Chapter 5 #2
Compared to all the powers I’ve seen so far, Kat’s is a good one for working in a club like ours.
I move to replace some of the empty bottles as I call out, “I’m just not into dating right now.
” Which is an outright lie. I am interested.
It’s just that the dreams I’ve had these last few years have been so vivid that I feel like they’re real.
And it’s always him, the guy with the most perfect blue eyes.
I don’t know why I’ve been dreaming about him, but it feels so real, like we’re waiting for each other.
Yes, I know it sounds stupid, but I can’t move past it.
I even find myself going to bed early so I can see him.
I pick up a large bottle of Back, a special type of alcohol that Kat managed to get imported directly from the Underworld.
The bottle is made of glass, and the label is a light brown with odd-looking letters and symbols. I lift it up to get a better look and notice a crest of a blue dragon wrapped in roses on the side.
It’s so pretty.
I run my fingers over it. The dragon is raised slightly, and I run my fingers over the bumps and ridges as I follow the curve of the tail that’s wrapped around the neck of the bottle. “Illis” is carved into the back in silver.
Shifting the bottle in my hand, I carefully grip the cork, and it makes a light popping sound as I pull it from the top of the bottle.
A heady, sweet scent of Lemon surrounds me before everything starts to twist, distorting, making the colors and sounds around me blend. My stomach rolls, and then everything goes black.
Loud banging shakes my body, making scared butterflies take flight in my stomach. The sound is so intense, it seems like something must be under attack.
I don’t want to walk toward it. I fight with everything in me to keep my feet firmly planted where they are. But my body has other ideas, pushing me forward like an invisible set of hands are leading me.
Coming to an empty field, the grass is long and the edges have little droplets of water on them as if they are laced with pearls.
It’s dark here, with two moons shining high in the sky, bathing the ground in such a pretty light it almost shimmers. Ahead, I can see a dark shadow, a silhouette of an arm lifting into the air and bringing a hammer down hard.
Bang.
My heart speeds up, my breath fast puffing in and out of my mouth with a whooshing sound that is loud to my ears.
Bang.
Sauntering closer, I can now see it’s a man.
Bang.
His back is covered in a sheen of sweat, the liquid running over a full tattoo of vines with roses, twisting around a heart. It’s black and moves like black smoke, surrounding his body in darkness. Huge muscles move under his skin with each hit of the hammer, his shoulders broad and strong.
Bang.
He hits for the last time, then falls to his knees with a thud so hard I swear the ground shakes under my feet.
Lifting his hand, I watch as he places something on the top of what I can now see is gravestone.
“I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice is choked with tears; the sounds hit my chest like I’ve had all the air sucked out of me.
I’m hit with a grief so strong; tears prick behind my eyes as I fight the whirling pain around my heart.
Stepping closer, my hand slowly reaches out to touch his back. Just inches before I connect with him, his body starts to fade so slowly until there is nothing left.
He leaves me standing in front of the grave, a black Rose placed on top of it. I step forward, and my foot dings into something hard.
My eyes flick down. Staring back at me is a bottle of Black with a Dragon Crest curling around its neck,
I lower to pick it up when loud music starts echoing in my ears.
Frowning, my vision blurs. The lake pans out, stretching wide, the scene in front of me twists, making my stomach roll, before blackness swallows me again.
Blinking, my world fazes back to reality, I stare blankly at Kat. “What?”
She frowns, her voice full of concern. “Are you okay? You blacked out for a while then, where did you go?”
My mouth gapes open while my brain tries to work out what to say. I have no idea what just happened. That was like a vision.
Something I’ve not had in a very long time.
“I… er… was feeling a little sick, is all, I’m fine now, I think I just need to eat something, I’ll be….” My voice trails off when I notice a heavy weight pulling my hand down, my eyes lower, the bottle of Black is still firmly in my hand, the dragon and rose crest staring up at me.
Who was that man?
