Yearnings: A Paranormal Romance Box Set by Amber Scott, Carolyn McCray

faces.
    “ Jen?”
    No Jen.
    Panic? Not yet. She’d wait for a few minutes, keep her eyes on the club. Maybe she’d spot her, or Jake.
    Fifteen minutes and two unanswered texts later, Sadie decided Jen must be in the same spot from before Sadie’d given in to the music’s seduction. Sadie must’ve gotten turned around. If her palms would stop sweating rivers. It wasn’t so surprising or worrisome that Jen hadn’t texted back. She’d been rapt in conversation. The club was loud, dark. Jake probably found them and told Jen she was still dancing.
    Two girls brushed past her. “Are you okay?” one asked.
    Sadie nodded. She was okay.
    Everything was okay.
    She would find her cousin. Wiping her hands on her skirt, she arched her feet higher. One turn around the dance floor perimeter couldn’t hurt. She’d look for Jen, come right back here and wait again. She could get some water. The little corridor was hot and was filling with more female bodies by the minute, like their bladders were all in sync. The club would close soon. Wouldn’t it?
    She forced her features smooth and attempted to appear impassive. The riot in her stomach certainly showed somewhere in her body language , though. Subterfuge wasn’t her forte. Thankfully, as she weaved in and around the clusters of people, no one particularly noticed.
    How could so many blondes be in one place? Jen was distinctive. Wasn’t she? Jen would stand out, like always. The restrooms came back into view. A hollow abyss formed in Sadie’s belly. Dread pooled there, the feeling rising ever so steadily.
    One more time. Slower this time. She’d look at the dance floor, too. Blonde after skinny blonde filled her vision. Not Jen. Not her. A flash of luminescent blue caught her attention. Her gaze shot after it. The lights from the dance floor. Couldn’t be what her heart, what her silly brain, had thought. Him. Her dreams. Glowing. Beckoning. Of all times, now was not the time to hallucinate.
    Her mind rationalized. She was in a panic and part of her wished for a hero. Someone to come to the rescue and deliver Jen. Logically, her mind would conjure dream Elijah. Because her psyche had developed a hero worship for him powerful enough to make her dream of him almost nightly. Powerful enough to make her a fool in her waking hours over him.
    Fool or not, as she zigged and zagged through the crowded periphery, her vision flickered with the same light blue. She stopped short, drawn by impossible hope. A familiar silhouette interrupted the beautiful blue. Her distress dissolved. Shivers raced in her veins.
    She didn’t need to discern his features to know, to her core, she saw Elijah.
     

 
     
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    Sadie recognized the outline of his body. Her mind knew without a doubt, it was Elijah. Her heart thumped faster. She could swear she saw the curves of two sheer, blue wings just past his broad shoulders. She crept closer, needing to understand what she was seeing. Her insides flipped over. It was as though her dream had materialized and no one saw him but her.
    Or could he be real and this was the chance she’d wished for? A second chance at a hot impression?
    In a blink, a different face popped in front of her. “There you are,” Jake said, grinning widely and proffering an umbrella-laden drink, unmoved at her startled reaction. He completely blocked her view.
    Seeing him reminded her — Jen! Where was she? “Where’s Jen?”
    He drank, grinned, nodded.
    Had he not heard her? Dread slipped back into place, anchoring Sadie back into reality. “Where’s Jen, my cousin, the one your friend was talking to?” she shouted, leaning in for good measure.
    The ice shifted in her glass, the exterior trickled with watery sweat. Her throat tightened. She drank two sips, tasted little to no alcohol, and took three gulps. The cool liquid soothed her throat. Thank God for cold drinks and nice guys.
    “ Oh, other side, I think. Spencer likes hip - hop.