I was at the right place. I gazed up at the three-story building and wondered if the windows were fake. No light came from them. Maybe they were painted over.
The crowd lined up outside the metal door appeared human. Not that humans had any physical difference that made them identifiable, but they possessed certain temperamental characteristics that most Breed didn’t. These people had no idea what kind of club this was, only that they needed to check it out.
The doorman’s muscular physique and blank expression came off as intimidating. When I cut the line and reached the door, he held out his arm to block me.
“I’m Robin White.”
He slid his mirrored sunglasses down his nose and looked me over. When he flared, I flared back. After a quick appraisal, he slid his sunglasses back in place. “Be sure you get stamped,” he said, opening the door.
I entered a dark hall lit with sconces. The next door was heavy, and when I pulled it open, music flooded into the hall. It wasn’t uncomfortably loud, but they had excellent soundproofing in this place. Shepherd had used a blueprint that Wyatt dug up and compared it to the actual layout. After returning from the club, he’d sat down and gave me a walk-through.
But nothing prepared me for the Saint Andrew’s cross. The man strapped to it wore shorts smaller than mine, and I guessed he was just décor since nobody was paying any attention to him.
My nervous energy was pinging off the walls, so I took a deep breath and reminded myself that this was just a job. I’d grown used to our regular haunts during the past year, but now I was alone and out of my element. Being half-naked and unarmed didn’t help.
“Wanna play?” A shirtless Chitah gave me a toothy grin. Displaying fangs, regardless of Breed, was rude if not a form of aggression. But clearly the rules didn’t apply here.
I slinked through the crowd, taking it all in. This place wasn’t filthy at all. I’d imagined people having sex on tables, and while sexuality was on full display, nothing lewd was happening. Some were scantily clad in provocative attire, while others wore jeans, suits, and even fedoras. The spacious room had passages that led to other areas. Opulent chandeliers hung in the lounge to my right, showering a frosty glow onto the low tables and lush red and gold furniture. In the center of the room, a red strip of light ran beneath an oval-shaped bar. While I couldn’t see the other side, I presumed there were barstools there as well. An accent piece hung from a gold-paneled ceiling, and the bottles in the center were sparkling like Christmas ornaments on a tree. Meanwhile, dancers were seducing the crowd from platforms or gilded cages. Performers and customers alike didn’t fall under any category of specific beauty. Two tall brunettes were orbiting a slender man, who was short in stature, vying for his attention. A large woman in lace entertained a Chitah who knelt at her chair and kissed her fingers.
I approached the bar and flagged one of the two bartenders.
A stunning woman in a sparkly black bra and leather skirt looked in my direction while pouring a drink. Her jaw set, and I turned around to see what had caught her attention.
A redhead stood slack-jawed with a leash in her hand. The other end was attached to a collar worn by a rawboned man in leather pants. His mask was similar to mine, and though I couldn’t see his eyes very well, I noticed his flushed neck and balled-up fists as he raised his voice to a seated man who, evident by his salacious smile, had done something to offend him. The instigator laughed haughtily, and with that, the leashed man pounced and flipped the table over. The redhead lost control of her submissive and the situation as a whole.
With lightning speed, the bartender hopped over the bar and into the fray. The man on bottom snarled like a wild animal, and people stepped back as if a lion might thrash through his skin.
The bartender grabbed the leash and yanked the man off. “Bad boy. Bad!”
Then she knelt down and straddled the other man, her hands flat on his chest. A red glow pulsed beneath her palms, and a few seconds later, he shifted into a whimpering brown wolf.
The redhead rushed to the flustered man and collected his leash before leading him away. Chairs and tables were righted by