Diana sat up a little straighter, shaking off Felix’s arm that had been around the back of her chair. “What do you mean? Working at the club?”
Harley looked at Benny in panic as if worried she’d said something wrong, but Benny just put a hand over hers comfortingly. He seemed like the type to just put everyone at ease.
His kind hazel eyes fixed on Diana. “We aren’t just a dance club. The club has a different purpose on some nights.”
Diana straightened slightly, sitting on her hands. “What do you mean?”
“We all come from… unconventional backgrounds,” Benny said. “We don’t have normal families. Normal support systems. We provide a place here for other shifters like us, both so we can gather information and so exiled shifters feel like they have a sense of community.”
Diana exhaled slowly. “I see.”
Felix put his hand in hers, and she didn’t even pull away. She couldn’t anymore.
“So what do you want to do at the club?” Benny asked. “We put everyone to work here.”
“It’s fun,” Jackie said. “I DJ.”
“I don’t actually work here,” Tasha said. “I do hair. But I do like to come hang out.”
“I work the bar,” Harley said. “But then again, I’m a co-owner.”
“What does Felix do?”
“Sit around and be good-looking,” Lock said with a laugh. He was interesting looking, with his dark-cherry hair and amber eyes, not to mention tanned skin and rocker-esque clothing. “But in all seriousness, he usually works the door for promotion.”
“I see,” Diana said, leaning back in her chair. “I’m not sure if I could help in any way.”
“You could keep an eye on the floor,” Tasha suggested. “You’re a girl, so you’d blend in and be able to catch shifters who are getting randy.”
“Right, because there are both humans and shifters on the floor at all times, right?”
“Pretty much,” Benny said. “But usually, it’s not too bad here.”
“I can do that,” Diana said.
Felix let out a little snort. “I don’t think so.”
She turned to him, ruffled. “Why not?”
“Not unless I’m working the floor also,” Felix said.
“Fine,” Harley said. “What if she works the bar with me?”
“Only if I’m working the bar also,” Felix retorted, glaring at her stubbornly.
“I’ll be damned,” Lock said, leaning his chin on his hand in amusement. “The slut has a mate.”
Diana gasped, glaring over at him. “I beg your pardon—”
“Not you, him,” Lock said, gesturing to Felix. “We all know he’s…” He trailed off at a nudge in the side from Tasha. “He’s the best, right?”
The whole table went awkwardly silent, and Diana resisted the urge to defend Felix against his own friends.
“He’s not a slut,” she said finally, failing to resist her impulses.
Lock laughed. “If you say so.”
Felix narrowed his eyes on Lock. “You don’t want to pick a fight with me. I still haven’t forgiven you for stealing my sister.”
“Now hold on a minute,” Benny said, standing up and putting a hand out to stop the arguing. “Let’s focus on the task at hand.” He looked at Diana. “What would you like to do while you stay here? You don’t even need to work, or I’m happy to have you do whatever you want.”
She swallowed tightly. “Damn, why are you so nice to people?”
Benny looked shocked for a second, and then his eyes crinkled and he laughed, and the rest of the table awkwardly joined in. “I should have known you’d be unique, just like Fifi.”
She folded her arms. “I mean, I’m glad you’re so nice, but I don’t get it. You do know I meant to kill him. I may still.”
Benny sighed. “I suppose. But you aren’t right now, and he wants you around. And I believe in giving everyone at least one chance to show me who they are.”
Her heart ached slightly at his kindness. At the fact that her attempt at revenge on Felix had only led her to people who were more caring than anyone she’d met in a long time.
If only she’d found this place before she’d found the compound.
Then again, Benny didn’t know she was a wyvern. At least, she didn’t think he did, based on his open, friendly smile.
“I could work at the bar,” she said. “I’m not the best with people, but I’m fast and I know how to make drinks.”
Harley made a little movement of triumph with her fist. “Yes. I get to work with you.”
Diana raised an eyebrow. “And you’re happy with that?”
“Heck yeah,” Harley said. “You’re a badass assassin. No one’s going to complain about their drinks when you’re around.”
Diana couldn’t help but laugh at that as the rest of the table joined in.
She locked eyes with Felix, feeling warmth surge through her as he grinned at her happily.
She’d thought life was over, that happiness was impossible and all she had left to do was end him before going back to the dark.
But somehow he’d grabbed her hand and pulled her into the light with him. Brought her to people who could care about her. Made her feel… like her old self for once.
She grabbed the drink Felix offered her and clinked it with the others to toast her coming on as the newest member of the staff, reveling in the welcoming smiles of everyone around her.
After experiencing all of this, it would be that much harder to go back to the compound, but at the moment, she didn’t care.
She threw her drink back and smiled.
* * *
“So how’s it going?” Felix asked, leaning an elbow on the counter as he grinned at Diana. “Kind of a nice place, right? I’m sure Benny would hire you on if you want to stay. And the rest of us could kick the asses of your friends at the compound if they dared have something to say about it.”
