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THE LOUD THUMPING OF base vibrated up from the tile-checked dance floor, through her thin blue-suede flats, and tingled all the way up her Capri-clad legs. All around her, revelers danced and gyrated to the mechanic beat of the track. The music mellowed and tempo slowed, and Teagan watched as the club-goers waited in anticipation for the DJ to drop the next beat. Taking advantage of the first time she’d been able to think since they’d arrived, she swung around searching the crowd of crazy hairdos and eclectically dressed bodies, looking for her bestie Cali. It was time to go.
Catching sight of her friend across the room as she bounced contentedly with a huge smile on her face, Teagan stepped in that direction. Almost simultaneously, the music blasted from the speakers, blaring the new mix. Teagan jumped and misstepped, knocking into a punk kid with green spiked hair.
“Watch it!” he exclaimed and gave her a light shove off his foot.
Teagan lost her balance and watched in horror as her purse fell from her shoulder in slow motion. Her eyeliner and lip gloss seemed in competition to evade her grasp as they rolled away, and she grappled around on the dance floor, searching for them. Worst night ever! She couldn’t help but think and glanced back up at the jerk who’d shoved her. He looked down at her, his malice clear, and his eyes flicked full black, dotting out the once blue irises. Teagan squeezed her eyes shut just as her hand found the last item from her bag, and she jumped up. Why am I hallucinating?
She turned towards the door, escape the only thing on her mind.
“Teagan,” Cali’s voice sounded a few inches from her. “Meet Derek, he’s a marketing director.”
She turned towards Cali’s voice, the hand in her purse abandoned the search for her keys and stilled, and she eyed the man next to her friend. He was tall and lanky, dressed in business casual with shiny shoes, and a silky blouse. It was a look that screamed he tried too hard but also that he was loaded. She looked down and then back up, her game face on. Leave it to Cali. The girl had goals and being married to a rich hottie was top of her list as usual. Yea, he was good looking, but he wasn’t...Just stop it.
Teagan's shoulders slumped. She didn’t know his name, but she remembered his face. Strong jawline, shoulder-length dirty-blonde hair, and smoldering mossy green eyes. Man could he smolder.
Cali cleared her throat.
“Yea, um, Derek, was it?” Teagan stumbled on her words, embarrassed she was thinking about the guy from her dreams again. “Nice to meet you.”
She didn’t offer her hand and could tell the guy was offended. He nodded once, curt, as if to say, “I got your vibe,” and turned to leave.
“Oh, Teagan, come on. What’s wrong with that one?” Cali complained, her hands gesturing dramatically as she followed the guy with her eyes. “He’s purrrrrrfect.”
“If he’s so perfect, Cal, you go date him.” Teagan spun on one foot and headed toward the bar. If she had to stay, she was getting a drink, or several.
“Maybe I will,” Cali said with a smirk but quickly changed her tone. “Come on, Teagan, you know this mystery man in your dreams isn’t real. When are you going to get over these silly dreams you’re living in and come back to the real world? You know, the world where you’re my crazy best friend, and we’re on the prowl for men together?”
“Nice to know how you really feel, Cal. Should I remind you that you’re the one who told me I should search for him, because he sounded so real in my dreams?” Teagan said, repeating her friend’s words.
“That was a year ago, Sweets, and meant as a joke. Now, I’m worried about you. What’s wrong with you anyway?” Cali asked as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, an indication she was making a stand and wasn’t leaving until Teagan answered her.
Teagan whirled around, making sure she faced her friend as they stopped just short of the bar. She rolled her finger around in a lasso motion, circling the entirety of the room. “All this,” a little pause for effect, “is not my scene, and you know it. It never has been.” Plus, there was a guy in the corner, sitting in the shadows, that she thought had been watching her for what seemed like an hour now.
She’d never tell Cali. Hell, the daft girl would probably march right over to the stranger and ask him out on a date for her.
One step, two, she reached the bar and sighed. Cali did know this wasn’t her scene, but sometimes Teagan thought her friend forgot. It was hard for Teagan to be surrounded by so many people. The noise. The smell. The feelings. She shivered at the thought, leaned against the bar, and watched the bartender for a moment. After a moment, he sent her a smile, remembering her, and slid her a shot of Jamison at her nod. Teagan caught the sliding shot glass easily, tipped up the drink, and swallowed it in one gulp, slamming the glass on the bar as the whiskey burned its way down the back of her throat, and she felt it hit the pit of her stomach.
