Dentelle (32 page)

“I’ll go first,” she said, sitting up taller in
her chair. “Lemonade feels like…?”

“Umm…definitely summertime.” Tapping my cookie
against the plate, I said, “Shopping tastes like…?”

“Honeycrisp apples,” she said promptly with a
big smile. I laughed to myself. Ben had been teaching her about the different
apple varieties. She’d told him she wanted to work in the produce department
when she went to college. Together, they’d decided that if she already knew
about the different fruits and vegetables when she interviewed one day, she’d
be smarter than the other applicants and would definitely get the job. Ben and
Ally loved her as much as I did. Knowing what an impact she’d made on all our
lives and how important she was to us, only reaffirmed I’d done the right
thing. “Orca whales sound like…?”

“A song played on the piano.” I broke off a
piece of peanut butter cookie and popped it into my mouth. “Painting tastes
like…?”

She thought about it and then giggled.
“Chocolate ice cream!” Suddenly, her eyes flashed with mischief. “Kieran tastes
like…?”

“Black licorice,” I replied before even thinking
about my answer.

She crinkled her nose and looked taken aback.
“But you hate black licorice.”

Oops! She knew me too well. That description was
spot on, but I couldn’t say so. “Did I say black?” I made a funny face. “I meant
to say red.” Quickly, I asked her another question and we played several more
rounds before jumping back in the pool for splash wars.

A few hours later, and much too soon for my
liking, Kieran and I were ready for our night out. He told Ava not to stay up
and wait for us.

“What are you guys doing, Uncle Kieran? It must
be something special since you bought that fancy dress for Lexi,” she said,
touching the lace on the black dress he’d forced me to wear.

“Dinner and dancing,” he said.

“Wow! That sounds like lots of fun. You sure
look pretty, Lexi.”

“Thanks, sweetie,” I said, feeling rather
uncomfortable in the tight-fitting, low-cut dress and three inch heels.

I’d had no say in the matter, and with fresh
threats from Kieran, I’d been forced to wear it. When I’d first put on the
dress and told Kieran I was ready to go, he’d taken one look at me and said
angrily, “No you’re not. You will go back in the bathroom, put on some make-up,
and do something fancy with your hair.”

“You’ve got to be kidding?” I’d said.

Baring his longer than normal canine teeth, he’d
gotten right up in my face. “I’m deadly serious,” he’d said in a low, feral
voice. “Don’t test me or you’ll be reading about your parents on the front page
of the newspaper. And their deaths won’t be pretty.”

Hatred burned inside me. I’d imagined wrapping
my hands around his throat and squeezing until his tongue hung out and his eyes
bulged. He certainly knew which threats would motivate me. Begrudgingly, I’d
done as I’d been told. While I’d been stressed he’d taken to threatening my
family, I was a little relieved the attention had turned away from Ava Rose. If
there was any chance he was softening, even a centimeter, when it came to Ava
Rose, that was a good thing. But it was probably part of his master plan to
dominate me.

Now, leaning down, I placed a kiss on her
forehead. “Have fun with Maya. Remember to brush your teeth. I’ll see you in
the morning.”

Before I knew it, I was in the back in the SUV
with Kieran. As usual, James was driving, and Vincent sat in the front
passenger seat. Kieran was rambling on about the Bricktown District being the
hottest destination for a “rousing nightlife.” I shuddered at the meaning
behind those words and wiped my eyes, which were watering profusely. I realized
it was probably due to his strong spicy, musky scent. He’d obviously doused
himself with some fancy cologne, but my sharper than normal olfactory senses
were about to explode. He continued on about the endless action in this
downtown warehouse district and how he was going to show me how to have a good
time. He thought I was too rigid and tense and needed to lighten up.
Apparently, we were going to his favorite nightspot, Club Blaze.