He was still trying to figure out how much sway they had over her. If she really wanted to be with them just to get revenge on him or if she was somehow trapped.
Her expression was amused and exasperated at the same time. “Felix…”
“I know. You haven’t decided. It’s just that—”
She sighed, rolling her eyes. “I’m working on a drink order.”
He took a seat at the bar. “Work on my order. I’m on break. One appletini, please.”
She laughed, shaking her head and making the curls bounce. She looked so pretty tonight in a red sweater that complemented her skin. Its softness around her curves only made her that much more dangerous. “Such a girly drink.”
“No,” he said. “It’s very manly. Like me.”
She sighed. “I guess so.” When the drink was done, she slid it over to him, watching the liquid swish up to the rim. “I meant to ask. Why is your hair gone?”
He reached up, semi panicked, and felt the short locks there. “Oh. You mean why is it shorter?”
She nodded, a slight flush on her pretty, high cheekbones. She was stunning. She always had been. “It was pretty.”
He smiled, running a long finger around the rim of his drink. “I suppose I just outgrew it.”
“How long ago?”
“Not that long,” Felix said. “Toward the end of my time in the Tribunal, I was having a hard time following orders. I knew I was probably going to land in their prison, and I didn’t really want long hair to get me any attention when I was there.”
“Oh,” she said, looking shocked. She composed herself and began to work on another drink order. She liked to stay busy, even when she was much younger. He liked that about her. “But I mean, you wouldn’t have been threatened, right?”
He gave her a sardonic look. “I would if they suppressed my powers. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to treat me like a girl.”
He regretted the quick comment, due to the way she looked at him with a mixture of pity and confusion.
“Well, I assume
if anyone tried to treat you like that now, they’d have another thing coming,” she said softly.
“You’d be right.” He sipped his appletini, wincing at the sourness, and decided to change the subject. “So how do you like working here?”
“It’s nice,” she said, swaying to the music as she watched people enjoying themselves on the dance floor. “Definitely a lot different than the compound.”
He wrinkled his nose. “What do you do for fun there?”
She laughed. “We don’t have fun.” She set a tray of completed drinks on the bar for Harley to come grab when she was ready. “Mostly, I just hide in my room and hope I don’t have to kill anyone for trying to force me.”
Felix sat up abruptly. “They what?”
She sighed. “There are still a lot of wolves looking for an alpha female. Even a messed-up one.”
Felix took another sip of his drink. “Can you shift into a wolf anymore?”
She flinched slightly at his question, then shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry that happened. I—”
“Let’s not talk about it,” she said sharply.
Truthfully, he didn’t care if she was a wyvern. No matter how many times he thought it through, it didn’t matter to him that she wasn’t full wolf anymore.
As long as she was Diana.
But despite her coming to stay with him, taking steps to be in his life, he could sense she was still holding back from him.
The battle wasn’t yet won. It might take several weeks. Maybe longer.
But at least life wasn’t empty and bleak anymore, as it had been before she came back.
“I want to take you somewhere tonight,” he said. “After work.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Why?”
“I guess there are a lot of places I’d like to take you but this one in particular.”
She exhaled, staring down at a drink order in her hands, crumpling it slightly. “I guess so. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
He grinned, feeling energy well up in him just at her saying yes to him when she had every right to say no.
She could walk out of his life that second and no one would blame her.
He hadn’t been there for her.
But he intended to be there for her from now on.
To make every moment as happy as possible.
“I’ll talk to Benny and make sure he’s cool with us leaving. We’ll start at eight.”
Then, as she gaped at him, he drank the last of his appletini and walked off.
He had a lot of shit to get ready.
Chapter 18
As Diana took off the apron she was wearing, her eyes went to Felix waiting for her by the front entrance to the club.
He was wearing a black raincoat over a white tee shirt and dark jeans, plus stylish work boots. His white-blond hair was mussed and fell partly over his forehead, and his beautiful face was more relaxed than she’d seen it since she’d been back.
It was becoming too easy to just go with him. To be caught up in his flow and rush along with him. It had always been too easy.
He jangled a set of keys and grinned as she walked over to him, baring perfect white canines. “Are you ready for the best night of your life?”
She smiled despite herself, grabbing the door and pushing it open before he could. As they made their way through the crowd that was still trying to get into the club, Diana felt a few raindrops overhead.
Felix glared at the sky, shaking a fist, and then led her over to a beautiful dark-blue convertible he must have rented for the night.
“Nice ride,” she said as he unlocked it and reached in to press a button that would put the top down.
“I know it’s raining, but do you mind?”
She shook her head. “I like the rain. But won’t it ruin your rental?”
“It’s not a rental, and I can buy a new one,” Felix said.
Slight bitterness welled in her at that. Of course, after leaving the Tribunal, he would be rich too. Of course he would have benefitted from that life while she lost everything.
“It’s not what you think,” Felix said as he came over and opened her door so she could get in. “I was left money by my parents when they were killed by the Tribunal.”
