Dreaming of Hel (Jinx Paranormal Dating Agency #14)

Chapter 1

CLARA

The taxi pulled up in front of a large building with an illuminated pink neon ball on the front of it. That was certainly an interesting choice for a club, especially when it didn't tell me anything about what was inside. Or what the place was called.

My cousin paid the driver and got out of the car. She smoothed down her sparkly silver dress while I followed her, doing one last check to make sure we hadn't left anything in the back of the cab.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked Daisy as I joined her. I straightened the bow that tied my shirt collar together. Maybe I should have worn something more revealing, but I knew this made me look cute.

"Yep. This is where you're going to dance your troubles away, and maybe even find yourself a hot piece to take your mind off your break-up with Clemmy."

I let out a sigh. "I'm over it. I thought we were falling in love, but she was falling for someone else. So, here I am." I ran my hands through my hair. "I've made a mess of it, haven't I?" I asked Daisy.

She shook her head. "The messy hair suits you, Clara. You're definitely going to catch some attention tonight."

I rolled my eyes. "You're very invested."

She hooked her arm through mine and pulled me towards the front door of the club. "Can't I live vicariously through you?"

"Thor giving you that much trouble?"

"Not at all. But he did suggest that I leave him at the forge tonight. Something about explosions. I didn't pry too much."

"That's what you get for living with the god of...what's he the god of again?"

"Thunder," she responded. "And storms, fertility, strength...there's something else, I'm sure of it."

I laughed as Daisy pulled out the tickets and handed them over.

"This is why I could never date a goddess. Not only have you got to remember their birthday, anniversaries, and the normal stuff, but also a load of godly stuff," I said.

"It's just like dating anyone else, except that they've had extra time to learn some moves. I can tell you that Thor has not disappointed me on that front."

I pulled a face. "I could have gone my entire life without knowing that, and I would have been happy."

She shrugged. "I'm just saying. Being with a god comes with perks. Like being able to get in here." She waved in front of us.

I finally took my attention away from my cousin and started focusing on where we were.

While music still thrummed through my veins, it wasn't like any club I'd been to before.

For one, not everyone around us seemed roaring drunk, and there were several spots where the music seemed to fade away, and conversations were actually possible.

"What is this place?" I asked Daisy.

"The Pomegranate," she responded.

A small groan escaped me. "So that's what the neon pink ball on the outside is supposed to be."

"I assume so," she said.

"Weird name for a club, but okay."

"It's run by Hades," she said. "You know, Greek god of the dead."

I raised an eyebrow. "Hades?"

"He has a club in the god realm, and he recently opened this one. It's exclusive, so only the best people get in."

"And us."

"We're exclusive people."

"Maybe you at a stretch. You're seriously dating a god, and every paranormal with a TV knows it thanks to that show you were on. And you've made sculptures for the Jinx Dating Agency as a result."

"Mmhmm. They're sponsoring my next gallery opening too. It pays to know people, Clara."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that."

"Anyway, I was told that the best room for hooking up with women is the Rainbow Room."

I raised an eyebrow. "Inventive."

"That's what Danny said when I brought him here. Apparently, it wasn't meant to be the queer space."

"But rainbows attract us," I responded.

"That's exactly what Danny said. And Thor laughed at it as well. Apparently, the gods are much the same."

I laughed. She was probably right about that if they really were just people who happened to have obtained immortality and godhood. People tended to only want the same few things no matter where they came from. "Lead the way. I hope you don't mind dancing the night away in the Rainbow Room."

"Of course not. I'm taken no matter which room I'm dancing in." She headed down a corridor, and we entered a bar that looked nothing like I expected it to.

There were rainbows, but they were mostly caused by the reflections off the crystal lights, and it was beautiful.

"Drink first?" she asked.

"What's good?"

"Everything. Didn't you hear who runs the place? It's got the best of everything behind the bar."

"No doubt for the best of prices too," I responded.

She shrugged. "Some things are worth paying for." She caught the attention of the bartender while I looked at the menu.

"A virgin mojito," I said.

Daisy didn't even skip a beat, used to the fact that I didn't drink when I was at a place like this. I'd seen too many friends get poured into cabs to want to be one of them while at university, and it had put me off.

"Coming up." She flashed a smile at the bartender and quickly had our drinks in hand so we could head through to the dance floor.

The music was louder here, making the blood pump in my ears in response. I took a sip of my mojito, enjoying the combination of lime and mint, even if it didn't come with the buzz of alcoholic rum.

All around us, people danced. Alone, with their friends, or with someone else. It gave the room an inviting and intimidating edge at the same time.

I scanned the room, locking eyes with a gorgeous woman whose hair appeared to be light blue under the flickering lights of the dance floor.

There was something familiar about her, but I knew that was my imagination.

I wasn't going to know very many people here, not when the guest list was as exclusive as Daisy said it was.

Probably more so if the man in charge was a god.

I pulled my gaze away and drank down more of the mojito. It was too soon to get fixated on one person, especially when tonight was about getting over my ex. As much as I wanted to believe what I'd told Daisy about Clemmy, it wasn't quite as simple as that.

So I was going to go through with the age-old wisdom of how to get over someone, and I was going to get under someone else.