“I’m looking for one of my students.”
She glanced up from the beer tap and blinked her big eyes at Emma. Jesus. She’d never met anyone, aside from her father, who made her feel like they could see through her lies.
“No you’re not.”
Great. Apparently she did see through her lies. “Okay, she’s not necessarily my student, but she’s related to one of my students.”
The bartender filled a few more beer mugs and a waitress shoved Emma to the side trying to reach the tray of drinks. Emma hissed and shoved the other woman right back, daring her with a glare to try it again.
She turned back to the bartender and caught her smiling. “You are definitely a troublemaker, aren’t you?”
“No. I’m just trying to find a missing teenager since nobody seems to think it strange that she’s missing. Anyway, what’s your name?”
She’d visited the club more times than she could count, and not once had she gotten the other woman’s name.
“Lael.”
What a pretty name. “Nice to meet you Lael,” she swayed from the pushing bodies. “I’m Emma. Look, I know it sounds weird, but I need to find out where this girl could have gone.”
Lael mixed a drink and put it in front of Emma. “Drink. It will look strange if you just stand there and don’t have anything in your hands.”
Emma glanced around. Sure enough, a few of the security guards eyed the bar area, frowning at her. Dammit. She hoped her wig was a good enough disguise. Not like she could do anything about her body. She’d toned down her sexy outfits in order to appear more conspicuous. Maybe tight jeans, boots and a torn up T-shirt that read lick me across her chest were not as toned down as she’d have liked, but she was still hot, darn it.
She picked up the drink with a sweaty hand and gulped the combination of vodka and fruit juices down. The coolness from the drink tamped down some of her nerves and the incessant heat from the lights.
“Jesus. I guess I needed that,” she grumbled and placed the half empty glass down. She wiped a napkin over her brow and above her lip. It was getting claustrophobic in there. “So what do you know, Lael?”
Lael’s eyes brightened to an emerald green before slowly dimming again. “That girl is a lost cause.”
Emma’s heart skipped a beat. She leaned forward and grabbed Lael’s hand, keeping her from refilling another beer mug. “Tell me what to do. Where is she?”
Lael shook her head, jerking out of Emma’s hold. “I don’t know where she is. But she’s been to Embraced. Once you go there, there is no turning back.”
Embraced. She’d heard of the place. It was a weird rave-style club that nobody supposedly knew where it was located. Apparently you needed some kind of special invitation. So how in the world did Maria get in there? Nobody knew anything about the club other than kids were fans of trying to get in there. They thought vampires liked to be there but she wasn’t sure. One of the stories floating around was that vampires went there looking for donors. Was it a vampire club or a fake rave club with people who wanted to be vamps? She didn’t know which. Of all the stupid, idiotic things, she’d never heard one more ridiculous than that one. Vampires asking for blood donations. Right.
“So who do I ask about it? You have to give me something here, Lael.” She begged. “Kids are disappearing. I need to know. I have to stop it.”
Lael frowned, her gaze moving over Emma’s shoulder quickly before returning to her face. “Find Aria Valderi. If you can get to her, you might be able to get more information than what I can give you.”
Who the hell was Aria Valderi? “Do you know if the vamps are here because of the problems with the Rahound pack?”
Caleb and the other Wolfes were now all actively looking for ways to get rid of Caleb’s uncle, Rocco. He was currently the acting Alpha of the Rahound pack but Caleb was the rightful Alpha and was working from outside to get his pack back.
Lael nodded. “Yes. I don’t have any more information for you. He’s brought in the rogues and vamps. It’s going to be a blood bath unless you can do something.”
Her do something? She had no idea what the hell was going on half the time since Caleb didn’t like her getting involved in what was going on. Too frickin’ bad for him. Now she was going to go in head deep.
“You need to go, now.” Lael said, motioning with her head to the side.
Emma glanced over her shoulder and caught two of the security guards pointing at her. Uh-oh. “Alright. Thanks so much for your help.”
Lael smiled. “Good luck, you’ll need it.”