“They were killed by the Tribunal?”
Felix nodded. “Not until I was older. They were a threat to the leader, I suppose. But I was never close to them.”
“So were you ever paid for what you did?”
Felix cocked his head. “If by paid you mean not getting killed and not having my sister in danger, then I suppose so. But what would I have done with money anyway?”
She sighed. “Things are complicated, right?”
He nodded as she got into the plush leather passenger seat and he gently shut the door.
He got in on his side and pulled his seatbelt down, waiting for her to do the same.
He turned on the heater, explaining that because of the windscreen, it would be warm even with the top down.
If someone had told her she would be riding in a convertible with the man she was supposed to assassinate, she would never have believed them.
As they pulled out onto the street and the glistening pavement and sparkling trees flew past them, Diana wished she could show her past self what she was doing now.
When she was imprisoned, she’d never thought about a future. When she’d become a wyvern, a future had seemed impossible. But now she was next to the only man she had loved. The man she had also hated.
And as he kept one hand on the wheel and leaned his head back, closing his eyes for a second as his hair whipped in the wind, she couldn’t help a throbbing longing in her chest.
Like an echo.
She’d come back to hurt him, and every time she saw him, all she could do was melt.
He looked over at her, purple eyes indigo in the night. “What do you think? I love riding with the top down. So much freedom.”
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting the wind whip around her hair. The heater kept warmth circling but didn’t take away from the sheer exhilaration of being exposed to the night.
He was right. She felt free in a way she couldn’t have imagined when she was imprisoned.
As she watched him take a turn easily, his face calm and satisfied, she realized he might have been imprisoned too.
Perhaps freedom meant a lot to both of them. Perhaps they had never been fully free before that moment.
Perhaps she still wasn’t free because her heart couldn’t fully forgive or believe he wasn’t at fault.
But at least the cool wind chased away the past while they were driving.
Felix let her pick the music, and they both relaxed to indie rock as they wove through a canyon and up over the crest of the hilly landscape.
When they came out over the side, she gasped as she saw the ocean sparkling with little waves in the moonlight.
She looked over at Felix and saw him grin. God, he was handsome.
“This is the place I feel most free,” he said. “When I was working for the Tribunal, I didn’t get days off to just to sit by the ocean. Now I can go whenever I want.”
They must have been driving for hours to get there, but it had felt like only minutes with the fun ride and the diverting music.
Felix drove down a small side road that was made of dirt toward a parking lot that overlooked the shore.
It was a cold, Pacific beach, so not one for swimming, but that only made it more beautiful.
From the coarser sand to the darker waves to the cool night air, the entire setting was austere and beautiful.
Kind of like the expression of the man she was with as he got out of the car and looked out at the shoreline.
He let out a sigh and then opened the trunk to pull out a few large duffel bags.
She followed him, puzzled, as he carried them down the small foot path that led to the beach.
“Is it safe here at nig
ht?” She looked around, seeing no one.
“With me it is,” Felix said, setting the bags down on the dry part of the beach.
“I mean, is it against the rules?”
“You’re a wyvern, and I’m a former assassin,” Felix said. “You think I really care about rules?”
“I guess you’re right,” she said, taking a few steps toward the ocean. The waves looked so inviting, crashing and retreating in beautiful shades of midnight blue.
“Here, this should be better.”
She looked over to see Felix had set up two thick blankets, one over the other, to sit on and was holding out another one for her to take.
There was also a small cooler he’d taken out of one of the bags, along with some snacks.
“This is my favorite place,” he said, munching one of the sandwiches after handing her the other. “I thought you might enjoy it.”
She ate her sandwich quietly, hypnotized by the violent crashing of the waves. There was something so grounding about the way they kept going. The way it was easy to predict what they would do.
“Listen, Felix,” she said quietly. “I’ve enjoyed being with you these last couple days. I hope we’ll have a few more. But there’s a part of me, a strong part, that’s still angry. I’m not sure if I still want revenge. I just wanted to warn you that it’s not over. Not for me. And if you want to push me away because of it, I understand.”
“I could never push you away,” he said. “Diana, I love you. I know you don’t believe me because I wasn’t there for you, but I do.”
She fidgeted, rolling up the plastic the sandwich had been wrapped in. Her heart was pounding in her chest, making her feel a bit nauseated. “I just don’t understand. Even if you didn’t tell Winslow, the whole thing happened because you didn’t stay with me. You stayed with your sister. And I understand that. She was your blood. But if you really had loved me, I would have meant something too.”
Felix sighed. “You did mean something. But I thought you were safe, and I knew my sister wasn’t. Plus, I knew there was no escaping from Winslow. If I had left to be with you, he would have only tracked us down.”
“He tracked me down,” she said fiercely. “I’m the one who paid anyway. Should I be grateful that your sister is safe? Maybe, if I was better. But if I hadn’t met you, Winslow would never have come for me. Maybe my pack still would have been overtaken, but I wouldn’t be a monster.”
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