Nemesis changed once the sun went down. It reminded her of the time Ares flew them over Las Vegas on their way to Australia. The lights on the buildings were beacons the farther they ventured in. Everything was bright and several signs flashed to catch the attention of visitors. Ares and Eliza had their eyes on a different sign, one that glowed pink and said “Rosebud.” Knowing Mae, she picked that location because of the implications of the name.

“Mae is disgusting,” Eliza says as they meander into the line of people trying to get into the building.

“I think the name is interesting,” Ares smirks.

“You’re disgusting.”

He winks and wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. With several curious eyes around them, Eliza unwillingly put her arm around his waist and tried to look like she was happy to be there. She hated the way his fingers played with the ends of her wig. Thank God it wasn’t her real hair.

A couple in front of them started to kiss each other like their lives were about to end. The noise made Eliza’s stomach coil. She avoided looking at them, but it started a chain reaction. Several other couples decided the line was the perfect place to suck face. Eliza felt sick.

“Please tell me we don’t have to…” she grumbled, fixing her eyes on Ares’ hand that continued to play with her wig.

His mouth pressed against the side of her head to hide his words from any listeners, “Only if it’ll get us out of a bind.”

Her stomach dropped, “Then let’s not get into one.”

Ares chuckled. He figured he should have been offended in some way, but he understood her. She was slowly treading out of her box and was scared. That’s what he gathered anyway. He didn’t blame her with all the hurt in her past. He also had a deep feeling that she was starting to like him. Sure, her drunken confessions about him spoke volumes, but Ares sensed something changing inside her.

“If you need to, picture Luke in my place. It might help.”

“But you’re not him.” Her voice was so quiet. She looked at her feet and timidly twisted her fingers with his, stopping his idle fidgeting with her wig. “You’re… You’re different; your own person.”

It wasn’t every day he forgot how to breathe, but her gentle words and the way she latched onto his hand made his breath whoosh out of his lungs.

He scratched his neck and a nervous laugh sounded from his lips, “Uh, I appreciate that, Lizzy.”

Her head didn’t rise again until they neared the bouncer standing tall by the door. Ares glanced her way, smiling when he saw subtle darkness across her cheeks under the soft glow of the pink sign. Eliza felt his eyes on her but refused to meet them. She wanted him to understand that he’s not like Luke, not because she wanted him to feel like he wasn’t special. As much as she hated to admit it, he was important to their strange friendship, to her. Picturing him as Luke, no matter how much she loved that man in her past, would only tarnish her view of Ares. He wasn’t a drug addict, he remained kind through all his family shit, and he continually put her before himself. Hell, he was better of a man than Luke ever was in his lifetime. Ares was there when he didn’t have to be. Eliza loved Luke, she loved him more than herself, but her love was blind to all the wrongs. Luke wasn’t a good boyfriend. He was convenient and her first in everything. She held on to him even when he wasn’t there, she still couldn’t let him go. Mae would be weak if Eliza could let go.

“Names.” The bouncer’s stare was even as he studied Eliza and Ares.

Ares was quick to answer, “I’m Owen Short and this is Sammi Johnson. We heard there was a special party for couples and figured we’d check it out after the concert. Right, babe?”

Eliza forced herself to smile and pulled his arm around her shoulders more, “We heard it’s pretty electric.” The tip of her tongue caught on her canine seductively as she stared at the bouncer. She put her attention on Ares once she was satisfied with her observation.

“Go on in. Private rooms are on the top three floors. The main event starts at midnight.”

The two hunters strolled in, Ares finally letting Eliza go. His hand ran across her shoulder and down her back before he grabbed her hand when she took it from his waist. Her stomach twisted when his fingers fit between hers.

The main room was large and dark due to the deep red and pink lights that adorned the walls and ceiling. Many attendees were dancing to the music in the center of the room while other guests mingled around the room. A bar sat at the opposite end of a stage where the DJ was working her magic. Stairwells on either side of the bar led up to a balcony overlooking the first floor. A couple of elevators sat above the stage, the way to the private rooms.

Ares squeezed Eliza’s hand to get her attention. He leaned close to her ear, brushing her hair away. “The floor is yours, Lizzy.”

“I need a few drinks in me before I go out on that sexually tense dance floor,” she said, eyeing the uncomfortable number of patrons wrapped together. She was pretty sure she caught a woman sucking on a man like he was a lollipop. “Then again, I don’t think I want to drink. I’m afraid of what I might do.”

“I won’t let you do anything you’d be ashamed of the next morning,” Ares said, standing up straight again. “But if you don’t want to drink, I won’t make you.”

