32. Lysandra
The club—Tartarus—is lit with magical orbs that flash different colors, yet manage to keep the entire place cloaked in darkness. Music explodes from the floor, a heavy bass thumping like a heartbeat. Fae gyrate against each other on the dance floor and in the cages hovering from the ceiling, or line up at the two large bars made entirely of ice. Leather booths hide in the shadows lining the walls, each of them already filled—some with courtiers I recognize.
A Fae female takes the leather jacket from my shoulders, leaving me in a black dress that’s a little too low cut and a little too short to be comfortable. I thank her and fluff my hair, which took me an hour to style in messy waves that look like someone ran their fingers through them. I was worried my makeup was too dark, the cat-eye too sharp, but everyone in here had the same idea.
“Would you like?” a server purrs, holding a silver tray with test tubes of glowing blue powder. Faerie dust. The drug dances within the tube, and even looking at it is intoxicating, but I shake my head. Hades told me if I wanted to try anything I should get it directly from her—I’m a little too scared to ask why.
“Do you know where I can find Hades?” I ask. She jerks her head to the back booth where I catch the familiar silhouette of my friend standing before the table.
I slide between the writhing bodies, trying unsuccessfully not to rub up against anyone, but no one seems to care. In fact, they seem to relish the contact as my hand lands on their shoulder, or my boobs brush against their back. Light, lingering touches follow me as I pass, but none feel predatory. It feels more like a welcome.
Something in the music pulses, and the tension drains from my muscles. It feels like I took a shot and my inhibitions slip out of my fingers and onto the dance floor. The desire to stay with the male in front of me comes in hot and strong, and judging by the way he drinks me in like he’s dying of thirst, he feels the same. I give him a coy smile and our bodies start moving in sync with the music as we step in closer.
“There you are!” Larisa squeals, colliding with me and knocking the male away. I wobble in my heels from the force of her entrance, and she cackles as I right us. Her arms stay draped around me as she starts stumbling in the direction of Hades’ booth. “Hope I didn’t interrupt.”
“Not at all,” I deadpan.
“You didn’t want him, anyway. That was just the siren influence; they can manipulate emotions with their voices.” That must have been what I heard in the music. “Genius idea by Hades, but they do scramble the hormones. Make sure your mental shields are impenetrable if you don’t want it to happen again.”
I leave them partially cracked. When in Rome, right?
“Why wouldn’t I want him?” I ask, turning over my shoulder to find the male has already moved on to whoever took my vacated place.
“Because you want Puck,” Larisa laughs like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. I open my mouth to rebuff her, but she halts sloppily, pulling me to a stop. “No, I know what you’re going to say, but just listen. He’s going through a lot of shit, but he’s working on it. Didn’t he apologize?”
“Maybe.” I shrug.
“What did you say?”
“I threw rocks at him.”
Larisa purses her lips. “You seem to bring out the worst in each other.”
“I didn’t do anything—”
“Except tell him he didn’t belong anywhere,” she says. I swallow thickly. I told Larisa that because I felt insanely guilty; I didn’t expect her to throw it back in my face.
“All I’m saying is you should hear him out, without the rocks. I mean, make him grovel, but keep an open mind.”
“There’s nothing to salvage,” I say softly, not loud enough for her to hear me over the music, but somehow I know she understands. She extends her hand and continues weaving through the crowd without a care in the world until we reach the table.
“Lysandra.” Hades whistles when she sees me, and motions for me to spin around. She’s wearing a black tailored suit with nothing but a red lace demi-bra beneath the buttoned jacket.
I oblige, even though she picked out the damn dress, arching my back a little to make my ass look better. “Gorgeous, darling. Are you sure you’re not at least a little curious about being with a female?”
“You’re such a flirt, Hades,” Larisa says, and Hades pulls her in and whispers something that makes Larisa turn bright red before she flops into the booth with Puck and Radley.
“Don’t put her on the spot like that,” Radley says, raising a glass of whiskey. His beard is relatively tamed tonight—cropped a little shorter than its typical bushy length—and his long hair is unbound and hanging down to his shoulders. “You don’t hear me asking if you want to try being with a male.”
“I was with a male last night,” she says with a shrug of her slender shoulder.
“I thought you swore off males,” he says, clutching his chest like one would clutch a string of pearls.
“Just because I turned you down doesn’t mean I swore off males.”
The two of them continue their banter, and I allow myself to look at Puck, who is staring at me so intently he could burn a hole in my dress. He looks annoyingly sexy. He’s wearing a black button-down that’s open at the neck and the sleeves are rolled up. Why is that so fucking hot? Forearms shouldn’t be that attractive.
When I look back at Hades, she’s watching the two of us with thinly veiled amusement.
“What are we drinking?” Devorah appears behind me. She briefly looks frazzled, but it disappears and she pastes on a carefree smile. A dark-haired male with pale skin and a matching frazzled expression charges after her.
“This is my babysitter,” she says with a wave of her hand. “Because, you know, Hades’ security team isn’t enough.”
