The Beastkeeper's Redemption

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Seven 

 -ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Izzy didn't even give him a chance to utter a solitary protest. Kaede stood at the entrance of the establishment, hidden in the labyrinthine streets of London. The gaslit cobblestones cast eerie shadows, and a chilly breeze whispered through the night air. His gaze fixated on the nondescript black doors she was heading for in a swirl of rustling fabric that made the allure of her figure almost impossible to ignore.

She left him standing in that shadowy alleyway, staring after her like a fool with his mouth hanging open like a guppy. Did she really believe that after everything they had endured over the last few days, that he'd allow her to venture into that establishment to do gods know what alone?

He snorted, abandoning his loyal mount, and made off after her. But Izzy was quicker than him, already disappearing up the few stone steps and slipping inside the black-painted doors in a swish of scarlet silks. Following her, he pushed open the doors and took one step over the threshold, muted sounds of revelry meeting his ears from deep within the belly of the building, but immediately he came to a stop.

A burly fellow stepped forward, the normal stature of male to monitor the comings and goings of the clientele of these sorts of places, and blocked his path.

"Don't think you belong here," the man said, keenly eyeing Kaede's appearance from top to toe. "Best you step away- don't want any trouble tonight."

Not to be deterred, he gave the fellow a dashing, convivial smile and jutted his chin in a vague direction somewhere behind the broad wall of shoulder blocking his path. "I am escorting the beautiful lady who just so happened to enter before me," he informed the other man, keeping his voice light and nonchalant. His mother had always said that Kaede would be able to charm his way out of any predicament, a tool he had utilised more proficiently whenever he'd had encounters with the law- but that was before... before he'd allowed such foolhardy endeavours to be the cause of his friend's near demise at his hand. Too trusting, too personable, too hotheaded. "Perhaps you know her? Miss-"

The man huffed a bereaved sigh and crossed his arms over his chest, implacable. "Don't matter who you with, I already know you haven't been here before. Unless you have a private, written, invitation, best you be off."

It was Kaede's turn to sigh, as if truly vexed by the stubborn man's insistence. "I was hoping you'd see reason and I wouldn't have to resort to this," he muttered. It was always unequivocally exciting to him when he could channel and harness elements of his power, and he did so right then, feeling his eyes begin to gleam with the faintest of luminescence. His senses attuned to the atmosphere, he discerned the undulating currents pulsing around him. With a deft flick of his hand, he drew upon the energy swirling in the air. The other man stiffened, his muscles immobilised as he slumped to the floor in a bound, helpless heap constrained by invisible bands, and Kaede glided past him with a swagger and a wink.

Perhaps later, he'd release the hold of the bindings- if he remembered. For now, however, the fellow was suitably constrained and wouldn't be a bother.

Inside the club, a muted elegance enveloped aged surroundings that had seen better days. Candlelight bathed the space beyond the entrance foyer where he had left the cad, casting a soft, golden glow upon faded gilded furnishings and dark wood. The air tingled with stale musk and the tangy, sweet smoke of opiate use, the bark of laughter and rambunctious punches of conversations blending with the clinking of glasses and heavy, uneven footsteps. Kaede's heart raced as he ventured deeper, his eyes searching for Izzy amidst the sea of clearly inebriated men and women.