“Do you need me to cover for you?” Kat asks when I stop speaking.
Blinking, my eyes flick up to her, and I force a smile on my face. I know she would be more than happy to but going home right now scares me for some reason and the distraction of the club will keep my mind from wondering on what I can feel deep in my gut.
“No, you go home, enjoy your night off.” My smile wobbles a little, but she sighs, knowing not to argue. Instead, she grins back before bouncing over to me and hugging me. She grabs her stuff. “Boss, you’re pretty as hell. You should have a man on your arm, one to walk you home every night.”
“Night, Kat. Oh, and try not to terrorize anyone tonight.” I change the subject, not wanting to talk about it anymore.
She laughs and winks at me. “Now, where’s the fun in that?” I watch her walk over to where her latest “date” waits for her. Kat can be a perilous woman when she wants to be. I just hope he survives the night.
Thursday is typically a quiet night for the club.
This evening though it seems like every daemon, witch and warlock has decided to stop by for a drink, a dance and a fight.
Manny had to break up two burls. I used a glamor spell my Aunt May taught me on a woman who thought that hitting on a man with horns, with his wife sitting right next to him, was a good idea.
She is now sitting in the corner of the club, looking at a candle that she thinks is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen.
I’ve not had time to have a break yet, but I managed to watch Lucy dance—God, that girl can move. I’ve told her so many times that she doesn’t need to dance, that we have enough girls, but she insists, says it gives her a little time out. Who am I to question that?
Glancing at the clock I give Grace, one of the girls that works behind the bar, a nod to let her know I’m leaving.
Picking up a bottle of water, I walk out from behind the bar and head towards the backstage door.
At the end of the corridor, I knock on Lucy’s door before pushing it open. “Hey, chic,” I say, as I step inside.
She looks up at me and smiles before sighing. “Hey.”
Lucy has got to be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen; she’s the same age as me, mid-twenties, with white-blonde hair that falls long down her back, she has these bright blue eyes that remind me of the sky on a hot summer’s day, and a smile that makes you want to smile right back. But tonight, that smile is missing.
“You okay?” I ask as I place the water on her desk and move to sit down on the chair opposite her. Lucy leans back in her own chair and closes her eyes before she speaks.
“Honestly? No. We’re overbooked this week for the VIP rooms. I’ve had one girl give me her notice, and Mekhi, who is supposed to DJ tomorrow night. Has called in sick.”
I hold my hand up to stop her. The ridiculousness of Mekhi calling in sick makes my lips twitch with laughter. “Hold on a second. Mekhi called in sick? He knows we live with him, right? He can’t call in sick.”
Lucy shrugs her shoulders as she raises an eyebrow.
We both have our respective responsibilities that we look after for the club—Lucy oversees security, VIP, and the books for the main club.
At the same time, I manage the bar, the dancers, the DJs, and the bar's books. Together, we have it all covered.
I lean back in my chair. “I’ll have a word with Mekhi, and as for the girl who handed in her notice, I’ve known about it for a while.
I’ve already got another girl on call ready to start,” I tell her as I pull my phone out, opening my emails and scroll through until I find her message.
“Here it is… Eden.” Handing my phone to Lucy, I grin.
“She has worked in clubs before and is a dancer, too.”
Lucy reads the messages, then looks up. “Can she come in for an audition?”
I nod my head. “She’s ready to go when we call her.”
“Is she nice?” Lucy worries about her lip.
I know she hates having new people coming into the bar.
We have such a great bunch of girls, we want nothing to mess it up.
Standing slowly, I move to the window and look out over the field next door.
We picked this spot in town for the club because it was at the end of the main street, more private for all our VIPs.
“Yeah, she is. I’ve only spoken to her a few times. She has a two-year-old daughter, but from the sounds of things, she knows our world very well.” I turn to face Lucy, who smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. I know that look all too well, and I know she has something on her mind.
