"It's cold as balls out here."

I glanced over at my best friend, Neely Jo and shook my head. "Well, I told you not to wear that skirt. You're showing your ass off to anyone who wants to see it."

What did she expect though? We'd come to New York with our college debate team. Neither one of us expected it to be this cold. It was only October. Being from Florida, though, we didn't really do cold weather all that often.

"Girl, you know my mama always said if you got it, flaunt it and I got it." She winked at me and shook her ass.

God, I loved her, but sometimes, she annoyed me beyond all words and measures. Tonight was one of those nights. We were supposed to be catching a plane back home in the morning, but she just had to go out and check out NYC night life.

Hence why we were standing in line waiting to get inside a club. It was almost one in the morning and I was fairly certain the place would be closing soon. I could be back in the hotel with soft sheets, room service, and Netflix.

But no.

I'd let Neely Jo drag me out to a club. Several in fact. This was the last one and I told her that too. I wanted to sleep at some point tonight or I'd be the walking dead in the morning. She'd been warned I would need several large coffees in the airport to get over my lack of beauty sleep.

We inched our way toward the front as more people were turned away. It had to be because they were closing up soon. At least I hoped so.

Sang Morte. Blood death. I didn't want to come here once I heard the name.

Yes, I was that girl—Katheryn Sinclair, superstitious to my core. It was probably because I grew up watching horror movies with my brother instead of cartoons. We used to sneak and watch them when our parents passed out for the night.

That was the reason nothing really scared me when it came to movies and books. Well, I could scare me. If I thought long and hard about the situation, which I'd been doing since Neely decided we were hitting this place before we turned in.

All sorts of creepy scenarios came to mind as we waited and froze to death. And none of them good.

"Why don't we just go home?" I asked after more people were turned away from the door. "It doesn't look like they're letting anyone in. We could be snoozing in our beds right now."

"Now why would two beautiful ladies want to go home?"

Both us jumped at the man's voice. We turned to see him standing behind us. His jeans and long-sleeved sweater didn't scream club, but he seemed to belong in a weird sort of way. Maybe it was the dark green eyes or the slicked back dark hair.

"I, uh..." Neely stuttered, her own chocolate eyes dilating like she was stoned or something. Sure, we'd had a few drinks, but neither of us were drunk. We knew how to drink and keep a glass of water handy.

The man's gaze shifted to me and I blinked, finding his attention like the soft caress of a gloved hand. He was gorgeous and I hoped Neely had no designs on him, because he was mine.

Ten seconds ago, I wanted to catch the first cab I saw back to the hotel and now, I still wanted to catch that cab, but I wanted to go home with him instead.

Neely cleared her throat and ran a hand down her side. "I'm not sure they're letting anyone else inside." Her voice was stronger, but she still seemed nervous.

"How about you, beautiful?" He came closer and I smelled his cologne. I wasn't sure what it was, but he smelled delicious. "Do you want to go inside?"

Suddenly I did so I nodded, a shy smile taking over my face. Why had I wanted to go back to the hotel?

"I'm Bastien and who are you ladies?"

We shuffled forward in line. "I'm Kat and this is Neely."

"Kat?" He cocked his head. "Short for Kathrine?"

"Yes, but with a y instead of an i."

"Kathryne. I like it." Those green eyes seemed to pulse and I leaned forward.

He chuckled and moved up, putting an arm around each of us and walked us up to the head of the line. The security glanced at him and nodded. "Bastien."

"Dylan, the ladies are with me. They'll be staying for the after party."

"Of course, sir." He nodded and opened the door for us. Warmth blasted us in the face as soon as we entered.

"After party?" Neely asked, leaning into Bastien.

"Yes, we host a private party for a few select guests once a month. Tonight is your lucky night ladies."

The inside of the club was still packed, even this close to closing. The crush of bodies on the dance floor called to me, but Bastien steered us toward the back, where a staircase was hidden in the shadows. I barely had time to notice the dark blues and purples of the interior before we were out of sight of the main club.

