Chapter 25
twenty-five
LIV
Darius failed to hide his struggle against the weight of his power after we said goodbye to Merrily, so we spent the rest of the day distracting him.
We stopped at a restaurant for a sit-down meal, then grabbed ice cream from a mermaid-owned parlor. Afterward, we stopped at one of Kat's coffee shops for drinks.
When we left, we took a short detour to mine and Niall's place to pick up clothes that would work for a nightclub.
I knew how to keep Dare from going off the deep end. He and I were basically two sides of the same shitty coin, though I vastly preferred mine.
He would've, too.
While I had endless anxious energy, the darkness of the depression he constantly ran from meant he had to stay busy to prevent himself from spiraling in that way instead of in mine.
The differences between our power's costs could be summed up by the differences in our coffee orders.
Darius drank more caffeine than Kat did, constantly sipping some form of it, while I still had to stick with decaf.
We got to the club in the late afternoon. It was pretty empty, but the bartender was an attractive woman who Darius apparently hadn't made a bargain with before. They hit it off in about ten seconds flat, and disappeared into a back room within ten minutes.
Niall and I claimed a booth. I leaned up against him, sighing as the insanity of the day finally started to find its close.
All we had to do now was get through the evening and night at the club, which neither of us were a stranger to.
Soon, we'd hit the dance floor, and the time would fly.
Until then, we were going to feast on the fancy burgers and fries the place offered.
"What a day," Niall murmured into my mind. The mental communication felt far more intimate than speaking aloud, and I loved that.
"No kidding. I hope Dare gets through it okay. He and Mer spend a lot of time together."
"He'll figure it out, and we'll be here if he needs us."
Our food arrived, and as we ate, the crowd started to grow. Someone would've posted on some internet thread that Darius had been spotted at this club, and where Darius went, people followed.
Magic like his that gave people pleasure without asking for anything in exchange definitely drew immortals in.
Demons needed lust to survive, but it wasn't like that for Darius.
Unless he was actively suppressing it the way he did around our family and the Cabinet, he literally radiated feel-good power.
We cleaned our fingers with napkins after our food was gone. Niall met my gaze with a small grin and said aloud, "Come on. Let's go."
"Let's go where?"
"Dancing."
"You know what's going to happen if we go out there," I warned, already slipping from the booth and fighting my own smile.
"When have I ever had a problem dancing with you all night?"
Taking his hand, I led him to the dance floor and set his hands on my clothed hips so that for once, we weren't touching.
As my energy came rushing back in, I swayed my hips and moved my body against my mate's. He was hard for me instantly, and the gleam in his eyes told me we weren't going to make it all night before disappearing into my private room in the club.
"I can't believe I get to keep you," I said into his mind, grinding on him in a way that was absolutely not appropriate for public eyes.
Neither of us gave a damn about that.
"You're pretty lucky," he agreed, nipping at the battery on my throat.
I really fucking was.
We danced for most of the night, and went home alone when Darius took off with someone. There, we got lost in each other's arms for a little longer.
It was bliss.