James dropped us off at the Bricktown Canal, and
Kieran and I climbed into a water taxi – alone. I was surprised he allowed
this, until all at once several links popped up on my radar. They appeared to
be coming from the bank of the canal. We might be unaccompanied in the boat,
but we certainly weren’t alone. Had I been in any other situation than my
current one, I would have enjoyed taking in the sights as we traversed down the
winding canal. But as it was, I sat on the edge of the seat, trying to catch
sight of Ray-pacs as well as get a feel for my surroundings. I never knew when
it might come in handy to be wholly familiar with my location. I heard some
hooting and hollering coming from an approaching water taxi, and I squinted to
get a better view. It all made sense when a wedding party, all with champagne
glasses in hand, passed us by.

Eventually, we disembarked and made our way to
Club Blaze. The line out front extended around the block, but Kieran strode
confidently to the door. A couple bouncers, both of whom were built like Sumo
wrestlers, greeted him by name, and after money exchanged hands we were ushered
through the front doors like royalty.

“Hold onto my arm and don’t let go,” Kieran
demanded, leading us into the club.

Rather than argue, I heightened my Essence to
avoid contact with his and did as I was told as we entered a world that was
completely unfamiliar to me. Not quite 21 yet, I’d not had any opportunity to
frequent night clubs. I doubted I would choose that as a favorite pastime when
I did, but I had to admit I was fascinated by the scene that greeted my eyes.
Crowded beyond belief, the club had to be in violation of every fire code known
to man. People were packed so tightly together, there was hardly room to walk.
Therefore, I wondered how Kieran was even making a path through the mob. Loud
music shook the floor and dominated the room. I couldn’t have heard a word from
anyone’s mouth unless their lips were pressed against my ear and they were
shouting.

Bombarded with an abundance of overstimulation,
I felt my mouth drop, my eardrums rattle, and my eyes nearly pop out of my
head. We bumped into people and they bumped into us as we traversed across the
dance floor. Lights projected strange symbols and color patterns on the crowd,
the dance floor, and the strangely Arctic-looking backdrops. This was like a
whole new world – not my kind of world but riveting all the same. Finally, we
pulled through the pit and made our way up a stairway. I marveled at how each
step flashed a different color. Once we were on the second floor, a lady with a
tight red dress and Madison-style stilettos kissed Kieran on the cheek. Staring
down her nose at me, she smiled disdainfully, grabbed him by the arm, and
escorted him towards the only empty table. I followed behind, suppressing a
grin. I knew she was intentionally trying to make me jealous by ripping him
away, but I was more than happy to have him out of my grasp.

Once we were seated, another girl, this time in
an absurdly tight blue dress, approached to take our order. Kieran took the
liberty of ordering some appetizers, one of which was mushrooms – something I
despised almost as much as black licorice – and he asked for a couple beers.
When I interjected and asked for an ice water he laughed and said to the girl,
“Bring her a Piña Colada. She’ll love it.”

 
Over my
dead body or yours, I thought. Clenching my fists, I decided that if worse came
to worse, I could accidentally spill my drink on the floor. Choose your
battles, Lexi, I told myself and glanced through the glass partition to the
dance floor below. The overall interior reminded me of a glaciated landscape.
Laser lights flashed across the transparently lit rocks and water features.
There were places where people danced inside tunnels that looked very much like
ice caverns. It was weird but hip – even beautiful in a strange way.

“Let’s dance.” Kieran’s voice shook me from my
reverie. I turned and stared at him as if he was from the Ice Age.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said
petulantly, inadvertently gripping the sides of my chair.

“It’s a brilliant idea. I’ll be careful not to touch
you. But you…you can wrap your arms around my waist and shock my system with
your Essence.”

Holding my tongue, I followed him back down the
stairs and onto the dance floor. Somehow we made our way to the center and onto
a slightly raised platform that resembled an iceberg. The kind that lays flat
and floats across the ocean’s surface. The DJ mentioned something about spicing
things up with a hip-shaking song. I hesitated in reaching out to touch Kieran,
but his cold gaze cut through me like an icicle about to drop. That stare,
followed by the way he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket – like I was
forcing him to make a call that I would soon regret – had me immediately
changing my mind. Gingerly, I placed my hands on his waist.

 
Leaning
in close, he blew a breath against my ear, and I shivered. He totally gave me
the willies. “Wise choice,” he uttered with satisfaction. “I have people who
will drop whatever they’re doing and carry out
any
order I give them.” There was heavy emphasis on the word any.
“Now dance,” he commanded.

