Chapter 12 - word count 2827 - Download the PDF
12.
      The men stood waiting in the marble floored entry hall.  Seth was jiggling the panel van’s keys in his right hand.  They had decided to use the van again because it was easier to fit everyone into the van rather than taking three cars.  They were all getting fond of the van, there was even talk of some pimping on the thing.  Seth would leave that kind of thing to Marcus, it was his area of expertise.  
      Right now he was worried about tonight and the meeting.  He would have preferred it if they could have set it up for somewhere else.  Fiends could get rough and he was more than a little nervous that some or other shit and a fan would collide.  Xander had been insistent.  Fiends was the safest place for him to meet them.
      Seth would be damned if he was going to leave Drew at the compound – potential trouble or not.  It was too much for him.  He’d spend all his time worrying that she’d had a relapse and was writhing in pain while he was at Fiends.  Seeing her in that much pain today had torn him up.  He’d felt so helpless.  He didn’t want to see her hurting like that again.  If that meant that she had to stick to him like Velcro - then bring on the ‘cro.  
      So he was discussing security with Ross, explaining that he wanted everyone on their toes.  
      
      Drew stood nervously at the top of the stairs with Selphie.  She looked down at Seth and wondered what he would think of how she looked.  Would he like it, and find her attractive, or would her outfit do squat to melt the ice he’d incased his emotions in.  One thing was for sure, he looked good, even from behind.  The black leather of the ankle length coat he wore molded over his broad shoulders.  If he looked this gorgeous from behind Drew was sure he’d knock her off her feet from the front.  She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was not a hormone-crazed teenager.  
      She thought of the obstacles she’d have to face to even be with him and wondered if it was worth all the effort.  Hell Yes!  Her mind screamed. She’d never come close to feeling this affected by a man before.  It was worth a shot at least.  Drew knew she would never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try.  
      “If at first you do succeed try to hide your astonishment.” She mumbled under her breath.  
      Selphie looked at Drew and grinned as if she could read Drew’s mind.  
      “In my opinion, you are going to be hiding astonishment.” Selphie laughed and gestured towards the stairs.
      “Shall we?”  
      Drew nodded and put on hand on the banister of the stairs as they started down.  
      
      “Ross, I asked you a question.” Seth growled frustrated when Ross didn’t answer him.  
      Then he noticed that Ross’s eyes were focused behind him, over his shoulder at the top of the stairs.  Both Marcus and Darius were staring at the same place behind Seth.  
      “What are you looking at?” Seth turned so he could have a look and felt his body tighten instantly.  
      Gods! Drew looked good enough to eat.  She came down the stairs her head dipped down as she watched her footing.  One hand on the railing and the other holding her skirt up a little so she wouldn’t trip on the length of it.  Her raven hair hung lose caressing her shoulders and flowing down her back as she moved.  A strand of hair had slipped forward accentuating the light skin tone of her cleavage.  With every step she took he could see the boots she wore, molded to her shapely legs and the tantalizing glimpse of pale thigh.  
      How the hell was he supposed to get through this meeting with her looking like that?  He was fighting the urge to bound up the stairs, turn her around, take her back to her room and not come out till he’d satisfied all the needs she made him feel.  
      He was going to strangle Selphie.  When he’d asked her to help Drew choose something appropriate to wear tonight, he hadn’t expected this.  He was willing to bet that Selphie had done it on purpose.  She was clued in on his attraction to Drew, being a nymph there was no way she couldn’t be.  That was only part of it, Selphie had known him his whole life, and she knew him well.  He made a mental note to have a long discussion with the petite matchmaker first chance he got.  
      “Wow,” Marcus’s deep voice filled the silence “you clean up to be real hot!”  
      Drew blushed and Selphie laughed.  
      “Its good someone noticed how beautiful Drew looks tonight.”  
      “Oh we noticed,” Ross quipped, “trust me, we all noticed.”  
      Seth’s head snapped around at Ross’s words and he gave the other man a dirty look.  
      Ross quirked an eyebrow and said dryly “If looks could vivisect.”
      Darius laughed. “So busted.”  
      Selphie winked at Drew then rescued Seth before he displayed some more pointless jealousy and made a bigger idiot of himself.  
      “So are we all ready to go?”  
      “We are just waiting on Jade to get her ass…”  Ross started.
      Jade chose that moment to come skidding round the corner from the medical suits.  
      “I’m here kitty-cat, you can keep your mouth off my ass thanks.”  
      “Um, just for the record,” Marcus grinned eyeing Jade “I signed up for a meeting, not to play body-guard the whole night just ‘cause we have the prettiest ladies in the club with us.”  
      Jade rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed.  
      “Can we just get going before Xander decides we are no-shows?  Or should I beat the shit outta you first cheetah, and show you how much of your body-guarding I need.”  
      Marcus dipped his dark head in a mock bow and grinned.  
      “I’m leaving, before Marcus gets his ass handed to him.”  Ross pulled the mansion’s front door open and led the way to the van.  
      
