Page 94 of Claim the Light
The heavy thump of music masks the pounding of my heart as I weave a path through the throng of humans crowding the dance floor of the Hollow Rose.
I appear to be alone, but Micah, Beatrix, and Lana are right where I need them to be, camouflaged by Beatrix’s power and watching over me. Not that I can sense exactly where they are. It turns out that, while I was undertaking combat training, Beatrix found the time to train, too. Now she can use her power not only to conceal herself and others from sight, but from all detection—sound and scent.
I’m proceeding on pure trust that they’ve remained where they said they’d be.
Around me, the glistening sweat on the human dancers’ skin is like diamonds in my vision, every droplet of liquid calling to me.
But I’m not here for them.
I’m here for the dragon shifters milling around on the second-floor loft that overhangs the dance floor.
It’s fucking brazen that the Scorn would congregate here.
The Hollow Rose is Callan’s club.
But then, Tyler always wanted everything Callan had. He even made a pass at Lana. I’m not sure he cared that I saw him do it.
Of course, it wasn’t an easy task to determine that the Scorn were here. Earlier today, after returning to Callan’s home and the apartment he gave me, Lana and I set out to scour the city. She can’t sense the Scorn themselves, but she was able to single out hot spots of malice and guilt across the city where they might be gathered.
When one of those spots happened to be the Hollow Rose, I made it my first target tonight.
Lana told me to trust my instincts and so far, they’re proving to be accurate.
I quickly scan the figures up in the loft, recognizing the two Scorn dragons who followed us to the fountain, along with several others I met on the night Zahra attempted to make an alliance with the Scorn.
But… I don’t see Tyler among them.
That’s okay.My presence will draw him out soon enough.
As long as I make a show of it.
Holding my head high, I sway deftly through the crowd, choosing a spot right in the middle of the dancers, where I stop and plant my feet.
My right leg is slightly forward, my thigh fully exposed by the high slit in the green, satin dress I chose to wear tonight. It matches the color of my eyes. It’s tightly fitted around my torso with spaghetti straps over the shoulders that crisscross down the back to a low waist. A slinky number. The kind that Tyler will like.
I take a moment to center myself before I focus on every droplet of moisture resting on the skin of the humans around me. I’m not totally certain it’s going to work—and I have other ideas for drawing attention if it doesn’t—but I latch on to the water and mentally request that it move gently outward.
I’m gratified when, at the soft press of my power, the humans gravitate away from me, leaving a gap all around me that will make my presence conspicuous from above.
At the same time, I allow the cerulean-blue shimmer of my dragon scales to gleam across my bare shoulders and up to my cheeks. I have nothing to fear from revealing my scales in this place. The strobe lights make the true nature of my scales visually confusing to any human who might notice them—those who aren’t already intoxicated.
My heels tap on the floor as I adjust my balance, ready to move when I need to.
Then I paste a provocative smile onto my lips and tip my head back, allowing my hair to cascade across my right shoulder as I wait for the dragons in the loft to notice me.
It doesn’t take them long.
The male Scorn dragon with the patterns shaved across his scalp jabs his finger in my direction. At his gesture, ten Scorn dragons lurch to their feet, including the woman with the light-brown skin and bright-pink streaks in her hair who chased us at the fountain.
She stands and takes a quick step toward the transparent glass that surrounds the loft.
In doing so, she reveals the form of the dragon shifter sitting next to her.
My mother.
I shouldn’t be surprised to see her here. She defected to the Scorn when it looked like the Dread would be annihilated. She left me behind when she thought she could save her own skin.
Unlike the Scorn, who are agitated around her, she merely leans back in her chair and peers in my direction as if she couldn’t care less.
