When I turned to face the bar, Glitter was staring at me, her gray eyes glittering with unconcealed interest. “We need to go down to the basement before things get too busy.”
“Basement?” I shivered, thinking about how disgusting the rest of the place was. If it was gross up here, I was sure the basement would be crawling with things that until now had only haunted my nightmares.
“Yeah.” She nodded as she came out from behind the bar, calling over her shoulder, “You got it from here, Helen?”
The older woman nodded. “You know I do, sugar.”
Glitter smiled as she headed toward the long hallway that led to the bathroom. I followed, my heels clicking against the stone floor, and to my surprise, footsteps echoed after us. I glanced back to find Donaghy two feet behind me, his demeanor as stony as ever, but his blue eyes on me.
“Thought you could use some help.”
“Aren’t you a sweetheart.” Glitter’s voice echoed through the hallway.
Donaghy didn’t respond, and he didn’t look away from me. His expression was an odd mixture of protective and curious, and it made the hair on my scalp stand up.
Glitter’s footsteps came to a halt, and I stopped just short of slamming into her. In front of us stood a door with a keypad next to it. I shuffled my feet anxiously as the waitress typed a few numbers in. Donaghy was standing so close to my back that every breath he let out brushed against my bare skin, and the combination of his nearness and body heat made me to break out in a sweat.
The door unlocked with a hiss and I had to move back so Glitter could pull it open completely. I ended up bumping into Donaghy, who grabbed my hips to keep me from falling.
“Sorry,” I said, twisting slightly to face him, but not enough that he had to let me go. His hands felt impossibly large on my body, and I was sure that if he wanted to, he could crush me with them. Just like he had last night with the zombies in the ring.
Donaghy only nodded.
Glitter’s voice had an edge of annoyance to it when she said, “This way.”
She headed down the stairs, which were cloaked in shadows and ended in an abyss so black all I could think to compare it to was the gap in Dragon’s teeth.
Reluctantly, I pulled out of Donaghy’s grasp and headed after Glitter. She was less than a foot in front of me, but halfway down her pink hair got lost in the shadows. Darkness engulfed me, and I was forced to hold onto the rail to make sure I didn’t fall. In front of me Glitter’s heels clicked against the steps, matching my own and the pounding of Donaghy’s boots at my back.
The pink haired waitress stopped walking and I froze on instinct. This time, Donaghy was the one who bumped into me. His chest was level with my head when he grabbed my bare arms, and the rough callouses on his palms were oddly soothing against my soft skin.
“Just a second.” Glitter’s voice broke through the darkness and I jumped. Donaghy didn’t move, but the pounding of his heart against my head increased.
It didn’t take more than a second for the light to click on, and when it did it was so bright that I found myself blinded by it.
Donaghy’s hands left my arms, probably so he could shield his eyes from the brightness, and behind me he swore.
“Sorry,” Glitter said. I cracked one eye to find her heading across the basement. “I keep telling Dragon to put a light at the top of the stairs, but he’s too cheap.” Something like amusement, or maybe even affection, rang in her voice.
She was moving again before my eyes had a chance to fully adjust, but I did my best to follow her. The room was only slightly in focus, but I was shocked by how sterile it was. No dirt or bugs or rats, and no cobwebs clogging the corners. The walls and ceilings were starkly white, making it even more difficult for my eyes to adjust, and the floor was a black and white checkered tile. Stainless steel tubs and barrels were lined up along one side of the room, with tubes going in and out of them, and the other side was lined with shelves. Glass bottles by the hundreds were crammed into the space, filled with brown, amber, and clear liquid.
“Holy shit,” Donaghy said from behind me.
“Dragon is a neat freak.” Glitter shrugged when she stopped in front a shelf.
She pulled a couple bottles off and passed them to me, and I took them even though I was still surveying the area. There were two doors on the other side of the room, one was steel with another keypad next to it, but the other was made of wood.
“What else is down here?” I asked, nodding toward the doors.
Glitter handed Donaghy a couple bottles, her gaze moving quickly to the doors before she grabbed more booze off the shelf. “Dragon’s apartment.”
“He lives down here?” I turned my full gaze on her.
“Yup.” She pressed her lips together, giving off the impression that she was holding something back, then she said, “This area is off limits. Only Dragon, Helen, and I have the code.” Her dark eyes held mine when she turned to face me, four bottles cradled in her arms. “We should go up. The place is going to get busy real soon.”
She headed toward the stairs, passing Donaghy and me without another look. My gaze met the fighter’s and he shook his head. He gave the spotless room one more look before following Glitter, and I was right behind them.
This wasn’t what I had expected to find in Dragon’s basement at all.
Chapter Ten
Meg
the pristine atmosphere of the basement, Dragon’s Lair felt even more depressing. The poorly lit room reminded me of a dungeon, and the stink of death was pungent enough to make my stomach roll.
Glitter set the bottles she’d carried upstairs on the counter, then motioned for Donaghy and I to do the same. The fighter set his down without a word, and before I’d even had the chance to put my own bottles down, he was heading across the room toward Dragon’s office.
