Overhead

Loch smirked, looking me up and down.

I was suddenly all too aware of just how ~little~ I was wearing.

“Look, Maddie, it’s your new friend,” Dominic sneered. “Why don’t you give him a friendly hello?”

Dominic dug his fingers into my shoulder and tried to push me in Loch’s direction, but I resisted.

The drugs hadn’t taken complete control of me yet, and I wasn’t just going to let Dom use me like a slave.

“Go to hell, Dom,” I spat. “I’m not seducing him for you. If you wanna rob a Dobrzycka so bad, you can spread your own damn legs.”

“I wasn’t asking, you little bitch!” Dominic shoved me into a nearby wall and put his hand around my throat.

With every moment that passed, the overhead took more of a hold, but I was still fighting it.

I’d felt out of control for most of my life.

My parents abandoned me.

I grew up on the streets.

Had to thieve to survive.

But one thing I’d always kept control of was my own body—no easy task for a young girl in Requiem City—and I wasn’t about to lose that tonight.

“You know, Dom, you’re so worried about stealing Loch’s precious jewels…when the jewels you should be worried about are your own.”

I brought my knee up to Dominic’s balls—~hard~.

His eyes widened as a squeak escaped his lips and he buckled over.

This was my only chance.

I had to get out of there.

~Now.~

I stumbled into the dancing crowd, which was so packed that I felt like a pinball, bouncing in every direction with no clear end.

Club Emerald was massive. It’d be easy as hell to get lost forever in this seductive labyrinth of never-ending debauchery, and, from the rumors on the street, some people did.

But the most farfetched rumor of all?

That they were fed to ~dragons~.

The crowd began to get hazy and misshapen again as I thought of dragons. Green flames sparked from the ceiling, dancing high above the crowd, and I swear I could feel real heat on my face.

It was just a hallucination; I knew that…at least, I thought I knew that.

But the light…the flames…they were mesmerizing, and I wanted to stare at them all night.

They reminded me of the Dobrzycka brothers’ eyes. Deep green that I wanted to get lost in.

~Pull it together, Maddie!~

I tried to shake off the oncoming high. From everything I’d heard about it, overhead hit you in waves. I had to get the hell out of there before it hit me again, or I actually would be devoured by the so-called dragon.

I struggled to pull my phone out as flailing elbows swung at me from every direction, but I managed.

My fingers fumbled over the screen as I squinted in the dim light, trying my hardest to send out an SOS.

~C’mon, Harry, I could really use some help.~

Maddie

Harry remember when i said i’d text u if things got weird?

Maddie

Well they got weird

Harry

I’ve got ur location!

Harry

What’s happening?

Harry

Were u caught??

Maddie

Dom dosed me

Maddie

Overhead

Maddie

I’m in and out right now

Maddie

But I don’t kno how long i’ll make it

Harry

Shit mads

Harry

Can u make it outside?

Maddie

I’ll try but

Maddie

Fuck harry this is

Maddie

Inteendnsae

Harry

Mads?

Harry

Maddie are u okay?

Harry

MADDIE!

Suddenly, the sea of bodies around me turned from terrifying and violent to sensual and incredible. At the moment, nothing else mattered.

I glanced at the phone in my hand. Was I going somewhere?

Why would I want to be anywhere but here?

I felt ~amazing~.

I grabbed the hips of the girl next to me, and she grabbed mine, and we swayed to the beat in a feeling of pure bliss.

A guy aggressively grabbed me from behind, but I didn’t fight it.

All I wanted was to be touched.

I didn’t believe in magic, but if I did, this must be what it felt like.

My euphoria quickly drained as I realized it was Dominic holding on to me.

I couldn’t run even if I’d wanted to.

But then, those eyes. Those reptilian eyes. I was suddenly fixated on the pair of emerald-green eyes floating toward me.

The eyes were headed my way. The shadows around them parted, making way for them to come closer. To come…to me.

I swayed my hips to the beat of the music, never taking my gaze off those eyes.

“Madeline!” I heard someone call out. I wanted to go to them, but my feet wouldn’t move. The hands on my hips gripped me tighter, and I frowned in confusion.

Why were the eyes so far away? Why weren’t they holding on to me?

There was a tickle coming from my nose, and when I wiped it, my hand came away red.

My fingers danced in front of my face, and I raised them up, trying to catch the dancing green flames. But every time I thought I’d caught one, it’d leap from my fingers into the sky.

And then the eyes were in front of me, so close I could reach out and touch them.

I wanted to touch them. I wanted them to touch me.

A hand reached out and grazed my lip. A zing ran through me at the touch. I tried to focus on it as it moved away, wanting that feeling to return.

More red. Why was there red? Where did the green go?

I looked up, and there was the green. The emerald jewels with slits for pupils.

I smiled as those eyes roamed over me.

