Chapter Six
Aurora kept the SUV with her sister inside within sight since she couldn’t be sure if she’d lose the ability to track her through the location app.
Traffic increased as they drew closer to New York.
The air was charged with anticipation, making her wolf rise to the surface.
She worked to exert control over the other half of her soul, promising the wolven half she’d give her free rein once they were safe.
Hours later, she pulled the SUV to a stop outside the warehouse district.
The other vehicle circled the building, where a gleaming sign with a pair of red lips and fangs bit down on the words ‘Club Jus Sanguinus,’ standing out among the other buildings.
The gleaming skyscraper that pierced Manhattan's skyline looked like a monument to wealth and privilege, unlike the others around it. For a moment, she sat motionless, studying the structure through the windshield. The world looked safer, more controlled through the glass and metal protection. Outside, she didn’t doubt all pretenses of safety would disappear in a flash.
Hell, Aurora sensed her entire life wouldn’t be the same once she stepped outside her SUV.
Pushing open the driver’s door, faint whispers echoed back at her, growing from background noise to an overwhelming cacophony.
She shook her head, working to silence them like one would turn down a radio.
She smoothed her hands down the sides of her legs, wondering if she’d stand out as badly as she feared.
“Stay and protect the vehicle,” she ordered Yukon. Again, she sent up a prayer to the heavens to keep her and Starla safe as well as Yukon. If she didn’t make it back...no, she couldn’t think that way.
With a push of a button, she locked the vehicle after ensuring she’d cracked all four windows enough to give her beloved pet air. The water dish was full, and his belly was full thanks to her last stop. She needed to stop worrying and get to moving.
She pushed her shoulders back, acutely aware of the stares coming her way as she walked past the throng of people standing in line.
Hell, some of the women wore dresses that surely cost more than she made in an entire month.
Her daily life didn't exactly prioritize fashion, nor did it allow for budget allocations to purchase designer clothing. Others looked as though they’d dressed to the theme.
Halloween hadn’t ever been her thing, but she got why humans enjoyed dressing up.
Her eyes wandered the scantily clad crowd, wondering if they ever thought the creatures they dressed as could actually be real?
With her acute hearing, she picked up a couple of murmurs of women mocking her lack of costume.
One bitch actually had the audacity to speak loud enough for everyone to hear her say there was no way Aurora would get past the bouncer without her tits or ass out.
Aurora stared at the fake-tit, bitch, dressed as an angel on crack, noticing the girl couldn’t be much older than Starla. She barely controlled her snort when the girl wobbled on four-inch heels. She flipped Aurora off as she passed her.
“It's no big deal. I’m not here to impress anyone,” she reminded herself, adjusting the strap on her crop top. “I’m here to rescue my sister, not fit in.”
She’d finger-combed her long hair and left it to hang loose, hoping that if the males who had her sister happened to see her, they wouldn’t recognize her as the woman they’d presumably killed.
With the amount of perfume she’d applied, she hoped her scent wouldn’t be traceable to them if they happened to see her before she saw them. Her one advantage was surprise.
Of course, she’d had to ditch her jacket since it carried their scents, leaving her nothing but the sports bra and minuscule crop top to wear.
Not that by the looks of the women in line, she was too underdressed.
Goddess, did the women decide to come out in little to nothing?
Aurora rubbed her arms as goosebumps rose on her skin.
Murmurs filtered into her mind through the block she’d put up, letting her overhear several conversations.
“Wow, did she come here directly from the gym? Good luck getting past the bouncer. She’d have to give a good blowjob to get even a glance at the interior, let alone a shot to go in.”
“Oh, you’re just jealous of her tits. They look real, and I bet she could bounce quarters off that ass. I wouldn’t mind a little taste.”
The last bit came from a male whose words ended in a hiss.
Aurora hurried past them, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead.
A red velvet rope with a large male came into view, shocking her since she’d seen one on the opposite side of the building.
