A large group exited a club and filtered out, crowding the sidewalk. In a moment of boldness I caught Kaidan’s pinkie with mine, knowing nobody would be able to see. I felt his hand go stiff, and then we were suddenly moving to the side. He led me by the little finger, weaving between people until we ducked down a set of narrow stairs into a dark cellar doorway, hidden by shadows. Euphoria exploded inside me at our nearness.
His mouth found mine in the dark, fiery and rough. I gave a tiny whimper before melting into him and pulling his face down to mine even harder. In that kiss we spoke all of the things we couldn’t say. He kissed me with an urgency born of some strong, unstable emotion: fury. I tried to imagine the nature of that feeling. Was he angry because of how I made him feel? Angry that he was powerless to change tonight’s outcome? I didn’t know, but I welcomed it.
I needed this kiss. I needed this last moment of feeling alive. My body pushed against his, thanking him, memorizing him. His hands roamed roughly down my back and over my hips, yanking me even closer, tighter.
We were breathless when we broke the kiss and he rested his forehead on mine. My hands slid from the back of his neck to his face. I ran my thumbs across his eyebrows and over his cheekbones. He watched me in the dimmed light, searching me. Our heated breath turned to fog in the cold air. Then I stretched up to place a sweet, soft kiss on his lips. He closed his eyes and we lingered there with our lips barely touching.
If I could take all my earthly memories into the cold afterlife with me, this would be the one I’d replay to keep me warm and sane until the final day of judgment.
“Ahem!”
I jumped away from Kaidan at the sound of someone clearing her throat from the entrance of the stairwell.
Ginger stood there with both hands on her hips, a city goddess in her knee-high boots and sleek black coat. Marna stood at her side, nervously peering around. Ginger shook her head at us in exasperation. She stomped off in the direction we needed to go, with her sister close behind.
Kaidan gave me one last crushing stare and I saw him swallow. I wanted nothing more than to stay there with him, but we’d already pushed the limits of our luck. Staying near each other, we climbed the stairs and blended back into the crowd. Up ahead, Kopano turned his head enough to meet my eye. I felt Kaidan stiffen next to me, noting our interaction, but I couldn’t look away from Kope’s soulful, sad eyes. I stared back, at a loss, knowing he’d heard Kaidan and me take that dangerous moment for ourselves. He gave me a small nod of acknowledgment, and his gaze slid to the ground before he faced forward again.
We were almost there. One block to go. I had to scold my feet into moving forward. My body revolted against this entire thing, screaming, Remind us again why we’re walking straight into certain death? It was unnatural.
The streetlights above began to flicker. None of the humans seemed to notice. The lights flickered again.
“Legionnaires,” Kai whispered, signaling to the sky with an upward jut of his chin.
Hundreds of demon spirits swarmed the air above us, coming in from all directions and blotting out light like fast-moving gray clouds. The street was under attack as demons darted down at random, whispering in unsuspecting ears. The atmosphere on the street immediately changed, and I felt a painful rush of negative emotion rumble through the people.
A fight broke out between two men right in front of us. Kopano had to jump out of the way, and the rest of us swung wide to get around them, while other people were cramming in closer to get a better view. The volume of the crowd increased. Laughter became more raucous, and a woman behind us screamed. I couldn’t tell what had happened. Chaos was taking over. Spirits flipped above us, completely in their element, dive-bombing into the mass of people with evil glee.
“Ready for your first summit, little drinker?” I flinched at the voice in my head and looked up at the grisly face of one of the whisperers from last night’s party. I kept walking.
Something flew through the air and landed right on Blake’s shoulder. Ginger gave an insulted scoff and swatted it off. We stepped over the offending black lace bra.
Blake half grinned and said, “Nice,” before we were jostled and forced to keep moving.
Up ahead we passed the shirtless lady, who was now arguing with a guy. He shoved a shirt at her, attempting to cover her, and she kept pushing it away, opting to throw her head back and spin around instead. The man glowered as onlookers cheered and catcalled.
Kaidan pulled a flask out of his back pocket and guzzled it down. A strong whiff of bourbon wafted over, making me queasy.
The twins veered to the side and stopped in front of a glass door that had been painted black. We were here. This was it. The small sign above the door said sir laughs-a-lot and showed a jolly knight. The Dukes had rented an underground comedy club to hold their summit. The irony of it made me despise them even more than I already did.