Chapter 22 #3
I shared worried looks with the girls, at least silently bonding with them over this ensuing traumatic event. Meanwhile, the ghostly club worker poured the deep red, nearly black, liquid into a shot glass.
“Addie,” Perseus tried, reaching out as though to stop her. “I really wouldn’t—”
“One sip, and she’ll spit it out,” Coldin deadpanned, his emerald eyes never leaving her face.
Addie huffed a condescending laugh. She grabbed the shot glass, faced Coldin fully, and without hesitating, threw the drink back in one go before slamming the empty glass onto the bar.
If she thought the taste was awful, she gave no visible sign of it.
She merely smiled and wiped her red-tinted lips while batting her lashes at Coldin. Eden clapped jovially.
“I always swallow, never spit. Such a waste, you know?” She spun on her heel and raised an arm into the air while yelling, “To the dance floor!”
Eden waved at us once Addie was slightly out of earshot. “I’ll be on oblivious human babysitting duty! You guys join us after you get your drinks.” She bounced after Addie, who’d already found some shirtless and insanely muscular demon to dance with on the dance floor.
“I wish I had some gum to offer her,” I mumbled. “I bet that tasted awful.”
Xander chuckled and nodded his chin at the drummer. “Coldin. Why don’t you go wash it down for her?”
Coldin’s expression never changed as he pushed away from the counter.
Wordlessly, he went up behind Addie mid-dance, grabbed a fistful of her long blonde-and-pink hair, and yanked her head back, only to drop his pierced mouth to hers.
The two instantly seemed to fight for dominance in a mess of tongues, teeth, and lips.
I cleared my throat at the obscene sight and turned away.
“Crazy to see such open sexual displays like that, huh?” Iyla mused as she took the seat next to mine. “I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been here, and I still can’t get used to all the physical displays that happen.”
“I’m pretty sure you and Zagan fucked on the dance floor in front of everyone,” Harper teased with a purse of her lips as she came up on Iyla’s other side. “That’s what Perseus told me.”
Iyla turned so red, I worried blood would seep out of her pores.
Unbothered by the revelation, Zagan leaned in and licked Iyla’s ear while murmuring, “And what a good fuck that was. Not to mention that first time under the table over there.”
“You guys are going to scare my girl,” Xander admonished.
I humphed and nursed my drink. “I’m not your girl, and they won’t scare me.”
Iyla, Harper, and Serenity accepted their drinks from the bartender before looking at me with an excited gleam in their eyes.
“Xander said you can see ghosts,” Serenity beamed, practically overflowing with envy. “Can you really?”
I glanced at the demon in question, who merely smiled innocently. Could that have been what he’d stopped the girls to tell them? I supposed disclosing my freakishness up front before it came out on its own was smart.
“You guys can, too,” I pointed out with a raised brow. I gestured at the bartender who was serving a demon down the counter. “The guy who just gave you your drinks is a ghost.”
“What?” the trio gasped.
“That’s because we’re in Hell,” Xander explained to the excitable girls. “Spirits, souls, demons, all manner of things invisible to the human eye are visible down here.” He placed a kiss on the tip of my nose and whispered, “You’re the only special Ghost Speaker here.”
I swatted him away, even as heat tingled the tips of my ears.
“I can’t believe I’ve been accepting drinks from a ghost this whole time,” Iyla exclaimed with wide eyes.
“That surprises you, but your demon boyfriend doesn’t?” Serenity laughed.
The crowd around the bar started to grow heavier. My heart pounded as demons drew closer to where we all sat.
Xander placed his hand on the back of my head to run his fingers through my hair while pulling me closer to whisper, “Let’s move away from the bar to give you some room, yeah?”
I wasn’t sure if he’d picked up on my growing discomfort or if he just wanted away from the crowd himself, but I was grateful either way. I nodded.
Xander addressed the group that still remained at the bar. “Let’s move to a table so it’s easier for everyone to talk.”
The eight of us moved to a table. If I’d thought I was nervous before, an all new type of panic unleashed inside of me now.
There were only five seats made of crushed pink velvet with black accents at the table.
I watched in horror as the guys gave the table to us girls and stood off to the side where they could talk amongst themselves while also keeping an eye on us.
I wanted to shout for Xander to come back, to not leave me alone in this social setting where I was bound to fuck up and ruin his friendship with these girls forever. But the demon only smiled encouragingly at me and nodded toward the trio who settled into chairs.
I faced dead people daily with an unbothered nonchalance, but three human girls? That was terrifying.
With one final glare thrown in Xander’s direction, I silently mouthed, “Traitor.”