“Want to talk about it?” I say, giving her the look, the one that says, “You know you can’t hide things from me. I can read you like a book.”
She starts to shake her head, then leans back in the chair. “No, I’ve just not been sleeping that well. I’ll be fine”
Lucy brushes me off, and for now, I’ll let it go. She has been spending a lot of time in her room lately. I’m wondering if she is getting scared again. When we found her, she spent many days not wanting to leave the house, and I didn’t blame her.
Our world can be scary at times.
“I think we need to strengthen the wards around the house. Just to make sure they are still holding. We don’t need another Luka.”
At the sound of his name, both Lucy and I burst out laughing. Luka was a daemon we’d met at the club that spent the better part of two weeks outside our house, sending gifts to us because he wanted us both.
“Remember what he said? That he’s more than enough daemon to please us both and would pay gold for the pleasure to prove it?” I shudder.
“Oh my god, yes, and that his two cocks would please us in ways we could only imagine.” Lucy giggles.
“Do you really think he had two? Like, that would actually be really hard to… er… get in.” I wonder.
Lucy and I both laugh harder, and it pleases me to see my friend happy again. I was going to tell her about the daemon in the park, but I’ll leave it for now. She has enough to stress about as it is. If whoever he is turns up again, I will handle it.
“We would have to be some kind of contortionist if we were to try.” There are tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.
“I can’t even believe he thought that could work,” I say, sobering up as I take another sip of water.
“Let’s not talk about him. As funny as it was, it still gives me the creeps.” Lucy shudders.
“Why don’t you go home and get some sleep. I can lock up, and Manny can always walk me home.” I tell her.
“Okay, are you sure?”
I nod. “Manny will. He hates it if either of us walks home alone late at night. I need to go over my order again. We have a Burlesque night next week, and I need to make sure the costumes arrive on time. I’ll come straight home after.” I walk to the door and pull it open. “Go… get an early night.”
“Early? It’s one o’clock already.”
I laugh. “Okay, go get some sleep. Oh, and don’t forget, I’m going to see my aunt tomorrow, and I’ll be gone for the rest of the week, so Kat’s covering for me.”
Lucy nods. “Will you bring me back some carrot cake?”
My aunt always sends me home with an array of baked goods, which we end up having to freeze because there are so many. Wednesday is the twentieth anniversary of the day my parents were both killed. I always spend that week with my aunt, my mom’s sister, and this year will be no different.
After my parents were killed, I went to live with my aunt and my grandfather; they were the only family I had left. My aunt raised me just as my mother wanted her to.
I realize my thoughts have carried me away again as I’m pulled into Lucy’s arms for a hug. I didn’t even see her cross the room to me. She whispers, “Do you want me to come with you?” I hug her back tight, feeling the sting of tears behind my eyes. I miss my mom so much that it hurts.
“No, I’ll be fine. I don’t even know what she wants to do this year.” Last year we had a party with just the two of us. I got very drunk, and we cried a lot. “I’ll call you.”
“Promise?”
Smirking at her, I nod, “Yes, I promise.”
Pulling back from the hug, I swipe at the tears running down my cheeks.
I was only five when I lost them. At the time I was too young to understand what was happening.
One day, I was kissing my mom goodbye when she left for work, and the next, she was gone.
It took me a long time to stop crying for both her and my father at night time, for me to realize that I was never going to see them again, never going to kiss my mom or have my dad make me star shaped pancakes for breakfast. I miss them every day.
I put on my brave face and smile. “Go home. I might see you in the morning, but I want to leave early.”
Kissing my check, Lucy grabs her coat and we both walk out of her office.
“If I don’t see you in the morning, drive safe and text me when you get there, okay?”
I nod and watch Lucy leave out of the side door. Walking back down the hall, I open the door to the club and grin when the music hits me. I make my way to the bar, noticing a guy who seems to have his eyes fixed on Grace. I laugh lightly and wave my hands in front of his face.
“What can I get you?”