Chapter 17
Hugo
Having Zay’s grandparents or aunts, uncles, and cousins follow me around for the last three weeks had been… interesting. Honestly, it had been fine for the first week or so, but then it started getting a bit annoying. Or maybe distracting since everyone at work was aware that I now had bodyguards.
It was weird.
How did a guy like me, someone who’d had literally no one in his life he could count on aside from his sister, go from that life—the one where I was constantly struggling to pay for food, to pay my rent, to trust people—to one where I had the biggest family in the country, perhaps the world, so invested in my safety that they were following me around like a pack of lost puppies?
How was this my life?
I loved Zay’s family so much, but good grief, I could use a break.
Not that I was about to ask for one. I appreciated their help, and I definitely appreciated the fact that they were trying to keep me safe. But I just wasn’t used to… relying on other people for anything.
It was a big adjustment, that was for sure.
“Soooooo… who’s the hunk you’ve got following you around this time?” Arzu asked as they leaned on the bar, waiting for me to finish making them a tray of drinks for one of their tables.
I glanced over at Zay’s Uncle Hiro and grimaced. “Um, that’s Zay’s uncle. He’s like a million years old. Way too old for you.”
They laughed and clutched at their heart. “You wound me. I’m not as young as I look.” They smirked at me. “And anyway, he’s clearly taken. I just like looking.” They winked at me as I passed them the tray, and I laughed, shaking my head.
I wasn’t even surprised when Quinn came over a minute later, looking grumpy and put-out.
“What’s up, Quinny?”
He wrinkled his nose at the random nickname, but didn’t say a word about it. Instead, he asked, “Why does Arzu keep checking that guy out? Like, could they make it any more obvious?”
I held in my snort. “Dude, you need to ask them out.”
Quinn shot his head back to me. “Wh-what?”
“Um, you need to ask Arzu out. Clearly, you like them.”
To my surprise and delight, Quinn’s cheeks turned pink. “I, um, I-I, uhhh… um… what, um, what do you mean?”
Biting back a grin, I shrugged. “You’ve been pining after that cutie since the moment they started working here.”
Quinn’s eyes shot to me, looking alarmed. “Do you think they noticed?”
This time, I couldn’t keep my laugh back. “Dude, everyone’s noticed. Even the regulars.”
A guy three bar stools down leaned around the other patrons to add in, “It’s true. We even have a betting pool. If you could at least wait until Friday to—”
“Knock it off, Jimmy,” I called out good-naturedly, and laughed when his friend smacked the back of his head.
Quinn’s entire face was now red, and he hissed, “Is he serious? A betting pool?”
I shrugged. “Yep.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Oh my Mother, you’re in on it, aren’t you?”
I tried, and failed, to hold back a laugh. “Maybe.”
He let out a groan and rubbed his face with his hand. “Whatever, man. Rude.” He turned to walk away, but I reached out and gently tugged on his sleeve so he’d turn back.
“All joking aside, I really think you should ask them out.”
He looked unsure. “What if they say no?”
“They won’t.”
“Really?”
“Look, I obviously don’t know them as well as I know you, but it’s clear that they like you, Quinn. I promise I wouldn’t say anything about it if I thought you’d get hurt.”
His gaze softened a tad. “Yeah… yeah, okay. Thanks, Hugo.”
“Anytime.” When he started to walk away, I called out, “If you do it by tomorrow, I’ll split the profits with you.”
I could see him shaking his head in disbelief, but when he looked to the side, I could also see a big smile.
“That’s cheating!” Jimmy yelled, and I laughed with a shrug as everyone else started putting their two cents in.
“Hey, mezelie?”
Without hesitation, I answered Zay through our bond. “What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Yes. I, um, so my study group finally finished, and someone suggested going out for some food and drinks. Is it okay if I bring them to your bar?”
“Babe, you don’t have to ask. That sounds fun, and I’d love to see you.”
“Awesome. We’ll be there soon.”
With a smile on my face, I quickly cleaned up my latest mess and continued serving my customers.
I knew Zay was about to walk in before the doors even opened.
I could sense him getting closer to me, and I assumed it was a viramore thing.
When he walked inside, he gave Quinn a wave at the door, then headed straight for me, not paying one bit of attention to all the looks people were giving him.
I couldn’t blame them, not really, since he was so damn gorgeous.
But I didn’t want all those eyes on what was mine.
Luckily, Zaos walked straight up to me, reached over the bar, and gently tugged me close by the collar.
Before I could say a word, he claimed my lips with his, and I couldn’t help but smile against him.
I let him kiss me soundly for a few seconds, and I was almost distracted enough to start making out with him.
But someone let out a catcall, and I realized I was at work, so I gently broke the kiss without moving back.
I smiled up at him. “Hi.”
“Hi, isa mezelie.”
“Missed you.”
His smile turned warm. “Missed you too.” He pressed a sweet little kiss to the side of my mouth, then let me go.
Before he could pull away fully, I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He returned the gesture before waving at the group of people he’d brought with him. Apparently, they’d all made it past Quinn’s ID-ing and all that jazz while Zay kissed the hell out of me.
I knew my cheeks were flaming as bright as Quinn’s had earlier, but I tried to ignore it.
