Brooke raised a brow. “You were thinking about my paper. That’s interesting.”

  And so random. She didn’t have to touch Brooke. She could see hints of bafflement in the woman’s gaze. See, that’s why she controlled her abilities. It kept her from looking like a total freak.

  Brooke grinned. “Thanks for the tip on horses. I’ll include all the details I can on this paper if it gets me an A. You’ve just given me one more reason to strike up a conversation with a very cute researcher who works at the library.”

  “You said you didn’t like to go to the library on weekends.”

  “Oh, I’m definitely not working on my paper tonight. I’m taking advantage of the long weekend. I’m going to The Song with one of the girls who works at the computer store.”

  Ari went with Brooke to the front of Diva Unique. Her, Lauren, and Celine used to spend almost every weekend at the club. Just single girls drinking mangotinis, meeting new guys, and dancing the night away. Now Celine had a new boyfriend, Lauren had South America, and she had the Invisible Man.

  Throughout the day, Ari looked over her shoulder, hoping to see Dalir. Funny. Yesterday, he wouldn’t leave her alone. Today, he hadn’t shown up once to check on her. By closing at six, disappointment stole happiness. Ari counted up the registers at the desk in the back office. Let. Him. Go. That’s what she needed to do and focus on real life.

  Brooke peeked in. “The store’s all tidied up.”

  “And I’m done.” She’d stop thinking about Dalir. Ari grabbed her purse from the bottom drawer. She stuffed the deposit bag inside of it. “Have fun tonight.”

  “Thanks.” Brooke hesitated. “You’ve been quiet. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  Sure she was. A guy she’d dreamed up was probably a man-whore. What was wrong about that? “I’m good.”

  “If you weren’t so tired, I’d invite you to come with us.”

  Tired. Yeah, she was tired of missing her friends. Sick and tired of a shitty weekend and sick of guys, real or imaginary, with a hit-it and quit-it mentality. She’d end up buried under more steaming piles of shit if she sat home feeling sorry for herself. Or what if Dalir showed up out of nowhere again? He couldn’t just come and go out of her life as he pleased. “You know what. I’ll meet you there.”

  A couple of hours later, Ari arrived at the club. She traded elbows with the crowd as she slipped past servers carrying drinks to tables. Guitar riffs with a heavy metal slant and a steady drumbeat pumped through the speakers. People danced in front of the brightly lit stage.

  Contented Wrath. She should have asked Brooke about the band playing tonight. Not that she had anything against the music they played, she just wasn’t in the mood. A guy who was way too enthusiastic with the air guitar moves bumped a woman holding a drink. Ari jumped back, avoiding the splash of alcohol on her black strapless mini-dress but not on her favorite red stilettos. Shit! Maybe that was an omen she should leave.

  Brooke stood on a chair, waving her arms.

  Ari weaved through partiers to the table near the wall. “Hey.” She hugged Brooke. They sat down in the dark pleather seats. Ari leaned in as she dropped her clutch on the table. “Where’s your friend?”

  “Dancing.” Brooke sipped a clear beverage, with lime wedges and mint leaves, from a tall glass. The strobe lights lit up her form fitting, short red dress.

  Ari snagged a beverage napkin from the table. She dried moisture from her shoes and the tops of her bare feet. Celine had a dress similar to Brooke’s. She’d worn it to The Song that one night. When was that? How could she forget? Almost every guy in the place had taken notice. And the band had been really good. What had they called themselves? Retribution, redemption, something like that.

  Brooke got up. “The servers are taking too long. I’m going to the bar to order another mojito. Want one?”

  “No, but I’ll take a ginger ale.” Ari sat back in the chair. The place hadn’t changed. It boasted the same muted walls, dark floors, and metal girders bolted to the ceiling.

  “May I buy you a drink?” A guy bent near her shoulder and smiled.

  Dark hair on the longish side, brown eyes, solid-looking shoulders, but not as wide as Dalir’s. His had almost stretched the seams of his T-shirt. “No, but thanks.”

