Quan checked them into their hotel while Julia took Cassie shopping. By the time they got back several things had changed. The club and restaurant were hopping with valets on duty and people dressed to the nines coming in a steady stream. That, and Cassie no longer looked like a mild mannered office drone.
The dark purple organic designs in her lilac sheath dress complimented perfectly her dark hair, tanned skin and light golden eyes accented dramatically for a night out by Julia's knowledge of makeup. Even Cassie, normally hypercritical of her appearance, could find no fault in the reflection she saw staring back at her in the mirror. She would never admit it to her makeover artist but Cassie felt glamorous.
A few minutes before ten, when the noise from the club was becoming audible from the street, Cassie put her hand on the car door's handle and gave her straight hair hanging loose to her shoulders a nervous smoothing. "I think it's busy enough now. I'm heading in." Actually, she was so apprehensive about what she was about to do, Cassie was eager to begin. It was better to have something to do than sit here and fidget.
"If you have any trouble in there, call us. We're right out here."
"Will do." She leaned down to look back inside the car and gave a brief twitch of her mouth, noticing neither of her partners smiled back. Cassie leaned back and patted the door in a wordless farewell, listening to the clack of her heels on the pavement like a death knell. "No magick necessary, what could go wrong?" She muttered to herself, not sharing in Julia's confidence.
Cassie had a momentary urge to change course and flee as she crossed the street and heard a whistle from somewhere behind her she hoped was aimed at someone else. All too quickly Cassie was stepping up onto the sidewalk by the valet station. A short Hispanic fellow hustled to open the door for her. Cassie gave him a gracious smile and was rewarded with a thorough visual inspection.
Her partners watched her disappear from the car.
"I hope Anna knows what she's doing," Julia muttered, her teeth scraping over her lip.
Quan sniffed.
Cutting her eyes at him, Julia waved a hand at Cassie's figure disappearing behind the door. "She's not like other recruits Quan. We're talking about more than a job working out here." Julia frowned. "If she's pushed too hard too fast she could fall apart."
"Madness has always been a possibility for her. Anna is aware of the risks and we have all taken great care to avoid it. Maybe too much." He shrugged. "We can protect her from herself no longer, she must eventually test herself. It is time for her to go to her destiny."
Julia blinked and said nothing. She wasn't so sure.
Cassie stood in the entryway, blinking in the darkness and taking in the atmosphere. In the few hours since they'd left, the place had been transformed. People were everywhere. The sounds coming from both sides were deafening.
To her right was the restaurant. Like the bar, a mixture of dark steel and red leather was sparsely lit by overhanging disks creating intimate pockets of dim light only at the tables. To the left lay the bar, still lit by the purple running lights in addition to a central overhead beam turned on since they'd left that gave the woman tending bar an ethereal glow. Straight ahead of her was the stairway to the club lit by the same purple running lights and guarded at its base by a dark podium. The sounds of conversation mingled with silverware and glasses clinking, somewhere a man guffawed loudly.
Scanning the crowd in the restaurant and the bar on the lower level Cassie failed to see Drew. The absence of tingling on her flesh evidenced the lack of magickal activity on the premises. She started for the stairs.
The host stepped out from behind his podium to head off Cassie's approach. By the way he lifted his chin she could tell he was going to give her trouble.
"May I help you, Miss?" His light inflection at the respectful title held a hint of mockery.
Cassie's fingertips fluttered against her thigh. His disapproval was clear although unexpected. Surely she looked good enough to gain entrance, this wasn't one of those clubs where they only let the beautiful people in. The heavy backside of a man resuming his seat in the restaurant was evidence of that fact.
She pointed and gave him the same smile she'd given the man at the door. "I'd like to go upstairs please."
"Were you meeting someone?" He arched one finely plucked brow and the light reflected on the shine of his lip gloss.
Cassie's smile faltered. "Uh, sort of."
"Wait here please, I'll check the numbers." He stared pointedly at her, "Fire codes." The thin black man lifted a cord lying against his black tee shirt sporting the club's name in blue to match the neon out front. The cord ran up to a device hooked to his ear. Turning his face, his words were lost to her.
Cassie kept her face impassive while she waited. It took all she had not to fidget. So much rode on her success tonight it was impossible not to be anxious. She didn't want to leave Veritas having never lifted a finger to help on an assignment without botching it. Even if she were unable to use her magick, she wanted to be at least as good as a "regular" agent would be on the job.
Chin held high, she could give the appearance of confidence even if inside she was wilting, Cassie tossed her hair back behind her shoulders and a throat cleared behind her.
