Rouge's Trail

IX

The club was hot. People bounced to music that made no sense while others danced so close that their sweat mixed. Sofia and Isabella looked in awe and Ajax stared at the humans movements with eyes wider than half dollars but I was confused.

Is this what people do for fun?

A woman walked past us in a skimpy outfit with a tray of beverages and both the twins lunged for colorful drinks. The woman gave them a disgusted look but Isabella growled at her and she nearly ran away, leaving the twins to laugh and sip their drinks.

"What was his name again?"

"Is this strawberry?"

I glare at the twins before Sofia sighs and hands her sister her drink.

"His name is Mikos. Be careful, though. He's the tall, dark, and handsome type. Isabella and I knew him when we lived in Italy. He said we could call him anytime."

I nodded as she gave me all the information. There was no way to get a picture of him or any sort of description since it had been so long ago. The twins were in Italy almost 13 years ago. No one stays the same for that long if they want to survive.

Ajax grabbed Isabella by the hand and pulled her off to the dance floor. Sofia went off to find her friend and I was left alone to look. She had told me he had the most violet eyes she'd ever seen but it was almost impossible to see anyone's eyes in this place.

People smashed into me as I tried to go across the floor. It was almost impossible. I was being pushed back and forth and back and forth. It made me sick.

I tried to join in the dancing but that wasn't much help since I didn't know how to move like these people. They started to get agitated by me pushing into them while they were trying to have fun.

My legs almost gave out from under me but instead I pushed to get to the side of the room. The safest place seemed to be with the wallflowers that were waiting for their friends to find someone to hook up with.

A few people looked up at me. I didn't like how their gazes lasted so long and when I turned to look at them they winked at me or smiled like they were doing something good. Scowling at their blatant stares, I found a little table to sit at to scan the room for the rest of my group.

For the next hour or so I tried to find my group and failed. I asked the people around me if they had ever heard of a Mikos but none of them had. My head soon started pounding from the loud music and I made myself get up and go to the bathroom for a break.

It was almost quiet in there but a few ridiculously drunk females staggered out of the stalls and started telling each other how beautiful the other was while trying to wash their hands.

I reached into the sink and waited for the water to start running. It was busted so I went to the next one over. Cool water ran over my hands and I scrubbed them before dabbing them off on a paper towel so I could cool myself down a bit with clean hands. While I patted my face I looked into the mirror.

A shadow in the farthest stall to the left caught my eye.

I tried to nonchalantly throw the towel away, taking the time to check my teeth and fix my lipstick before walking to the door. I was almost there when I felt a presence behind me. It took everything in me not to run as I reminded myself that it would only make things worse. 

It was too late for me.

My inner wolf didn't do anything to stop me because I didn't have any contact with it. I was about to turn around and accept the fact that Anton's men had finally caught up to me when I remembered what I'd promised my mother.

All this thinking happened in a matter of 15 seconds because on second 17 I was throwing a blind punch and swining my leg up to hit him in the jewels.

He caught my punch but not my leg. I felt the crunch and ran away in triumph as fast as my legs would carry me. I don't know who that man was. He must be new.

The cold night air of Ontario hit me when I ran out of the building, making a turn in a dark alley so I could take a backway to the hotel and hideout there until the rest of them finished up. They would have to find Mikos on their own because I wasn't getting caught for what might be a dead end.

I was halfway down the alley when an arm swung out from the shadows and grabbed me, pulling my tight against a body before my back end was smashed against a brick wall. A silver dagger glinted in the moonlight.

My dagger.

I couldn't stop myself from growling in anger at the man in front of me. 

It was the guy from the Jade Forest.

He followed me.