Chapter 4

Ophelia

I brought it to my lips and inhaled, immediately chucking the thing at Denver when my lungs seized. A cough tore at my chest, so strong that my eyes watered. No matter how hard I tried to breathe in, all I could do was hack and cough.

It tasted awful. Like burnt grass and chewed lavender.

The four of them chuckled, descending into laughter that rang heavily in my ears. Heat warmed my cheeks, carrying embarrassment that quickly faded when Sarah herself erupted in a fit of wet coughing.

When I finally managed to stop, I realized I felt different.

There was this odd sensation dancing along my skin, like little bursts of electricity. As they burrowed deep, they melted into a blissful numbness that had my shoulders drooping and eyelids growing heavy.

Goddess, what was this stuff?

Coop rolled his head my way, “Nice, isn’t it? It’s official name is Dark Matter. Think of it as the magical version of weed. It’s blessed by a witch with an earth affinity, so it’s extra potent.”

I blinked slowly. Dark matter? The irony wasn’t at all lost on me. The pain in my wrist faded to a dull throb, as did the constant ache in my chest.

“Affinity?”

Surprise unfurled across his elfish face, overexaggerated from the effects of the drug. “You’re not from here, are you?”

I shook my head, each movement feeling slowed. Coop reached over and plucked the joint from Denver’s fingers, bringing it to his lips once more.

“Just moved here, actually.”

A chorus of ah’s sounded. Coop pursed his lips and blew a plume of smoke into the air. Arielle and Sarah exchanged a long look. The latter leaned forward in her seat and scowled, “You just moved here and chose to come to this place?”

Coop made a sound in his throat as though he agreed, but none elaborated. Again, I shrugged. What did it matter, anyway?

“Us folks with magic always have an affinity—a type of magic that comes easy to us.” He explained.

After one last pull, he offered me the joint. I could no longer find a reason not to take it. Two more drags and a coughing fit later, and my entire body had become blissfully numb.

I was floating—swaying along the current of a great ocean. The waves were no longer agonizingly cold. They weren’t warm either. They weren’t anything.

Oh, this felt good.

A blur of color appeared to the left of the sofa. I moved slowly, eyes settling on the hard planes of a feminine face.

Icy blonde hair fanned out around the girl’s shoulders as she crossed the platform. Denver spotted her and cursed. He shoved the joint into Coop’s hand, who quickly stubbed it out atop the glass table. Without glancing my way, he passed it to me and muttered, “Hide it for me, pretty girl.”

I shoved the joint into my pocket and sank further into the sofa, my mind a blissful haze of numbness.

“Out stalking Coop again, Nova?” Denver drawled, his golden eyes slinking down the icy blonde’s curvy frame.

She sneered, her upper lip pulling back to reveal straight white teeth with a slender gap in between the front two.

“I’m not stalking anybody, dickface. I’m keeping an eye on my brother since he can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Funny how you and trouble go hand-in-hand.”

Denver rolled his neck along his shoulders, “What can I say, cupcake? I am who I am.”

With one final sneer, she whirled on Coop, whose head fell back with a groan. “Come on! At least let me stay for the fight. You know Jude always slaughters his opponents. I swear, I’ll leave willingly once it’s over.”

The strobe lights dancing along the club walls dimmed, sliding along the graffiti, and veering towards the far end of the room. Each one was a beam of vibrant color illuminating the shimmering metal walls of the cage.

All at once, the crowds voices lowered to hushed murmurs. The music followed suit, now an ominous beat pulsating in the background.

Through the numb haze, my skin prickled with an electrical charge. I was so enamored by the goosebumps pebbling along my arms that I barely heard the conversation flowing around me.

Nova’s shoulders fell. “Fine, but if you don’t keep your word I swear I’ll make you regret it. And quit the smoking, you know how addictive that stuff is.”

With his lips twisted into a crooked grin, Coop gave her a half assed salute. My world twisted, flipping upside-down when he tugged me to my feet. I swayed, the colors around me blurring. I had to clamp my lips together to keep from giggling.

When was the last time I’d laughed, anyway?

“Come on, pretty girl. You won’t wanna miss this! Jude’s fights are epic. Guy’s a bona fide psychopath.”

I stumbled through the crowd at Coop’s side, swept up in a current of writhing bodies. Drowning in the scent of drugs, sex, and perfume.

The announcer, a weasel of a man whose beady eyes surveyed the room hungrily, opened his thin lips and began to shout into a microphone.

I barely heard him speak, apart from the single name that rippled across the crowd.

Jude.

Time slowed as a shirtless man, covered in thick swatches of ink, stepped into the cage. Actually, stepped was wrong. He prowled.