Wheeling almost fast enough to lose her balance in the unfamiliar footwear, Cassie barely managed not to trip. She was glad she didn't. Not two feet behind her stood the bartender and her target, Drew. Where had he come from?
"Uh hey, you're the bartender right?" She said lamely, wishing she could hit rewind and pause until she could come up with something better.
Confusion temporarily clouded his gray eyes, darker now that he wore a black Cuban shirt with the same pair of jeans that fit him so well from earlier. His hand ran through the sandy waves in what she was willing to wager was a nervous habit meant to buy time while he smiled blankly at her, trying valiantly to place her face. Her question seemed to have stopped him from trying to charm her.
Cassie felt the stirrings of attraction at this glimmer of a real person and was quick to remind herself of the nauseating way he played with the female clientele using his good looks for either profit or amusement. She blinked long and slow, head tipped down coyly to look up through her thick black lashes. Two could play at this game.
"Drew isn't it?" She spoke softly, mimicking Julia's exaggerated manner of speech minus the accent. "I was in earlier with some friends of mine," recognition flickered behind his eyes, "and I wanted to come back by myself so I could get a better look around." Head still tipped away from him, Cassie gave him a half smile meant to be mysterious.
"You sure didn't give the impression you were interested in anything when you were here before." A small wrinkle formed between his brows.
Embarrassed she hadn't considered the effect of how cold she'd been, Cassie thought quickly. "That guy was my boss, I couldn't say anything in front of him." She touched her bangs.
Mention of Quan produced a grin. "Yeah, he didn't really seem like the kind of guy who encourages much of a personal life."
"So, what do I have to do to get up there?" She flicked her dramatic lids up, letting her eyes linger on the darkened dance floor upstairs. The glass walls served to block most of the sound but not sight. Silhouettes of bodies merged, blurring the lines between individual dancers until it was one large multicolored writhing mass; its own hydra lit from below by lavender lighting washing out the legs into a white blue dream. The crimson ceiling tiles cast the top of the creature's heads in a devilish glow while the middle twisted and swayed, black and hidden.
That Cassie might have to become a willing participant in the orgy above would have had her as red as the ceiling had she let herself think about it. She didn't. Her persona for the night could handle the flirtation she told herself, giving her permission to nearly throw herself at this man to get what she needed from him. If it worked she only had to do this once.
So slowly did he consider her implied offer she didn't think he was going to go for it. A furtive glance at the sneering lips of the uppity host seemed to confirm her suspicion she would soon be turned down.
Drew's glance skimmed automatically and without thinking over the crowds, subconsciously ticking off the numbers, running through how many he'd seen upstairs a few minutes ago. By his estimation they had to be running close to maximum capacity up there. About to suggest she get a drink in the bar while she waited, Drew opened his mouth to speak and noticed the host's barely contained animosity toward the woman. He'd never liked the man much.
"Tavaris, I'd like a bottle of champagne sent up to my private table." His serene profile remained non-reactive at the host's blatant shock, yet Cassie thought she saw the fading remains of a challenge as his eyes swung back to her. Lifting a corner of his mouth into that same playful smile he'd tried on her earlier, Drew held a hand out and waved her past the gatekeeper currently unhooking the red velvet rope to allow her passage.
Cassie strode steadily up the black carpeted steps, flushing uncomfortably at the thought of him walking only a few steps behind her, eye level with her rear. When finally they reached the summit and stood on the landing, Drew moved up beside her to open the door.
Cassie took an involuntary step back from the tooth rattling music that poured out and glanced over at her host. He was not just a bartender, of that she was certain. She was guessing he was at least management, potentially an owner by the way he'd handled the guy downstairs. Drew became more interesting in her eyes. Why he would flirt shamelessly and yet hide his clout from women was contradictory to what she'd assumed of him.
"Are you sure you want to go in?" He raised his voice to be heard above the dance beat.
"It looks great." She shouted back as loud as she could without looking like she was in pain. "You're not a bartender, are you?"
Only a moment's hesitation and Drew answered with a wink, waving her inside the ear crushing terrarium. He led her back along the outer edge of the dance floor, past a bar lit by red lights and surrounded by thirsty dancers taking a break. They moved toward a table on the farthest side of the floor from the speakers. The sound was still loud but it was possible for Cassie to hear him when Drew asked her if she would like to take a seat. There was already a bucket of champagne chilling at the table. She hadn't seen it come past them.
At Cassie's puzzled expression Drew grinned. "We have an elevator at the far end of the hall. It's easier to run things between the bars."
Cassie had noticed a dark hallway behind them she assumed led only to the restrooms.