      They bypassed the block long queue waiting to get into Fiends.  The bouncer guarding the door greeted Seth by name.
      “I’ll let Bastien know that you are here.”  He pressed his fingers to his ear and spoke into his headset.   He pushed the door open for them.   
      “He said he’ll get you at the door.”  The bouncer spoke after a moment.  
      “Thanks Mike.”  Seth nodded,  “’Preciate it.”  
      The moved into the entrance of the club.  A tall man moved through the people around the entrance of the club towards them.  
      He had dark blond hair, streaked with sun bleached highlights of almost pure white.  He moved with the otherworldly grace that made Drew suspect that he was Mythos of some sort.  The black net shirt he wore showed every inch of a well muscled chest which made up her mind, he must be a Mythos.  
      “Seth, how you doin’?” he clasped Seth’s forearm’s in greeting.  
      “Doing good Bas, and you?”  
      “All good.” He grinned.  
      The bass of a metal song pounded through their bodies.  Making it all but impossible for Drew to hear what the men were saying.  
      “It’s loud here, come, I’ll take you to VIP.”  
      They followed Bastien as he led the way, around the teeming dance floor and up a set of stairs into a room.  
      The front of the room was closed off with a glass wall that looked down onto the dance floor. The music was still loud but now at least you could hear when someone spoke.  
      There were booth chairs curved against both the glass and the wall.  
      Bastien greeted the rest of them as they all found a chair to crash into.  
      “Ross, I’ve been meaning to call you.  I need to know when the next album is out?  I’ve got people breathing down my neck for us to start playing it.”
      Ross’s eyes flicked towards Selphie and she jumped up.  
      “I need a herd partner for the ladies room.  You coming Drew?”
      Drew didn’t want to get up, Bastien had just made her itch with curiosity, but Selphie didn’t look like she was going to take no for an answer so Drew got up and followed the other woman down the stairs.  
      Bastien waited for the women to leave then looked at Ross.  
      “Did I just put my foot in it?”
      Marcus chuckled.  
      “She’s one of us Ross, get used to it.  So you might as well let her in on your little secret.”  
      “We don’t even know if she’s Du’call yet Marcus, let alone if she…” Ross started only to be interrupted by both Jade and Seth.  
      “She is.” They announced in unison.  
      That got everyone’s attention.  
      “And you were gonna tell us when exactly?”  Ross asked Seth.  
      “Pipe down Sarcastus.”  Jade quipped.  “We only found out a few hours ago.”  
      “Did she shift?”  Darius asked
      “No, I saw her sentin.” Jade answered  “The sentin hasn’t materialized yet, but she’s there.  Even now she’s shadowing Drew.  Besides, I think Drew would stay with your group even if she wasn’t a Du’call.” Jade glanced at Seth as if she knew something he didn’t then turned her attention back to Ross “You might as well tell her. She’s going to find out eventually.”
      He just glared at her.
      “That out of the way,” Bastien smiled.  “and remembering that I’ve got people screaming at me - when exactly can I expect a copy of the new album.”  
      Ross shook his head, “I’m not too sure, I’ll get back to you on the release date.”  
      “Okay, since you are not here to save my ass with the album, why exactly are you all here tonight?  Fun or business?”
      “Meeting.”  Seth answered, “If you see Xander let him know where we are.”  
      Bastien nodded. “I’ll go find Big ‘n Scary, he’s already here.”  
      Seth jumped up as if something had just bitten him.  
      “He’s already here?”  
      “That’s what I said.”  
      “Shit, and I let Drew out of my sight.”  
      
