Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
Jack
Closing Antoine’s office door behind me, I decided I needed a drink before I did anything else. Who knew listening to someone else’s trauma was such thirsty work?
“Hey, Jack,” my mom’s voice called from the living area. “Can you come in here?”
Staring longingly in the direction of the kitchen, I sighed and walked into the living room only to be greeted with two familiar faces sitting on the couch next to my mom.
“Look who came to see you,” my mom announced with a wide grin.
“Jack!” Xinyi jumped off the couch, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. “We figured you couldn’t come to us, so we came to you!”
I locked eyes with Iris over Xinyi’s shoulder, who simply smiled that mysterious smile of hers, looking like the statuesque Greek goddess she was. She glanced over at my mom a few times with an indiscernible expression.
I chalked it up to her being anti-social to other humans. I’d never seen her spend time with any other humans but Xinyi and me.
Once I pried Xinyi off me, and so as to not make Iris anymore uncomfortable, I said, “I’m happy to see you, too, but you didn’t have to come all the way out here. I could have met you somewhere.”
“And miss the chance to see how the other side lives?” Xinyi pouted. “No way!”
I arched a brow at my mom, who only smiled.
“We were going to go to this dance club that just opened up a few weeks ago,” Xinyi continued as she always did, not waiting for others to ask, “and we came to see if you wanted to come with us.”
I tried my best to school my face. A dance club? Me? That was just asking for disaster to strike. I could slow dance with the best of them but actually dance dance? I was afraid I had my mother’s two left feet and a tendency toward hazardous events.
My mom, on the other hand, clapped her hands together and stood with way more enthusiasm than I felt. “That’s a great idea! You know, I have just the outfit you should wear.” She moved over to take Xinyi’s spot. “You will love it, and it’ll make the guys go wild.”
“Oh, yay!” Xinyi practically vibrated with excitement. “I was hoping you had something to wear. This one wouldn’t let me bring anything over for you.”
“My love, you wanted to bring your whole closet. I believe that is a bit on the extreme side.” Iris sent me a knowing look.
“Don’t you worry, I’ve got her covered,” my mom reassured Xinyi. “Come on, let’s get you ready to party!”
I gave her a weak smile. “Great,” I drew out as my mom dragged me from the room.
Once in my mom’s room, I stood awkwardly in the middle, not really wanting to be there. Even though she had seven partners, she still had her own room.
I supposed it only made sense. It wouldn’t be fair for her to look like she was giving favoritism to one of my dads over the other. Still, I thought part of it was because of how messy she could be.
There were clothes strewn across the bedspread and spilling out of her closet.
Shoes without matches peeked out from under the bed, and piles of gossip magazines and romance novels littered every surface of the room.
I thought I even saw the glint of a dagger sticking out from the side of the mattress.
“Here we are,” my mom said, pulling out a hanger from her closet. “You’re a bit taller than me, so you don’t have to wear sky high heels like I did when I wore this. But I think it’ll look great on you. Plus pants.” She winked. “I know how much you hate dresses.”
She held out the hanger, holding a shimmery black jumpsuit that indeed had pants. Unfortunately, that did not make up for the fact that the top half was a halter top that plunged in the front and was nonexistent on the back.
I surveyed it with uncertainty. “I don’t know. Where would I hide my daggers?” It was a paltry excuse, but a sound one. There were supernaturals out there gunning for me. I didn’t want to go out there unprotected.
My mom tapped her chin and then her eyes lit up. “I have just the thing!”
Thirty minutes later, I was dressed in the jump suit with wrist to elbow arm warmers to hide my blades. My mom had found me a shorter pair of heels so at least I wouldn’t be a tripping hazard.
I felt a bit silly, like some go-go dancer from the 60s, especially with the way she’d put product in my hair. Now my curls were bouncing even bigger than before.
“Wow,” Xinyi gasped as I walked into the room. “You look amazing! Iris, doesn’t she look great?”
Iris didn’t look at me. Her gaze was firmly on two of my dads, Wynn and Rayne, who had stopped by for a moment.
Did she not like males? She seemed fine with Tate and Kyren.
Maybe the fact that they were on the council intimidated her?
I knew some people felt like they had to be perfect all the time around my dads, and I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable.
“Well, we should go.” I shooed my dads away. “We’re losing moonlight.”
