The closer we came to the club, the louder the music and voices became and the more realization set in. God, I could get in so much trouble for this. I usually obeyed my parents and followed their rules exactly. Only the thought of spending time with Erik had been able to lure me to the dark side.
Shanel ground to a stop in front of the male Ell Rollis who stood at the curb. When the Outer spotted her, he nodded in greeting. He had dry, yellow skin, no nose (that I could see), and sharp lizardlike teeth. I tried not to stare.
“I wait here just like you say,” he told her, his voice heavily accented.
“Thank you, John. Now, here’s what I want you to do next. Create a distraction so that Camille and I can get inside that building.” She pointed to the double doors. “Then, run away and hide. Okay?”
John—what a weird name for such an inhuman creature—gave another nod and stomped in the direction Shanel had pointed, pushing through the thick crowd. We followed. A few people gasped, a few growled in anger. Most smiled nervously and moved out of the way, as if their greatest wish was to please the hulking beast.
Up front, John skidded to a stop. Two burly guards waited behind a glowing, blue laserband that stretched across the doors, preventing anyone from passing. In unison, the men crossed their hands over their massive chests.
“I will distract you now,” John told them.
The two men looked at each other and laughed.
“You’re ugly and you stink,” one said. “Go away.”
Without another word, John reached out and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground. Murmurs and gasps swept through the crowd. Scared, I backed up a step. I might have even run back to the car, but Shanel tugged me into a shadowy corner.
“Let him go, you alien scum.” The guard still standing withdrew a pyre-gun from his waist and aimed it at John’s chest.
Before he could fire, John knocked it against the wall and it shattered. All the while, he shook the guy he held, the man’s legs nearly touching the laserband. If they did, his clothes and skin would be horribly singed.
“Turn off the laser, Turk,” he commanded his friend. His features were pale—no, blue. And only getting bluer. “Turn. Off. Laser.”
I gulped.
“Laser!”
With a shaky hand, Turk punched in the code. Instantly the laser faded as if it had never been there.
John grinned and dropped the now-wheezing guard. “You good boys.”
Shanel jerked me past the distracted pair, past the double doors, and into the building. Just like that, we were in. I glanced backward and watched as the crowd surged forward to get inside, as well. John headed in the opposite direction, sprinting away just as he’d been ordered.
Maybe my parents needed to employ an Ell Rollis. But they were expensive to keep, their appetites legendary, and more and more they were being picked up and locked away by the deadly and much-feared A.I.R. because too many humans commanded them to do bad things.
Who cares about that? You’re in. In!
Shanel stopped, turned toward me, and wrapped me in a hug. “Can you believe it?” she shouted happily.
I grinned, all my worries melting away. The night, it seemed, had only just begun.
2
Shanel and I stopped at the edge of the foyer and gazed at a scene we’d only been able to dream about. Until now. Smoke billowed in every direction and rock music blasted from hidden amplifiers. Pink, blue, and yellow lights swirled from the center of the dance floor, illuminating the throng of writhing, dancing people.
The walls produced holographic images of kissing couples and I had to press my lips together to keep from staring in open-mouthed awe. And jealousy.
“Where should we go?” I asked Shanel, projecting my voice over the music.
“Want to try the second level?” She pointed upward. “We can look down and see if the guys are dancing.”
I nodded. We maneuvered through people and smoke and pounded up the stairs. I almost screamed when the steps began to waver, swinging slowly from side to side. My fingers curled around the rail, keeping me steady.
Moving stairs wasn’t a smart thing to have in a building that served alcohol. What if someone fell? I mean, really. Lawsuit. My dad was an attorney and that was just the sort of thing he lived for.
When we reached the second level, the music faded to a dull screech and I realized it was because glass panels circled the entire enclosure, not only blocking sound but preventing anyone from tumbling to their death.
“I’ve heard about stairs like that,” Shanel told me with a wide grin. “When a person has had too much to drink, it’s supposed to balance their equilibrium. This is so fan-freaking-tastic!” Laughing, she flounced to the bar.
I followed her and rested my elbows on the speckled counter.
“What’ll you have, miss?” the bartender immediately asked me. He was a Delensean. He had blue skin—all of his kind did—and six arms, making him able to serve multiple people at once.
“Um, uh…”
He tapped his fingers in impatience.
“Water, please,” I finally said.
He slapped all six of his hands on the emerald-veined marble separating us. “This is a bar, human, not a bathhouse. Order a drink or leave.”
“O—okay. I’ll have a Mad Mec, then.” That’s what my mom always ordered when we went out for dinner.
When my drink arrived, a glowing red liquid in a frosted glass, I picked it up and turned to Shanel, who was sipping some kind of orange concoction. “Mmm,” she said through a sigh. “This is good.”
I pretended to sip mine, letting the fiery red liquid tease (and numb) my lips. I did not want to get drunk and make a fool of myself in front of Erik.
“Ohmygod!” Shanel suddenly gasped out and pointed. “Silver’s here. He’s really here!”
“Where?” Heart hammering, I whipped around to face the direction in which she pointed. I caught the barest hint of wide shoulders and blue hair before Silver disappeared up the stairs.
“Let’s go before we lose him.” Shanel raced forward.
I remained close on her heels. “Did you see any sign of Erik?”
“No, sorry,” she threw over her shoulder, red curls bouncing. “But he has to be here somewhere. They’re never far apart.”
The revolving steps didn’t freak me out this time and I managed to climb them with ease. However, I was moving so quickly my drink sloshed over the rim of my glass, running down my hand. Ick. Sticky.