  The guy’s gaze drifted to an empty chair at the table. The universal sign for “interested in getting to know you”.

  She’d come here to forget her troubles. Right? A cute guy could provide a temporary distraction. Like she’d gotten with Dalir. Last night it had seemed like the perfect solution, but now… A hollowness expanded inside of her.

  “Here you go.” Brooke set two drinks on the table. She glanced between him and Ari. Then back to the guy again as she sat down.

  His gaze lingered on Brooke’s long legs.

  More universal signs. Brooke and he were attracted to each other.

  “Hey, Brooke, this is…” Ari raised a brow as she looked at him.

  He held out his hand to Brooke. “Luca.”

  The next song started.

  She nudged Brooke. “Didn’t you say you wanted dance?”

  The guy took his cue.

  Brooke grinned, took his hand, and followed him to the dance floor.

  Ari sipped her drink. From the faint throbbing in her head, she’d need pain reliever. Soon. Chalk it up to a busted weekend. She’d use the impending headache as an excuse to leave. As Ari went to pick up her clutch, an overwhelming need to stay put rooted her to the spot. She’d felt this way a couple times with Lauren and Celine, sensing in some way they needed her. Strange. She didn’t know Brooke that well. Besides that, Brooke looked more than fine. The inches between Brooke and Luca on the dance floor were shrinking by the second. Ari sank back in the chair. She couldn’t leave. What was going on?

  Chapter 6

  Dalir prowled along the periphery of The Song’s main floor.

  Earlier, he’d joined the barbecue in The Drift for a couple of hours. The food was good and so was the music, but his thoughts kept drifting to Kell. Then, the band had played a couple of slow songs. Thane and Reid had alternated taking breaks from playing to dance with their fiancées. As he’d watched the two happy couples, visions of Ari invaded. Haunting him. Condemning him for the mistake of sleeping with Ari and for slipping out in the morning. A night at the club would help clear his mind. He couldn’t have sex with her again. When he saw her, he’d focus strictly on the question that needed answering. Why could she see him?

  He quick phased around people and through obstacles until he reached the corner table. Tucked far in the shadows, away from the bar and the stage, the spot lacked appeal to the partiers. The patrons of the club, enthralled by Contented Wrath’s music, wanted a close up view of the band. At least most of them.

  Tonight, a dark haired guy sat at the table with a woman straddling his lap. As they kissed passionately, he popped open buttons on her blouse. She clawed at the guy’s belt.

  Dalir’s blood pressure went nuclear. He swept into the guy’s mind. “Get out of my chair and go to a fucking hotel room.”

  The guy held the girl away from him. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing, but if I had, it would have been don’t stop.” She reached for his zipper, but the guy held her wrist.

  “Button up, babe.” As the guy stood, the girl practically tumbled off his lap. He frowned as his gaze darted around the club. “We need privacy. Let’s go to my truck.”

  “Whatever works. Move.” Dalir sat down in the other chair.

  The guy hurried away, pulling the girl behind him.

  Dalir leaned back. Even though no one could see him. He’d still dressed for the occasion, a dark button-down shirt and jeans, just like when he’d come to hear Thane and the team play. Unbeknownst to them, he’d sat right there for every show, enjoying the music. He hadn’t immediately jumped on board with the idea of them forming Thane’s Redemption. A cover as a local band playing gigs at a club? Come on.

  Then, he’d heard them play.

  He’d felt their connection to the music and finally understood why they’d needed the band as a refuge. Over the past five years, they’d turned down deals from record companies promising to turn them into stars. What was the point? Once they phased to the next mission, no one would remember they’d contracted them or the music they played. All recordings along with memories of the band would also disappear. Yet, they hadn’t turned bitter over the loss of fame. Content to return to nothing, they’d continuously rebuilt their popularity. For them, the music reigned supreme.

  He propped his black boot on the seat the girl and the guy had vacated.

