The elevator descended into darkness.
Adaline pressed her forehead against the cold metal wall, forcing air into her lungs. The tears had stopped. In their place was something harder—a cold, steady anger settling into her bones. She forced her spine straight and kept moving.
The doors opened to the lobby. She straightened her spine, smoothed her disheveled suit, and stepped out.
The convention staff huddled in small groups, phones glowing in their hands, whispers trailing after her like shadows. She ignored them. Chin high. Eyes forward. The revolving glass doors ahead became her only destination.
The November air hit her like a slap. It stung her tear-stained cheeks, tore through her thin blazer, and froze the blood on her scraped knuckle.
Adaline raised her hand. A cab swerved toward the curb. A businessman lunged for the door.
She turned her head. One look—the same one that had made the security guard back down.
The businessman muttered an apology and retreated.
Adaline slid into the backseat. "The Neon Antidote. Downtown."
The cab pulled into traffic. She leaned against the cold window, watching the city blur past in streaks of neon and shadow. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Then again. Then again.
She pulled it out. The screen was flooded with notifications—news alerts, social media tags, messages from colleagues she hadn't spoken to in years. Someone had recorded the summit. The video was already circulating.
She opened her banking app instead.
The balance loaded. Her stomach dropped through the floor of the cab.
Below the balance, pending charges glowed in red: medical bills for Angus. Her chronically ill brother. The reason she'd worked eighty-hour weeks, skipped vacations, smiled through endless abuse.
The number was devastating. And now the bonus that was supposed to cover it had just evaporated in the same instant her engagement did.
Adaline closed the app. Her hand trembled.
The cab pulled up to the bar. She paid with shaking fingers and stepped out into the wet alley behind the building, bypassing the front entrance. Even out here, the bass vibrated through the brick walls, rattling her teeth.
She pushed through the staff door. The heat hit her first—that familiar wave of stale beer, cheap perfume, and human bodies. She walked to the breakroom, opened her locker, and stripped off her ruined blazer. She pulled on her black bartender uniform, tied her apron tight, and shoved every thought of Chandler into the dark before stepping onto the floor.
She stepped behind the mahogany counter and fell into rhythm. Pouring. Shaking. Wiping. The physical labor numbed her racing thoughts. Her muscles screamed, and she welcomed it.
Vince Calderon pushed through the crowd, sweat glistening on his forehead. "Adaline! VIP in Booth Four. He's been asking for the good scotch. I need you to handle him—he's being difficult."
She grabbed the silver tray, balanced the bottle and two glasses, and wound through the crowded dance floor. Drunk patrons lurched into her path. She dodged them without breaking stride.
The VIP booth in the back corner was dim, almost invisible in the shadows. A man was slumped over the leather sofa, his head in his hands, his breath coming in sharp, erratic gasps.
Adaline set the tray down. "Sir? Do you need water?"
He didn't respond. His fingers dug into his dark hair, knuckles white.
A woman in a tight red dress materialized from the shadows. She reeked of cheap perfume and bad intentions. She leaned over the man, trying to hook her arm under his shoulder.
"Come on, baby, let's get you somewhere private," she cooed.
The man's hand shot out, shoving her away. The movement was weak, uncoordinated, but his voice was steel. "Get lost."
The woman stumbled, cursed, and glanced toward the bouncer. She saw him watching. With a final glare at Adaline, she melted back into the crowd.
Adaline stepped closer. She recognized the signs immediately—dilated pupils, excessive sweating, erratic breathing. He'd been drugged. Possibly roofied.
"Sir, I need to call security. You need medical—"
His hand clamped around her wrist.
The grip was like a heated iron cuff, searing through her sleeve. She gasped, tried to wrench free, but his fingers only tightened. His thumb pressed hard against her pulse point.
"I need an antidote." His voice was deep, strained with agony, yet utterly commanding. "Immediately."
Adaline stared down at him. His face was flushed, jaw clenched, his eyes unfocused behind generic wire-rimmed glasses. He looked like an academic—a harmless researcher who'd wandered into the wrong bar.
But his grip said otherwise.
"Let go of me," she said, her voice steady. "I'll call a medic."
"No medics." His thumb pressed deeper into her wrist, feeling the frantic beat of her pulse. "Unacceptable variable."
Variable.
The word hit her like a cold splash of water. This man wasn't just drugged. He was dangerous. And yet, as his fingers tightened around her wrist, something else flickered in his glassy eyes. Something that looked almost like recognition.
"Can you walk?" she asked.
He nodded, his jaw tight with effort. He tried to stand. His knees buckled instantly.
Adaline caught him. His weight slammed into her, nearly knocking her over. She wrapped his arm around her neck, signaling to another bartender across the room.
"Keep moving," she ordered.
She guided him through the VIP corridor, staying close to the wall, away from the crowd. His hot breath fanned against her neck. His body heat radiated through her uniform, searing her skin.
They reached the emergency exit. She shouldered it open, and the cold night air swallowed them both.
Kory stumbled forward, his shoulder hitting the brick wall. He turned, swaying, and for a moment, his eyes found hers—dark and feverish and aware.
He didn't look like a victim anymore.
He looked like a man who'd been waiting for someone.