Hades, to her credit, doesn’t take the bait.
“I’m Ari,” the male says, extending a hand to me. “Devorah’s advisor. And the deal was that she could come here with me or not at all.”
“I am a grown-ass female,” Devorah shouts. Ari ignores her outcry and slides into the booth, shaking hands with Radley and Puck and waving to Larisa.
“Where are Edina and Eldoris?” I ask Devorah, who crosses the booth to sit anywhere but next to her advisor. Ari stares at her the entire time.
“Still in the mortal realm. They’ll be back before the final trial.”
The mention of the trial renders everyone quiet.
“None of that,” Hades orders, staring at each one of us until we agree. “I have to go check on some things, but if you need me, I’ll be in my office. Enjoy.”
She takes a few steps away, and I meet Puck’s gaze again. There’s so much emotion in his face I can’t even begin to discern it. The underlayer of anger I’ve come to expect is present, but it’s shrouded by lust… and something I refuse to name.
“Hades,” I call, turning on my heel and chasing after her. I follow until we’re in the mouth of a dark hallway.
“Something you need?” she asks innocently.
“What can I take?” I ask. She arches an eyebrow. “I had a drink before I left but…”
“What kind of high do you want?”
“Nothing that’s going to have me in the gutters of the Underground begging for my next fix.”
“What kind of friend do you think I am?” She pokes her head into the club and crooks her finger at a server. His tray holds a pile of baggies with colorful tablets inside. Hades takes two and dismisses the male.
“No more than two of these,” she says, handing the bags to me. “Drink lots of water—no alcohol. And…” She reaches into the back pocket of her suit pants and withdraws an old skeleton key. “If you’re feeling the effects and want to hook up with someone, this is a private room. Do not fuck on my dance floor. I run a tight ship, but even I can’t control the pixies.”
“I won’t need—”
She shoves the key directly into my cleavage, effectively interrupting me. I grumble but tuck the extra tablet in there as well. I’m only going to take one until I see how it affects me.
“If you need me, ask any of the servers. They’ll bring you to my office,” she says and gives me a wicked smile. “Have fun.” She swaggers away, leaving me staring at a bright pink tablet in the shape of a flower.
I pause, wondering whether sticking to Faerie wine or that magical whiskey Radley was drinking would be safer. I decide I don’t care and pop the tablet in my mouth, letting it dissolve on my tongue.
For a moment, nothing happens. And then…
“By the goddess.”
I’m suddenly very aware of my heart beating, the pace increasing until it’s in my ears like a stampede of horses. Energy unlike anything I’ve ever felt courses through my blood, making me want to run and jump and sing. The pull to join the throng of bodies is so overpowering that standing still seems like an impossibility.
I expected this to feel like drinking, where my brain becomes hazy and my body loosens. But I’m wide awake and my mind is crystal clear. I can feel where the bass travels from the floor, into my shoes, and up my shins. I feel the small bead of sweat on the back of my neck even before it forms. I’m acutely aware of the way the fabric of my dress feels against my skin, and how just the slightest shift in movement makes it brush against my nipples.
“Hi-eeee,” Larisa says, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. She’s warm and smells like cactus blossoms and wine. And she’s soft. She’s so thin I would have never expected her to be soft, I expected bones and angles, but— “What in the goddess’ name?” Larisa giggles. I don’t realize I’m buried in her neck and playing with the strands of her hair until she steps away.
“Sorry, I—” I have no words. Once again, the desire to move crashes into me like a freight train and I almost abandon Larisa entirely.
She grips my face, holding me still while she performs an assessment, which is taking entirely too long in her drunken state. I want to touch and be touched. I want to play. “You took Euphie,” she finally proclaims.
“Maybe. Honestly, I have no idea. If Euphie is a pretty tablet, then yeah, that’s what Hades gave me. Is it supposed to make your heart beat this fast? I can hear it. I can hear my heart beating, Larisa. Also, your hands are really soft.”
“Oh, we’re gonna have a great night.” She releases my face and grabs my hand, pulling me toward the dance floor.
“Hades said something about water,” I call over the music.
“Did you hear that?” Larisa singsongs, using magic to amplify her voice so everyone around us turns. “The princess needs some water! Can anyone oblige?”
A Fae male who looks like the embodiment of a Viking god points his hands up to the ceiling, and a circular orb of water starts to form. “Say please, Your Highness,” he teases.
“Please.” I abandon Larisa and make my way closer to him. With a devilishly handsome smile, he manipulates the orb so that droplets start spraying on everyone’s heads. I squeal and open my mouth, letting the drops fall on my tongue, washing away the remnants of the drug I took.
“Dance with me?” the male who made it rain says, wrapping his arm low around my waist. I nod and he spins me so my back is to his front. My head falls against his chest. He leans down so his stubble brushes against my neck, making me moan. Everything feels so freaking good. I can feel every spot where our bodies meet, little connections forming between us like shoelaces tying together.
But even as I grind my ass back into him, I wish I was with Puck.