28. Daisy
TWENTY-EIGHT
daisy
That bitch.
The fact my father was here should have spiked my fucking anxiety. The man didn’t give a shit about me. He wanted me to be someone else’s problem regardless of who they were or how nice they were as long as it benefited him. All those years of expecting him to someday say he was proud? Not a fucking chance.
The second Zeiden pulled that woman back to his side, I fucking saw red, and it didn’t matter what my dad had to say.
“Sir. Meet one of our esteemed guests.”
Fucking hell. Zeid was trying to hand off the dumb whore that kept trying to hump him. Well, I was going to help him get rid of her. I sauntered my much younger and perkier ass the short distance to him and slid my arm between the woman and my husband.
“Hey, handsome. Need a hand?” I didn’t have an actual plan, other than she needed to get off my man.
“Who is this creature?”
I waited for my blood to run cold, but somewhere between defying my father and killing my would-be-rapist betrothed, I lost my fear. Was I in shock? Maybe. But maybe not.
I turned toward him.
“I am not a creature, and there are no names here, sir.” I might have put a little too much attitude on that last word and feared he might just figure out who was behind the mask. But the saddest part of the realization was that I truly doubted he would notice, because that would imply he would have ever paid attention to me.
Fine. If they could all play a game, then so would I.
“I like your spunk.”
I snorted. He would.
“Oh, well in that case, I have more coming.”
I let go of Zeid just for him to grab my arm and yank me back.
“No. This one is off limits.”
The stupid woman next to him got even more annoying, if that was possible.
“Oh, come on, Wraith. Let him have his fun. Part of the game is knowing when to stop.”
I heard her and was about ready to throw a punch at her face and try out my online self-defense skills, but I didn’t get a chance.
My father, who was unknowingly hitting on his daughter, took the moment of distraction to yank me toward him.
What the hell kind of party was this anyway? The thrill of being someone else was giving me confidence I probably wouldn’t have had around my own father, but really?
I leaned up to Zeid and whispered into his ear. “Tell me where to take him, and I’ll let you see to your little cougar tramp.”
The mask didn’t do much to hide the murder in his eyes, and a little part of me wanted to do a fist pump.
“Let’s all go get a drink then, sir. Ladies.”
Zeid was yanking me with, which pulled along my father. He was trying to assert a dominance I was repulsed by rather than afraid of.
As we reached the bar, the woman next to Zeid was rubbing up on him and my entire body was starting to burn in an anger I didn’t know I had the ability to even feel.
“Fan-fucking-tastic. Alcohol.”
I’d been pretty sure that was said under my breath, but the way Zeid’s grip grew tighter, I wasn’t so sure.
A bartender was over by us in seconds. I didn’t have a clue who he was, but he seemed to see me, and I got a glass that matched Zeid’s. It had a red rim, subtle, but I noticed the green of the glasses handed to my father and the bitch.
Zeid held his glass out.
“To corruption.”
I was understanding a bit more about this world and this stupid art show. It was corruption dressed in dripping gold jewelry and under the guise of the rich. Not much different from my own world. Hell, these people were my world, everyone except Zeid, his brothers, and those that were serving the rich morons. I could see the bartender had a tattoo that matched Zeid’s. They were mostly hidden, but when the bartender moved, I caught the top of the hourglass poking out his collar. When a server had come around earlier, I had seen the same along his collar. When he saw me glance his way, he adjusted the fabric.
My father was clearing his throat, and that was when I noticed he’d downed his own drink already.
“Lady, you didn’t touch yours?”
I looked at mine and at Zeid to notice he was peeling off the woman at his side. I grabbed my drink and started to gulp it down just as the bartender came by and nearly grabbed it from my lips.
“Sorry, miss. That was the wrong drink.” He met Zeid’s eyes and something changed in the atmosphere.
“I’m okay. I don’t really need a drink. Thanks.”
I was too busy glaring at the woman that didn’t seem to get that she was unwanted.
“Announce the Arcane,” Zeid said to the bartender, and I saw him head to the end of the bar where someone else dressed in a similar black tux stood. The bartender whispered something, and the guy nodded and nearly ran to the other side of Enigma.
“Lady, you are no longer needed. Please enjoy the rest of the show.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant until I saw two new females walking out of a door I hadn’t noticed previously. It was harder to see every detail in the dark lighting. All the spotlights remained on the art while the rest of Enigma was plunged in shadows, and as cool as that was, I guess I’d missed details.
Still, the girls were mesmerizing in fishnets, heels, and shiny black fabric not hiding much. Two men followed. Bare chests and nothing but some tight black pants. Background music I hadn’t much noticed over the anger of watching Zeid with that woman changed.
The song started with the words “Welcome to the show.” A beat filled the entire place and it seemed to draw the elite rich pricks to the center. From the bar it was easier to see there were more of the fabric sling things and shiny poles than I’d seen before. The little stage that sat in the center of the room was surrounded by them and they seemed to be more like stripper poles as the guys grabbed them and did a slow circle, waiting for the women to join.
“Do not move,” Zeid said as he stepped aside. I noticed the bartender come closer again. I saw a flash of red and went to turn my head to see if it was Rylee or Cali, but I nearly fell over.
The world shifted in that second. What the hell? I blinked, but the world didn’t clear.
A hand behind me gripped my hip and pulled me in that direction.
“You’re quite beautiful, but something about you seems familiar.”
Right, my dad was there. Eww. But that eww factor was slow to surface. I felt a bit like I was swimming. What had been in that damn drink?
“Where’s your wife?” I asked.
His fingers dug deep into my hip.
“That’s of no concern. I could ask you the same thing about a husband.. Both of us have rings and no one on our arm. No one comes to the Arcane Alchemist just for the art.”
That was news to me, but so was the fact my dad could notice rings and not that I was his fucking daughter. The room tilted again.
“Miss?”
The bartender hopped over the bar in one leap.
“Excuse me, sir. You will be escorted out. Our glasses have a special coating that can detect drugs. Ketamine to be specific. You’ll be blacklisted.”
Ketamine? What was that? The bartender reached for me, but my father seemed to find a better grip. That, or I wasn’t able to hold up my own weight.
He started to back away.
“I suggest you don’t touch me unless you want this place to lose all respect from decent society.”
A few more steps backward and I was losing all control of my feet. Still my father tried to drag me. Until he didn’t.
A voice I recognized came from behind me.
“If you want to keep your head on your shoulders, I suggest letting her go.”
I tried to fight the weight of my own head, but I couldn’t seem to get a glance at Zeiden. Still, it didn’t seem to matter, because suddenly there was a lot of black around me, like suited bodies blocking us from the rest of the place.
The rest of the night, or maybe it was minutes, came in and out of focus. Someone grabbing me, holding me tightly. Zeiden. I was positive as I breathed in that musky male scent.
The next time I opened my eyes we were in a concrete room, and I swear I heard someone scream. But after that, I just let my heavy lids close and enjoyed whatever peace I was getting.