The Pledge (The Pledge 1)

And away from the unfamiliar feelings that besieged me.

When I finally saw Brooklynn, standing atop one of the raised platforms that overlooked the dance floor, she was crushed between the other two men from the restaurant, the ones who’d told her about Prey in the first place. They were even taller than their friend Max, and beside Brook’s petite frame, they made her appear miniature. A lovely, fragile doll.

I hesitated for just a moment. I wasn’t easily intimidated, but there was something about these two, something that gave me pause.

Brook’s head was tilted back, her face lit up with laughter as she gazed adoringly at the dark-skinned man by her side. She was allure and promise in one seductive bundle. But it was the other man who drew my attention, the one with lighter skin, a shaved head, and sharp green eyes. He was just as tall as his friend, and equally muscular; the silver buttons of his black shirt strained across his broad chest. He leaned down, closer to Brooklynn, while her attention was diverted, lifting one of her dark curls to his face. And then he inhaled, breathing it in.

Smelling her.

“Charlie!” Brooklynn called when she saw me, waving eagerly and signaling me to join them. “You remember my friends, from the restaurant?” It was her way of introducing me to the men on either side of her.

Goose bumps prickled my arms: a visceral warning.

I reached for her hand. “We have to go,” I urged, trying to draw her away.

But Brooklynn pulled h Bm">B pulled er hand from mine, clutching it to her chest as if I’d just burned her. “Stop, Charlie. I’m not ready to go yet.”

I recognized her tone, I’d heard it countless times before. She had no intention of leaving.

Frustrated, and unsure how to convince her, I struggled to come up with an excuse, but Brooklynn demanded my attention.

“Come on, Charlie. Check it out, these two have the best accents ever. Listen!” She turned to the man who had, just seconds earlier, smelled her. “Show her. Say something,” she commanded sweetly.

Before I could tell him that I wasn’t interested, the man accommodated Brooklynn’s request. But he didn’t speak in Englaise. His language was thick and gravelly.

In all my life, I’d never heard anything like it.

The world shivered around me in protest.

His language was strange, and the inflection of his voice was heavy and rough-edged, but the meaning of his words was crystal clear.

I heard what Brooklynn never would:

“This childish beauty smells delicious.”

The two men smiled knowingly at each other and my apprehension deepened, but not because of what he’d said.

This time, when I grabbed Brooklynn’s wrist, I didn’t let go. I felt better just having my hands on her.

I shot a nervous glance in the direction of the man who had made my skin itch, but it wasn’t what he’d said, it was how he’d said it. I spoke quietly to Brook, tugging on her arm. “We have to go. I’m not feeling well.” It wasn’t entirely a lie; my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

“Nooo!” Her voice was loud and petulant. “Let’s stay. I want to dance with . . .” She stopped, perplexed. “What was your name again?”

“Claude.” His deep voice distorted the word, so that even though he pronounced it in Englaise, it came out sounding like he’d said Cloud.

Brooklynn giggled. “Cloud. I want to dance with Cloud.”

Claude watched her with sharp eyes that didn’t miss a thing.

“Brook,” I insisted, looking only at her. “You promised.”

Brooklynn chewed on her red lip, her black brows pulled together in a delicate frown. “But we just got here. What if I don’t see him again?” She pouted for Claude’s benefit when she said this.

His lips parted, a patient smile, his green eyes practically glowing. His smile would have been fine, maybe even nice, at any other time, on any other person. But when he spoke again, the air around me trembled in sweltering waves.

Again, his words were like nothing I’d ever heard, yet I understood them perfectly:

“I’ll be watching for you, my lovely.”

The second man Bh="1nd manÙs dark brown eyes crinkled at Claude’s statement, and he added, “She’d be hard to miss.”

I blinked, afraid my face would betray me after hearing those strange words. Words I knew I was never meant to understand.

I jerked Brooklynn’s arm. “No!” I shouted, no longer caring that I was drawing the attention of others in the club. And then I grabbed her arm and pulled her close. “We have to leave, Brook. You promised,” I begged through gritted teeth.

Brooklynn frowned at me, but her shoulders slumped, accepting her fate.

“I’m sorry,” she sulked as she turned to Claude. “Will you save me a dance? For next time?”

A meaningful smile played across his lips. He leaned down and whispered something in Brooklynn’s ear.

While Claude held her attention, I realized that Max had followed me onto the platform. I had no idea how long he’d been listening.

He stood just a few feet away, too close, watching me intently and wearing a new expression now: curiosity.

It wasn’t a look I cared to attract.

I told myself that I’d only imagined it. That there was no way he could know, or even suspect, that I’d recognized the meaning behind his friend’s strange words.

I glanced back to Brooklynn as she tucked a silken black tendril of her hair behind her ear. She nodded at Claude and grinned wickedly. No doubt she’