The club sucked.

Addison stumbled out into the Ventura night at one AM, her heels clicking uneven patterns on the sidewalk and her head buzzing from too many vodka sodas. The bass still thumped in her skull, matching her pulse in a way that felt annoying instead of hypnotic. She’d spent four hours inside that overcrowded, overpriced shitshow watching mediocre hunters from various academies grind on each other like animals while bad EDM assaulted her eardrums.

Not one. Not a single fucking guy in there had managed to hold her interest longer than thirty seconds.

"Hey beautiful!" Some jackass in a Crimson Gate Academy hoodie jogged up beside her, his breath reeking of beer and desperation. "You leaving alone? That’s a crime against nature."

Addison stopped walking and turned to face him with her best dead-eyed stare. "Fuck off."

"C’mon, don’t be like that." He reached for her arm. "I saw you dancing earlier. You looked lonely."

She jerked away before his fingers made contact. "Touch me and I’ll rip your arm off and beat you to death with it. I’m a Silver-rank with an A-rank ability. You’re drunk and stupid. Do the math."

His face went pale. "Jesus, okay. Psycho."

"That’s right, walk away." She watched him retreat down the sidewalk at double time. "Pussy."

Alone again, Addison resumed her walk toward the hotel, her heels stabbing the concrete with more force than necessary. This whole night was complete bullshit. Aurora had ditched her for Jace Monroe within an hour of dinner ending, leaving Addison to fend for herself in a club full of boring assholes who thought buying her a drink entitled them to conversation.

And the worst part? The absolute worst fucking part?

Addison was horny.

Furiously, desperately horny in a way that made her want to scream at the injustice of the universe.

Because all she could think about was Aurora. Specifically, Aurora finding herself a real boyfriend who wasn’t some vapid guild heir or temporary hookup. Someone who actually made her smile at her phone like a lovesick idiot. Someone who made her laugh during shopping trips. Someone who gave her genuine compliments instead of shallow flattery designed to get into her pants.

Jace Monroe. The fat Obsidian lottery kid who somehow wasn’t fat anymore and apparently possessed magic hands that made girls fall over themselves.

When Aurora first mentioned him three weeks ago, Addison had assumed it was purely transactional. Aurora liked power. Jace boosted power. Simple equation. Aurora was using him to climb rankings while he got access to someone completely out of his league.

Except Aurora kept talking about him. Texting him. Meeting him between classes. Spending her weekends shopping for him instead of hitting the usual party circuit.

That’s when Addison started paying real attention.

She’d watched Aurora transform from someone who viewed relationships as temporary entertainment into someone who legitimately cared whether some freshman was eating properly and getting enough sleep. The change was subtle but unmistakable. Aurora glowed differently now. Brighter. Softer around the edges.

It made Addison curious enough to actually meet him.

Then she saw those amber eyes.

Fuck.

Those eyes looked at her like they could read every secret buried under her goth armor and violent attitude, like they saw straight through to the romantic disaster hiding underneath who read shojo manga and wanted someone to fight her and win. Golden and warm and completely fucking unfair.

If he had black hair instead of brown, he’d be her type down to the molecular level. The eyes alone almost compensated for the hair color discrepancy.

She’d wanted to spend actual time with him at the club. Test him properly. See if he could keep up with her intensity or if he’d wilt like every other guy who thought they wanted the goth girl until they realized she came with actual personality and opinions. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

But no. Aurora monopolized him. Dragged him back to the hotel before Addison even finished her second drink. Left Addison alone with drunk academy seniors who kept trying to touch her without permission.

Addison kicked a empty beer can across the sidewalk and watched it clatter into the gutter.

At least Jace passed the Sapphire twins test earlier. She’d brought up that rumor deliberately to gauge his reaction, see if he’d get jealous or possessive or weird about Aurora’s sexual history.

Nothing even happened with those twins. Complete fabrication.

Addison and Aurora went to their apartment curious about their synchronized abilities, got bored within twenty minutes when the twins started hitting on them with breath like tuna fish and music taste that belonged in a garbage disposal.

But Jace hadn’t reacted at all. Just acknowledged Aurora’s past as irrelevant and moved on.

That was refreshing. Most guys got territorial or insecure the moment they learned Aurora had history.

Addison reached the Pacific View and flashed her key card at the night desk clerk. The elevator ride to the penthouse floor felt longer than it should have, her reflection in the polished metal showing smudged eyeliner and messed up hair from dancing. She looked like she’d survived something instead of enjoyed it.

The hallway stretched quiet and empty at this hour. Addison pulled her keycard from her purse and approached the suite entrance.

Then she heard it.

Aurora’s voice. Muffled through the door but unmistakable. High and desperate and completely wrecked.

"Please, Jace, please, I can’t, I’m going to—"

Addison’s hand froze halfway to the card reader.

They were still going? It’d been what, four hours since Aurora dragged him back here?

Another sound filtered through the door. Lower, masculine, too quiet to make out words but the tone carried pure dominance.

Then Aurora screamed.

Not pain. Definitely not pain.

Addison’s face flushed hot. Her heart kicked against her ribs in a pattern that had nothing to do with the alcohol still warming her system.

She should walk away. Give them privacy. Head to the guest room and pass out like a reasonable friend would.

Instead, Addison’s thumb pressed the key card to the reader. The lock clicked open with a soft beep that got swallowed by another moan from somewhere inside.

The suite sat mostly dark except for dim light spilling from the bedroom doorway at the far end. Addison set her purse down on the kitchen counter with exaggerated care, her pulse hammering in her throat and wrists and between her legs.

Aurora’s voice rose again, breathless and pleading. "Don’t stop, please don’t stop."

Addison kicked off her heels, the carpet soft and silent under her bare feet as she crept across the living room. She told herself she was checking to make sure Aurora was actually okay, that this was friend due diligence, that any concerned companion would verify their best friend wasn’t being murdered in a hotel suite.

All absolute horseshit, but her brain accepted the lie anyway.

The bedroom door sat cracked open maybe six inches, enough to see inside without being obvious.

Addison leaned close and looked.

Holy fuck.