efficiently. Low hanging chemical lamps were scattered along the rafters, and beams of blue, green, and purple jumped out of them in pulses that matched the beat of the synthesized music.
Lana’s long blond hair glowed white against the backdrop of the dark club, her two pink dreads becoming tangled as she whipped her head back and forth. Matching her rhythm, I tossed my head, my dark strands lashing my shoulders as I raised my hands above me. I closed my eyes and danced freely, caught up in the music.
Someone bumped into me—breaking the trance—and my eyes snapped open. My breath hitched as a pair of glowing red eyes caught my attention from across the room. Three Narcolym sauntered into the club through the side entrance, their heads held high.
What are they doing here? They didn’t look like Council members. They looked our age. The Narcolym leaders were supposed to meet with ours, and only at the Shythe Council Building. They were to hash out whatever they had to discuss about the Treaty Act. And that wasn’t supposed to happen until next month. Or so we thought. So why were they here?
I turned my back to them and latched onto Lana’s wrist, gripping it. Her eyes grew wide, and I jerked my head, nodding in their direction. Clutching her shoulders, I spun her around and pressed up against her back. “Don’t let them see your eyes,” I whispered in her ear. “We’ll stay here for a minute, then sneak out the way Nick and Jace went.”
She leaned the back of her head against my shoulder. “Are they full, or like us?”
Discretely, I tossed my head back and forth to the music while glancing at them. Great. One of the Narcos at the bar had a neck tatt, marking him as a full shifter.
“They’re full. Just do what I said.” Lana inched away from me, dancing with her eyes half-shut and head down.
One glimpse into our eyes would be all it’d take. They’d know we were Shythe. Humans couldn’t see our glowing blue irises unless we wanted them to, but other Kythan could. It was one of the features we couldn’t hide from each other. The other—our Kythan ink. I had no clue why the Narcos were here, or what they were up to, but I didn’t want to chance them seeing us and possibly having all hell break lose. And I knew if I didn’t get to Jace before he came back in, that’s exactly what would happen.
I reached for my analog communicator to send Jace a data message, let him know we were on our way out. But before I pulled it from my pocket, arms wrapped around my waist. Anger squeezed my chest. I was about to push the guy off me when I glanced into the wall mirror and saw his neck tatt. My breath and hands halted.
Lana saw him, too, and panic flashed in her brilliantly blue eyes. I bit down on my lip and slid my eyes to the door, signaling her to leave now. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she shook her head. I widened my eyes at her, tersely jerking my head toward the door. One of us had to get away. She reluctantly slipped off the dance floor, glancing back once. I gave a quick nod, letting her know I’d be right behind her as soon as I eased out of his grip—which shouldn’t be too hard, right?
There were plenty of other girls to distract him. All I had to do was hide my eyes from his and walk away, or dance away, as to not offend him. Narcolym were known for their hot tempers.
I danced with him for a moment, allowing his hands to roam over my body as I watched Lana dip out of sight. I breathed a sigh of relief and began inching away, but he pulled me to him and held on tighter, pressing my back against his chest. His hand brushed my hair aside, and he lowered his head. His lips skimmed my neck as he rested his chin against my shoulder.
Waves of fear and panic, and then anger, washed over me. I wanted to reach behind my head and snap his neck. I wanted to break his fingers, which were finding their way under the hem of my peasant blouse, grazing against my midsection. But I couldn’t give myself away. Not to mention cause a scene right in the middle of Cogs, and in front of humans.