"Have a seat." He motioned her into the high backed "c" shaped black leather booth. The other booths and upholstery upstairs were a mixture of the two colors, black and red, adding to the insane energy and chaos of the place. With an exaggerated sway to her hips Cassie slid into the booth only to abandon the attempt at seduction in favor of speed and distance when she saw Drew coming in after her. Both sat facing the crowd and Drew poured. "Drink?" He slid a flute of bubbling golden wine across the foot or so of table between them matching the distance of their bodies on the seat.
Cassie's skin remained tingle free. For whatever reason, Drew was not trying to manipulate her. Her vanity took a small hit. "Thank you." She smiled and held up the glass lifting her chin to look him full in the face before taking an experimental sip. Cassie's first taste of champagne was good. Her brows rose at the unexpectedly pleasant taste, taking another quick sip before replacing her glass on the dark table.
Drew peaked his brows raising his glass expectantly with her. When he saw her surprised expression at the taste, his return grin was easy. "So, why did you really come back?"
Cassie hadn't counted on him being so direct. She tossed her hair and put a shoulder forward, posing for him. "I told you, I wanted to get a better look around."
In her mind she was already discounting her chances of getting anything out of this guy. If Quan's sweeps revealed nothing of his power source and Julia hadn't been able to get him to confide anything, how was Cassie going to get anything off the guy? Her eyes swept across the open throat of his shirt searching for cording or a chain leading to an amulet or talisman. His wrists were also bare as was the left hand with its lengthy fingers absently stroking the stem of his glass though the right was resting on the chair out of view.
Cassie could see her father's face when he heard of her dismissal from Veritas and she considered her options. One way to find out someone's power was to draw it. Taking in energy was something she could do competently enough, provided she wasn't called on to do anything with it. Closing her eyes for a moment, she ignored the elevated temperature coming from the dance floor nearly making her sweat and the man beside her whose clean, lightly musky scent wafted on the heat to her nostrils. Pushing all of that into her periphery, she cast a small spell she knew she had practiced in school as well as under Julia's expert tutelage.
Protection spells on such a small scale would not even raise Quan's attention outside. This would merely provide her mind some cover should Drew prove able to sift through it, once she opened herself to him. Anything more complicated was doubtful with this crowd of possible witnesses and casualties.
No sooner had she muttered the last words of the spell than she felt an arm snake behind her, sliding her across the leather and slamming her into his side. Bone ground painfully against her and he twisted his shoulders until his face was within inches of hers when her eyes flew open. Cloudy gray eyes filled her vision and she felt his fingers tighten around her other arm locking her into place.
Her eyes went wide as her heart raced and she leaned back as far as her captor would let her. She silently chastised herself for being sloppy. He might not know what she was doing, but she'd seen him react when others used magick. He obviously knew enough to guess the source of what he was sensing.
Drew's eyes narrowed, he was on the verge of violence. "What's the matter? Isn't this what you wanted?" Drew's gentle features were twisted in anger.
He leaned in and Cassie shrunk back to keep their bodies from touching any more than they already were. Instinctively, Cassie firmed up her protections.
Feeling her pull even that small amount of energy, Drew's expression switched from fury to confusion and held a hint of the same fear she'd seen downstairs at their first meeting. She felt a tweak of sympathy for him.
"What are you doing?" He pushed himself away from her and took his arm from around her back. "Who are you?" He ran his right hand across his forehead and Cassie saw proof of what she's suspected. Set in a silver ring on his first finger was a chunk of opaque stone marred by light green flecks.
Cassie ignored his questions. "What kind of stone is that?" She pointed with her eyes while she searched the databanks of her memory for the name of that particular stone. Far back somewhere, she knew she had learned about it. It was a special stone. She recalled that much at least.
Drew was visibly off balance. "I don't know." He answered uncertainly. "My brother gave it to me a few years ago, he said it was good luck." He ran a shaking hand through his hair. "I think you should go."
Figuring to cut her losses for the night and try again tomorrow, Cassie accepted the dismissal. Without arguing she slid out the way she'd come. A backward glance revealed a man distressed, his head resting on a hand, elbow on the table. The other hand that picked up his glass to down the rest of his champagne shook, and for a second she felt bad for him. When she got out to the car she was going to see about arranging a trainer for him right away. They could find Pritchard without him.
Backing away, she failed to see the woman cutting across the dance floor with three drinks balanced precariously in her hands until it was too late. When the cold sticky liquid had made its way down Cassie's back and the ice cubes were still sliding around at her feet with what remained of the shattered glasses, Cassie turned to the owner of the furious voice behind her.