She eyed him and his pleasant smile. She wanted to drink, the atmosphere urged her to, but anything could happen in a sexually charged room. Her drunk ass did whatever she wanted. If she wanted to start macking on strangers because the rest of the room was, then she’d end up following along. It was a dangerous game to play.

“You’ll watch my back and stop me if I start doing something stupid, right?”

“Always.”

So, Eliza went into party mode. The more she drank, the more she glued herself to Ares’ side. It was like her subconscious knew that he was the only sane person in the whole building, and he would be her saving grace if things went south. Ares was sweet with her, too. She would turn away from her drink and Ares would swipe it off the counter to keep leering men from tampering with it. He also kept her rooted to her seat, not letting her run out to dance without him. When she got too close to him, as much as it hurt him to do so, he’d put distance between them again. Eliza didn’t think much of it and would drink some more. Ares watched her with amusement, a little depressed that he wasn’t the kind of man to take advantage of a drunk woman. It wouldn’t be right, or okay. His mom would kill him, and he liked living. Eliza would kill him.

When the music lowered and the clock struck midnight, Eliza flipped back to serious mode. It amazed Ares how she could go from drunk to a semblance of sober in a second. She swayed when the DJ began her announcement of his father, but her face was rigid. Ares placed a hand at her back to keep her steady, just in case.

Eliza glared as the crowds cheered as a man strolled out with his hand in the air. There was no denying that man as Ares’ father. They had the same jawline, the same nose, even the same damn eye-color; except Ezra’s eyes were darker and held power. She reached out to put her hand on her partner’s knee, but she didn’t quit staring at Ezra. She noted how Terence looked nothing like Ezra. His looks were more feminine in comparison, though he did have that same strong jawline. Her eyes shifted to Ares. He watched his father and she could see the disappointment, the pain, the shame in his eyes. What was it like to have a father who practically disowned his child because he wasn’t as heartless as him?

Eliza missed everything said while she stared between the father and son. Then her eyes landed on the woman she hated most of all. Mae came into the building alone, but her eyes searched the room for any lonely men. Her hair was braided over one shoulder while her outfit didn’t leave much to the imagination. Her eyes looked dark from the make-up she picked for a night of riding men.

The female hunter glanced at Ares, who still stared at Ezra. Then back at Mae, who eyes strayed closer to the two of them. Eliza’s hands began to shake, afraid that she’d be recognized. With Ares’ hard stare toward the stage and Mae’s knack for finding people, Eliza did the first thing her drunk mind thought was logical. She ungracefully fell onto Ares, catching his attention as he brought his hands to her shoulder to steady her. Then she kissed him. It was uncomfortably awkward. Her eyes were shut so tight to attempt blocking out her embarrassment and Ares was a stiff as a corpse. And the kiss was unbearably long for smooshing her mouth to his. Ares had to be the sane one of them and gingerly push her back.

Her eyes looked over his shoulder to see that Mae found her victim and didn’t bother acknowledging them at the bar. Eliza’s panicked attempt to keep them incognito was in vain. Her eyes shifted to Ares who stared at her, confusion was written all over his features.

“I-I thought Mae was going to recognize us… I panicked.”

Ares sighed, “You don’t think very much when you’re intoxicated. I’m cutting you off so we can have a margin of success.”

She suddenly felt like she was going to cry from embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

“Water,” he muttered to the bartender, handing him Eliza’s remaining drink. He looked at the upset woman next to him and grabbed her hand. “We’re going to put food in you, too.” He waved over a waiter and asked for some bread, cheese, and meat.

“Don’t we need to follow Mae?” Eliza asked, taking the glass of water that was placed in front of her.

“We are not moving until you are back to your normal, sober self. I shouldn’t have let you drink so much. That’s on me.”

A deep sense of hurt started to build up inside Eliza. Did he not want to kiss her? Was she ugly? Why did she even feel so upset about his reaction anyway? Of course, her drunk mouth opened before the smart part of her brain could stop it. “Am I unattractive?”

Ares blinked at her question before a soft smile appeared on his face. He tucked a curl from her wig behind her ear. “Lizzy, you are drunk, and I am not a man who takes advantage of a drunk woman. You are beautiful and desirable. If I’m going to kiss you to hide our identities or whatever, it’ll be when you will remember it the next day, all right?”

She nodded, holding her glass up close to sip from it and hide her embarrassed tears. Ares noticed and takes her into his arms. She should have felt horrified at the thought of him wanting her to remember a kiss from him. Instead, she felt comforted. Yeah, he's not like Luke.

It took another hour before Eliza was sober enough to think soundly about their situation. To her relief, Ares didn’t mention her blunder and continued pushing water into her system.

“How are we going to find Mae?” she asked, coming back from the restroom, her walk steady.