I obviously already knew Beatrix, so I gave her a small fist-bump before letting Zay introduce me to the rest of his friends—Dean, Rovra, Joey, Sidney, Judah, and Lilac. I’d heard about each and every one of them, so I felt like I knew them a little already.
Arzu came over. They’d already met Zay and Beatrix, of course, but I introduced them to the rest of the group before letting them lead the group to a table close to the bar. Arzu was a great server, so I knew they were all in good hands.
“Wow,” Jimmy called over. “You sure do got a handsome one there, Hugo.”
I let out a small sigh. “Tell me about it.” Then I turned to him with a smile. “Ready for a refill?”
He held up his nearly empty glass. “Always.”
I snorted and got back to work.
By the time we were an hour away from closing, I was dead on my feet.
Zay and his friends were still here, which was honestly surprising.
I’d thought everyone would’ve called it an early night, but I guess they’d been studying a lot lately, preparing for their final, so they’d needed a night out. I couldn’t blame them.
I walked into the back to grab a box of bottled beers we were nearly out of, and I heard voices arguing near the bathroom. I wasn’t too worried about it—drunk people were often loud and rude—so I opened the storage room, but I heard a higher-pitched voice yell, “Stop!”
That froze me in my tracks. Considering what many drunk people did—make stupid decisions and sometimes even get violent—I figured I should check it out. So I locked the door and headed down the hall to get a better idea of the situation.
The hallway that led to the workers’ area met up with the hall to the public bathroom, so I stopped at that little intersection and peeked around the corner.
There was a person standing there in a black coat with a hood on. Their back was to me, so all I could see was that they had broad shoulders and were taller than me, even taller than Zaos, I thought.
“I told you I don’t want to do it anymore,” a voice that sounded suspiciously like Beatrix said, and my brow furrowed. Who in the world was she talking to? I couldn’t even see her tiny body with the way the man took up the entire space.
“And I told you that I don’t give a shit what you want.” That voice was very deep, almost growly, and definitely sinister.
Also, he was obviously an asshole.
“I only agreed to it because, well, you know my family. But I’m done. I’m out. I’m not doing it anymore, so just leave me the hell alone.” She sounded frightened, but she also sounded sure and like she wasn’t about to budge even an inch.
“I don’t care!” The man practically yelled in her face, stepping closer to her—I could at least see her feet a bit—and leaning down.
He grabbed her wrist and yanked her to the side, putting them both in full view. He was in her face again. Like so close it looked like he wanted to bite her or something, and honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him with some kind of fangs or something.
She let out a startled sound and tried to pull away, then winced and said, “Ow, you’re hurting me,” when he tightened his hold on her.
And that was it. I was done.
I rounded the corner and yelled, “Let her go.” Then through my bond with Zay, I said, “Someone’s hurting Bea at the bathrooms.”
I didn’t wait for a reply because the man snarled at me. He turned, and I saw a flash of teeth, but that was it because his hood was pulled over his face, casting him in shadow.
“This is none of your business, human.” The way he said human was like we weren’t even worthy to be the dirt on his shoes.
“Hugo! Run!” Beatrix screamed just as the man rushed me.
He moved so fast there was no way he wasn’t some kind of supernatural with supersonic speed. He barreled into me, knocking me on my back.
I let out a loud, “Oomph,” as the wind was knocked out of me.
I tried to catch my breath, but he landed on top of me, knocking the wind from my lungs again. I couldn’t breathe.
I. Couldn’t. Breathe.
Then a manic grin crossed his face as a piercing pain split my chest in two.
Burning. Fire.
Lava on my chest.
My entire body felt like it was lit on fire.
I screamed out, and before I’d even blinked again, the man was gone, running for the back exit.
Fire.
Fuck. Was I on fire?
Why couldn’t I breathe?
Did someone suck all the oxygen out of the room?
Everything hurt.
Everything hurt so fucking bad.
I could sense my viramore getting closer, but I couldn’t move. Everything hurt, and I couldn’t move.
Was I paralyzed?
My eyes kept blinking slowly, my vision blurry.
What the hell was happening?
I choked on something liquidy in my mouth, flecks of something dark flying through the air as I coughed.
What was happening? Why did everything feel like I’d been dipped in acid?
I needed to get off my back.
I tried to lift myself off the floor, and a loud scream of pain echoed through my ears. It took me a second to realize it was my own scream, and it took me another second to notice Zaos’s face over the top of mine.
He was so beautiful, my incubus, even when he was crying.
Wait. Why was he crying?
Beatrix knelt on my other side, but when she reached for me, Zay flipped out. I heard a muffled, “Don’t fucking touch him,” a moment before his pretty black incubus magic whipped out of him and surrounded me in a cocoon.
Then all I could see was Zay and his magic and his beautiful, sad, panicked expression.
I wanted to tell him it’d be okay, but I could barely keep my eyes open, and I couldn’t seem to… to breathe.
Why couldn’t I catch my breath?
I coughed, and more liquid flew. Some of it landed on Zay’s pretty face.
Oh. Blood.
I was bleeding?
My eyes felt heavy, and I heard Zay’s panicked pleas, “Please, Hugo. Don’t go. Stay with me. Please, stay with me.”