“That takes much too long,” he said, pulling me into his arms. “Like you said, we’re already wasting time.”
I held my breath as he launched into the air. Seconds later, we were behind the club and I was fighting another wave of nausea.
“You okay?” he asked, looking down at me.
“Just a little dizzy,” I mumbled, pulling away. The last thing I wanted to do was puke in his arms.
“Don’t worry, Nikki. You’ll get used to it.”
“Right,” I said.
“Well,” he said, trying to open one of the delivery doors.
“I thought you were really powerful. Can’t you just rip the door off?”
“There’s probably and alarm on these doors. It would give us away.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Obviously it’s closed, and we can’t just enter through the front, either. She’s probably monitoring the entrance.”
“What do you recommend?”
He looked up. “We should try the roof. Ready?”
I backed away from him as he advanced towards me.
“Why don’t you come back down and let me in through one of these doors?”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone. This was your idea, remember?”
“Fine, let’s go.”
As it turned out, there was a penthouse on the roof.
“This is where Faye stays when she’s in town,” he said. “I haven’t been up here yet, but she told me a little about it.”
“Right,” I mumbled.
He grinned. “I haven’t. Seriously.”
“How can you enter her place if you haven’t been invited in?”
“But I have been invited, Nikki. I never said I hadn’t.”
“Oh.”
I followed Ethan through a sliding glass door that led to a wide, open living room which was more luxurious than anything I’d ever encountered.
“This place is amazing,” I said.
The walls were covered with different types of artwork that probably cost more than my mother’s annual salary, and the contemporary leather furniture sitting next to white fireplace reminded me of something I’d recently seen in some magazine.
“She lives pretty lavishly,” said Ethan, motioning towards the white piano sitting in the corner of the room.
“I guess,” I murmured.
“At least she isn’t here,” he said. “I can’t smell her.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You could smell her?”
“Our senses are superior to those of humans. It’s what makes us good hunters.”
“Oh,” I shuddered.
He bit back a smile. “Let’s go.”
We left the penthouse and made our way down the emergency stairwell. When we reached the bottom, he looked at me. “Stay behind and don’t say anything. I’m going to try and reason with Faye.”
“Will that work?”
He frowned. “Probably not.”
He opened the door and we stepped into a long hallway near the same elevator I’d taken to the lower level.
“Ethan, I’ll bet they’re in the basement.”
“Maybe, but as long as we’re here, let’s check the main club area first.”
I nodded and followed his lead.
Most of the lights were out in the club as we snuck inside, but there were a couple of employees cleaning the bar and stocking the shelves with more booze.
“I don’t see any sign of your brother, nor do I smell his bullshit,” he whispered as we crouched down behind one of the walls separating the large dance floor.
I elbowed him. “Very funny.”
He bit back a smile. “I guess that leaves the basement.”
“What if he’s not here?”
“We’ll go back to your cabin then. Maybe that’s where they’re holding him, waiting for you to show up.”
“What about my mom? Caleb talked about bringing her to Vegas tomorrow.”
He frowned. “Faye owns a hotel in Vegas. I’ll bet he’s taken your mom there.”
“Do you know where it is?” I whispered.
He nodded. “I can show you.”
“Thanks, Ethan.”
We ducked out of the bar and made our way to the elevators, but didn’t see any kind of stairwell leading down to the basement.
“They must have an emergency exit somewhere else,” he said. “I don’t know if I want to take the elevator and announce our presence.”
“But it might be the only way to save Nathan.”
He nodded. “I know. We have to find another way, though. I’m not risking you getting hurt.”
Just then, the elevator lights were blinking. Ethan grabbed me and whisked us away back into the club, where we ducked down under some tables. Seconds later, Faye walked into the club with a large bald guy wearing a suit. He reminded me of a gangster.
“I need a drink,” declared Faye, moving behind the bar.
The barrel-chested man said nothing, only sat down across from her at the bar.
“So, Lucas, what have you done with the boy?” she asked.
He cleared his throat. “We took him back to the cabin to wait for his sister.”
She filled herself a shot glass full of whiskey and slammed it. “Good,” she replied breathlessly, refilling it again. “I’m sure they’ll head back that way. What about the other kid?”
“He’s on his way, I’m sure. I told him you’d help his…cause.”