  Taliana had treasured the same connection to music when she’d played. The lute, the lire, guitar, piano, she played them all, as well as other instruments. Talent didn’t describe what she’d possessed. It still amazed him how she’d taken lines from the stories he’d written and turned them into lyrics. What was that one song she’d sang for him? The music playing on stage competed with his recollection. Dalir projected the melody Taliana had performed for him long ago across the club to the band on stage.

  Contented Wrath paused mid-song.

  Hushed twitters in the audience grew into piercing whistles and shouts for the band to resume.

  The keyboardist played a soft, flowing chord. The bass and electric guitarists merged into the fluid melody.

  This version of Taliana’s song contained Contented Wrath’s musical influence, but it had the same resonant power. With his eyes closed, it made it easier to imagine her sweet, soothing voice blending into the song. He envisioned her smiling at him. It was as if he could smell the sweet grass underneath him as he lay there, watching her, listening. One of the stories he’d written as a boy was about a warrior, returning from battle. She’d transformed it into a song about a lost heart finding a home. She’d sung it to him the week before he’d lost her.

  An image of Taliana on the edge of the cliff emerged. I love you, was the final thought she’d sent him before Kell had slit her throat. Dalir’s chest tightened. Kell’s dagger, imbued with ancient power, hadn’t allowed him to heal her. Taliana had died in his arms.

  Dalir’s breastbone stung with a burning ache. It spread wider and wider from the spot until it engulfed him. He hadn’t given her his entire heart. His position as commander had meant more to him. He’d delayed their wedding to stay with the warriors longer. He should have handed his duties to Ronan right away and married her. She would have lived under his protection and the royal guard’s. If he hadn’t stayed in the field, he might have noticed Kell’s odd behavior and stopped him. What happened at the temple would have never occurred. The safety of the oracles came second only to the royal house. He’d failed Taliana and his father.

  The music on stage ceased.

  A stunned silence filled the club followed by thunderous applause.

  Dalir rose from his seat. “Consider the song a gift.” They needed it. The band had talent but not as much as Thane’s Redemption.

  The members of Contented Wrath exchanged looks of confusion. The lead singer announced a brief intermission.

  Dalir drifted through the club the opposite way he’d came in.

  Patrons, still in awe, gushed and speculated about the origins of Contented Wrath’s new song.

  “That was so beautiful.” At a corner table, Ari sniffled and swiped tears as she dug through her purse.

  He’d barely heard her over clinking glasses and pop music playing through the house speakers. He gripped her arm and pulled her up. “What are you doing here?”

  Her mouth opened. “You.” She glared. “What I do now or at any other time is none of your business.”

  “The hell it isn’t. You should be in bed.”

  “Doing what? Waiting for your sorry ass to show up. I don’t think so.” She wrenched her arm from his grasp. “What did you do? Follow me?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.”

  Ari pinned him with a mutinous gaze as she stabbed her finger into his chest. “No. You stop flattering yourself by believing you have a say in anything involving me and my life.”

  Couples at a nearby table stared at Ari as if she’d grown horns out the top of her head.

  Dalir gripped her arms, subduing her movements. He leaned in. A seductive perfume warmed on her throat. Last night he’d discovered that scent on her breasts. The curves of her hips. In between her thighs. His mouth grew dry. “Stop fighting with me. You’re bringing attention to yourself.”

  Ari released a deep breath. She casually smoothed her hair from her forehead and strolled to the shadowed corner. “Once again, because of you, I look like I’m crazy. Why don’t you just lea—”

  He slammed his lips on top of hers, capturing the forthcoming command that would send him away. Ari’s moan incited need. Dalir deepened the kiss.

  She grew pliant in his arms, matching his urgency stroke for stroke, glide for glide.

  He had to stay far away from her. He wanted her tucked away safely at home. He needed her naked and under him in bed.

  Urgent chatter and laughter from the nearby table penetrated his haze of want.