She looked behind her, wondering if she’d gotten turned around.
“You, come here,” the big male barked.
Aurora kept walking, ignoring his words.
“I was speaking to you, girl. Why do you smell like that?” he asked, breathing deeply.
She lifted her arm, inhaling near her pits. “Excuse me? Are you saying I stink?” she asked.
He shook his head, smiling an alarmingly white smile with teeth too sharp to be human. “Nah, you don’t stink like human sweat, but too much human perfume. You must’ve just come from working out. I like that about a female. Come here.” He gestured toward the doorway.
Aurora didn’t need him to tell her twice. “Ah, thank you. I appreciate the entry.” Goddess, she was an idiot—no game, as her sister would say.
His arm came out, stopping her before she could pass. “My brother will be swapping me places in an hour. Meet me at the north bar, and I’ll buy you a drink. You ever been here before?” he asked, licking his lips.
She shook her head, feeling that he’d recognize if she lied.
“Don’t accept a drink from anyone except someone from behind the bar and only one you’ve ordered. Don’t dance with anyone you haven’t met before, and don’t drink from your drink if you’ve set it down and haven't kept an eye on it the entire time. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Aurora swallowed, understanding she could be in over her head in more ways than one. “Got it. I’ll only drink water.”
“What’s your name?”
Her throat closed up, worry about her safety rising if she were to lie. “Star,” she said with conviction.
He gave a nod. “I’m Oakley. My brother Trystan looks similar to me. We have a sister named Trystina, who’s Trystan's twin. If you see a man who looks like me, tell him I said he is to look out for you.”
Aurora touched his arm. “Thank you.”
She slid past him. As she stepped through the massive doors into the lobby, her training kicked in automatically.
She noted the security cameras positioned at optimal angles, the guards who tried to look casual in their expensive suits, and the ostentatious gold accents that gleamed from the black and gold marble floor.
Everything was carefully designed to seduce and intimidate, reminding visitors that they were entering the domain of the powerful.
It didn't work on her. She’d come to find her sister, and besides, she’d faced entities that could tear the fabric of reality in the middle of a forest when she’d been little more than a girl. Gold-plated elevator doors didn't exactly register on her fear scale.
Remembering Oakley’s words, she headed toward the north section, keeping her eyes and ears open.
She took deep breaths, filtering in the scents around her, startled to find unfamiliar smells.
There were humans, of course, but among the normal sweat and perfume she associated with the average man and woman, there was more.
Heat travelled through her body, lighting up her insides as if charged by some unforeseen source.
Her wolf sat up, raking at her inner walls.
Aurora stopped in her tracks, pressing her hands against her sternum.
“What is it?” she whispered.
She nearly collided with a couple making out as they stumbled past her. “Sorry,” the man muttered.
Aurora eased toward the wall where the lights didn’t seem to reach, needing a moment to catch her bearings.
Her wolf seemed to be going crazy. An occurrence that only happened twice a year, and she wasn’t close to her heat.
Fuck. Exerting absolute control, she pushed her wolf behind the walls that secured her for years, knowing the beast would be angry.
Nevertheless, Aurora needed to be the one in control.
She opened her mind to Starla, worried it was her sister’s heat that triggered her own.
“Biddy Bee, are you okay?”
“Sissy, they’ve brought me to some scary dude’s place, but he’s busy looking for someone. They said something about me being payment for a debt, and if I play nice, I might live through the night. I don’t want to die,” Starla cried.
“Did they take you inside a warehouse, or where are you?” she asked, needing answers.
“They brought me in through the basement and up some elevator that honestly looked like it belonged in a five-star hotel. If I weren’t aware that I was being sold or whatever, I’d have wanted to gawk at my surroundings. Even this office waiting room area is swank as heck.”
“Can you describe it to me?” Aurora figured if her sister were busy looking around, she wouldn’t be so scared.