I watched him go, memorizing the way his muscles moved as he walked. It made his tattoos appear to have a life of their own, rippling over his skin like waves rolling out to sea. It must have taken hours to draw the lines on his back, and every second of it had been worth it as far as I was concerned. Donaghy was like a walking work of art. In more ways than one
“You ready for this?” Glitter asked, drawing my attention her way.
Heat flooded my cheeks at being caught staring, but when I turned she wasn’t looking at me. Instead, the waitress was focused on lining the new bottles up under the counter. With her head bowed, I got an even better view of the long roots poking out of her pink hair.
“I think so.” I shifted my weight to my right foot, hoping to give the left one a little break from the heels. Already my feet were killing me and the night hadn’t even started yet.
“She’ll be fine,” Helen said in a scratchy voice, coming over to join Glitter and me. The older woman smiled fondly at the younger girl, then turned the same look on me. “Just pour and take credits, right?”
Glitter shoved her pink hair out of her face and nodded. “Pretty much all there is to it.”
“I can handle it,” I said firmly.
Helen grinned even more, but Glitter’s gaze moved over me slowly, doubt clogging her expression.
“You sure about that?” the younger waitress asked.
“She’ll be fine.” The skin on Helen’s face wrinkled even more when she looked me over, but her blue eyes were bright and friendly. “This is Megan James. Surviving is in the family name.”
Glitter blinked and something flashed in her eyes, but before I could figure out what it was, the look was gone. It was almost like she wanted to hide that she knew who I was. It was a nice gesture, although pointless. Everyone knew who I was.
“That’s right. I’m a survivor,” I said, looking back and forth between the two women. “Plus, I don’t have a choice. It’s this or the streets.”
“We all know a little something about that.” Glitter frowned as she ran her hand through her pink hair.
With her arm raised, the lights shining down fr
om above highlighted the patches of scars that ran up the inside of both her arms, darker in the crook than anywhere else. They were faded, but there was no doubt what they were from. Track marks. Scars from intravenous drug use. It was a miracle she was alive and healthy considering how many there were. Clean needles were few and far between these days, and most people who turned to drugs ended up dying a pretty fast and horrible death from infection, overdose, or some other communicable disease.
“Being a survivor or the streets?” I asked even though I knew I should mind my own business. The scars had me intrigued. Glitter didn’t seem like she was still using, which was good, and she looked healthy enough, but she had obviously been into it pretty heavy at some point.
“Both.” Helen answered for the young girl, patting her on the back in a comforting gesture.
The older woman looked over her shoulder at the few patrons already sitting at the bar. There was only a handful more than there had been before we’d gone down to the basement, but more trickled in every minute or so. They talked and laughed as they headed for the bar, ready for a night of drinking and gambling. It was going to get busy fast.
“Need to get to work.” Helen nodded once and then turned away, leaving Glitter and me alone.
“When Dragon found me on the streets I was out of my mind. Bleeding.” The young girl pursed her lips and for the second time a jolt of familiarity went through me at the expression. She glanced toward the scars on her arms. “I don’t remember a lot from before he found me, though.” She poured herself a shot and threw it back, and her eyes squeezed shut for a second before she continued. “He saved me. I’d be dead if he hadn’t brought me back here. I was young, but pretty far gone. Dragon got me cleaned up, gave me a job, and a place to live.”
Glitter ran her hands over the scars on her arms, her eyes not meeting mine while she waited for me to respond. She probably thought I was going to judge her. Last night I’d been here with the Regulator’s son, sitting in the VIP section. From the outside my life probably looked peachy. The problem with that was, looks could be deceiving.
“You got lucky, then,” I said.
Glitter lifted her head, her pink hair a curtain over one eye. “Yeah.”
“Let’s get some drinks poured!” Dragon’s voice boomed through the room and I jumped.
Glitter winked before turning away, a small smile now on her lips. The boss man didn’t seem to intimidate her very much. Maybe he was all bark and no bite.
Donaghy was doing pushups in the middle of the ring and on the other side of the bar, leaning against the wall, Dragon stood watching him. The boss’s arms were crossed and he had a smile on his face as the fighter pushed his body up and down. A few other men stood at Dragon’s side, and I recognized them from the night before. The two hulking men who had brought the zombies out—and broken up any fights—as well as the men who cleaned the ring up after Donaghy’s fight.
“Here.” Glitter held a shot glass out to me. “Makes the night go easier.”
I took the glass, my hand shaking just a little, then threw the shot back. The liquid burned its way down my throat to my stomach, coating everything inside me in a warm blanket. From the other end of the bar, Helen threw me a smile as she tossed her own shot back.
At least everyone who worked here seemed friendly. That was something I hadn’t expected.
I slid the now empty glass across the counter to Glitter just as a wave of filthy men swept through the front door.
“Here we go,” she said, turning to fill a few glasses. “People are getting off work and it’s going to get busy real fast. Let’s get some ready to go. They’re going to come in thirsty.”
