My eyes shot open. I spun the dial on the tiled wall, shutting off the water, and stepped out of the tub. I closed the curtain behind me and slipped into Lana’s bathrobe. I began towel drying my hair, but paused, straining to hear the voices coming from Lana’s room.
Cracking the door, I peeked out to see Jace and Nick sitting on the floor. “What’s up?” I asked, pushing the door all the way open.
Jace glanced up, his eyes scanning my robe before he quickly looked away. “We’re talking about what to—”
“Do for your birthday!” Lana interrupted and squealed.
“Lana!” Nick scolded. “You weren’t supposed to say anything yet.” He shook his head.
My eyes grew wide. “But it’s not my birthday.” I walked across the room and grabbed my bag.
Jace cleared his throat. “Yeah, but you’ll be kind of busy on that day. So we figured tonight would be a good night to celebrate.”
“Thanks. But, I didn’t really bring anything celebrate-y to wear.” I frowned.
“Whatever,” Lana said. “You can borrow something of mine.” She bobbed her head toward her closet.
“Oh, right.” I hooked my arm through my bag. “Because I just loved my barely there ensemble earlier.”
“Jace,” Lana whined. “Tell her she looked good. You know she did.”
Jace bowed his head, pressing his lips into a hard line. I felt my face flush and headed back toward the bathroom to change into my clothes from that morning. But Lana stood and blocked my retreat.
“No,” she said, cupping my shoulders and spinning me around. “I’ll pick something out. I promise it won’t be like those little shorts. That’s just all I had with me.” She guided me to her closet.
She picked out a pair of dark brown leather pants—which I didn’t mind—and a pale pink and cream lace corset. I swear, the girl owned every corset ever made. It was the style, but she loved them more than anything. This one wasn’t as short as her others, so I didn’t argue and went to the bathroom to change.
After I was dressed, I ran my fingers through my damp hair and added some of Lana’s makeup—rimming my eyes with kohl and smearing gloss across my lips. I was relieved to see the hickey had faded and I didn’t have to cover it. Being Kythan had its advantages, I thought, as I shrugged in the mirror. I actually looked pretty good.
When I emerged, they were discussing where to go. “I think we should go to Cogs,” Lana said.
Nick craned an eyebrow. “Are you mad? You know those Narcos will be there looking for trouble. You just want to see your boyfriend.”
“So,” she said. “We can ignore them. I told Devon we’d be there.” She pouted, pursing her lips. I honestly felt bad for her. Then something hit me.
At the Chowhound, Jace had made a comment that didn’t resonate with me until now. I waved my hand, gaining their attention. “Jace, you said before that you thought the Narcos wanted to try and harness our power for their own use.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “Yeah? What are you getting at?”
“Cogs.” I sat down beside him. “They’re hanging out at Cogs.” I opened my eyes wide.
“Crap,” he breathed.
“Exactly.” I looked over to Lana and Nick. “Devon infuses crystals with Charge. Like the one on the hilt of my Charge Dagger. They aren’t displayed where everyone can see them, but I’m sure the Narcos will become curious after a while, wondering how he’s able to distort the sound of instruments and the light show.”
Nick cursed. “We can’t let them find out. We have to warn Devon.”
Lana grabbed her data communicator. “I’ll give him a heads up before he opens the club. But we should be there diverting their attention so they don’t figure anything out.”
I looked over to Jace. His eyes were unfocused, as if his thoughts were far away. “What are you thinking?” I asked him.
He shook his head once, lightly. “That they might have already figured out something. That maybe that’s why they were so intent on going back to the club.”
“Naw,” Nick said. “I think that Narco really just wanted to push your button, man. He saw how you were about D—”
“Right,” Jace said, giving him a stern look. “They probably haven’t put it together yet. But Dez and Lana are right. We have to keep them from snooping around the club.” He jumped to his feet. “Looks like we’re partying at Cogs.”
Lana bounced up, pulling me with her. “Well, if we’re going to be a diversion, we’ll need better outfits.”