Fighting growing weakness, I pry open my heavy eyelids.

Harper looks different. Fiercer, for lack of a better term. Aside from that, there is an indescribable expression on his face—part surprise and part annoyance.

“I said stop,” I repeat in a steadier tone.

“Don’t fight it,” he murmurs, and the yummy scent grows suffocatingly strong. “Just relax.”

It finally hits me.

The reason this feels so familiar is that I dreamed this.

My wet dream was a vision.

A vision about this.

Heartbeat speeding up, I use all my willpower to summon my strength and push Harper away from me.

He looks even more confused for a moment, then reaches for me again, his lithe fingers suddenly reminding me of claws.

Anger chases the remnants of arousal from my still-foggy brain. “No means no,” I say forcefully, and throw a punch at his too-pretty face.

I get him in the cheek, and pain explodes up my arm.

It’s as if I hit a wall.

“You bitch.” Harper’s voice jumps in pitch. “You’re going to—”

“Walk out of here unharmed,” says a familiar voice.

I look up, my breath whooshing out in relief.

Ariel is standing in front of us, awl gripped tightly in one fist.

Her black outfit makes her almost invisible against the black walls of the room. She’s inadvertently using a magic technique called the black art principle, though I bet ninjas discovered it long before magicians.

Harper’s yummy scent grows stronger, and in that same odd falsetto voice, he says, “You should join us.”

Unbelievably, despite what just transpired, the idea of having Ariel join me and Harper sounds tempting for a second. Shockingly, Ariel also looks as though she’s considering the offer. Then she glances at the door, and her expression changes back to grim determination.

I follow Ariel’s gaze and see Gaius standing in the doorframe. He looks absolutely terrifying, with his fangs fully showing, eyes turned into mirrors, and face in a ferocious scowl.

“Turn off the stink,” Gaius orders Harper coldly. “You have a second before I rip off your head.”

“I’m pumped full of energy from that one.” Harper waves toward me. “Are you sure I’d let you rip my head off?”

“I’ll help him rip it off,” Ariel says grimly. “After I put some holes in you.”

“I don’t think I’ll need help.” Gaius clenches his hands into fists.

Harper demonstratively sighs and stands up, raising his arms above his head, as though cooperating with a police officer.

Ariel lowers her awl and steps to the side, as if loath to touch him. Harper smirks as he saunters past her. When he’s next to Gaius, he leans close to the vampire. “You bloodsuckers are such hypocrites.”

The vampire steps in front of him, blocking his path.

“You dare compare your kind to mine?” Gaius’s icy eyes look ready to dart bolts at Harper. “We take our nourishment consensually.”

“Sure you do.” Harper gives the much-bigger Gaius a shove with his shoulder.

To my surprise, the vampire staggers momentarily, giving Harper a chance to slink out of the room.

Gaius looks as though he’s contemplating pursuit, but he must decide against it, because he stays where he is.

“Are you okay?” Ariel asks me, mother hen mode fully activated and set to at least eleven out of ten.

“I think so,” I lie. In reality, I have no idea how I feel, or what just happened.

“I’m so sorry I left you alone.” Ariel reaches over to clasp my chilled hands. “I will never do that again.”

“She’s clearly fine,” Gaius says, his eyes turning back to icy blue.

“What are you talking about?” Ariel retorts. “If we’d come in a minute later, she’d be dead.”

I gape at her, all blood draining from my flushed face. “I would be?”

“You’re lucky you screamed stop,” Gaius says to me, his tone slightly kinder. “Thanks to my sharp hearing, we were able to get here in time.”

“It wasn’t exactly luck,” I say, buttoning up my shirt. “Can you tell me what the hell Harper is?”

Gaius looks at Ariel, who shrugs and says, “Have you ever heard human legends about incubi or succubi?”

Any remnants of butterflies in my stomach revert to their caterpillar form. “As in, demons that seduce people?”

“Right,” Ariel says. “Harper was going to suck your life as sexual energy, for lack of a better term. The result is usually lethal.”

“Speaking of that,” Gaius says. “Are you feeling any weakness?”

I examine myself and nod. “Yeah. It’s like I have very low blood pressure and skipped a meal.”

“Eat this.” Gaius pulls out a candy bar and hands it to me.

I want to ask why a vampire would carry around such a snack, but decide I might not want to know. Ripping open the wrapper, I stuff the chocolate in my mouth.

“Do you think this is why Darian asked to speak with you here?” Ariel says to Gaius as I chew. “You think he knew Sasha might need your help?”

“If so, I really wish he’d just say, ‘get to the ninth level, go to the third private room on the right at 1:37 a.m., and save Sasha,’” Gaius says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Seers can be so irritating—no offense, Sasha.”

“None taken,” I mumble through the chocolate and nougat in my mouth. “I agree with you. If Darian really knew what was about to happen, he should’ve stopped me from dancing with Harper in the first place.”

Ariel rubs her chin. “I wonder why he didn’t?”