“Whew, Jamison, that’s some hard-core drink to shoot back like that.” The sound of a husky voice to her right rolled over her like a blanket of heat. Or maybe that was the whiskey? Any who, a voice that sexy deserved a hello at least.
Teagan raised her eyes from the empty shot glass, about to turn and acknowledge him, and froze. She blinked rapidly. It couldn’t be. There, on the other side of the bar, stood the man from her dreams. A name formed on the tip of her lips; she didn’t know from where.
“Colin,” she whispered as she raised her hand to her throat. Could he really be real?
“Sorry. I didn’t catch that. My name’s Aidan.” She could sense his hand held out in the traditional welcome, she should take it, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the man across the bar.
“Hi, I’m Teagan,” she said instead, and didn’t bother looking at him. That ought to give him the hint she wasn’t interested.
Two fingers, directly in front of her face, snapped three times.
“Girl, you have got to snap out of this.” From the left, Cali’s voice was faint, and Teagan groaned as the mirage of Colin wafted out of sight like a scent floats on the wind. Just like that, he was gone.
“You could’ve at least started a conversation with him. He’s freaking gorgeous,” Cali’s whisper came out close to a squeak.
But someone shoved in between her and the guy, and Teagan mentally excused herself from that conversation. Her eyes scanned the room, searching for Colin, and landed on the man in the corner. Their gazes locked and held. There was something about him, something she couldn’t quite place, but somehow, she thought she knew him.
“Cali, do you see that guy in the corner?” Her friend turned. “Don’t be so obvious.” She hissed. “He’s been watching me all night. Do you know him?” Teagan asked.
“That guy slinking around in the shadows?” Cali said.
“That’s the one. Know him?”
“Nope.”
She heard a curse from the one named Aidan, and he shoved off the bar, clearly headed toward the guy in the corner. Maybe they knew each other or something, but it seemed like now was a good time to leave and not get involved in that. This night just kept getting stranger.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” Teagan said, a slight slur to her words.
“Teagan?”
But Teagan ignored her friend as she rushed toward the exit, her hand back in her purse, searching for her phone. What she needed was Dr. Cam. He would talk her through this. Except, she couldn’t call him, could she? She pulled her hand out of her bag.
The balmy night air hit Teagan as soon as she reached the open door and made wearing her jean-jacket almost unbearable. Holding her hand out for a stamp, was more out of habit than thinking she’d be back that night. Stopped by the doorway, she shrugged one arm out of the jacket and sighed in relief as the slight breeze brushed her newly bared shoulder, glad she’d had the foresight to wear a tank top underneath. The club was warm.
Someone leaving the bar slammed into her from behind, passing her, and knocking her forward. She stumbled but caught herself before falling.
“What the hell? Excuse me is a word, you know,” she shouted at the retreating figure. “What is wrong with these people?” she asked the guy stamping her hand.
He gave her a careless shrug.
She rolled her eyes and stepped toward the doorway once more. When a hand clasped onto her bare arm, fire seared through her body, and she turned to find the stranger from the shadowy corner.
No! The voice inside her screamed. Run, Teagan. You have to run.
But she couldn’t run.
Something weird was happening to her.
The fire-like pain rushed through her veins, her temple and wrists pulsed loudly, her heart beat a wild rhythm in her chest. Throwing back her head, her long copper hair spilling out around her shoulders, she threw her arms out wide. She could feel it. The magic. She could feel it all. The power coursed through her, making her feel strong. Alive. She couldn’t control it. A pulse thrummed inside her, radiating, expanding, until suddenly, it burst from her and shot out around her like an exploding star. The hand that had touched her arm disappeared.
Teagan screamed and rushed out the doorway into the calm night. Her hands trembled. What the hell just happened? Had she done that? She staggered forward, knowing she needed to get as far from the club as possible, but suddenly feeling as if her feet were tied to cement blocks. She could barely put one foot in front of the other. Her breath was coming in short hysterical hiccups. She definitely needed Dr. Cam’s advice. Screw the consequences. Her fingers caught her phone, and she ducked into a nearby alley to make the phone call. You shouldn’t call him. You can’t trust him. “Shut up. I didn’t ask for you to come back. And why now?” She told the voice. “And what the hell was that in there, you?” Silence.