"What the hell!" The drink holder was fortunately not much bigger than her in heels though she looked daunting, glowering in Cassie's face with alcohol clouded eyes. She glanced sideways toward a table on the edge of the dance floor where several friends looked on laughing, and cut her narrowed eyes back to Cassie.
Great, she thought. The Latina woman wasn't going to let this go easily. She was going to make this about pride. Fortunately for Cassie, her training had included the non- magickal sort as well and she'd proven herself effective in that realm. She didn't want to linger here and held out hope she could beat feet before Drew caught on to her causing trouble in his bar.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." She was a regular, Cassie had felt that when they'd collided. That meant as an Investigator she couldn't use magick against her unless her life was in danger. In her case that was good, she might accidentally set one or both of them on fire if she tried. "Let me buy you another round." She tried to placate the woman, though she did not need any more alcohol if her eyes were any indicator. They were having trouble focusing.
As she'd suspected, the woman was not so easily soothed. "You think a drink is going to fix this? What about my clothes?" Pointing at the few tiny specks of liquid barely visible through the dark pattern on her shirt and one shining wet blop on her skirt, she continued. "I should tell the management about this. Somebody's gotta pay for my clothes." Her neck went up and she started scanning for someone in a club t-shirt.
Money, it always came down to money. Cassie only had twenty dollars in her purse and that would barely cover the drinks in this place. "Look, I don't have much cash. I can buy you drinks and that's about it." She smiled and waved at her outfit. "You can't even see the marks on the shirt and you'll be dry before the next dance."
They were drawing more stares from the dancers around them, several ice cubes were being crunched on the floor as people moved toward them to listen. Cassie thought about calling Julia but that would definitely get Drew's attention and arguably get her banned from the club.
Cassie backed away, not wanting to make a scene.
The drunk girl lumbered unsteadily forward, driving Cassie back again. A male spectator announced, "Cat fight," and the people around them turned to watch. One high heel slipped on an ice cube and Cassie's ankle twisted, bringing her to her knees. She felt a piece of glass drive itself into her leg and her hand went to it instinctively. A hand came down and grabbed a chunk of hair, pulling her painfully to her feet. Cassie hopped up on one foot, the other ankle not wanting to cooperate just yet.
"Don't you crawl away from me. I'm not done yet." Her hand tightened its grip when Cassie tried to smack it away.
Not normally one to have a temper, Cassie was also not going be pushed around. On the reservation she'd been picked on for being only half Sioux and had learned how to stand up for herself. This girl had crossed the line and Cassie gritted her teeth.
Twisting on one foot Cassie grab the woman's wrist in her hands, pressing a thumb into the tender underside to free her hair and brought the offending limb up behind her attacker, raising it painfully. Her bad ankle objected to its enlistment and she stepped up close to the shoulders, using her attacker's body to balance. It also allowed Cassie to speak to her so no one else could hear.
"I don't owe you anything. It was an accident and I apologized. This is not worth a fight and both of us getting kicked out of here just so you can show your friends you're tough." The shoulders remained tight for less than a count of ten before she relaxed to alleviate the pressure. Seeing her moment to make her escape, Cassie released the woman, pushing her forward and took two hopping steps before the drunk's hand flashed out and grabbed her arm. In a barrage of pushing and hustling that couldn't have passed for any form of recognizable dancing, Cassie ended up with her back pressed against the smoked glass of the outer wall with the foul breath of a very drunk and pissed off woman right in her face. Several catcalls reached her ears as Cassie gauged the likelihood of taking this woman out and getting lost in the crowd before Drew saw her.
The woman mistook Cassie not fighting back as giving up and gloated. "You think you can disrespect me?" Her eyes glowed black. This far out of the direct light, the red from above lent them an eerie otherworldly cast.
"All I have is $20 and you can have it." She realized in that moment that her hands were empty. Heart sinking, she realized she'd dropped her purse in the fall on the dance floor and couldn't hope to get out without being seen. She would have to go right back in front of his booth to look for it. "Uh, I dropped my purse out there and I don't have anything on me. If you want to give me a minute, I'll go grab it for you." Playing weak ate at her but she had to remember her mission.
A self-satisfied smirk twisted the woman's thin lips. "Why don't you crawl out there and get it for me and then I'll decide if that's good enough."
Cassie's stomach dropped. This woman was pushing her too far. Mission or not she wasn't going to crawl. As she felt her temper flare, Cassie could sense her energy swelling inside her, threatening to overwhelm her protections. If she didn't control it she was going to hurt somebody. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to steady herself.