He started moving his hips, and I tried to
follow suit. In an attempt to mask my disdain and avoid antagonizing him any
further, I inundated him with Essence. It seemed to work because he closed his
eyes and smiled – all while he continued with his creeper dirty dance moves.
This was going to be a long night. In every given moment he sickened me, but
being this close to him while he was dancing was even more repulsive – too much
to stomach.

“Kieran,
we have a problem.”
I tried to hide the shock on my face at hearing Aria’s
voice. Luckily, Kieran’s eyes were still closed so he didn’t notice. Once he
did open them, he looked right at me. I tried like heck to maintain a neutral
expression, as if I wasn’t excited to be eavesdropping on his private
conversation or that I’d just had verification he was linked with Aria. At the
same time, I felt rather dimwitted. All this time with him, and not once had I
even considered using my hidden eavesdropping ability to gain an advantage.

“What is
it?”
he asked.

“Neo is in
town a day early. In fact, he’s on his way to the club right now and wants to
meet with you. Apparently, he has a few packages this time. There’s one in
particular he thinks you’ll be very pleased about.”

I continued dancing, hoping he wouldn’t notice
the slight elevation of my eyebrows. Even though he was listening to Aria, he
was staring directly at me. I prayed he couldn’t sense the change in my
demeanor – the sudden excitement pulsing through my veins. I was dying to find
out what packages he was talking about.

He bit his lip.
“Great,”
he mumbled. “
Timing
is everything. When’s Neo going to be here?”

Wait a minute. My heart stopped, like it had
just been slammed against a brick wall. Where had I heard that name before?
Neo. Neo. I racked my brain, even quickening my dance moves in the process.
Then it hit me, and I couldn’t prevent the sudden intake of breath that Kieran
would have noticed if he hadn’t just glanced back over his shoulder.

Wasn’t Neo the name of the guy who’d tried to
kidnap Izzy?

“Probably
about 15 minutes. What do you want to do about Lexi?”

“Nothing.
I’ll return her to the table. Send Aiden in, and he can sit up here with her.
I’ll meet with Neo at a table on the first floor. I don’t want him near Lexi.
He shouldn’t bother with her anyways since he can’t sense her link. Then I want
you and Rafe inside with me while I meet with Neo. Milo, Rose, and Storm can
hang outside the club with the rest of Neo’s people. We’ve never had any issues
with him before, but I’m not about to start taking chances, so let’s keep them
in sight.”

She responded promptly
. “What if you decide to take the packages? Where do you want them?”

I missed a beat and almost stopped dancing but
caught myself just in time. Kieran tilted his head just slightly and gave me a
puzzled expression. To cover my misstep, I started coughing. Releasing one hand
from his waist, I patted my chest, leaned closer, and said, “Dry throat. I
think I need a drink.”

He nodded and moved his mouth next to my ear.
“Fine,” he actually sounded pleased. “But keep hold of me. I don’t want to lose
you on the way.” For once, I agreed with him. I didn’t want to let go because I
wanted to hear every word of his conversation with Aria. Right about then we were
separated as a large group of dancers pushed their way through us. Kieran, who
was probably ten times stronger than he already looked, easily muscled his way
between a couple guys. I don’t know what he shouted at them, but they looked
rather intimidated and moved out of his way. Once he was by my side again, he
motioned to his shoulder. After I placed my hand there and gripped tightly, he
guided us through the crowd. It wasn’t easy as the masses seemed to be
multiplying, but he was strong and determined as we made our way off the dance
floor. To Aria he said,
“If I decide to
purchase them all, have Milo, Storm, and Rose take them back to the warehouse.
Separate rooms, though.”

Inadvertently, I let go of his shoulder. He
turned and gave me a dirty look but didn’t insist I put it back. I guessed he
was no longer concerned about me getting lost since we’d just started climbing
the stairs. Besides that he was preoccupied. He liked to be in control, and
this unforeseen early meeting with Neo hadn’t allowed him time to plan the set
up. For whatever reason, he didn’t want me near Neo, and he obviously didn’t
want me to know about these mysterious packages either.