Christian sat at the bar, turned to watch Aspen dancing. It should have entranced him, made him want her more, but he would only picture the way Gabrielle might have danced to the same music. Why couldn’t he get her out of his head? Even when Aspen’s lips touched him in places that brought insane amounts of pleasure, he could only imagine Gabrielle and the way she used to nonchalantly bring her head up and grin devilishly at him after…He shook his head, trying to clear it off thoughts of Gabrielle. Christian concentrated on Aspen on the dance floor, but couldn’t shake the feeling he was getting. He knew he was using her, but she thought they had something special. She always spoke of the dream, the same dream she had every night. But Christian saw her as a way to pass the time before he finished things with Gabrielle. Smiling absently at Aspen, his eyes roamed to the door and wondered how hurt she’d be if he just left. She’d only come after him, yelling about her ‘prophecies’ as she called them and her dreams of them together as vampires. And because he could easily pretend she was someone else, he’d take her into his arms and kiss away her tears, tell her he was only getting air. His thoughts were lost when he heard a familiar voice beside him order a bottle of whisky and a bottle of Chartreuse. Gabrielle’s drink. It was Kael, who Christian thought hadn’t noticed him. Praying he wouldn’t, Christian turned his head to the site, but Kael only stifled a deep chuckle.

"Christian I know its you." He said in a low foreboding voice, "And if you leave me and Gabrielle alone, I’ll leave you and that slut alone. We don’t want to hear from you, we just want to enjoy the music and the drinks as much as you do. So carry on, you rapist you." Christian turned to retort but Kael had slipped away through the crowd, bottles in hand. Vainly, Christian scanned the tables for a glimpse of Gabrielle, but he couldn’t see her. Kael didn’t want him to see her. It wasn’t until Aspen had returned to the stool next to him that Christian caught the flash of gold from Gabrielle’s eyes headed towards the bathroom. He had to talk to her, and far be it from him to let gender equity stand in the way, he thought, making his way towards the ladies bathroom.

Kael set down the dusty bottle of Chartreuse before Gabrielle.

"DO take it easy. I don’t intend to carry you home unless I really have to…" Gabrielle looked around the club as if she’d never seen it.

"Christian’s here. That girl dancing belongs to him." Kael frowned, taking the cap off the bottle of whisky, and bringing an ever-present shot glass out of his jacket.

"Gabby, they don’t want trouble. Leave them." He poured a shot into the glass and tossed it back quickly, setting up another one. "Drink, dance, enjoy it all, Gabs." Half an hour later, the same time as Aspen left the dance floor and despite Kael’s weakened protests and her own shakiness, Gabrielle excused herself to the washroom. Kael just hope she didn’t run into any unfortunate forces on her way, but with a sick certainty, knew she would.