Neil obediently dipped into the mound he'd been served, but he didn't let Nicky or the food distract him from Andrew. Andrew collected the rest of the packets and hid them in one of his pockets. Moving was a mistake, judging by the tight look on his face. Andrew pressed the side of his hand hard against his mouth and swallowed so hard Neil heard it across the table.

It took Andrew another minute before he relaxed enough to start eating. Whatever he'd taken must have dulled the edge of his withdrawal, because he was back to a calm façade by the time he finished eating. When the bill arrived, Andrew pushed it Aaron's way, and Aaron clipped a small stack of twenties to the check. Neil looked back as they left, seeing first the people taking cracker packets from the salad bar and second the waitress pocketing the money they'd left her.

It was a short drive from the restaurant to their real destination of the night. Eden's Twilight was a two-story nightclub a couple blocks from the main road. There was a line of people waiting to get in, and the clothes they wore made Neil's outfit look plain. Most of the men wore leather, half the women had corsets, and a good number of both genders were covered in buckles and chains.

Neither the line nor the fashion deterred the cousins. Nicky pulled up the curb by the door and let them out. The pair of bouncers at the entrance perked up at their arrival, and Aaron greeted them with a complicated fist bump and handshake Neil didn't try to understand. One of the bouncers dug an orange tag out of his back pocket and handed it over, and Aaron brought it to Nicky. Nicky attached it to the rearview mirror and drove away to park the car somewhere.

Andrew saluted the bouncers on his way by and led the way into the club, bypassing the line entirely. Kevin followed, and Aaron motioned for Neil to go ahead of him.

A second set of doors opened into a madhouse. The four were standing on a dais that wrapped around the floor and was crowded with tables. Stairs led down to a packed dance floor. Somewhere stairs led up to the second floor, which was more a balcony than anything else. The DJ was off the floor on a platform of his own, positioned halfway between floors. Speakers taller than Neil lined the walls, and Neil could feel the bass crunching against his bones.

Neil stopped staring so he wouldn't fall behind and followed Kevin around the room. It took a bit of searching before they found a table. It was covered with glasses, but the stools were abandoned, so they claimed it. Andrew cleared away the cups while Aaron hunted down two more chairs. As soon as they were set, Andrew snagged his fingers in Neil's collar and pulled Neil after him toward the bar.