Page 14 of Endless Terrors
But there was a reason I needed to keep my distance.
I raised my gaze, looking at the face in the glass. Slowly, I touched the beauty mark Layla had mentioned. It used to be a reminder of my mother. It still was, only now it also made me think of how afraid she’d been in one of my last memories of her, and why.
She’s promised to him.
My hand fell away. I sighed and turned, reaching for my costume, which was made of pink leather. By the time the DJ started, I was ready, just as I’d promised Shanice. I followed a rush of dancers toward the door, the music and lights reaching for us.
Forcing a smile onto my lips, I stepped into the brightness, and my shift began.
The town might’ve been different, but nothing else was. The songs were the same, along with the men and the conversations. I went through the motions, swinging around poles, dancing in laps, accepting bills. I dodged personal questions and evaded wandering hands.
By the time two o’clock rolled around, my skin was dewy with sweat and all I wanted was a shower. I waved goodbye to Layla, who was still with a customer, and walked toward the dressing room. Halfway there, a man put his hand out and requested a dance in the VIP room. I was so tired that I didn’t even look at him. I just mustered a weak smile and shook my head, murmuring, “Next time.”
If he said anything else, I didn’t hear it. I slipped into the dressing room, changed, and retrieved my backpack from the row of hooks. With a wad of cash in one hand and my car keys in the other, I walked through the club again. Two more men tried to get my attention. Ignoring them, I paid the house fee and tipped the bartenders, then the bouncers as I passed. I stepped into the night with a deep sigh of relief. Winter raced across my skin, and compared to the stuffy heat of the room behind me, it truly was paradise.
I did my usual scan of the parking lot, alert for any movement or power. Everything was still. It was so cold that not even the smokers were out. I exhaled, some of the tension easing from my shoulders. Soon I’d be with Finn and Gil. My boots crunched over a sheet of ice as I moved toward the car, eager to get back and do more research on Lucifer.
“Hey, Angel, wait up! No, sorry, it’s Violet now, right?”
Hearing that name made my heart lurch into overdrive. It hammered in my ears as I whirled to face the owner of that vaguely familiar voice. When I saw who was coming toward me, his mouth stretched into a wide grin, I bit back a curse.
It was the customer from table six. At Sugarland. Back in Wyoming.
My instincts came alive. I didn’t bother wondering what he was doing here, of all places—it was clear this human was in my thrall. Obsession shone from his eyes.
The power of a Nightmare affected everyone differently. Some people coveted it. Some people worshipped it. Beauty brought out whatever was in their hearts, and whoever this man was, it was clear that his wasn’t full of good intentions.
I started to reach for the gun in the side pocket of my backpack, then remembered a beat later that I’d put it in my makeup bag for easier access during my shift. Shit. My makeup bag was still in the dressing room. I’d been so tired that I’d left without it.
“How did you find me?” I asked flatly, watching the stranger draw nearer. I was using a different name at Pink Paradise, but I must’ve made a mistake somewhere along the way. I wanted to know what it was so I didn’t repeat it in the next town.
“I have some friends in the business. I made some calls and asked if they had any new dancers that were out-of-this-world gorgeous.” He grinned at me again, as if he expected me to swoon at the compliment. He stopped and rocked back on his heels, plumes of air leaving his mouth as he added, “My name is Logan, by the way. Not that you asked.”
“You’re right. I didn’t.” Without another word, I turned and walked away. Putting my back to him made my skin crawl, and everything in me wanted to run, but I didn’t know how unhinged this man was. A chase might just excite him.
“Aren’t you curious why I went to all this effort?” he called, the night swallowing his voice.
I quickened my pace. “No.”
His footsteps sounded behind me. “Hey, come on. Wait. I tried to get your attention earlier, but you blew me off. So just wait one second, all right? I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
I kept walking. A moment later, the human’s fingers closed around my arm. I wrenched free so hard that pain shrieked through my shoulder. “Do not touch me,” I snarled, spinning.
Logan held up his hands. “Whoa. I just want to talk. It’s the least you could do. Look, let’s go back inside, and we can—”
“I don’t owe you a goddamn thing, and I’m not going anywhere with you.”
The friendliness slid off his face, and his voice changed, too. “You think you’re so much better than me?”
My mind raced. The car was still too far away. I was fast, but motivated humans tended to move fast as well. That left fighting or using my powers, and both options were last resorts. I glared at Logan, my free hand forming a fist. I was still holding my car keys, I noted distantly.
“You should know that the men who piss me off tend to end up dead,” I told him. “If you just walk away, it’s a win-win for both of us. You get to live, and I get to leave without another mark on my conscience.”
His eyes narrowed. “Did you just threaten me? I could get you into a lot of trouble for that.”
This was usually the point at which I said something that was the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull. But I needed to lay low and avoid drawing attention, and that was more important than my itch to take this guy down a peg. So I gritted my teeth and forced myself to say, “I don’t want any trouble. I want to go home, that’s it. I’m asking you to leave me alone.”
I started to turn. I hadn’t taken a single step when Logan replied, his voice low with rage, “I didn’t come all this way to be rejected by a fucking stripper.”