She felt a familiar tightness in her chest—not nervousness about her own life, but the weight of her sister’s well-being on her shoulders.
The mission she’d taken on ten years ago drove every moment of her life.
Hell, Aurora’s attempt at salvation all those years ago didn’t end when Starla came of age.
Some might think it was guilt-ridden devotion.
Her parents gave up their lives for the two of them, but in truth, Starla gave her a reason to continue living.
Starla’s voice broke through her own quagmire of thoughts.
“There’s a conference room through a set of double doors to the left of this office.
It’s all glass and chrome, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering what looks like a panoramic view of the city.
Magnus and Sterling both stood at the entrance, but neither came inside when we entered the office.
There’s a huge man they stopped and talked to in a tailored suit that probably cost way more than I will make in an entire year.
Oh, and did I mention he was drop-dead gorgeous, in that polished, privileged way—like one of those British dudes who speaks very formally and looks down their noses at us lesser folks. ”
“Um, who are Magnus and Sterling, and why are you speaking in an accent?” she asked, her senses pinging as if danger were near.
“They’re two of the males who kidnapped me. They are actually nice, unlike the alpha and his beta.”
Aurora sucked in a breath, wondering if Starla’s wolf was claiming one of the two men. “Starla, do you like one of them? Has your wolf perked up around them more than the others?”
“Ew, no. They’re like old enough to be like my funcles. You know, like fun uncles, only I’m not sure if I’d consider them fun at the moment?”
An image of Starla rolling her eyes appeared in her mind. The clear picture startled Aurora, as if her sister were standing right before her. As she gazed at the image, she also saw the room where Starla was seated.
“Hello, love,” a man said, extending his hand with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. “May I buy you a drink?”
Aurora sidestepped the male’s invitation with a polite smile. “Ah, sorry, I’m waiting for Oakley to come inside.”
The mention of the other man’s name worked to dispel whatever the immediate response would’ve been from the big male. “Ah, I see. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. What did you say your name was?”
Aurora moved farther away, keeping her eyes on him.
She wondered if he’d dressed up as something or what his gig happened to be.
Not wanting to spend time with him, she gave an empty smile.
“Star is my name, although I didn’t tell you that.
Have a good evening.” Without hurried movements, she slid between a few people, wanting to put space between herself and the odd male.
He wasn’t human or a shifter. Whatever species he happened to be, she knew without a doubt he was a predator.
“You as well, Star. Until we meet again.”
The hair on the back of her neck stood up at the echo of his words, seeming to come from right beside her, when she’d left him back at the bar. Yeah, he was creepy as fuck. When she was far enough away, she peered over her shoulder, hoping he wasn’t on her heels.
From across the dozen or so feet, she watched him make a show of licking his lips. His teeth looked much longer and sharper than those of a human, making her wonder again if he’d dressed up as some sort of animal or possibly a vampire. Yeah, that had to be it. Halloween brought out all the weirdos.
Aurora zigzagged through the thick crowd, hoping he wouldn’t try to follow her.
With the way her luck had been lately, he probably already knew where she was heading before she did.
The thought brought her up short. She spun in a slow circle, trying to get her bearings.
To her right, there was a darkened alcove with rows of lights that reminded her of an airplane when the lights went out.
Off to her left, she saw the large dance floor packed with dozens of couples moving to the music.
Something made her look up as if it were an instinct that told her to do so. Aurora’s breath stalled in her throat. Her heart seemed to stop and start all over again. Dark eyes bore into hers, holding her hostage as if she were rooted in cement.
She tried to blink and break the spell he had on her. His lips moved, and even from the over fifty feet that separated them, she read what he said. Mine!
The ownership and conviction etched on his gorgeous features lent her the strength she needed to break from the thrall holding her in place.
Whatever it was the male possessed that captured her attention and had her body and nearly her will in his grip, Aurora knew she needed to steer clear or risk falling prey to whatever danger he could be to both her and Starla.