Page 52 of Tortured Royals

“Relax. This portal leads to a club that’s been abandoned for years,” I explain. “It’s walking distance from the Bleeding Hearts club.”

“And when was the last time you visited this building?” Prince Callan asks, just as wary.

I shrug. “I don’t know, a year, maybe? But no one goes there. They say it’s haunted.”

“Haunted?” Nate groans. “This just keeps gettin’ better.”

Prince Callan tilts his head. “By haunted, do you mean there’s a gateway there to the shadow realm?”

“No, I checked for that a while back,” I reply. “I think it’s more that the demons believe the place brings bad luck.”

“So why not take us somewhere else, my mate?” Mason asks.

“Because this is the only known abandoned building in the area. Now, let’s go,” Dante explains. He winks at me before walking into the circle of fire.

“You know, maybe Nate has a point,”Shade says in my head.“You know how I feel about spooky things.”

“There’s nothing spooky about this empty building,”I assure her and follow my demon mate. Shade squawks as we enter the portal, but within seconds we’re on the other side, stepping into a dark room that has a stack of broken chairs on one side. Dust plumes in the air, and neon paint glows on the walls.

“It’s weird to think this used to be one of the most exclusive clubs in Seral City,” Dante muses. “And now it’s simply a dustbowl. You know, I considered buying this place once. If it weren’t for the fact that the demons are too afraid to come here, I could have made this great again.”

I smile. “I would have come.”

“Likely to check you weren’t breaking any more of the king’s laws,”Shade mumbles.

Dante presses a kiss to my hair and chuckles. “And I would have lured you in for a dance.”

“And Blake would have ended up stabbing you as part of your weird foreplay,”Shade adds.

“It wasn’t foreplay,” I defend.

“Oh phuleez, anyone could see the sexual tension between you two,”Shade snickers.

“Why are we talkin’ about foreplay?” Nate asks a little too eagerly as he steps up behind me.

Heat rushes through my body, but I force myself not to get carried away with my mates. Pulling back from Dante, I turn to the others as they all step through the portal. “There’s no foreplay happening right now. The meeting starts in thirty minutes. Let’s go through our stories again before we leave here. Dante is covering as Noah so he should be set, but the rest of us will pretend to be demons from the Warsky Clan. It’s one of the clans that’s the least involved with higher clans, and so the members are lesser known. We’ll find a back entrance to the meeting while Dante goes through the front door. Shade, you stay outside and scout the area. Let us know if anyone suspicious turns up.”

“But what if this ends in an orgy like the last meeting we busted? You can’t let me miss that,”Shade protests.

“An orgy?” Alaric growls.

I wave my hand in the air dismissively. “We had to break up a gathering between two clan leaders a while back. They were discussing illegal weapons. One of the members is an incubus, and when I arrived, he sent out his power hoping to influence me so I’d go easy on them.”

Dante’s brows rise.

“But his power didn’t do anything to Blake, and it just worked on all the clan members. They all stopped fighting and ended up fucking instead,”Shade finishes.“It was hilarious. And sweaty. Hmm… actually maybe a little too sweaty.”

“That’s not going to happen this time,” I say. “And Shade, you can’t come or that will give me away. Just try not to be seen.”

She grumbles at that but doesn’t complain again.

“Time’s not on our side,” Dante urges. “Any longer and we’ll miss the meeting.”

“Okay, remember we’re all demons,” I say as a final reminder. “No reaching for your power unless it’s absolutely necessary.” On that note, we make our way up a flight of creaky wooden stairs and pass through another door before we enter the upstairs space that looks just as dusty. The windows have been boarded up, and we make our way to the back door.

“Stay safe,”Shade tells us.

We stop opposite the Bleeding Hearts club, keeping out of view as the first rays of sunlight peek over the buildings. There’s no line at the front entrance to the club, and two burly demons dressed in black suits stand sentry before the doors.

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