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

Dancing.” He grinned again.
    Having some idea where her cousin was gave her some relief. She looked past Jake for the blue outline of Elijah. Gone. Moments passed and her pulse returned to a near normal rate. Not calm per se, but nowhere near the panic of moments ago. A tinge of unease shifted through her every few seconds, making her feel like an outsider, a fake.
    Sadie peered past Jake again. The blue was still gone. Of course it was gone. She sighed and finished her drink, the liquid cooling her burning throat. “Hey, can you help me find Jen? She has my lip-gloss,” she fibbed.
    “ Sure,” Jake shouted over the music. Maybe he felt the awkwardness, too. He seemed nice enough, a gentleman. He’d brought her a drink, hadn’t he? Waited with her as she stood shifting from one aching foot to another. And he led the way to the other side, held her hand by the fingers, and guided her around the other side of the club.
    No Jen.
    “ Do you see her?” Jake shouted.
    Sadie shook her head. “No.”
    Not on the Fire side. Not on the Ice. Not in the bathrooms. Jen left her? She couldn’t believe it. Not Jen. Not for a guy she’d only now met. Damn it. The panic awoke again.
    What if Jen’s perfect guy had showed? Would she break her own rule?
    Her panic returned, bringing a bit of disorientation. Her thoughts didn’t want to be contained. The room of writhing bodies tipped , then righted itself. Her heartbeat drummed at her chest. Heat flashed over her skin. She tried to swallow but gagged instead.
    She forced her gaze to Jake. Concern shone in his eyes. “You okay?”
    Sadie tried to speak. Her tongue felt fat in her mouth. Weighed down under the dryness. She nodded, pointed toward the door. Fresh air. Water. He could figure that much out, couldn’t he?
    He put his arm around her to support her clumsy limbs. What had she been thinking leaving Jen for one stupid dance? Two! Ugh. Whatever the drink was that Jake had brought her, it was threatening a speedy exit.
    She needed air. Now.
    “ Is she alright?” some distant voice said.
    “ One too many,” another mocked.
    Jake kept onward. Thank God. He’d be cleaning vomit off his lap and shoes if she didn’t get—a blast of air hit her face. Sweet, cold air. Outside. The confines of the club vanished. She pushed at the arm around her, starving for more of the clarity the coolness gave her. Lights and colors blurred. Her stomach wrenched. The arm let go, guiding her to a seat. She sank onto a hard surface. A bench? The nausea eased away, the panic too.
    Was she safe then?
    “ You’re going to be okay,” Jake said. “I found Jen. She’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”
    He’d found Jen. Safe. Sadie tried to peer through the darkness , but her vision blurred. She couldn’t speak. A fuzzy oblivion edged, closer and closer, until she imagined her body cradled like a babe, her anxiety crooned to sleep.
    *
    Elijah clenched both fists. It was too soon to make a move on this guy. As long as he could still see Sadie, he had to wait. No matter how difficult. No matter how loudly his body screamed to attack. “Human scum.”
    So much for waiting for the right moment to approach her.
    In his decades as a seeker, he’d eluded the cleverest of creatures, as deep and far as the edge of the soul realm, yet this girl had detected him. She’d seen him standing, watching over her. Every last doubt he’d carried about her potential had vanished in that single moment. He’d cloaked himself, repelling human and non-human interest alike. With only two or three immortals among the throng, it had been easy. Sadie had laid eyes upon him anyway. Worse, he’d sensed her attention, the change in her hum, two seconds too late.
    She recognized him and damn it if she didn’t look right at his wings.
    Ahead, Sadie sagged more and more. The club bouncers had given Sadie no more than a cursory check , then let them pass. Swallowing the urge to hiss his rage outward, he stalked after