Craved by Stephanie Nelson Page A

and
blue laser lights pulsated in sync with the loud techno music while
the entire floor was alive with gyrating bodies. Only their shadows
were visible, lending a sort of eerie feeling. I could tell there
was a balcony that surrounded the entire floor, but I couldn’t see
who or what was up there.
    During the car ride, we agreed that
Micah and I would pretend to be a couple, while Aiden and Fiona
would do the same. Aiden had not been happy about it, but since
they would be left at the club while Micah and I went to interview
Anthony, it was the logical thing to do.
    Micah wrapped a protective arm around
my waist and I felt the tiniest bit safer with it there. Aiden
caught the motion and his fangs descended as he stared bullets at
Micah. I gave him a look that said he’d better knock it off. It
wouldn’t be helpful if our covers were blown within the first
couple of minutes. Reluctantly, he pulled his attention away from
Micah and wrapped his arm around Fiona.
    Pretending to be normal club goers, we
went to the bar and ordered drinks. The bartender, a woman in her
early twenties, seemed to be experimenting with her look. Her hair
was jet black with hot pink streaks throughout and cut so
asymmetrical, it looked like a child had taken scissors to it. I
noticed she eyed my hand when I grabbed my mojito and cast a glance
up toward the balcony. Weird, I thought.
    Once everyone had their drinks, we
made our way to the dance floor. I could feel bodies pressing up
against me while we pushed through the congested crowd. I noticed
glowing blue eyes in my peripheral view, so I swiveled my head to
get a better look but they were gone. The bar was so dark, I
shouldn’t have been able to see anyone’s eyes, let alone eyes that
electric blue.
    Finally finding a spot big enough for
the four of us, we stopped and started to dance. It was really
uncomfortable dancing with Micah, but I focused my mind on the task
at hand, instead of the way his hands felt on my body. Within five
minutes, the blue eyes appeared in the darkness again, six feet in
front of me but I still couldn’t make out who it was or why they
were watching me so intently.
    I leaned into Micah, wrapping an arm
around his neck so that I could press my lips close to his ear. The
music was loud but weres have terrific hearing.
    “Someone is watching me,” I told him
in a whisper. I knew he’d be able to hear me but if I spoke above a
whisper, any vampires surrounding us would hear also, and I didn’t
want that.
    Pressing his cheek against mine, his
lips hovered right next to my earlobe.
    “Who is it? Interested guy or bad
guy?” His voice was a little louder because witches don’t have
supersonic hearing like vamps and weres. I hoped his words hadn’t
triggered any one. I also caught Aiden eyeing us with disgust. His
hands were fisted at his sides while he danced, but when he caught
my gaze, he slipped an arm around Fiona’s waist and pulled her so
close to his body that you couldn’t tell where he began and she
ended. Trying to make me jealous?
    It took me a moment to answer Micah
because I was too busy glaring at Aiden. His hips were slowly
grinding into Fiona’s while his hands roamed down her sides
suggestively. Fiona wasn’t as uncomfortable as she should have
been, considering she was practically dry humping my so-called
boyfriend right in front of me. And because Aiden was a cocky shit,
his eyes were on me the entire time with an arrogant smile on his
lips.
    Deciding to ignore his show, I turned
my attention back to Micah.
    “I think bad guy. I don’t have any
proof except the inner voice in my head telling me something isn’t
right.” No one’s eyes should be able to break through the darkness
of the club. A nagging thought tugged at my memory and then
recollection set in; I had seen those eyes before. When Fiona had
the website pulled up, there had been a pair of electric blue eyes
at the top of the website. I’d never seen vampires’ eyes turn