Maybe I should have made up a fake name on the spot and pretended not to know who Hector Navarro was, or maybe I should have just turned around and walked back into the crowd when Beef Stick showed up. Technically, I wasn't even the same Hector who had survived the meteor anyway, so it wouldn't have been lying. 

I knew I had options here, but everything condensed down to me standing there like an idiot with my jaw flapping in the wind while the boyfriend of the guy I had dated the night before stood across from me.

I mean, I knew Ender had made it clear that he already had a boyfriend when we first talked over dinner, and we'd both been totally fine with it, but I had no idea how a guy who looked like he cuddled kittens and shielded people from exploding mines with his chiseled jaw was going to handle the fact that I'd dated the love of his life.

"Ender told me that you're some kind of artist. That's really cool, but I'm wondering what kind of tool decides to go on a date with a guy who already has a boyfriend." Jace says, and I feel like I'm a student again at a mock art show trying to explain a piece to a bunch of idiots who didn't get it. Jace was even carrying a fancy cocktail in one hand with an olive stuck on a toothpick floating around inside. I wondered if that was some kind of health code violation, especially if he drank enough and ended up with that thing impaled in his throat.

"Are you hearing what I'm saying?" Jace asks me, sounding more and more impatient. "Jesus, Ender must have forgotten to mention how weird you are. You're like a dark, creepy little doll."

At this point, I didn't know what else to say.

I mean, I was drowning here, and nobody was throwing me a lifejacket. I was like that Phil Collins song where he talked about drowning with the drums in the background and shit, you know?

My eyes dart around before finally coming to rest on the extremely glittery stage just a few feet away. People were dancing like crazy, clapping their hands, and singing along to I Was Made For Loving You as a group of women in pink bunny ears bounced across the stage. 

"We're going to need a volunteer to come up here and finish off our performance in typical Bussy's fashion!" One of them calls out, "You all know what time it is! It's spanking time!"

Cheers and screams rise up from the crowd.

"I'm actually here to get my bussy spanked on stage," I blurt before my thoughts catch up with my mouth. "And I have no idea who Hector Navarro is, so how about you just fuck right off?"

"You're--what?" Jace replies, his expression twisting in confusion.

"Hector!" Felix appears beside me with a fruity little drink, with a straw in one hand and my vodka in the other. He looked a little tipsy already as he wobbled on his feet, and most of the pink slush in his glass was half gone. "It took me forever to find you!" He exclaims, "Did you find out where Ender's working so we can kill him once and for all?"

Well, fuck me up the ass.

The look on Jace's face could have cut me into pieces had it been any more intense. 

I reach over and silently take my vodka from Felix, then tip my head back and drink the whole glass in one go without saying another word. It burned like hell going down, and for a second I wanted to vomit it right back up because I wasn't a drinker and I never had been. Instead, I hand the glass back to an open-mouthed Felix and push past him before making my way toward the stage where the girls are still dancing. 

"Where the fuck are you going?" Jace shouts hoarsely, "I'm not done with you, Navarro!"

"I volunteer as a tribute!" I shout and raise my hand in the air as I weasel my way closer to the chaos that lies before me. There was so much rainbow-colored glitter in the air that I could feel it going up my nose and into my mouth when I inhaled.

"Oh! We have a volunteer!" One of the girls with pink pigtails shouts, and then she points at me as I climb up on the stage. "Oh my God! I can't believe someone actually volunteered for this!"

"This guy must be fucking nuts," someone says from behind me.

Some of the girls help me climb up the rest of the way by pulling on my arms and tugging me up by my T-shirt. They smelled faintly like sweat and cheap perfume, but they were all pretty as hell and giggly when I stood up so they could see me. I had never been into girls much, but then again, I wasn't into much of anyone except Ender Calloway, for obvious reasons. 

"Are you guys going to spank my ass?" I raise an eyebrow at a blonde-looking woman in a knockoff Harley Quinn costume. "I've never done anything like this before."

Another girl pulls up a chair and giggles, clapping my shoulder a few times. "Oh, no, silly!" She chirps, "We're not allowed to spank volunteers, it's not part of our job description."

"Baby," Another girl with dark stubble on her chin leans her arm across my shoulder and says, "There's a reason why they call this club Bussy's, you know. Is this your first time here?"

I hear the sound of footsteps pounding slowly across the stage and a hulking shadow falls over me as I'm trying to figure out what the hell I'd just gotten myself into.

"This is Daryl," the girl hanging off my shoulder tells me. "We call him the Executioner."

"Oh my God! Yasss queen!" Felix screams from where he stands in the crowd, right in front of the stage. "I didn't know you had it in you, Hector! Best night ever in the history of ever!" 

I turn around slowly when a hairy paw touches my shoulder, beads of sweat rolling down my jaw when Daryl, the Executioner, comes into view and smiles a gap-toothed smile at me.