“Maybe he tried? He did want to tell me something after that Kit incident. Or maybe he knew that I’d already seen a vision about this.” I swallow the remainder of the candy bar. “Perhaps he wanted me to use my seer powers to get myself out of it?”

“You saw a vision about this?” Ariel looks at me like I’ve sprouted a toe on my forehead. “Why didn’t you avoid it then?”

“My dream wasn’t that specific.” I greedily lick all errant chocolate from my fingers. “Maybe that’s what happened for Darian, too. Maybe he had a vision as vague as mine and just knew he had to bring you to this level.”

“Or there’s more in it for him this way.” Gaius examines his fingernails, and I realize he has black nail polish on. I’m fairly sure he didn’t have that before, so it must be a goth look for this club.

“How are you feeling?” Ariel looks me over as though I’m a porcelain doll who took a dive onto a concrete floor.

Her caring expression makes her look extremely sexy for some reason. In fact, that outfit and—

I shake my head, realizing Harper’s seduction mojo isn’t out of my system yet.

“I’ll be fine,” I say, trying to even out my breath. “But I’d really like to go home.”

Ariel and Gaius exchange a quick glance, the meaning of which escapes my weary brain.

“Take her,” Gaius says, perhaps too imperiously for my taste. “If you can, come back here afterward. I’ll walk you to the top level.”

Ariel bobs her head and helps me get to my feet.

Her touch is almost as electric as Harper’s, so I try thinking unsexy thoughts about syphilitic naked mole-rats—and the financial industry.

When we get outside the room, I find the ninth-floor denizens looking at a large stage in the middle of the floor. A pair of almost naked men are performing Cirque du Soleil-style balancing acrobatics with each other’s bodies. Their movements are smooth and sensual, and I wish I were in the middle—

I shake my head again and try chasing away my arousal by thinking of tapeworms and foot fungus.

“I know it’s unlikely,” Ariel whispers into my ear, “but I just want to make sure.” She lowers her voice even more. “You didn’t invite that abomination to our house, did you?”

“We didn’t have much time to chat,” I whisper back, my cheeks reddening as Gaius shoots us an indecipherable look.

Ariel doesn’t seem to notice, because she looks relieved as we head for the elevator.

I can’t help recalling her new boyfriend—or whatever he is—angling for an invitation to our house. Does that mean vampires and incubi are similar in that regard? Though curious, I have enough tact not to ask either one of them right now.

The acrobats complete an especially impressive pose, and everyone gives them a standing ovation.

Lucky acrobats.

What I wouldn’t give for a standing ovation.

My jealousy over all this enthusiastic clapping gives me an idea. Could I perform as an illusionist here at Earth Club? Or if not here, perhaps someplace else in Gomorrah? After all, the reason I’m forbidden from performing is the Mandate, but the Mandate happens to not apply in this world.

Would the Cognizant even be impressed with my effects? After all, many of them can do for real what I only pretend to be able to do. And for most of the mentalism effects, they would suspect I’m using my seer powers. Then again, and this is the strongest argument against this idea, if I worked in Gomorrah all the time, I’d lose my powers for good and—

The elevator arrives, and Ariel and Gaius herd me into it.

The ride back up is again incredibly swift; it almost seems like doors close, then open right back at the street level of the club.

A good-looking man is standing in front of our glass elevator.

It’s Darian, and he looks smug—probably because he’s proud of his ability to anticipate the exact moment we’d arrive.

Clearly, he’s managed to forget the Kit snafu.

“You,” Ariel says to Darian, and letting go of my upper arm, she puts her hands on her hips.

“Darian,” Gaius says caustically. “Didn’t you want to speak with me on the ninth level?”

“Greetings,” Darian says, his British accent sounding sexier than usual. “I’ve changed my mind about speaking with you. It is my prerogative as a Councilor to speak with the Enforcers… or not, as I choose.”

As he speaks, his green eyes seem to stare through us at something beyond the horizon—or perhaps more accurately, in the future.

Feeling crowded, I take a step forward to exit the elevator, but I must still be weak or hormonally dull-witted, because I trip over the spot where the elevator meets the floor.

Before I can faceplant on the ground, Darian’s surprisingly strong arms catch me and stand me on my feet.

“You okay?” he asks, his accent deepening.

“I don’t know,” I say, unable to stop staring into those green—

Ariel clears her throat next to me. “Thank you, Darian,” she says, though it’s clear even to me in my strange state that she doesn’t mean it wholeheartedly.

“No worries.” Darian strokes his perfectly groomed goatee. “A dance with Sasha shall be enough of a reward for my services.”

“Who said Sasha is dancing with you?” Ariel’s eyes narrow. “She needs to go home. She—”

“Sasha decides who she dances with and when,” I say, crossing my arms. “One dance will not kill me.” I look over Darian’s wide shoulders approvingly. “It might, in fact, do the opposite.”

As my mouth speaks, my mind wonders why I’m actually agreeing to this dance.

I’ve seen what he wants—that scene with Kit was quite revealing—but that doesn’t mean I have to play along.

I just want to ask him some questions about seer powers.

Yes, that’s it.

