40. Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty
Kai Moreno
Boss For The Night
The speakeasy shouldn’t be this loud on a weeknight.
By the time I get the cellar door pulled shut behind me, the music is already vibrating through the floorboards, the horns buzzing in my teeth.
The crowd is thick, faces pressed close together, bodies moving in unpredictable little currents.
It feels like the room is breathing too fast.
I slide behind the bar and try to settle into routine.
Wipe a glass. Check the bottles. Scan the crowd for anyone who looks like trouble.
I barely get through lining up the first round of clean glasses when the cellar door creaks again.
It feels like something shifts in the air.
I see Yvelia shift uncomfortably in her seat and by the time she finishes her drink, she’s out the door.
I look up and Kalevala stands in the doorway.
Or she looks like Kalevala, anyway. But the woman in front of me steps down the stairs too lightly.
Kalevala always moves with the kind of precision you could set your watch to.
This version of her sways. Her smile is stretched just a touch too wide, as if her mouth is unfamiliar with the sensation.
A chill begins to crawl up my spine. As she approaches the bar, people step aside.
More like they’re unsure what they’re moving away from.
"Evening, Kai," she says. Her voice lands slightly off. I fight the urge to take a step back. Something is worse about her. It leaves me uneasy.
"Welcome in," I say, trying for casualness even though every instinct tells me something is severely wrong. I tighten my grip on the bar counter. "What brings you in tonight?"
"I’m looking for Beau." She tilts her head in a slow, almost serpentine motion. Her eyes slide over the room then back to me. "Have you seen him?"
Heat prickles up my arms. Kalevala obviously isn’t the type to be kept waiting.
And she definitely hasn’t picked up on Beau not being interested.
She acts like she expects him to appear at her beck and call.
"No idea where he is," I say, brushing her off purposely.
"Not really the night for catching up. The place is overflowing. "
She studies me for several seconds too long.
Her eyes are wrong, far too warm and alive, differing from her gaze that usually cuts.
Then she smiles again, thin and secretive, and moves into the crowd.
The people around her waver for a moment, unsure how close they should stand.
It looks like she’s a little unsettling for everyone tonight.
I let out a breath and try to shake the feeling off, but it clings.
I can’t put a name to what unsettles me about that woman tonight, only that every part of her behavior feels like someone doing an impression of Kalevala and almost, but not quite getting it right.
A more slightly unhinged version of her usual demeanor.
The bar is a storm now. An unimaginable amount of orders begin flying at me. Laughter bursts from a table in the back. Two men slap the bar with the palms of their hands to get my attention. "Another round, Kai. Make it strong."
"Alright, alright," I mutter, grabbing the bottles. "Patience." I pour shots with one hand and pass out drinks with the other. I clean spills that appear faster than I can mop them. Beau says I don’t have to operate quickly. These guys know I’m human. Strangers I have never seen before lean over the bar, their conversations a steady roar. Something is definitely drawing people here tonight. The place is too full. You’d think it was someone’s 156th birthday or something.
I glance toward the spot where Kalevala had disappeared, but I can’t see her. The thought sits heavy in my chest.
Then, my phone vibrates in my pocket. It’s a number I don’t recognize.
Perfect timing. I swipe to answer and go to slip out the cellar door, climbing the narrow steps to the alley.
The cold air hits me like a slap, cutting through the thick haze of heat and noise inside.
"Hello?" I question, shoving my free hand into my jeans to balance out the chill in the air outside.
A voice comes through the line, hesitant. "Is this Kai?"
I blink, startled. "Imani?" I laugh before I can stop myself. "Already looking for an incidental way back into conversation with me?"
There’s a small pause, like she’s figuring out where to place her voice.
"I had Elowen ask Beau to give me your number. Hope you don’t mind…
” My stomach tightens. Why would Beau do that?
Beau doesn't give out my number to anyone and he definitely wouldn’t give it to her unless he was being smug about something.
Maybe she told him about our conversation in the bookstore.
Maybe he somehow picked up on the crush I’ve been trying to hide even from myself.
Imani clears her throat. "I was going to ask you about a book. I’m—I’m really into reading right now. Must’ve picked it up from Elowen.”
The delivery is far too fast and eager. Plus, I am all too aware of her usual tone.
She’s too smart not to pick up that I’m scraping together every word that falls from my mouth on the fly.
She wants to talk to me? "A book," I repeat, rubbing at my raised eyebrows.
"I mean, I love to read. I have tons of recs.
But why not ask Elowen? Or Beau?" The moment I say Beau's name I regret it. I don’t want her thinking about him right now.
I want to know why she called me, of all people.
"I just thought you would know better what I might like," she says, her voice small and earnest. "I mean, I thought you would have some good ideas.
" My heartbeat stutters. The door she opened gave me enough incentive to rattle off everything I could conjure up. We talk about books: genres, stories, tropes she likes, tropes she hates. Every time she laughs at something I say, my chest flares painfully. She sounds shy, a little nervous, like she’s standing on the edge of something.
Desperately, I want to ask her why she really called.
Even more so, I want to ask her what she’s doing tonight and what time would be best to stop by.
To hell with the games that Beau plays. My thoughts wander to ideas of how to keep her on the line until her nerves settle and mine stop buzzing like wires.
Instead, I say none of that. The conversation runs dry. There’s no way for me to save it.
“Yeah, I always prefer a book over the movie, but I also feel like everyone’s a critic now. Nobody just wants to enjoy the media.” I ramble on, not finding another segue.
“You’re right.” I have no idea how to reply to her. She continues softly, "Well, thank you for picking up even though it was a random number.” Imani chuckles, but goes to end the phone call. “Have a nice night, Kai." That’s it? I ran out of time, that fast. Please, just a little longer.
"Of course, anytime, yeah," I say, and I hear something weak in my own voice.
"See you around." The call ends and the noise is sucked up like a vacuum. I stare down at my phone, regret hitting me right in the fucking chest. If she just needed an excuse to talk to me, I should’ve helped her out and taken the conversation somewhere else other than a dead end.
I’m suddenly, painfully aware again of how fast my heart is beating. My palms are sweaty, making me aware now that my mouth feels much the opposite. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” I whisper, degrading myself.
The memory of her voice lingers beneath my skin like something dangerous.