Chapter Six

AFTER TEN MINUTES, Erik hadn’t returned. He’d probably run off with someone better, Noah decided. Why would the handsome wolf stay with him when there were so many better options? Noah had abandoned the sofa so that another couple could use it and headed for the bar in hopes of another drink. He slumped forward to lean against the surface of the bar top. Life just wasn’t fair.

“Would you like one of our specials, sir?” The flirty tone drew Noah’s attention, and he forced himself to sit up. The speaker was a cute brunet in the same uniform as the other staff members.

“What’s that again?” Noah asked when he realized the man was waiting for an answer.

“The Lotus Flower,” the man explained. “It’s got peaches, schnapps…”

The Lotus Flower. Flowers said to trap those that eat them forever. Like the missing men perhaps. Noah’s blood ran cold and the fog cleared. He had to find Erik.

“Sure.” He managed to choke the word out. The server must have already been mixing the special as he handed the drink over without pause. Noah stared at the amber concoction, which had a carved fruit flower balanced on top. How many had he already consumed? He was acutely aware that the staff member was still watching him, so he removed the fruit and stirred the drink with the straw before pretending to take a sip. Noah flashed an insincere grin at the bartender before picking up the drink and moving away from the bar. He didn’t dare consume any more of the liquid. He turned up the charm and added a swagger to his step as he crossed the room, hoping he looked like any other partygoer.

Someone stumbled as they passed him, catching his eye and making him halt. When he really looked, the man had the edgy appearance of someone awake for too many hours on too many drugs; his eyes were red-rimmed and manic, and he had the beginnings of a beard that didn’t appear to be a fashion statement. Noah blinked and the man was fine once more, until he concentrated on seeing past the illusion. He turned on the spot, it was the same for all the people he could see. Noah headed for the bathroom. He needed water, or he was going to expel the contents of his stomach.

The more Noah looked as he walked, the more he saw the cracks in the illusion, spread like broken glass.

The bathroom door locked from the inside. Noah didn’t trust the wood and metal combination, so he took a piece of chalk from his pocket and sketched runes across the door. Short of a tank or another witch, no one was getting into the room with him. He headed for the sink and gulped the tap water, hoping it would clear his head. He stood back up and his reflection caught his eye. Shit. Noah hadn’t looked that terrible since he’d caught the flu and been bedridden for days. The stubble growth indicated that he had been in the club for days rather than the hours it had felt like.

How long had they been there? Where was their backup?

The memories of the night slipped through his thoughts like grains of sand. All he could recall was overwhelming happiness.

Noah flinched at the sound of a sharp knock on the outside door.

“Are you okay in there?” The voice was muffled through the wood, but Noah was sure it was the staff member that had given him the drink. Maybe they were on to him. If Erik had been caught, then— Noah stopped that thought where it was. He didn’t need Erik. He was no damsel in distress.

A sweep of his hand broke the runes, and Noah opened the door. He deliberately staggered and half fell out of the room onto the man.

“Oops, sorry.” He giggled as he straightened up, wavering on the spot. “I think that last drink went to my head,” he pantomime whispered. He didn’t think the staff member had bought it, so he kept his expression guileless and wide-eyed.

“Come on then, lightweight,” the man teased, putting one arm around Noah’s shoulders. Noah resisted the urge to shrug the arm off and instead leaned more heavily on the other man, shooting him a grateful smile. The man led him down a corridor that did not lead back to the main room.

“Do you know what happened to Erik?” Noah slurred the words slightly.

“The man you were with?” The guy sounded amused, and Noah wondered if he was laying it on a bit thick so he just nodded.

“He had a nosebleed, doll.”

Noah did not like the way the man’s gaze had turned predatory. He was more than aware that there would be no help forthcoming from the people still trapped in the illusion. His fears were confirmed when he found himself being manhandled so that he was pressed up against the guy’s chest. It was a toss-up between kneeing him in the balls and hoping for the best or playing along in the hopes of finding Erik. It sickened him to his stomach, but he stayed where he was, trapped in the man’s arms.

“What’s your name?” Noah asked, hoping to delay the guy from going any further.

“I’m glad you asked, doll. It’s Rick.” He winked lewdly, and Noah wondered if there was anyone on the planet who found that kind of overconfidence attractive.

Noah looked up in the hopes of a distraction, an act of God, anything. One of the doors in the corridor swung open, and Leo stalked toward them with all the grace of a predator with prey in its sight, and he knew the game was up. He pushed Rick away and straightened up, losing the pretense of being drunk. Rick’s eyes widened with confusion, but Noah was more worried about the oncoming storm. Leo exuded a power that Noah could feel even without his runes. Rick was unimportant now. Leo stopped in front of Noah, and his lips twisted into a semblance of a smile that didn’t hold true when his eyes remained cold as ice.

“The wolf’s mate.”

The declaration twisted Noah’s heart tighter. Was Erik okay?

“The villain,” he replied, bluffing a confidence that he did not feel. Leo’s eyes lit up with amusement.

“Would you like to join your mate, little boy?”

There was no opportunity for Noah to reply as Leo swished his hands in a circular motion and the very air in the room spun. Apparently Leo had finished chatting. Noah charged forward into the invisible breeze. The air buffeted him from all sides, hurling his hair into his face and making it impossible to intake air. Noah barely managed two steps before the floor rose up to meet his face.

 

IT WAS EMBARRASSING how easily Leo had overpowered Noah. It gave him no comfort that he had proved everything right that he had told Michaela, what felt like so long ago—he was useless in battle. What good was someone who had to stop and draw bloody pictures midfight in order to have any sort of power? Noah twisted as far as he could, ignoring the friction of the rope against his skin. Leo had tied him to a chair like some kind of bad movie villain. Despite the violent method of subduing him, Noah didn’t feel as though anything was broken. His head pounded with the beginnings of a probable concussion, but he could push past that. If he ever made it out of the lotus machine alive, he would take some courses in offensive magic or something.

Now, though, Noah just needed to use his brain. What was the point of the machine? Why trap people in a sex club they never wanted to leave?

“Oh.” He breathed the word aloud. “Incubus.” It explained everything. The club was an insane factory of sexual energy. All those missing men were nothing more than power cells. How could Noah even begin to fight that? If he weren’t trapped by the lunatic, he’d have been impressed at the ingenuity and sheer audacity of the idea.

You two together are…delicious.

He could only imagine what had happened to the missing men.

Urgency took over, filling his veins with adrenaline. Noah scrabbled with his fingers at his pockets and could have crowed with delight when he realized that he could just about reach them. The incubus would never have left him with his hands tied in front if he had realized what Noah was capable of. The chalk piece had been snapped in half, but half was all he needed. Noah shifted his hands as far as he could and scrawled lines on one of the rope pieces. His hand trembled so much that the circles barely constituted rings. It took several attempts, but the runes worked enough for the rope to disintegrate. After that, it was easy for Noah to twist out of the remaining rope and untie his ankles.

Noah staggered to his feet and looked around the room as it spun. It was some kind of office, one desk filled with papers but no phone because of course that would be too easy. Noah groaned as the headache increased. He needed to get out, get help. He was no good to Erik like this.