Then the shadows curled.
Rose.
Thickened.
Black magic spilled down the first few steps like ink poured through water, swallowing the red light, twisting around the railing, crawling toward Mom’s golden sparks as if the two powers were old enemies recognizing each other across a battlefield.
The club shrank around us.
That was the only way I could describe it.
The ceiling felt lower.
The walls closer.
The air thinner.
Rogues scattered from the center of the room, some pushing toward back exits, others flattening themselves against walls like if they became part of the furniture maybe nobody would kill them. There were humans too. Actual humans. A few of them, glamoured or drugged or just stupid enough to drink in a place that smelled like murder dressed in cologne.
One man stood b