Upstairs, the music from main club was nonexistent. Instead, a soft mellow tune played in the massive room we found ourselves in. The lighting was dim, making the dark woodwork look even darker. This room had tones of deep red mixed in amongst the black décor. The bartender winked at us from where he stood behind the bar.

"Can I get you ladies a drink?" Bastien showed us to a booth and waited patiently.

"Water," I said, something deep in my bones telling me not to drink anything here. As enamored as I was with Bastien, I still listened to my common sense.

"And you pretty girl?" Bastien turned to Neely and she blushed so hard, I saw it even in the dim lighting.

"Something fruity." Her voice came out all shy and breathy. Exactly how I was feeling. We were both enthralled with the guy. Only one of us was going home with him though. We might need to flip for it.

When Bastien left to get our drinks, I turned to Neely. "We're gonna have to flip for it."

"I know." She sighed dreamily and stared after him. "He's just so, so...you know."

"I do." I let out my own sigh. "He's yummy."

"Aren't you glad I made you come?"

"Only if I win the coin toss."

Neely laughed, her eyes lighting up. "I will lock you in the bathroom and run away with Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome."

"You could try."

Wait...what was I thinking? I didn't know this guy and I was going to fight my BFF for him? I must really be tired. I never went home with guys from bars. It was too dangerous. Neely, on the other hand, had no qualms about it.

I spotted him heading back toward us, a tray in his hands. He looked like he'd carried the thing a hundred times. Maybe he worked here or something.

"Here we are ladies." Bastien sat our drinks down in front of us and slid into the booth beside Neely, but he looked directly at me. Again, I got that enamored feeling and reached for the drink he'd brought me. It wasn't until I was almost finished that I realized it wasn't water.

It tasted divine though. The dark red liquid of the drink swirled in the bottom and I blinked, my vision going a little wonky. I heard Neely giggle, but it was hard to focus.

"You okay, babe?"

Neely. She sounded concerned and she should be. He put something in my drink. I was sure of it. I tried to warn her we were in danger, but my tongue had grown thick. Black spots started swimming in front of my eyes and I shook my head.

Arms slipped around me and lifted me up. Bastien. He smelled delicious. The thought tried to distract me, but I forced it away. I had to tell Neely to get away, to get help.

Her high heels were clicking along beside us as we left the open area and the room suddenly became darker, the shadows deeper. My stomach cramped and I felt sick.

"I think she's going to puke."

"I think you're right." Wind rushed my face and light blinded me. I whimpered at the sharp pain and then the world exploded in a spray of vomit and tears. What did he do to me?

"What was in that drink?"

"It was a cherry grenadine." Bastien sounded baffled. "Did she have a lot to drink at any of the other clubs?"

How did he know we'd been to other clubs? We didn't tell him that. Was he following us?

"Not that much. We both drank a lot of water. We know better than to get good and drunk in a strange city."

There she was. My Neely. She sounded more like herself than some charmed tart. Maybe she was beginning to realize the danger.

My stomach seized suddenly and white-hot pain ripped through me. It felt like I was dying.

"Why don't you go to the bar and get a bottle of water for her?" Bastien suggested, holding my head so I didn't fall into the toilet. "I don't trust tap water."

Neely made a sound of agreement and I heard her heels clicking against the tile floor as she left.

"Easy, little one. It'll get better soon."

Better? What did he mean better?

"Each of us must go through this. If I could have spared you the pain, I would have."

What was he talking about?

He laid me on the floor and flushed the toilet. The water turned on and a cool cloth wiped my mouth a few seconds later. At least the vomit smell had disappeared. Small wins. That's what my math tutor and second-best friend always said when something he tried to teach me actually made sense. Andrew would be pointing a finger at me right now, telling me to get my butt up off the floor and get out.

And I tried, I really did, but my body wouldn't cooperate. I was in too much pain. I hurt everywhere.

"This will make things easier for now. When you wake up, everything will become clear."

I felt the small prick of a needle and unable to even voice an objection, my blurry eyes got even darker as unconsciousness claimed me.