The dive bar's neon pulse coursed through Mia's veins, a relentless beat that echoed the cacophony of her heart. The lie, Lucas's brutal declaration of "We're together" made them both pause, a paper thin barrier from the darkness that was Jace Wilder, his last words still burning her brain like a brand: "You know where to find me when you're done pretending." The air was thick with whiskey, sweat, and raw lust, it clung to her like a second skin, making every lingering look that much heavier. Mia sat on a barstool, the red dress hanging from her body like a traitor, clinging to her curves like a second skin, a piece of fabric that was visible, that was a sign that invited glances, that she didn't want to hear a single word. She felt Lucas' hand, a continual pressure on her shoulder, warmth a comfort as much as a spark that caused a confusing ache in her chest. But even he couldn't shake the ghost touch of Jace's stare, how he'd left her bare and exposed, a reckless hunger too raw to admit to her too ashamed, her fingers trembling around her glass, the burn of vodka a passing tether in the storm brewing within her. She felt exposed, vulnerable, like the dress, chosen on a whim encouraged by Lucas, had stripped her of armor, leaving her exposed to the bar's predatory pulse. "You're glowing," Lucas had said earlier, his finger brushing the hem of her dress, his hazel eyes flaming with a heat that made her pulse stutter with desire. But she wasn't glowing, not at all. She felt like an animal hunted, her skin crawling under the weight of unseen eyes, her heart pounding with a fear and forbidden desire. There was the sound of the music in her ears, the sound of Jace's presence, a dark shadow in her mind, his velvet growl, Lost, angel?, siren's song, trying to draw her toward a place she could not imagine. The music was loud but Lucas leaned closer, his breath hot at her ear, speaking over the music. She was too quiet, and he said, low, "Mia, you're too quiet," and there was a worry in his voice that cut through her. What's going on in that brain of yours? His hand slid from her shoulder to her wrist and his fingers curled around it, his grip light, but it was electric, sending a shiver down her that she couldn't stifle. His analytical yet raw eyes looked into hers, as if he could see the turmoil that her soul held-the guilt, the shame, the desire that was fanned by Jace and only stoked by Lucas's closeness. "I'm fine," she lied, her voice barely a whisper, barely audible over the bar noise. But the lie was bitter, her throat closed around the truth she couldn't say. She wasn't fine. Her eyes were undone by the fire of Jace's dark eyes, promising the dangerous smile that promised a chaos that she both feared and needed. And her best friend, her safe place, Lucas, was looking at her with an intensity that made her heart ache and his hands made her crave something she had pushed away too afraid to admit. The fraud of fake dating had taken root, its tendrils curling into her heart, blurring the lines between pretence and truth, keeping Jace out. The question was in Lucas's every touch, every lingering look, every whispered breath she wasn't ready to face. Her eyes narrowed and she ducked, Lucas's jaw tightened. Don't do that, he said, his voice rough with impatience, a sharpness rare in him and making her chest tighten. "Don't shut me out, Mia. Not after what happened." He glanced toward the spot where Jace had stood, his hand clutching her wrist, he could barely bear to let her go, as if there was something he could do physically to hold on to her and keep her safe from whatever danger still hovered in the air. "That guy's a fucking wolf. He'll eat you alive if you let him. She knew who he was: heart-broken, heart-eating, heart-shatterer, a man that broke hearts in his path like bowling balls, leaving them burning to ashes. She'd heard the stories, seen the wreckage in the eyes of girls he'd sucked into his spell, their tears a warning she couldn't heed. But when he'd called her angel, his voice a sinful wetness, there'd been a part of her that wanted to lean into it, to let him unravel her until there was nothing left. The thought turned her stomach with shame, made her heart hurt with a betrayal that wasn't hers but somehow was. And Lucas's aggressive protectiveness, the lingering touches, were drawing her away, in the opposite direction, towards a reality she was afraid to acknowledge: Lucas's hand slid down the back of her body, steering her from the stool, off the dance floor, away from the mass of bodies that wriggled like shadows in a fever dream. People stepped out of the way, sensing storms in his stride, but his hand was soft and a rope earth-grounded her even as it sparked her. "We have to wait, together," he said, low, almost a plea. "It must be true, Mia; it must be true because it's your lie. At least until we're out of this world. His eyes were raw and searching, and she saw something in them, something that wasn't just friendship, not just protection. It was a desire reflected in her own soul, a silent question that floated between them, dense with possibility. She nods, her throat tight, her mind a rat's nest of fear and lust. The lie, we're together, was a thin defense but it had hardened, connecting them as they were, in a manner safe and dangerous. The warmth of Lucas was like a fortress, but he was too close, too, the way he looked at her with his eyes made her feel exposed in another way, like he could look into the parts of her that she hid even from herself. A part of her wanted to hold on to him, to feel his heat drive away Jace's darkness, but the memory of the dark look, the velvet growl clung to her like a second skin, a seduction she didn't want to hear. The bar was a blur of dancing bodies, the clink of glasses and the din of laughter and shouting. Mia's eyes roved over the crowd and her heart jumped in her chest as she half-expected to spot Jace's shape cutting through the haze, his mocking smile taunting her from the shadows. But he was gone, the cold emptiness of his sudden disappearance a vacuum that made her that much more uneasy. Her hand was Jace's, his desire a promise that hadn't faded and haunted her just like a bruise on her soul, but Lucas's hand fell to her shoulder, his touch earth her, and she knew this. She knew they'd get through this, his words were sure, but the weakness in them killed her. "Stay with me, Mia," she said as tears burned at the corners of her eyes and her heart pounded with fear and with something she couldn't name. Lies they'd spun were a fragile thing, but all they had to defend against the danger lurking in the darkness. Even so, Jace left a thorn in her flesh, a reminder of the storm he had let in on her life. And yet Lucas - his warmth, his fierceness - was her salvation and her destruction, pulling her closer to a truth she was not ready to face. The bar's pulse pulsed through her, a steady drumbeat of existence, of presence, of the confines of lies and desire, with nowhere to know where it was she'd go, The crimson dress felt as if it thrummed with neon, clothing a cloth echoing her bared flesh, vulnerability. Every stranger's glance was a knife, slashing her delicate cover, and she clung to Lucas's existence like a lifeline. But even his heat couldn't quell the storm in her chest, the battling desires that ripped at her-Jace's dangerous allure, alluring nothing but chaos and release, and Lucas's steady love, alluring nothing but safety and something else, something she was too afraid to call. She drank a mouthful of vodka, barely feeling the burn to ground her, her mind replaying the sound of Jace's words, his grin, the sensation of being sought after and desired by him. And Lucas, his touch, his gaze was another kind of fire, one that burned her and threatened to drown her. You don't have to battle this alone. I'm right here." His palm had cupped her cheek, his thumb had swiped away the tear she hadn't even noticed had fallen, and the touch had been so gentle, so intimate, it had taken her breath. Truth was in those raw and unyielding eyes, waiting for her to see, a love that had been there all along and was just waiting for her to see. "I know," she said, her voice hitching, her heart a tangled mess of guilty yearning. The lie that they'd strung up was a defense, but it was a defense and a fire too, lighting something between them that she wasn't ready to look at. Jace's shadow hung, a dark promise that promised to pull her under, but Lucas's touch was a promise, a promise to keep her safe. She watched the bar's neon pulse, felt the taunting rhythm of its throb and knew with one terrible certainty that she was already dancing on the edge of the fire, no sure way of knowing if she was going to come out of it in one piece.