The monotonous ringing on the other end of the line agitated her further, and she glanced up and almost dropped the phone from her shoulder-hold position as she wrung her hands and watched the street. She saw a guy crossing it and took a step out of the dark alley into the streetlight, trying to get a better look. The walk was the same. And the hair was longish, could it be him? Colin? Teagan took another step forward and slid her phone back into her purse, the phone call with the doctor forgotten as she followed the familiar looking form.
Whoever it was started walking faster, and she picked up her own pace, moving forward until she was completely illuminated by the streetlights. With her eyes on the retreating man’s form, she rushed forward and ran straight into someone. The soft feel of arms wrapping around her to steady her, and the scent of jasmine floated around Teagan, and she felt more than knew it was Cali.
“Ohmygod, Teagan, where the hell did you go?” Cali wouldn’t release her.
“I just stepped out for some air.” Dammit, where did he go? Teagan tried to dodge her friend.
“Come on, Sweets, it’s time to get home,” Cali said, the sound of worry in her voice.
Teagan heaved, and her shoulders sagged in defeat, she was sure that had been Colin, but once again she was interrupted. She notice the worry on Cali’s face, and with a final look behind her, she let Cali lead her away, her head swimming.
***
AIDAN AND COLIN EXCHANGED a look that said they’d both felt the same thing. Someone or something had just doused the nightclub with a huge amount of power. What’s more, it was magic like Aidan hadn’t felt in ages. Magic only the oldest Fae used. The question was, where had it come from. He’d had eyes on the mystery Fae, the one from Club Noir that had just randomly happened to show up at the same club he and Colin were sent to, but it wasn’t him. He hadn’t unleashed his power. In order to use that much magic, he would have had to drop his glamour, and Aidan hadn’t seen it fall. So, who then? The girl from the bar? The Fae had touched her. Maybe he’d done something to her.
Aidan pushed his hand through his hair. When he’d spoken to her just moments before, he’d felt something, but it hadn’t been strong enough to peg, and it definitely wasn’t strong enough to be considered magic.
“Who do you think it was, the Fae?” Colin asked.
“No.” Aidan shook his head, “I think it was the girl.”
“Which girl?” Colin laughed.
“Redhead, about 5.5, looking a little out of place all night.”
Colin shrugged. “What should we do, tail her?”
“I will. You stay back and see what you can find out about her, and the Fae that was sitting in the corner. Whatever he did to her, set her off big time. See if anyone witnessed it,” Aidan said. “I’m leaving now, while I can still sense some of the magic residue.”
“Alright, go. I got this.”
***
COLIN PULLED AT THE neck of his trench coat. He loved the thing, but Gods, it got hot inside it sometimes. This time, however, he wasn’t sure the heat he was feeling was from the coat. He’d seen the girl Aidan was speaking about. He knew her. He couldn’t figure out how, but he was positive they’d met before. Of course, that would explain her powers. Most of the people he associated with were either Fae or half-morts (half Fae, half human). He chuckled at the name the Fae had given them, when a glimmer of something shinny flashed quickly then disappeared. Keeping his eyes trained on the spot, he saw it again.
“Excuse me,” he said, as he pushed his way past the group of people gathered at the doorway and moved toward the center of the room, where the girl had been standing when they’d first arrived. The light pinged off something again, and he reached down to grab it. Pink and silver sequins flashed in the light as he turned the wallet over in his hands. She must have dropped it. His hands shook as he opened it, hoping that somewhere inside would be some personal information on her. Sure enough, in the back zippered section he found all her cards. The only one he was interested in was her license, though, and he pulled it out and looked closely at it.
“Teagan McKenna.” He blinked. There was no way. He blinked and looked again, rubbing a thumb over the print, perhaps hoping to erase the letters. His heartbeat picked up. Boy, Aidan wasn’t going to be happy when he heard about this. Stuffing the wallet into his pocket, he grabbed the first person that happened past him.
“Did you see what happened?” Colin gestured toward the doorway.
“Yah, you didn’t?” He shrugged, and the guy continued. “Some dude lunged out of the chair over there, and grabbed a chick walking out the door, and all of the sudden it was like a hurricane was blasting through here.”
Colin laughed, trying to think quickly. “I bet he was just telling her not to forget her jacket, because the wind is crazy strong outside. I think it was just a gust of wind.”
The guy looked at him for a minute, as if considering his words, and nodded his head. “You know, I think you’re right.”
Colin was still laughing as he walked away, wondering which direction Aidan had taken, and thinking about how calm the night sky was.