Ares tilted his head toward the stairs where the women in question meandered her way up with an enthusiastic male patron. “I’ve kept an eye on her.”

“We need to follow her. If she gets to the elevator before we can see where it stops, we’ll be interrupting a lot of interesting situations.”

“Interesting? What kind of situations?” His smirk was on his lips again.

Things seemed to be normal again. “Let’s go.”

Ares took her hand in his, pausing her walk, “We’re going to have to act like we’re getting a room for ourselves, you know.”

Eliza sighed and rubbed her face. “It’s a good thing I’ve sobered up enough to remember, huh?”

“Are you sure?” He towered over her, eyes searching hers for anything that betrayed her words.

“No, I’m not, but we need to get to her fast.”

“Don’t hate me later, okay?”

What she couldn’t say was that she learned it was hard to hate him. “We’ll see.”

With a gentle pull of her hand, Ares lead her up the stairs and toward the elevators after getting a room key. Mae and her choice of the evening were entering the elevator, her mouth latching onto his for a moment. Right before she pulled away and looked out of the closing doors, Ares pinned Eliza to the wall. He dipped his head toward her like he was going to kiss her. Eliza waited for it, but he never reached his destination. He was already pulling her toward the shut elevator. His hand felt hot like her face. She definitely had alcohol coursing through her still.

“Surprise, surprise. She’s going to the top floor,” he said, pushing the up arrow. “They may not be in a room when we get up there. Are you prepared for whatever we have to do?”

“I’m not some kind of prude, Ares,” she grumbled.

He made her look at him, “I know, but I’d like to make sure that you, who hates me, will be okay. No matter what we have to do to keep our cover. There's no need for you to hate me any more than you do already.”

The elevator dinged and they walked in, nodding at a couple who left the compartment with stars in their eyes. The doors shut and Ares pressed the button for the top floor. It jolted and began to move upward.

“I don’t hate you,” Eliza said.

Ares smiled, “I know.”

She didn’t get to say anything else before the elevator dinged again and opened the door.

Ares peeks out, searching, his arm foot keeping the doors open. He stared back at her with an apologetic look on his face. Eliza sighed and shook her arms out. She read the words “ready” from his lips before nodding.

It all happened in an instant. They came together, mouths meeting and hands finding a hold on each other. Ares backed Eliza out of the elevator, stopping once her back came in contact with the opposite wall. She could hear Mae’s obnoxious moans a little down the hall, but it all faded away when Ares started kissing her neck. Something coiled deep inside her when he spoke against her skin, asking where Mae was. Eliza could hardly focus to turn her head and see Mae push her toy into a room.

“S-She’s in a-a room,” she said, her voice breathy. Eliza suddenly wished Ares’ hair wasn’t tucked into a wig so she could tangle her fingers in it. The craving for human affection was stronger than she originally thought.

Ares left a final kiss under her jaw before standing up straight and steadying Eliza. He touched her flushed cheeks. “You all right, Lizzy?”

She nodded and started down the hall toward the room Mae disappeared into.

Ares was a good kisser, no, a great kisser. What the hell was wrong with her? It was Ares, the bane of her existence. No amount of amazing make-out sessions would change her feelings toward him. Her body buzzed when she stopped next to the door and Ares hovered behind her. It was like she was hyper-aware of every movement he made. She needed a cold shower and a nap.

“In here?” he whispered.

She nodded again, afraid to speak.

“Game plan?”

“Um,” her voice sounded strange from her lips, “we should wait a little bit. We’ll see a bit more of her than we want, but if she’s preoccupied, it’ll be easier to catch her.”

Ares chuckled, “You’ll do the catching, right?”

Eliza didn’t respond. Instead, she shoved the goosebumps that rose on her neck away when his breath fanned over her skin. Everything in her was on fire and she couldn’t tell if it was from the alcohol still stirring in her or her confused feelings about Ares. Either way, she didn’t want it.

Loud versions of Mae’s moans started to pour out from the room, making Eliza blush. She didn’t bother looking back at Ares to see his reaction. Something about staring at the man who just stirred something inside her didn’t sit right in her mind. Oh, but her body sure did want her to stare back at him. She clenched her fist, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. They needed to bag Mae, or she was going to go crazy.

“Let’s go,” she said. “Go for the man and take him out how you need to. I’ll go for Mae.”

“Got it, boss.”

Eliza inhaled once then exhaled before kicking the door open. The man’s head came up from between Mae’s legs while she took what was left of her dress and covered herself up. Ares took the man down while Eliza tackled Mae on the bed, punching her unconscious again. It was too easy every time.

“Learn how to take a punch,” she spat at the blonde. “Put him in the bathroom.”

“What are you going to do about her?”

“I have a plan.”