Iris finally pulled her gaze away from them, taking my form in with an approving nod.
“Ooooh, this is going to be so much fun!” Xinyi cried out, looping her arm through mine and pumping her other hand in the air.
“Have fun,” my mom called out after us. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
As we walked out the door, I could hear Wynn chuckle. “What wouldn’t you do, mon amore?”
We all climbed into Iris’s car, a small black Mini-Coop with heavily tinted windows.
Xinyi chatted the entire way there, not really giving me or Iris a chance to get a word in edge-wise.
I sat in the back seat, the small clutch my mom had lent me in my lap.
It only held my I.D., credit card, and phone.
She’d proudly told me she doubted I’d even need my credit card tonight, with all the drinks that’d be bought for me. Which didn’t bring me any comfort.
I adjusted my top again, still feeling like it was showing everything, though only a small sliver of skin could be seen through the draped fabric.
I was tempted to text one of the guys to come meet me but wasn’t sure how Xinyi would feel about it.
I had a feeling she saw this as a girl’s night, and I didn’t want to burst her bubble.
“We’re here,” Xinyi sing-songed, shimmying her chest in the front seat.
Of course, she and Iris wore dresses that molded to their skin and were only one wrong move from flashing everyone, but it didn’t seem to bother either of them.
Iris pulled up to the front where a valet gave her a ticket. The outside was a big dark building, the windows tinted so you couldn’t see inside. A large sign hung above the entrance reading ‘Afterglow.’ Even bigger than the sign was the line that went all the way down the street.
“Uh, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t think we’re going to get in anytime soon.” I pointed at the line with a grimace.
Xinyi smiled and shook her head. “Don’t be silly. We don’t wait in line.” She grabbed my hand and dragged me and Iris toward the bouncer at the front door.
“Sorry, ladies, you’re going to have to wait in—”
“Durand party,” Xinyi interrupted, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
The bouncer glanced at the three of us and then spoke into his earpiece before stepping aside. “Head on in. We have a VIP booth set up for you. First bottle is on the house.”
Frowning at how easy it had been to get in, I bent my head down to Xinyi’s level to speak over the music strumming around us. “Is this a supernatural club?”
Xinyi grinned. “Not strictly, no. Humans can come too. But that doesn’t mean they don’t know who your parents are.”
Her words caused suspicion to rise up in me. “You didn’t just want me to come hang out, did you? You needed me to get past that line.”
Xinyi held up a hand and giggled. “Guilty. Hey, you’re the only cool connection we have. At least let us bask in what it means to be a celebrity.”
Shaking my head, I let her drag me to the VIP area where a guy in a suit opened a roped-off section for us. Then a pretty waitress carrying a tray brought over a bottle of champaign with three glasses. Her eyes darted to Iris.
“If you would prefer something more to your tastes, we have several willing vintages available for you.”
Iris picked up a glass with a tight smile. “No, thank you.”
Xinyi beamed at her lover, snugging into her side as the waitress filled our glasses.
“Thank you.” I nodded at her. Once she was gone, I arched a brow. “Do you only feed from Xinyi? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“No.” Iris’s lips twitched. “I am old enough that I do not require sustenance as often as others. Xinyi is all I could ever want or need.”
The small dark-haired woman giggled, staring adoringly up at the vampire.
Unfortunately, I’d barely gotten a few sips from my glass before Xinyi was dragging me to the dance floor.
“Wait, what about Iris?” I peered back at the vampire with a pleading look to save me. A look she promptly ignored, lifting her glass in my direction.
Resolved to my fate, I sighed, letting Xinyi bring us to the middle of the dance floor.
She moved like she was one with the music, knowing exactly how to shift and twist, a big grin on her face.
While I felt as if everyone was staring at me, I stepped from side to side, swaying just enough to call it dancing.
“Come on, you’ve gotta loosen up a bit.” Xinyi grabbed my hands and tried to direct me into more complicated moves that ended up with both of us giggling at how uncoordinated I was.
Hitting a target from several hundred feet away, I could do. Dance? Not so much.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” I told her after several songs, needing a reprieve from humiliating myself.
Xinyi bobbed her head, continuing to dance as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
I followed the sign that pointed toward the bathroom, down a long dimly lit hallway until I saw a line almost as long as the one outside. Groaning, I contemplated if I could hold it or maybe I could duck out into the alley in the back?