And then the hand was back, this time with two fingers against the pulse point on my neck.

I leaned into the hard body in front of me, wanting more of its touch.

I wanted him to do what all the men in the club were doing—grab me, use me, grope me—but instead, he put a gentle hand on my shoulder and turned to look at someone behind me.

I followed his gaze and found Dominic lurking several feet behind me.

~Why would green eyes have a problem with Dominic?~

The song changed, and I needed to move. I wrapped my arms around the warm body in front of me, encouraging him to move with me.

I blinked in confusion when he stayed still, refusing to move his hips.

“Madeline.”

That voice again. That gravelly, sexy-as-hell voice. I wanted to dream about that voice.

I thought I may have dreamed about that voice in the past.

“Madeline!”

Harsher this time. I flinched at the tone.

The hands were on me again but shaking me this time.

“Madeline, are you all right? How much did you take?”

I pulled back and blinked rapidly. Loch’s face came into focus. His dark hair looked soft, silky, and I wanted to touch it.

I reached out to do just that, and he caught my hand in his.

I smiled as I began to dance once more, thinking that was what Loch wanted. But he held me close, forcing me still, and all I could do was lean into him.

For warmth.

For comfort.

Almost like I was subconsciously asking for urgent help.

Loch looked behind me once more, and I turned to look, watching as Dominic tried to slip away into the crowd of dancers.

Once he was hidden in the mass of moving bodies, I looked back into Loch’s eyes.

I scanned his facial features, not sure why he looked so upset. For a second, I thought I could see a raging fire on his tongue.

I blinked again.

Another hallucination?

Must be.

That or he was going to kiss me.

And suddenly, I wanted that more than anything. I wanted his lips on mine, his tongue tangled with mine, his hands holding me down as he took me.

But instead, Loch softly wiped my lip with one hand and grabbed my wrist and checked my pulse with the other.

“Madeline,” he said firmly. “Do you know where you are?”

“Yes.”

His hand was still on my wrist, and I used my other hand to trace the veins on the back of his hand. There was strength in that hand. Power.

“Who are you with?”

I blinked up at him, confused. “Dominic. He told me I had to.”

There was a puff of smoke between us. Did it come from Loch? I didn’t see the dragon-shaped pipe, so why would there be smoke?

“Why did you have to?”

“He said I owed him. That it was his payment. He needed me to get to Adara.”

“What does my sister have to do with anything?” he growled in my ear.

I looked to where Darren was wrapped around Adara. “At least Darren is having fun.”

The smoke between us increased briefly before dissipating.

“How do you know Darren?”

I was confused. Did Loch know Darren too?

“He’s one of Dom’s thugs. But he’s the nice one. Doesn’t hit for fun, only when Dom tells him to.”

There was a growl, and I swayed into Loch’s arms once more.

“I’m…I’m sorry.”

I didn’t know why I’d said it. I just had to. Feeling muted, feeling complacent.

“No, Madeline,” Loch said with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” I mumbled, my vision dancing along with the colorful lights.

“What you’re about to see,” he growled.

And with that, Loch took my hand and led me through the crowd.

Where? I had no idea.

But next thing I knew, we were at the bar and Loch had his arm around Dominic’s shoulders. Confused and paralyzed, I stared at the two of them.

Why was Loch smiling? Ordering them a bottle of whiskey? Their biggest bottle?

Loch took the bottle, uncorked it, and handed it to Dominic.

“Drink.”

Dominic held the bottle up and took a sip.

But then Loch held it there firmly. Refusing to let Dominic stop.

Dominic started to sputter, unable to take all the whiskey. In response, Loch grabbed him by the nape of the neck and then shoved the neck of the bottle down Dominic’s throat.

I should have been horrified. But the drug had me staring like a zombie.

Loch grabbed Dominic by the back of his neck and smashed his head into the bar.

Glass shattered, and diamond shards flew into the air, catching the lights from the dance floor.

Red streaks shot upward, and I watched, fascinated, as they rained down on me.

There were shouts, but muted, like I had cotton balls in my ears.

Shapes and shadows shifted around me, but I was focused on Loch. It was like nothing else mattered.

Dominic fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, and Loch wiped his hands—~are they on fire?~—and took mine, leading me out of the club.

His touch burned, but not in a painful way. It was a pleasant sensation, and I wanted more of it.

Everything turned hazy, and my body moved in slow motion.

I closed my eyes against the sudden dizziness. Then we were in a car.

No, a building.

~An elevator?~

A ding, then another. Numbers flashing until they reached one hundred.

Cold marble against my feet. A soft bed.

But whose bed?

Concerned words exchanged and a soft blanket covering me.

Finally, the drug completely overtook me, and sleep, blessed sleep, made all my worries fade away.

And then there was…nothing.

Nowhere.

Nobody.

I was nobody.