      She’d lost Selphie!  Drew cursed her stupidity.  She supposed she could blame her blunder on the fact that this type of place wasn’t on her “I’ve been to tons of them” list.  But she still felt like a moron, especially since Selphie had warned her to stay close.  She had tried, she’d still been following Selphie through the press of bodies and then the nymph was just gone.  
      Calm down, this is a stupid reason to panic.
      Her self directed pep talk wasn’t working.  She felt the first brush of real claustrophobia start eating at her gut.   He heart-rate sped up with fear and she felt her palms get sweaty.  
      She heard a strange sound, it was a low growl, the sound should never have been heard over the music but Drew heard it clearly.  As the sound of the growl seemed to circle her, the people who had been pressed closely a moment before suddenly moved away from her.  The space they were giving her didn’t seem to be conscious, in fact none of the people were looking at her.  It was more like an instinctive reaction as they shifted.  She had space around her and she drew in a deep breath.  Feeling instantly relieved.  Drew decided to move to the outer edges of the dance floor maybe she’d be able to see Selphie from there.  If that didn’t work she was going to go back to the VIP room.   The only thing stopping her from going straight to the room was that Selphie would worry when she noticed Drew was gone.  Drew was hoping that she’d find Selphie before the other woman worried too much. She wove her way around the tightly packed dancers and amazingly as she moved through them they kept making space for her.  It was like she was walking in an invisible force field, she smiled and thought; beam me up Scottie   
      She made her way towards the edge of the dance floor, there was a supporting pillar with a step on the bottom that looked like a good place to search from.  She was still a little dumfounded by the space people were making for her, it was weird.  She snorted, what about the last couple of days of her life hadn’t been a ten on the weird-o-meter.  She reached the pillar and stepped up putting her back to the it so she could scan the dancers for Selphie.  
      Damn, why the hell did Selph have to be so short.  Drew couldn’t see her at all.  
      She sensed the presence a moment before she felt the warm breath on her neck.  
      “Hello little leopard.” The deep melodic timber of a man’s voice spoke into her ear.  
      “Do you want to come and play?”  She felt his hand on her bare upper arm.  She didn’t know the voice so she spun around to tell him to keep his hands to himself.  That is as far as she got.  She looked into eyes of the most brilliant cornflower blue.  
      They glowed, gods, his eyes literally glowed.  She was caught, the words she’d about to spit at him stuck in her throat and she felt herself nod instead.  
      He spoke again, a trace of humor in his tone “That’s good little leopard, because I’m hungry and leopards taste really good.  I think you are going to taste even better than most, little leopard.”  
      Drew’s mind screamed at her to break loose and run, but she couldn’t, this man – who ever or what ever he was, had somehow entranced her.  How had he known she was a lycos and a leopard at that?  She took in the rest of him, hoping she would see some way to break the trance and get away.  He was a giant about six foot nine, solidly muscled.  The man looked like he could take on an avalanche and win. The hood of the coat he wore was pulled up and she couldn’t see in the dim light of the club clearly, but his hair was either dark brown or black.  His jaw line was clean-shaven and sculpted, he was saved from looking too harsh by an almost overly sensual mouth.  If he didn’t come across so utterly artic in his bearing he would be devastatingly handsome.  Everything about him screamed danger.  Drew knew she was in trouble.  
      “Come, little leopard, lets find a some privacy.”  He slid his hand down her arm taking her hand in his he pulled her towards the back of the club.  Her body meekly did his bidding.  She seethed, hating that anyone could have this kind of control over her.  When they reached a door and he pulled her out of it into an alley behind the club.  Drew felt panic build for the second time in one night.  Gods she needed a rescue, where the hell was Seth and what happened to his promise to protect her.  
      “Come closer to me beauty.”  He leaned his back against the wall and pulled her so she fell into his arms.  
      What was he going to do to her?  
      Seth!  Her mind screamed  as the man lowered his mouth to gently brush his lips over hers.  
      
      “Don’t stress man, she’s with Selphie, nothing’s going to happen to her.” Darius tried to reassure Seth.  
      Selphie chose that moment to come running up the stairs to the VIP room.  
      “Is Drew here?”  She was breathless from the run.  
      “You were saying?”  Ross asked Darius sarcastically.  
      “She’s not with you.”  It was a statement.  Seth’s voice brittle with fear.  
      “No, I lost her somewhere down on the dance floor.  When I couldn’t see her I thought she may have come back up here.  It’s no big, I’ll just run down and look for her again.  This place is packed tonight.”  Selphie looked at Seth’s worried face.  
      Then looked at the others.  She frowned at collection of anxious faces.  
      “Xander is at the club already.”  Ross informed her.  
      Selphie palled.  “Xander has a taste for lycos blood, and he doesn’t know that Drew is part of our group.”
      “Maybe he hasn’t found her yet.” Bastien suggested.
      “Your kidding right, Xander could zone in on a lycos from six miles away.”  Ross hissed.
      “We need to get out on the dance floor and find Drew now.” Seth moved towards the door.
      “What the hell is that?”  Bastien pointed at the center of the room where the air was shimmering as if it was hot.
      Everyone turned to look at the mirage like air.  
      “Shit” was all Jade got out before a massive leopard materialized out of the shimmer, looked straight at Seth and roared.  
      “That’s Drew’s Sentin, she’s in trouble.” Jade announced grimly.  
      The cat roared again before it turned and bound down the stairs.  
      “Follow that fucking leopard!”  Seth bellowed and ran after the departing feline.
 
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