Because of all of that, and our history, I did what my ancestors did.
I shut up, kept my head down, and trudged forward into Bass.
“Heya, Nadeem.”
I lifted my head up, giving a grunt as a greeting to Terath. He was one of the bouncers, and he was one of my cousins. He wasn’t a sensor, though. He married into the family, but he knew all the secrets.
“You sure you should be here?”
See.
Another grunt was my response, and him knowing how I was, he sighed and opened the door for me. “Don’t get dead.”
A third grunt. But it was so true.
Once inside, the energy was better.
I wasn’t even going to try to figure that out, because it should be thicker inside. Inside, I saw sexy goblins, sexy nurses, sexy vampires, sexy werewolves, sexy iguanas, sexy—everything. Wait. A girl had a cow costume on, with the udders hanging out in front of her, but the general costume wasn’t sexy. Just the udder part.
Moving on.
I veered over to the bar and grabbed the first open standing area I found.
Leaning over and looking from one end to the other, I saw two bartenders and I had to stifle a curse because they were bartenders I didn’t like. Both demons. And not Nik.
One saw me and came over, a mean glint in his eye. “Surprised you’re here tonight.” He reached for a glass.
I opened my mouth. I wasn’t here to drink.
He poured me a martini, and well, he was done before I could protest.
He slid it over, dark humor mingling with that mean glint.
The mean glint was always there, because he was a demon. I was trying not to let my hackles get worked up about it, but this was Trey and that was hard to do. He was a cocky asshole on a good day, which said a lot for him being a demon. That basically said he was a good guy.
“On the house if you drink it and leave when you’re done.”
There were so many loopholes with that one. I took it and looked around. “There’s a lot of humans in here.”
“We cater to humans too.”
I gave him a look. There were more than the normal amount they usually let in.
He indicated my drink. “Drink, then go.”
Yeah, yeah.
I would drink it, and when I was done with why I came here, then I would leave. Easy-peasy. Contract fulfilled.
Trey narrowed his eyes, suspicion pinching his eyebrows together as I took my drink and stepped backwards. I was hoping to vanish into the crowd, like actually vanish, but I didn’t have that type of power. Well, not without—never mind.
So, I had a drink. Point given.
I didn’t know where Nik was. Point taken away.
I moved through the club, keeping to humans. They were drunk and annoying, but they didn’t want to potentially use me—a guy’s hand fell to my ass at that moment and he curved his body around mine. His mouth came to my ear right as he squeezed me. “Hey, baby. How you doi—”
I switched my drink to my other hand, reached up, and grabbed his wrist.
I slid a thumb over his artery, and he paused. I felt his swift intake of breath, and saw the excitement spike in his energy.
I took a firm hold of his wrist and wrenched it.
A startled and strangled scream erupted from him, and his body fell away from me.
He went to his knees, cradling his arm, and he gaped at me with tears in his eyes. “You—you broke my wrist, you bitch!”
Ugh.
Maybe I wouldn’t hide among the humans after all.
I didn’t respond to him, just lifted my drink for a sip and kept on moving. He had two friends with him, so I was eyeing both, but they only went to his side. One jostled into his side, and a second scream came from him.
His buddies were drunk. One girl with their group was staring at the broken-wrist guy in shock. Her eyes were wide and blinking, before she transferred her gaze to me. More blinking. Eyes still just as big, and she shook her head before she went over to his side.
I moved farther away, slipping around another wave of humans. Then, a second.
I couldn’t see Nik anywhere on the first floor. I couldn’t sense her energy either. That meant she was in an upper level, and that meant more security.
Just as I was heading for one of the stairs, I felt a shift in the air and glanced back.
The broken-wrist guy was standing and pointing to me. Two of the security guards were with him. One I knew. He was a demon, and like Trey, he didn’t like me either. His eyes shuddered black for a bit.
Crap. That wasn’t a good sign.
Also, there were a lot of demons here too. I was seeing way more than the normal amount for them.
Trey reached for his radio, and yep, totally needed to hurry my ass along. I didn’t have time to be Veronica Mars.
I was moving along one of the back hallways, going from the second-floor bar to the third level when suddenly that black energy from outside engulfed me.
A hand gripped my arm.
I had a moment’s notice to give a squeak, see my drink splash, and I was dragged into a room.
Not good. Not good at all.
5
Who’s The Big Bad?
“What are you doing here?”
I recognized Nik’s hiss, and relaxed. Fuck, I thought the Big Bad had gotten me.
We were in a janitor’s closet, and I felt for the light switch. Turning it on, I looked down first.
My drink was okay. I only lost a little bit of it.
I looked and saw my best friend in full demon mode.
“Whoa.”
I hadn’t seen her like this, ever.
“What?” She retracted her hand and stepped back. She began patting herself. “What?’
“You got your horns out.”
“What?!” Her hands flew to her head and she began feeling through her hair.
I was tempted to watch her keep feeling around before she figured it out, but also, she should know. The horns aren’t literal, but the shadows of the demon’s horn show when they’re feeling all-demony.
I’d never seen her horns’ shadows come out to play.
She kept patting, panicked, and I took pity.
“Stop.” I reached for her hand, pulling it down. “You know just the shadows show. You don’t actually grow horns while you’re up here.”
“Oh, yeah.” Her relief was audible. “Thank Go—I mean. Whatever.” She growled, remembering. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for you.”
“Why?”
“Why?! Are you kidding?”
The black energy was attached to her, and it rose upwards, moving to her face.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A shiver went down my spine. Why did I get a feeling the energy was staring at me, like it could actually see me? That had never happened.
I broke out into a cold sweat.
“You’ve got the Big Bad’s energy all around you.” I paused, watching her to see her reaction.
There was no shock. She only eased away from me an inch. Her eyebrows dipped down. “So? I’m working the room that he’s in.”
He. I’d been right.
Also, I had a fifty-fifty shot there, so I didn’t know why I was rejoicing.
She eased away even farther, crossing her arms over her chest. “You shouldn’t be here, especially tonight.”