The buzzing of the crowd faded to a dull roar in my ears. Even as a sea of bodies swayed around me, I couldn’t break my stare from the horrendously beautiful man.

There wasn’t a single muscle or inch of skin that wasn’t tattooed. Only his face and a patch directly above his heart remained clear. Even in the low light I could see the piercing that speared his left brow, along with the jagged scar sliced down his eye.

If I’d been sober, my instincts would’ve been screaming danger, because all it took was one look to know that this man was a predator.

I barely registered Coop shouting in my ear when Jude lunged at his opponent, silent and swift, ready for the kill.

The drugs really had screwed with my mind, because I hadn’t even noticed the other guy step into the cage.

He was a mountain of a man, and yet Jude took him down within seconds. The way he moved his body, wielding it like an instrument of death, had the crowd exploding in bloodthirsty cheers.

The bars rattled as his opponent fell, his bald head lolling back as Jude ushered one final punch to his jaw.

I half expected the beady-eyed announcer to step into the cage and declare Jude the winner, but he didn’t.

Jude continued lavishing blows to the unconscious man. His dark hair, shaved short along the back and sides, clung to his sweat slick forehead. The tattoos along his arms rippled with each punch.

I gasped, releasing a ragged sound that tore through my sore throat and into the humid air.

Jude’s head snapped up.

His eyes were wild.

Ravenous.

They swept along the crowd before locking onto my own. Blood, bright as rubies beneath the flashing lights, was splashed across his face.

Had he somehow heard me? No, it wasn’t possible. Not with this much noise. Something behind me must’ve caught his eye. As fuzzy as my head was, I couldn’t bring myself to turn around.

No longer unconscious, his opponent slung his fist at Jude’s face. The crowd exploded to life as it clipped his jaw, sending him staggering back. Still, his eyes remained fixated on the crowd.

That was until the music cut out and a voice blasted through the club.

“THE ALPHA’S HERE! EVERYBODY CLEAR OUT.”

All at once the crowd surged, forming a vicious wave that tore me out of Coop’s grasp, thrusting me into open waters. I was jostled left and right, carried further away from the cage and the murderous man within.

My head swam and spun. Shadows and bursts of colorful light swirled into a kaleidoscope that had me giggling. A hand grazed my hip. Another slid up my back.

I blinked rapidly. My eyelids were so heavy.

To the left of me was a hallway. The exit sign dangling from the ceiling flickered. It’s red light singed my corneas. My back hit the wall, the rough brick gliding along my flesh. It’s bite was nothing more than a whisper of touch.

A man I didn’t recognize hovered over me, eyes of milk chocolate sliding down my throat.

“How did I get here?” My voice sounded far away, muffled by the cotton in my ears.

A hand smelling of smoke and whiskey inched down my throat, trailing along my shoulder before reaching down to the hem of my shirt.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. You and I are going to have a good time, alright?”

His voice was rough in a way that grated along my numbed nerves. Unease began to swirl in my gut. I shook my head, the world around me blurring once more.

“No, I don’t think I want that.”

A hand fell over my lips, only to be torn away when a shadow descended on us both. A shadow with dark hair, silver eyes, and a blood-flecked face.

Jude, the fighter from the cage, appeared behind the man hovering over me. My eyes widened and mouth opened several seconds too late.

Large, tattooed hands grabbed the man’s head and twisted. Blood roared in my ears, muffling the deafening crack. My eyes dropped, ready to watch the man’s body slump to the floor when one of those tattooed hands grabbed my chin.

I was lost in pools of swirling silver, unable to do anything but stare as a dull thud hit the floor.

Jude cocked his head, the movement animalistic.

Unable to look away, I sucked in a gust of oxygen and flinched as his scent assaulted my senses.

Bursts of amaretto and cinnamon were warm and fragrant as they filled my head and danced with my twisted, warped thoughts.

There was a snap deep within my chest. One that echoed down my limbs, stirring my wolf from her slumber.

Her howl was deafening, leeching the color from my surroundings.

No, not again.

It wasn’t possible.

It. Wasn’t. Possible.

‘Mate,’ She whined. ‘We have another mate.’

Jude’s lips parted, the low light catching on his eyebrow piercing. From the corner of my eye I saw Denver approach, stepping into my side with his hands raised in surrender.

Those eyes of molten silver flicked down to Denver’s hand, which hovered over my shoulder.

“Hey, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I told you I’d give you a ride home, remember?”

There was a warning written clear across Denver’s face, bathed in remnants of fear that had me bristling.

“Right.”

When did my voice become so weak? So breathless?

Jude’s stare slid back to me. The sheer intensity radiating off his body was a drug of it’s own. Without a word he took a step back, turned, and vanished down the blackened hall.