I followed her lead, filling glasses with moonshine while she took care of the ale. Men filed in, already loud and rowdy, most of them filthy after a day of work. My gaze moved over the crowd, stopping on Donaghy as he crossed the room toward me. Sweat had beaded on his chest and his skin shimmered under the lights, but once again it was the scar on his chin that I found myself staring at. It had a strange pull on me, and even though I tried to tell myself it was because it made me think of my dad, I knew that wasn’t true. Something about Donaghy was comforting.
“I need a drink,” he said when he stopped in front of me, his gaze moving from mine to the men filling the room. “A shot.”
I filled the small glass and slid it across the bar toward him. “You ready?”
“Told you—” He threw the shot back, slamming the empty glass down when he was done. “—there’s nothing to worry about.”
I almost laughed.
At my side Glitter giggled as she served drinks, and Helen was batting her eyes like she was a sixteen, not pushing sixty. I knew I should be helping them, both because they needed it and because I was missing out on tips, but I couldn’t seem to walk away from the man in front of me. The fighter’s silent strength had a strange hold on me. Plus, just hearing the lewd comments the men were throwing the other waitress’ way made me want to run for the door.
Donaghy’s eyes searched mine for a second before he finally said, “Why are you here?”
I forced out a smile. My insides were more uneasy than they’d ever been and small talk—or heavy talk—was the last thing on my mind, but this man had saved me and I felt like I owed him something.
“Working.”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. Why?”
“I need the credits?” I wasn’t sure what he was asking, but with his blue eyes trained on my face, I was having a hard time figuring it out.
He took a step closer. The bar separated us, but I could feel his body heat anyway. It was sweltering in the already stuffy building. All around him people shifted, trying to make room as more and more sweaty bodies filled the space. After Donaghy’s impressive win last night, Dragon’s Lair was going to be packed.
“You have connections,” he said, lowering his voice like we were having an intimate conversation. “The Regulator’s son—”
“Is a friend.” My voice was firm, but quiet. “Just a friend.”
His brows pulled together and something flashed in his eyes. Confusion or maybe relief. Seeing it sent a shiver shooting through my body, but again, I didn’t know why.
“Friend?” he finally said.
A smile curled up my lips even though his eyes were still on me and it felt like he hadn’t blinked once. “You know, a person you spend time with.”
The fighter didn’t crack a smile. “I know what a friend is. That’s not what I meant.”
“I know what you meant.” His gaze was making me want to squirm. “Jackson may want more out of me, but that isn’t going to happen. We’re just friends.”
Donaghy’s eyes moved from my face for the first time, and when he dragged his gaze across my skin, every inch of me grew warm. The look was all searching, though. Like he was trying to figure out where I fit into the puzzle he’d been working on.
“Be careful here,” he said when he was once again looking me in the eye.
“You heard Dragon. Now that I’m an employee, being here is less dangerous. He can’t afford to lose one of his girls.”
Donaghy’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s a comfort to you?”
“Enough of one.”
The expression in his eyes had grown in intensity until eventually I was forced to look away. My gaze moved down. A muscle in his cheek twitched, nearly hidden by the dark stubble that covered his face. His square jaw gave his looks a rugged intensity that was matched only by the severe way he held himself. He pressed his lips together just as my gaze stopped on his chin, and his scar puckered just a little. It ran from the right side of his bottom lip to the point of his chin. Staring at it brought back so many thoughts of my dad that I found myself unable to look away. Even worse, my fingers tingled and I had to stop myself from reaching out to touch it.
Donaghy shifted under my gaze, and for the first time since I met him, he almost seemed uneasy. “What are you staring at?”
“Your scar,” I said, tracing it with my eyes. “It makes me think of my dad.”
“I remind you of your dad?” Something that might have resembled a smile turned up his lips.
I let out a laugh, and just like that the spell was broken. When my gaze met his again, curiosity flashed in his icy blue eyes.
“No. Not at all, actually. Just the scar.” This time when my gaze moved to the scar, I allowed my fingers to trace the line. His skin was warm under my touch and his jaw scratchy. “He had one in the same place, just a little smaller.”
“Had?”
“Yeah.” I let out a sigh as I looked around. The place had really started to fill up and I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. “I should get to work. Good luck.”
“No luck.” Donaghy took a step back. “They’re zombies. I already told you. They aren’t who we have to worry about.”
He walked away, leaving me staring after him.
His words were terrifyingly similar to the rant I’d been hearing from mom for the past few weeks.
“Meg!” I spun to face Glitter, who was nodding toward the bar. “Get some more drinks poured.”
“On my way.”
The work was mindless. Someone asked for a drink, I poured it, and then I did the same thing for the next person and the next and the next. The only time I changed it up was when the bar counter got too crowded with empty glasses.
“We do it like this,” Glitter said as she grabbed a dirty glass in each hand and dipped them into a bin of murky-looking water.
She held them under to the count of five, and then put them upside down on the counter so they could dry. It didn’t look the least bit sanitary, and it had me questioning how Dragon could be a neat freak but also allow something like that to happen in his bar.
Twisted World Series Box Set | Books 1-3 & Novella Page 10