  He broke from the kiss. As he grasped her hips, Dalir resisted cupping her ass. She looked positively sinful. Her dress hugged every damn curve. “There’s a bouncer coming in on the left. Don’t argue. Grab your purse. We’re leaving.”

  Ari darted a glance at the beefy guy wearing a dark polo bearing the club’s name and dark slacks. As big as Dalir was, if he were really there, the guy probably wouldn’t have approached her alone. She grabbed her clutch from the table.

  With his hand to her back, Dalir steered her toward the exit.

  Now after ten o’clock, The Song had entered into prime party time for the patrons. With a packed club, more urgent altercations demanded the bouncer’s immediate attention.

  Dalir followed her to a blue coupe in the parking lot.

  As she faced him, she shook her head. “What am I doing?”

  He didn’t require a peek into her mind to understand the source of Ari’s confusion. The magnetic pull of desire still buzzed between them. He had to find the strength to send her home and walk away. “I’ll tell you what you’re doing.” Dalir cupped her face. “You’re going home to get some rest.” He kissed her. One last chance to savor the warmth of her mouth and the feel of his hard cock nestled against her belly. He ended the kiss. Time to let her go. “Goodnight, Ari.”

  A stony expression sucked life from her gaze. “Oh, I get it. Exactly how does it work? You have a string of women all over the world that you just pop in and visit when the mood hits?”

  Dalir took her by the waist and hauled her against him. “There is no other woman.”

  She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “Then where do you go when you leave me?”

  He had nothing to give her. Not even the truth. “I can’t be the man you need, Ari.”

  “Who made you the authority on me and what I need? I never said I needed a man. You’re the one who rolled up on me, acted like you owned me, and almost got me kicked out of a club. After all of that, you don’t get to happily skip on your way without giving me an explanation.”

  “I don’t skip anywhere, and I never said I was happy about leaving you.”

  “Then don’t.” She cupped his erection through his jeans.

  “Ari, damn it. I’m trying to do the right thing.” Even as he said it, he couldn’t stop himself from pushing into her palm.

  “You and I are grownups. We’re allowed to have fun.”

  He could settle for having a strictly sexual relationship just to be close to her, but she deserved better. “Trust me. I’m not what you want.”

  “I’m not interested in a promise for the future.”

  Infinity help him, but when he touched her, she made him want to think about the future.

  She smiled as she tugged him forward by his belt loops. “You’re not leaving me hot and bothered tonight. You owe me.” Ari rose on her toes and brushed her lips over his.

  Staying with her one more night would tempt him into two maybe three. And then there was the issue of the team dropping by to check on her. He could stall them with the excuse of watching over Ari to keep them focused, but he wouldn’t undermine their trust by sneaking around and lying to them.

  Dalir brushed his lips back over hers. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. What he owed her was the one thing he could provide. Memories that didn’t include him. When he’d shared his gift with the team, he’d incorporated the automatic failsafe of erasing people’s memories once the guys phased to keep their powers and their identities hidden. He’d never considered he might need that out for himself. He’d have to erase Ari’s recollections manually. As a precaution, he’d plant a thought for her to go home and not back inside the club tonight. Once he phased, she’d face confusion, nothing more. He breathed against the weight building inside of him. This was for the best. As he stroked her cheek, Dalir indulged in one last hot and heavy kiss.

  Ari closed her eyes. She curled her fingers into his chest.

  Dalir released his power. Tendrils of energy capable of deleting their first meeting in the store to her noticing him in the hospital to him making the wrong decision of sleeping with her.

  “Mmm.” Ari’s hum vibrated into his mouth. “Dalir, let’s take this to my place.”

  His lips froze on hers. He held her away. She still remembered. His chest constricted. His heart pounded in his ears.

  Her brow crinkled with a determined expression. “Don’t. Leave.”

  Maybe it was meant for him to stay. A sliver of hope widened. Reason cemented it shut. This didn’t change why he shouldn’t stay the night with her. He’d make sure she got home safely. Then he’d go. “I’ll meet you at the apartment.”