door gave a harsh audible click.
“Wha—” I started to protest, but the world tilted as the stranger pushed me onto something flat and hard. My face smacked into the surface and sent pain shooting through me. Sharp and cruel. I whimpered as the stranger started turning my body over, my back against the cold surface beneath.
Even in the dim light with inebriation setting in, I recognized the man pulling my legs apart.