9
Jess
There Are A Million Lances
Parking my car not so far from Infernos club the nightafterKane told me not to come back, I study the street around me. The dark pockets. The alleyways. And the dangerous men who stand around discussing whatever business they have with each other.
Some glance up when I cut the lights, but for the most part, they stay put and continue their dealings.
They’ll mind their own business if I mind mine.
I refuse to make the same mistakes I made last time. I’m still nursing stitches in my ribs from my naiveté. My stomach still hollows at the thought of what could’ve been if the stranger, my dark knight, never stepped in.
He told me not to come here last night.
He specifically said he wouldn’t be here.
He made me promise.
So I made a promise to a criminal and I stayed home and watched child genius shows just to test my abilities against toddlers.
I didn’t always win.
Starving like I never have before in my life, I ate enough pizza to put Alex and Luc to shame. Not even Jules and her ‘I’m eating for two’ outlasted me. So with a full belly, I went to bed and slept twelve hours straight.
And I dreamed. Such sweet dreams.
Jules said I could have another day off – since my face was legitimately white as a ghost most of the night. And since today’s Friday, I’m off now until Monday.
I have case files to work on.
I have an exam to study for.
I have a sister I should be paying attention to, since she’s been so absent for so long. Graham’s out of town this week and I should be elated; I should be perched on the couch beside her and lapping up her attention while he’s gone, but I’m not. Instead, I’m here.
I take my cell out and unlock the screen, and bringing it to my ear, I pretend that I belong as I open the car door.
In wedge shoes – tall and sexy, but more supportive of my tender ankle – and a baby pink sundress despite the chill outside, I slam the car door and move across the street toward the club that pumps chest-thumping music.
My heart races with exhilaration. I’m walking back into danger.
But more than that, I’m walking back into Kane’s life.
I saw him only yesterday, but the divide between our lives – the normalcy of eating pizza with my friends and sleeping in a room with tiara’s – makes it seem as though I haven’t seen him in a decade.
I ran yesterday.
I ran away scared and told him not to follow, and yet, I dreamed of him. It felt so real. So clear. So pointed and familiar.
Which is why I’m here now.
Stepping onto the curb, two men step out of the alley I was in the other night; but this time, instead of being dumb – instead of locking up – I fake a smile like we’re old pals, and I squeeze the silent phone by my ear. “Kane! Hi. I’m just walking in now.”
Just like I expected, like I knew the grizzly bear would hold power around here, dropping his name makes them freeze in their tracks. One of the men with long hair, a gold tooth, and muddy eyes, skims his gaze along my legs and makes me sick to my stomach.
“Yeah? You said to meet you out front, right? Uh-huh.” Despite my racing heart, the guys take a step back into the shadows. “You want me to come in? There are some guys out here. I could ask them for directions. No?” Stopping near the front door six feet from a giant bouncer, I turn back to the guys who disappeared into the darkness, but I still see their shadows; I see the milky white orbs of their eyes. “Alright. I’ll come in.”
Like my name dropping worked magic on the bouncer, too – or maybe he just doesn’t care, since I’m a woman in a short dress – I slide through the crowd and move inside the club that sends chills through my blood.