Chapter 2
Two
Zamir
Music smacked into me as I pushed through the door of The Lair, and I winced, taking a moment to adjust my ears.
If this was a supe-only bar, it would've been quieter, but unfortunately, humans were welcome here too, and the music was loud enough to threaten a headache, even though supes couldn't get one.
I stuck to the edges of the crowd as I made my way around the dance floor and between the standing tables. Humans and supes alike danced to the beat, alone or with a partner. With multiple partners if they were really lucky.
The air was thick with the scent of sweat and too many bodies in too small a space, and I breathed through my mouth, giving my nose a few moments to brace against the assault.
The bar area was as packed as the dance floor, but a woman left her barstool as I arrived, and I claimed it before anyone else could, placing my elbows on the bar top.
A round-faced human woman with dark hair in a bun on top of her head and warm brown eyes approached me from the other side of the counter, a bottle of alcohol in her hand.
"Hey, there. What can I get you?"
Wait. How was I supposed to order the supe drinks? Keoni had told me they had a menu, but how was I supposed to ask for it? Was there a code word? Why hadn't I asked Keoni for more details?
"Uh, I heard something about a special menu?" I ended up asking, and her eyes lit up.
"Of course! Give me a sec," she said, and I watched as she picked up a menu from a shelf at the back. "Here you go. I haven't seen you here before. New to town?"
I leafed open the menu, chuckling at some of the drink names. Whoever had picked these had clearly had their fun with them.
"Not really. My friend, Haruto, told me about this place, so I thought I'd check it out. And I think I'd like to try a Lusty Incubus."
The woman grinned. "Great choice. I'm Sofia, by the way."
"Zamir," I replied with a nod, and she shot me a cheeky salute.
"I'll be right back with your drink."
As she disappeared into the back—they must not have kept the supe drinks within easy access—I glanced around, and my eyes latched onto the other bartender.
He stood on the other end of the long bar, his orange-tipped blond hair a beacon in the dim bar. He was a supe for sure. I couldn't tell what kind from here, but Haruto had mentioned the owner was a dragon, so I guessed that was him.
He was stunning. Two lip rings pierced his lower lip on each side, and they glittered every time the strobe lights flashed on his face.
His skin gleamed as if it struggled to hide the glow of his dragon side, and his green eyes reflected the light that hit them, making them seem luminous.
Everything about him was warm and bright, and I couldn't bring myself to look away.
"Here we are," Sofia said, and I forcefully jerked my gaze away from the dragon, eyeing the bright blue drink she'd placed in front of me. A fruity scent tickled my nose, and I pulled the drink closer as it fizzed, letting the chill of the glass cool my heated skin.
I took a careful sip, and hummed as the liquid slid down my throat in a cool wave while simultaneously sending heat spreading through my limbs.
"Good?" Sofia asked, and I nodded as another patron called her over, and she left me to enjoy my drink in peace.
As I drank, my eyes were drawn back to the dragon, and I watched as he mixed a drink, his hands moving with finesse as he flipped and twirled the shaker, turning it into a show for the women watching him like hungry hawks.
I downed the rest of my drink, waving at Sofia for a refill, and she winked at me, quickly getting me a replacement before turning to some new arrivals.
It was only when I'd finished the second drink that I started feeling the effects. My limbs were loose, my head a little fuzzy as the music around me muted to a tolerable volume, as the people around me faded into the background.
The emptiness in the pit of my stomach that I'd been struggling to get rid of for the last few weeks had disappeared as well, leaving me feeling, for the first time in a very long while, okay.
I didn't want to stop feeling like this yet, so I ordered another drink, and then another one after that.
At some point, I decided dancing seemed like a fun idea, and after downing another drink, I slid into the throng. I'd never danced before—no one would call what Keoni and I did when we were bored dancing—and I had no idea what I was doing, but I did it anyway.
It was only when a human man tried to pull me into his arms that some of my sense returned, and I extricated myself from his arms before my other side could get hold of his life force.
It'd been a while since I'd last fed, and while I hadn't reached the point where I needed to feed, I was hungry enough that I wouldn't be able to resist a human.
A human's life was short, and yet they wanted to do so much with it, which made their life force that much more potent and attractive to someone like me.
I retreated to the bar once again, and Sofia slid another drink to me. "Those were some moves," she teased, and I groaned, covering my face with my palms.
"Forget you ever saw them."
She laughed, then flitted away to serve someone else as I lost myself in my thoughts.
Or lack thereof. Drinking was quite fun.
I'd have to do this again. This was much better than sitting in my house, staring at a blank wall, or hanging out with my friends and watching them make out with their mates.
"This one is your last. Did you drive here?"
I blinked, then realized the bar had gotten quiet. What the...? I glanced around and realized the bar was practically deserted, with only a few stragglers left behind, including me.
I shook my head as I sipped my drink, taking my time with it since it was apparently my last. I'd have to go back to the Sanctuary soon. Was it wrong that I didn't want to? That I'd felt more at peace in this loud, noisy bar than I had in my own home for weeks?
Nolan
I eyed the shtriga as I finished cleaning up. He'd been sitting at the bar for hours, except for his brief foray into dancing. He'd consumed drink after drink, and didn't seem to have any interest in leaving. It was closing time, though, which meant I needed him out of here.
At the same time, I couldn't set a drunk shtriga loose into the streets, not when I didn't know him at all.
I'd met a few of his kind over the years, and while they'd been good people, I knew they'd worked hard to be so.
A shtriga under the influence could easily lose control, especially if he hadn't fed in a while.
