Hunt and Power. Stephen Hayes

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СКАЧАТЬ on the bar and facing her. “I’m not sure I’m staying here much longer anyway, but I’m still going to enjoy it.” Then, struck by a sudden idea, I offered her my hand and said, “You wanna?”

      Amelia looked completely taken aback, but after a moment’s hesitation, she grinned and took my hand. It was a strange moment; I hadn’t imagined dancing with someone I had no particular attraction to, but all the same, it was rather enjoyable, and although I avoided looking into Amelia’s eyes, I could tell she felt much the same. We were both staring over each other’s heads and I caught several people’s eyes, including the twins, James and Peter, the latter giving me a roguish grin as he attempted to keep pace with Kylie.

      My eyes also met Stella’s, and I could tell that she was attempting to communicate with me without either Marc or Amelia noticing. I had no idea why until a few minutes later when they had moved to within a few feet of us; Stella was going to try to get them dancing together. I looked wildly around for Nicole, but couldn’t see her. While I had nothing against Amelia, I found it gut-wrenching to think I could assist her against my own sister, especially after Nicole had tried to get me and Natalie together that week.

      The situation was out of my hands. As the other pair moved right up beside me and Amelia, the music changed to a much slower song. As the couples around us pulled each other closer, Stella shocked the lot of us by saying, “I think it’s time to switch.” She let go of Marc and threw her arms around me instead. I heard her whisper something to me that I didn’t quite catch; my attention was still on Marc and Amelia, both of whom had stopped in the middle of the floor, still shocked by what had just happened.

      I only needed to watch for a few seconds before they seemed to come to their senses and take hold of each other. I looked back at Stella, whose bright blue eyes were twinkling with what looked like pride at what she’d just done. Despite the horror rising inside me, I couldn’t blame her. Amelia was her friend, perhaps one of her very few true friends, and seeing how much friends meant to her, she had just shown loyalty that couldn’t be faulted.

      “Having fun?” I asked her.

      “Yeah,” she said quietly, a smile spreading slowly across her face. I’d never seen her smile like that before; it multiplied her attractiveness, and suddenly I was glad that I was the one dancing with her. “It’s been great, and all ‘cause of you guys coming.”

      “You don’t think they’ll do anything now, do you?” I asked her, not wishing to dampen the mood but finding myself unable to say anything else to her.

      The smile slipped off her face, and I wished I hadn’t spoken. “I don’t think so. They haven’t done anything so far, but I’m going to go find them in a bit just to see what they’re up to.”

      “Right,” I said, now wanting to get things back on more pleasant ground. “Well it’s your party, so don’t be too bothered by them. Just enjoy yourself.”

      I squeezed her waist gently, making her giggle, and then we danced in silence for a few more minutes. While I knew she was staring at my face, I didn’t want to look at hers in case she noticed my discomfort and took offense to it. Dancing with her was rather awkward, though, given that she was several inches taller than me; it meant that I couldn’t look over her head as I had with Amelia, and looking down at her breasts was an even worse option. All I could do was close my eyes altogether, and try not to enjoy this experience too much. Whatever Daniel had told me, whatever was going on with Natalie, I just couldn’t let my traitorous mind get too attached to Stella. The dream from Wednesday morning came back to me too, and the memory of Stella’s beauty then and how similar it was to her beauty now made me feel squeamish. But I kept a firm hold of her waist, resisting every urge to feel any other part of her body, even while she was pressing herself so close to me.

      I was relieved when, after a couple more songs, we agreed to stop dancing for a while. Stella disappeared into the crowd, probably looking for her family, while I looked around me. I couldn’t see too many free people, so, not wanting to look like a loner on the dance floor, I went back to the bar where I’d been with Daniel earlier. Lucien was sitting not far from that spot, so once I’d got myself another drink, I went to sit with him.

      “Hi,” I said, pulling up a stool and sitting down. “What’s up? Not getting involved?”

      Lucien looked around at me, looking slightly bemused. “Nah,” he said. “Maybe I should, I don’t know. I promised my better half I wouldn’t dance with anyone else here, and she was too scared to come herself, so I’m mostly just keeping an eye on things.”

      “Marc’s doing okay,” I said, looking for him and Amelia; they were still dancing.

      “Yeah, well he’s been surrounded by people all night, very hard for them to get to him, but all the same,” he said, frowning. Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood, he said, “But it looks like he’s picked up a pretty good scalp there.”

      It was my turn to frown. I looked around for Nicole, but once again I couldn’t see her. The room had cleared out somewhat by now, though it was only half past 11. Apart from Marc and Amelia, who were at that point talking to Stella out on the dance floor, many of the Young Army had disappeared. I could still see Serena and Liam dancing, and Felicity had paired up with David. Lena and Sebastian were both alone and a good distance from anyone else; he was watching her, and she seemed to be looking around for someone—hopefully not me, for a change.

      Peter and Kylie were also visible, though they were no longer on the dance floor. It looked as though Kylie was attempting to drag Peter to the door out of the place, but Peter was resisting. I saw Kylie spin him around, press her face against his and smooch him, at the same time sticking a hand between his legs and squeezing. Shuddering, I saw that Peter’s powers of resistance had apparently been beaten. Looking away, I saw an equally sickening sight; Natalie was puking into a rubbish bin way across the room, while Tommy held her long hair out of harm’s way. Yep, she had definitely been drinking alcohol, and it had probably been Tommy’s doing. If only she had aimed her spew at him instead …

      I considered going over there and taking her away from him, but how could I justify it? Natalie seemed happy enough to be with him, and he and I would probably get into a fight if I got in the way now. Memories of what had happened in the box came back—memories of the throbbing pain I had experienced under Tommy’s many, many fists. I didn’t want to fight him, but I decided to keep an eye on those two just in case he had planned to take advantage of her in this state.

      “Have you seen anyone behaving oddly?” I asked, turning back to Lucien.

      “I’m not sure,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything dangerous, but I did see Hignat and Wilwog earlier—the juniors, of course.”

      “Oh,” I said, my stomach falling. “What were they doing?”

      “Nothing,” he said. “That’s the thing; they were just lurking over in that corner with their drinks, not saying anything to anyone. They aren’t drinking alcohol either, which makes me wonder … maybe their fathers just told them no, or maybe it’s more serious.”

      “You reckon they were watching us?” I asked.

      “I’m not sure,” he said, looking nervous. “They’ve gone now, so maybe—I’m not sure. I know they’re not watching Marc, because he’s still out there.”

      We were interrupted at this point by a small man who I didn’t recognise. Ignoring me, he addressed Lucien. “3M78, Tankom wants a word before you leave tonight. She says you can find her now or later, as СКАЧАТЬ