King of Forgotten Clubs Read Online Free Page B

green in the light. I couldn’t hear what she said in response.
    I leaned closer. “What?”
    She pushed me away and dove into the crowd, hips swaying to the beat of the music.
    I hurried after her. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if I got lost in the crush. “Kali!” I shouted.
    She didn’t turn around. I drowned in the crowd. An elbow jabbed my ribcage. Something wet hit my leg. I thought I saw a flash of blond hair, but I ran into a counter I could have sworn hadn’t been there a minute ago.  
    “Kali!” I yelled.
    “Five dollars,” someone shouted in my ear.
    I started. The bartender shoved a sloshing cup at me. I shook my head and held up my empty palms. I had no money, which was hilarious, since I was supposed to be loaded. Crazy parties in unfindable clubs should have been my everyday existence. I’d thrown it all away, and I’d boomeranged straight back—minus the money.
    I shook my head. I hadn’t even thought about my past life in months. Was that stupid fake smoke laced with something?
    “Kali!” I screamed, shoving away from the bar.
    A hand brushed against my arm. Kali smiled at me. She said something I couldn’t hear. I gestured in the direction I suspected a door might be. She fled back onto the dance floor. I swore and went after her.
    I caught up to her in the middle of the chaos. Kali was dancing. Her arms were stretched up above her head, as if she could pull herself out of there with sheer muscle and willpower. Her eyes were closed, lips counting a beat I couldn’t follow.
    I reached up to draw one of her hands into mine. “We’ll be okay,” I said into her ear.
    She leaned against me. “Maybe.”
    I tried to think of a speech about uncertainty and risk, but I didn’t have the lung capacity to deliver it in this room.
    “Pak.”
    I wrapped an arm around her waist. “Yeah?”
    “Behind you.”
    That didn’t make any sense.
    The lights burst all at once. My knees buckled. Kali screamed something incomprehensible in my ear.
    Kali was floating away. Her entire body strained in my direction as a monster with bulging muscles and bright red tattoos pulled her away.
    Finally. Finally, she chose me.

CHAPTER SIX
How to Destroy

    Exhibit H: I drag my friends into trouble.

    I woke up in an abandoned room. I got up slowly. Every joint in my body ached. I watched the light catch a dust mote for a moment before trying to reorient myself. I was in the same room the club had been in last night. I had to be. A counter ran along one side, a window at the back. The room was about the size of a walk-in closet. I had no idea how all those people had fit into it.
    I found my feet and staggered to the door. Flashes of memory were beginning to come back. Kali. She’d been snatched right off the dance floor. I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious. She could be anywhere. I paused to lean against the doorframe. No, not anywhere. I knew exactly who had her. I just needed to get her back.
    For that, I would need more than a plan. I needed the Stone Throwers.

    The school parking lot was empty, typical for July. I watched the brick façade of the school as if it might stand up and try to swallow me whole. I would rather not have been on school grounds without a legal obligation to do so, but I hadn’t been able to find my phone after I’d woken up at the club. At the time, I’d decided the old piece of junk wasn’t worth enough to stick around and look for, which meant I’d had to resort to using our tic-tac-toe board system to call a meeting, limiting me to telling the others to meet at the school.
    The groan of a dying motor announced the arrival of Sam’s car.
    “Can’t you drive your convertible?” I called to Birdie as she got out of the passenger seat.
    She shrugged. “It’s down for repairs again.”
    “He’s not even part of the group.” I’d tried invoking founders’ rights multiple times since Birdie had started taking Sam everywhere, but she kept overturning me on the