Page 88 of Winterfall Destiny

And I can scout in case I recognise anybody I need to avoid.

Plush, velvet seating lines the elevated area, where people talk in the quieter space. A handful of other clubgoers lean on the wrought balcony railing, drinking from bottles as they chatter and look down. I subtly reach out with my mind—a couple of them are witches, but when I delve deeper the words Dominion or Gabriella don't exist in their thoughts.

I continue to study those below. We could move onto the dance floor and mingle to find minds to read that way, but there's too much risk somebody will recognise Maeve. The dancers pack tightly, stomping and spinning to the aggressive beats of industrial tracks, their raw and unbridled energy interfering with my detecting thoughts.

We chose to arrive early in the evening expecting less people, but the packed club makes our task harder. I wanted enough bodies to hide amongst, but not so many that individual thoughts become impossible to pick apart.

Instead, a forgotten familiarity of witch and vampire scents mingles with alcohol and perspiration, a humming with desire for sex palpable. The place attracted a lot of humans and I watch as vamps target them.

My heart speeds as the memories slide in again. The way I targeted witches.

"We could try standing in the hallway by the bathrooms?" suggests Maeve. "People will pass us?"

No. We'll be in a well-lit place.

I take a shaky breath. I'm paranoid. Nobody from seven years ago would still come here. They might not even be alive still. "Alright," I say. "Let's go."

Maeve reaches out to stop me as I turn back to the steps. "What's the matter, Tobias?"

"Just worried about spending too much time away from the others. We never know when the First might appear."

Maeve gazes at me steadily. "No. More than that. You're not focused."

"I'm not used to places like this anymore." I smile and turn away, this time reaching the top of the stairs.

We need to get this done and get out. Quickly.

Maeve's hand barely left mine all evening, and back in the main room, I weave through the annoyingly large throng, edging the dance floor as we head towards the hallway that leads to the bathrooms. Maeve doesn't ask how I know the way, and her face pulls into confusion as I position her against the wall at the edge, ensuring I have my back to any passers-by.

"There's a queue for the bathrooms round there." Maeve indicates two doors inside the brighter hallway where people mill around outside them, some sitting on the floor with their drinks, and others chatting and flirting.

I'm not standing in the light.

"You could join the queue?" I suggest. "I'll watch who passes."

"You should come with me, Tobias." Her shaky voice snaps me out of my self-preservation. I look after Maeve, not myself.

"Sorry. Right."

I follow Maeve into the hall with the red painted, chipped walls where smaller posters for bands hang, some half-torn. The door to each of the bathrooms is painted black, a gold frame attached with artfully stencilled pictures of a man and woman on each.

Maeve chose the right place to stand. There's more room to not only breathe but also pick up thoughts. I rest against the wall, Maeve facing me this time, and I smile at her.

"Did I tell you how distracting you look this evening?" I rub a thumb across her bottom lip.

"Focus, Tobias," she says and gives a mock stern look. "Is that what's distracting you? Me?"

I slide my eyes away from her as an image hits. Shit. Maeve catches it because she takes a sharp breath and says nothing. Too late because this time I don't block the thoughts. In the bathrooms. Me and Maeve. Her over the sink, skirts pulled up and one hand on her perfect ass as I use my fingers on her. More. Watching her face in the mirror.

“Tobias…” But I don’t miss the hitch in her breath.

I tip my mouth into an apologetic smile, pulling myself away from what I'm pretending is teasing but is a need desperate enough I'd drag Maeve to a quiet corner if we weren't working.

“We’ve barely touched recently,” I say, pulling her bottom lip down with my thumb. “My mind goes places when I’m with you.”

“Apparently so.”

I draw Maeve to me, and our eyes meet, a shared desire guaranteed to take away our concentration on anything but each other. Our lips meet, briefly, and I tug her lip into my mouth, holding back on falling into a kiss. Maeve doesn’t help when she slides a hand to the back of my neck, her warm breath still stroking my lips.

---