SIX

Leora

More days slipped by, and the details of Zarek's visit began to blur, which unsettled me more than I cared to admit. I found myself clinging to the remnants of his memory—his resonant voice and the sculpted lines of his powerful body.

Stop it. He's probably your stalker.

As my birthday weekend approached, I wasn't exactly thrilled about celebrating. But a handful of my closest friends, including the irrepressible Ally, had other ideas. They orchestrated a small house party at my place, and despite my protests, I found myself swept up in their plans.

Ally bounced on the couch as she laid out her idea. "Let's hit a club!" she proposed, her eyes sparkling with the thought of neon lights and dance floors.

"Sure." I sarcastically laughed it off.

"Perfect!" Ally clapped her hands, a grin spreading across her face.

Ah, fuck.

Just then, Jenna walked in, carrying bags of chips and a suspiciously wobbly cake that looked like it had seen better days.

"Are we really doing this? Going clubbing?" Max asked, eyebrows raised as he helped Jenna set down the snacks on the coffee table.

Jenna chimed in with a smirk. "Why not, Max? It's not like we have anything better to do at one in the morning. We'll eat the cake after, I promise."

Glancing at the clock, I noticed it was already 1:35 AM. "Isn't it a bit late for clubbing?" I asked, half-hoping they'd take the hint and settle for a quiet night in.

"Hey, no worries—there are a few clubs that don't close until 3 AM," Ally reassured everyone, waving off my concerns with a dismissive hand.

"Let me rephrase," I corrected, "Isn't it too old for us to be hitting a club?"

"Speak for yourself!" Ally rolled her eyes grinning. She was the youngest of us all.

Max plopped down next to Jenna, his hand caressing her thigh. "Which clubs are these? And more importantly, do they serve decent drinks, or are we talking about beer that tastes like it's been brewed in a bathtub?"

Jenna punched Max lightly on the arm. "Come on, it'll be fun. And besides, it's Leora's birthday. We can't let her spend it just lounging around here, can we?"

"Fine, let's do this," I declared, begrudgingly. "But if we end up at a club with bathtub beer, Ally is buying the first round."

"Deal!" Ally agreed, raising her hands in mock surrender.

With that settled, we gathered our things.

Thirty minutes later, we spilled into Century, a club pulsing with the kind of energy that could erase all your worries—or at least drown them out for a while. I had slipped into a chic, short dress that felt daringly out of character for me. I shucked off my coat at the door, hoping my ever-present shadow had taken the night off. Tonight, I didn't feel the usual prickle of being watched.

Inside, the club was a riot of lights and sound, each beat of the music thumping against my chest like a second heartbeat. We carved out a little island for ourselves on the dance floor, letting loose among a sea of bodies. Jenna and Max, the newest couple in our crew, were practically glued together, lost in their new love bubble. They just couldn't keep their mouths from each other.

As the thudding music pulsed in time with my heartbeat, a strange unease crept over me. It was as if my body was rejecting the distraction, craving the silence instead. So after a few songs, I excused myself and headed out.

Standing alone outside the club around 2:30 AM, I lit a cigarette, the streets quieting as the night drew to a close. The crisp night air felt good against my skin, a welcome reprieve from the pulsing music.

Suddenly, I felt a looming presence behind me. My skin prickled, mingling with dread that had my stomach tied in knots. My shadow was never this close. Never .

And this presence was anything but protective. It felt ominous.

"Finally out of the cage, little bird," a voice hissed from the darkness behind me. Suddenly, I wished I hadn't been skipping gym for the past few days.

The next second, my world flipped. A rough hand clamped down on my shoulder, spinning me around. The sudden movement jolted me, my cigarette tumbling to the ground. The bright ember fizzled out as it hit the pavement.

I angled myself to drop a sharp elbow to his face, but then I felt it—a sharp prick on the side of my neck. Cold dread washed over me as the realization hit: I was being drugged. The world began to tilt, sounds and lights blurring into a disorienting cacophony. My limbs grew heavier, my thoughts muddled and slow, stealing my ability to fight, to scream.

"My girlfriend's just drunk, man," said the same muffled voice, trying to sound casual as he dragged me away. Panic surged through me; my limbs locked up, completely unresponsive despite my desperate attempts to break free. An overwhelming fear enveloped me, more intense and terrifying than anything I'd ever known.

I squinted through the heavy haze clouding my vision, my eyes straining for a sliver of clarity. There—he was a silhouette from a nightmare, the one I called Blondie, his identity clicking into place even as my capacity to react slipped away.

My world narrowed down to a pinprick of awareness, then blinked out entirely.

???

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, a fog of grogginess enveloped my senses. Abruptly, a sharp slap cut through the silence, jolting me into painful awareness. It wasn't the first; my cheeks throbbed with the sting of multiple hits, each one, brutal.

"What the fuck do you want, Blondie?" I growled through the pain, my voice hoarse and strained.

"Blondie?" he laughed, a cold, mocking sound that chilled the air. "Name's Casteel, little bird. Now tell me where Grant is. The guy you were with that night?"

Grant.

"I don't know him. He ran off shortly after you pussies did," I managed to spit out, my throat searing as if scorched by acid, suggesting I might have been choked earlier.

Sadistic bastards.

"Fuck. I think this bitch was just in the wrong place, wrong time," someone murmured to Casteel in the background.

Ignoring the comment, Casteel leaned closer, his breath foul against my face. "Listen," he hissed, "he killed my brother. So you better tell me where he is or I'll display your fucking body on a crosswalk."

A bitter laugh escaped me despite the danger. "He doesn't care. He doesn't even know me, you idiots."

Deep down, I prayed that my shadow was Zarek. That he'd somehow come for me.

"Fine, just keep her alive," Casteel finally conceded. Then he whispered with a smirk. "For now."

"Can I play with her a little?" The other guy. His insinuation stirred a different kind of panic within me.

Before I could retaliate, the room tilted slightly as I tried to find a sliver of strength, but the darkness began to creep in again at the edges of my vision. A sharp slap rang in my ears and my body succumbed once more to unconsciousness.