the list,â I said. I wasnât. I didnât even know if there was a list. The bouncerâs meaty, clean-shaven head didnât even budge as he checked me out from behind his wraparound sunglasses.
I reached out and touched the juice, channeling it through my imagination and rearranging it according to the pattern Iâd learned.
âI have with me two gods,â I said. âPersuasion and Compulsion.â I released the magic and let it wash over him. Behind the sunglasses, the bouncer blinked.
âOh,â he said, stepping aside to let me pass, âyouâre on the list.â
I met the chorus of protests from the waiting kids with a smile and a little shrug. âIâm on the list,â I said.
Metal detector, pat down, cover charge and then I was inside and heading to the nearest bar.
The Cannibal Club was black decor, chain-link fencing, head-splitting techno-industrial you can dance to, blacklight and the smell of sweat and patchouli. It was teenagers and twentysomethings in black leather, black rubber, black nylon, black vinyl and black velvet. It was body piercings and tattoos, black hair dye and white clown makeup. Flat-panel monitors offered a live feed of the writhing, thrashing, swaying bodies on the dance floor. An electronic ticker scrolling at the bottom of the screens announced that sunrise was at 5:41 a.m.
I went to the bar and ordered a beer. I used a little juice, or Iâd have stood there for hours without attracting a bartenderâs attention. I took a lengthy pull from the longneck and scanned the club. I wasnât sure exactly what I was looking for. I guess I was hoping to spot one of Papa Danweâs guys hanging around, looking suspicious. I didnât see anyone I recognized, but then it was dark as the Beyond and everyone was dressed like the Crow.
After a few minutes of fruitless squinting into the strobe-pierced gloom, I relaxed and tried my witch sight. A few of the kids in the club had a little juice. That was normal for a place like the Cannibal Club. None of them had the kind of juice to be my killer. I sensed stronger magic in the VIP area that ran along one side of the dance floor, but I didnât have a clear view from where I was standing by the bar. I dropped the sight and headed that way.
The guy holding court in the semicircular booth was a prince among the pretenders. His glossy hair flowed to his shoulders and draped his white collar in black silk. Heâd elected not to conceal the natural beauty of his caramel skin in the hideous clown makeup that seemed mandatory for most ofthe club-goers, male and female alike. His dark eyes were at once soulful and boyish, and the combination made my knees a little weak.
Iâd been in the outfit most of my life, so Iâd run into Adan Rashan on more than one occasion. Iâd always thought he was attractive. Cute, even as an awkward teenager when his father had first introduced us. That night in the club, I thought he was the most beautiful thing Iâd ever seen.
I donât have a spell to counteract the intoxicating effect of a truly gorgeous man. If I did, I probably wouldnât use it anyway. Even if it means I one day get sucker-punched by some seductive creature of the night, I say to hell with it. Some risks are worth taking.
So, yeah, Adan was hot. The Goth posse that flanked him in the booth was pretty much indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd, from where I was standing. One long-haired pale face sitting next to Adan stared at me menacingly. He leaned over and whispered something without breaking eye contact with me, and then he sneered. I hated him already.
I went back to the bar, juiced the bartender again and had her send over a couple bottles of Cristal. A waitress delivered the champagne, pointing in my direction. I raised my bottle and smiled, wishing Iâd ordered something classier than a beer. Adan recognized me and returned the smile, then
Xara X. Piper;Xanakas Vaughn