Sofia shot a look at me as she took away his empty glass, and I nodded. Smiling, she went into the back as I walked over to stand in front of the shtriga. I'd heard him mention Haruto, and it made me wonder.
'"Do you live at the Sanctuary?" I asked, and he peered up at me.
He has pretty eyes. The thought came out of nowhere, and I shook my head, forcing it away. His eyes were dark brown. Plain, simple brown with nothing special about them. Nothing at all.
"Yeah. You know about it?"
"Yep. Come on, I'll walk you home."
He raised a brow at me, resting his chin on his fists as he watched me. He had a neat beard, the same black shade as the curls on his head. "Do you walk all your patrons home?"
"Just the ones who might be a danger to others when drunk," I joked, but his gaze cooled as he glanced away, then got to his feet.
"Right. Well, let's go then."
I'd hit a nerve, hadn't I? I would walk him home, but it was very likely I'd never see him again after that.
I ducked into the back to tell Sofia what I was doing, and she assured me she'd lock up.
As I joined the shtriga, he tugged at the collar of his dark green turtleneck before stalking toward the exit at a pace far too fast for someone who'd been drinking for the last four hours.
I kept pace with him, which annoyed him if the grunt he let out was anything to go by, and I shook my head. I had put my foot in my mouth with that comment, hadn't I?
"I'm Nolan, by the way. And sorry about what I said before. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Zamir." That was all he offered, and I figured I wasn't going to get anything else from him.
Stars twinkled above as we walked—Zamir a few steps ahead of me—the short distance from my bar to the abandoned building the Sanctuary was anchored to.
I'd never been inside, but I knew the sorcerer who'd created the pocket realm must be one strong magic wielder.
I had no idea how one person managed to keep that place running, especially when the human residents had no magic to contribute to the place. Didn't that unbalance things?
I'd only ever met one other sorcerer who had enough power to do something like this, and that had been centuries ago, and not under the best circumstances. I hoped to meet the sorcerer one day so I could pick his brain about the whole thing.
A cool breeze brushed against the back of my neck, and I breathed in, enjoying the empty streets. Usually, this part of town was busy, but after midnight, the place calmed down, turning almost pleasant.
I dropped the magic that kept my senses shielded now that I was out of the bar—it was the only way I could work all night with the music pounding in my ears—and the sound of crickets, rustling leaves, and the distant meowing of some stray cat hit my ears all at once.
The air was thick with the scent of exhaust, with notes of spices, cheese, and coffee reaching my nose, probably from the diner at the end of the street.
"Here we are," I said as we stopped in front of the building. It must've been a gathering hall at some point, but for years now, it'd lain abandoned—or so the humans believed.
While the residents of the Sanctuary didn't live in this building itself, the door to the Sanctuary was anchored to the door of this building, and while a human would step into the building when he opened the door, a supe like Zamir—who lived at the Sanctuary—would reach the pocket realm. It was an ingenious bit of magic.
Zamir nodded, then glanced at me. "Thank you, for walking me home."
A breeze sifted through his dark curls, and I sucked in a breath when it hit me square in the face, bringing with it his scent. His unmistakably familiar scent.
Oh no. No way. This could not be happening. Why now?
"Are you okay?" Zamir asked, and I cleared my throat, then nodded. He clearly hadn't recognized me. Or he had a very good poker face. Either way, I wasn't telling him. This wasn't what I wanted, and it would be pointless to tell him only to reject him.
If he didn't know, it was better this way, and if he did, he must not want it either since he hadn't said a word.
That was okay, though. Mate bonds weren't for everyone.
I watched as he climbed the three stairs, then grabbed the knob of the large wooden door, wondering if I'd ever see him again. Some of those supes could spend years without ever leaving the Sanctuary, after all.
Zamir opened the door and disappeared inside, and I stood there for a moment before forcing myself to take a step back.
"Uh..." Zamir came back out, stopping me in my tracks.
"What's wrong?"
He pulled the door open wider, and I peered inside. Huh.
It was dark inside, but my sight was sharp enough I could see the graffitied walls, the broken furniture lying around... this wasn't the Sanctuary. It was the actual building. What the hell?
"Try again," I suggested, and he closed the door, then opened it again with the same results.
"Can you call someone?" I asked, and he pulled out a phone, thumbed around on the screen, then pressed it to his ear.
"The number you have dialed is currently unreachable. Please try..." I heard the automated voice say, and Zamir groaned as he ended the call. He tried a few other numbers, all with the same result.
"Not again," he grumbled, catching my attention.
"This has happened before?" I asked, and he shrugged as he came back down the stairs.
"Not this specifically, but we've been having some problems. Minor things, mostly. Until now."
So maybe the sorcerer was struggling.
"What are you going to do now?" I asked, and he pursed his lips.
"I'll stay here. Keep trying."
I didn't think so. He was still drunk, though this issue had sobered him up a little. And if a human—especially a human cop—were to pass by and see him sitting there in front of an abandoned building, they would have a lot of questions for him.
"Or you can sleep on my couch and try again tomorrow," I suggested, and he gazed at me for a moment. His smile was sharp and without humor.
"So I don't go rampaging through the town?"
"It was a joke. I didn't mean anything by it."
He searched my gaze for another long moment before he nodded, though it took a lot out of him.
What was I doing? Five minutes ago, I'd found out this man was my mate and decided I wanted nothing to do with him. And now I'd invited him to my home. Why would I do that?
"This way," I said, leading him back the way we'd come as I forcefully cleared my mind. I'd worry later. For now, I needed to get this man settled in my home. "By the way, how are you with animals?"