The city lights flickered awake as night fell, and the club throbbed with music loud enough to rattle the glass windows. The bass rolled like thunder, a steady pulse that reached out into the streets, pulling people inside.
Lucy pushed open the heavy door, and a wave of heat and noise slammed into her. Sweat, perfume, and alcohol mixed in the air. The crowd was alive, bodies grinding close, hands in the air, faces glowing under the flash of neon lights.
She didn’t stop. Didn’t even glance at the bar or the stage. She pulled her purse strap tighter against her shoulder and slipped through the crowd, ignoring the stares, the curious looks, the whistles from strangers.
Her heels clicked fast against the floor as she made her way down the narrow hall behind the stage. The noise dulled sligh