I’m certainly not agreeing to this dance because I remember the look on his face when he thought he was kissing me, or because I like that crease in his forehead as he waits for my decision. And definitely not because of his very nibbleable sinewy neck.

And his accent is not sexy. The Queen of England has the same accent, and I don’t want to have sex with Her Majesty—

“A dance might be a good idea.” Gaius puts a hand on Ariel’s hip. “Afterward, you can take her home.”

“Fine.” Ariel’s tone is identical to the one my mom often used when I was younger. “But just one dance.”

I nod solemnly, and Darian extends his arms to me.

Placing my hands in his, I feel an electric spark again. My breathing quickens, and my palms grow damp, along with a few other places on my body.

Damn Harper. I’m running out of gross things to think about.

In that exact moment, a slow tune starts emanating from the million speakers all around us, making me realize that no songs were playing while we chatted with Darian.

I tear my eyes away from Darian’s hypnotic stare and catch Ariel’s gaze.

I bet she, like me, doesn’t think the music thing was a coincidence. Darian must’ve paid the DJ to time this song exactly, which means—

Darian starts to sway in tune with the music, and I get swept up by the dance.

Stupid incubus. Is it his doing, or did I previously just not notice the full extent of how good-looking Darian is?

As though using a supercomputer to decide the optimal trajectory, Darian moves us over the dance floor with graceful and confident movements.

I’ve always known his eyes are green, but I only now notice how very green they actually are. If someone told me he could do photosynthesis with those eyes, I’d believe it in a heartbeat.

He leans toward me.

A part of me hopes he wants to kiss the real me, just as the much more rational part of me knows I should kick him in the groin if he dares.

“How are your seer visions progressing?” Darian whispers into my ear, his voice a husky croon.

He then turns and bends his head, placing his own ear near my mouth so I can reply. To my shock, I find even his ear attractive. It’s shaped just so, and the earlobe is so soft and touchable…

Doing my best to shake off Harper’s voodoo, I try to sound as nonchalant as I can. “I only get dream visions, and even those not predictably.”

The music picks up, and Darian does a cross-body lead dance move that makes us reverse positions. It also leaves me breathless and feeling like I’m on the set of Dancing with the Stars.

Leaning again as though to kiss me, Darian murmurs, “It’s great that you get full visions already—the power boost I got you is clearly working. However, dream visions are limiting because you only get two hours of REM sleep per day, max. If your fate puts multiple threats in one day, you’ll be lucky if you get a single dream vision as a warning.” He arches me back in another impressive dance move.

When our bodies meet again, he leans in and continues. “Awake unsolicited visions are what you should strive for next. They’re similar to dream visions in that you don’t control when you get them. However, you have a whole day as a window of opportunity.” He twirls me around as if I were a ballerina. “Eventually, the most powerful of us learn to bring forth visions with conscious control.”

The combination of what Darian is telling me and his dance moves is making me NASA-training dizzy.

I’m on the verge of peppering him with a million questions when I spot Ariel dancing with Gaius a few feet away.

If my dancing with Darian can be said to be sensual, what Ariel and Gaius are doing is borderline erotic. They are basically dry-humping to the music. To make matters even more interesting, when they do grudgingly pull away from each other, their respective super strengths allow them to pull off a dance move I’ve never even heard of.

Someone clearly got inspired by the acrobats on the ninth floor.

Ariel’s eyes are wild, her cheeks as flushed as they might get during an orgasm—

Damn you, incubus. Now I’m thinking about Ariel’s orgasms.

When the acrobatics are over, Gaius leans close to Ariel again, and I see him nuzzling her neck. Ariel looks blissfully ecstatic.

It’s official.

If those two are “just friends,” they’re friends with major benefits.

“We don’t have much time for our dance,” Darian says, and I recall where I am—and why I’m so hot and bothered. “I know you got my gift.”

“The tape?” I let Darian twirl me in place. “How did you know I got it? Did you have a vision?” I’m glad to have something that can pull my thoughts away from how hot he looks and how sexy—

“No.” Darian’s smirk is the cutest smile I’ve ever seen. “I tracked my package on the UPS website.”

I reply with the most unladylike snort, but he covers it up by giving me yet another twirl—and I start noticing that other dancers are looking at us with envy.

Darian leans in even closer, and I can almost taste the scent of bergamot in his cologne. “Have you seen any visions of me?”

He’s trying to look nonchalant, but I can tell he’s holding his breath. The answer is important to him for some reason—further proof that he’s not all-knowing.

“No,” I say. “My visions so far have all been about getting killed, so unless you plan to kill me, I doubt I’ll have a vision about you. You don’t plan to kill me, right?”

“Of course not,” he says, barely hiding his disappointment. “So all your visions were of the near future then?”

“Yes,” I say. “Why?”

“Unlike you, I have seen visions of the two of us,” he says, and as though to match his words, his green eyes take on a distant look. “In one future, we’re so happy together that—”

He stops, his eyes locking on something behind me as his face turns ghost white.

My heart beating at two hundred miles an hour, I follow Darian’s gaze.