by Lola Gabriel
Gia didn’t bother to acknowledge him. She’d earned two full minutes of the little peace she could get. Once she was inside the cramped bathroom, Gia fell against the door, exhaling as the din of the pub lessened behind the flimsy door.
As she took a deep breath, a startling blue eye caught a glimpse of her reflection through the rusting mirror on the far wall, and she jumped as if the mere sight was offensive. There was nothing but a heart-faced girl with wide, haunting eyes and a mop of untameable brown hair staring back at her.
Look at you, jumping at your own reflection, she scoffed at herself, disgusted. No wonder you get grabbed; you’re an easy target.
She was a tiny thing, even for a fairy—barely five feet tall but surprisingly curvy, without carrying an extra ounce of fat on her. It was difficult to keep her weight and not lose it when she was running herself ragged working three jobs, two of which entailed busting her butt carrying drinks.
Someone pushed open the door, and Gia was sent flying forward unexpectedly, knocking her face against the sink. She gasped in pain as the taste of blood flooded through her mouth.
“Oh, my god!” a girl’s voice shrieked. “Are you okay?”
Dazed, Gia nodded, ambling to her feet and touching the tender spot of her cheek.
“I had no idea anyone was standing there!” the blonde woman cried, her green eyes flashing with worry. “Let me see your face.”
Gia shook her head, backing away from the well-meaning customer, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. No part of her face was bleeding. She had only bitten the inside of her cheek.
“It’s my fault,” Gia hurriedly said, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t have been standing there.”
“No, I should have watched my clumsy ass and not thrown the door open like that! Please, let me see your face.” Reluctantly, Gia lowered her hand and turned to the contrite woman as she looked at her face. Then she exhaled in relief. “Okay, it’s not so bad,” she determined. “Still, let me hunt you down some ice.”
“It’s not necessary,” Gia insisted. “I work here. I can get some.”
“You work here?” the woman cried. “Dammit! I damaged the bringer of cups! I’m headed straight to limbo for this!”
The words caused an unexpected shiver through Gia, and she bit on her lower lip, cocking her head to the side. Even though her powers were not as well honed as some of the other immortals’, she usually knew when she was among her own kind. This girl did not immediately scream “Hollows,” but Gia had been wrong before. However, it was still unnerving to hear the blonde customer speaking so freely about the other realm, and Gia felt her back tense even more.
“I’m okay,” she repeated, stepping out of the girl’s reach. “I should get back to work.”
She didn’t give the customer the chance to respond and rushed out of the dirty bathroom toward the bar, where Egan glared at her, his annoyance now redirected at her.
“The ice is melting in these glasses,” he snapped. “And three new tables just walked in while you were powdering your nose.”
Gia would have smiled at the idea of wearing makeup if she didn’t feel so out of sorts. Yeah, look at me. I was just reapplying my mascara and contouring my cheekbones. Can’t you tell?
“Sorry,” she mumbled, making no mention of her throbbing face. “I’m on it.”
“Hey, sweetheart!” one of the boys from Table Shithead called. “Did you forget about us?”
“Christ, Gia, hurry up! You’re going to lose control of the bar,” Egan hissed. Gia nodded, her blue eyes wide as she spun to deal with the growing number inside.
“Honey, are you sure you’re okay?”
Gia jumped at the sound of the blonde girl’s voice next to her. She was quite the stealthy presence.
“Honestly, I’m fine,” Gia told the customer. She could feel Egan scowling at her as she moved to load her tray with the standing drinks. She was beginning to get overstimulated between everyone demanding her attention.
“Are you alone in here?” the blonde asked.
Gia eyed the girl warily. Can’t she see I’m busy? Why won’t she leave me alone? She probably still felt guilty about smacking Gia with the door, and Gia didn’t want to be rude to her, but she genuinely didn’t have time to reassure her over and over again that she was fine.
“It’s me and the bartender,” she explained, looking meaningfully at Egan, who had moved on to attend to more walk-ins.
“Grab me an apron,” the girl said. “I’ll give you a hand.”
Gia was sure she’d misunderstood. “What?”
“What? I know how to sling drinks,” the blonde said. “And you obviously need some help.”
Gia’s mouth parted, and she shook her head. “I—you can’t! You don’t work here!”
“Trust me.” The girl winked a cat-like eye at her. “It won’t be an issue.”
Gia watched as she purposely walked behind the bar and looked around for an apron, directly under Egan’s nose. To her absolute shock, Egan did not seem remotely fazed by her presence.
“Gia! Are you going to get to work?” he asked instead, his irritation radiating toward her.
“Yeah!” Gia mumbled, staring in disbelief at the girl. “Yeah, of course.” She’s definitely from the Hollows. Did she put a spell on him, or did she turn invisible?
It was still unclear what creature she was, but Gia couldn’t afford to waste another minute thinking about it. Egan was right; she was losing control of the bar with every passing second.
She rushed the drinks toward the table of college boys who were beginning to get impatient.
“There she is!” called the grabby one, his hand touching the small of her back as she lay out their round of drinks. “We were starting to think you’d forgotten about us.”
Gia smiled tightly but didn’t respond, even as his sticky hand started to creep toward her cheeks. She gritted her teeth together, wishing she had the disposition to cause a scene.
“That’s twenty,” she told them, stepping out of reach, but the boy kept his hand firmly on her back.
“Bryan, it’s your turn to pay,” one of the other guys called, and Gia realized he was talking to the one holding her, the most obnoxious of the bunch with the equally irritating voice.
“Why don’t you run me a tab, baby? We’re gonna be here for a while,” Bryan suggested. Gia swallowed her nervousness and shook her head.
“Sorry. We don’t run tabs on busy nights,” she answered, glancing back to see if Egan was watching. He was busy with other customers, completely oblivious to her situation.
“You know us, Mia!” Bryan complained. “We come in here all the time!”
They were inebriated enough to feel brave, obviously, and Gia desperately wished that she’d told Egan what had happened earlier instead of repeatedly denying it. She had been trying to avoid a confrontation, and yet she was getting one, anyway.
“Sorry,” she said again, her voice dry as she spoke. “It’s not my call.” And even if it were her call, she wouldn’t do it. She didn’t trust these idiots.
“Come on, babe,” Bryan insisted. “No one will know.”
Gia looked around, the patrons growing impatient as they waited for service. She couldn’t afford to stand there arguing with him, not when there were people waving their hands to get her attention.
Maybe I can do this one time, she thought, her anxiety mounting. She chewed on her lower lip as the other boys leered at her encouragingly.
“Come on, Mia!” they chanted. “Just this once? Please?”
If it will shut them up, Gia thought. Every time they call me “Mia,” my blood pressure skyrockets.
She opened her mouth to agree, but before she could get the word out, the blonde arrived in her stealthy fashion, almost making her jump again.
“Could you take that table over there?” she asked sweetly, and Gia caught herself gaping at her in disbelief.
She just walked in here like she owned the plac
e and now she’s giving me orders!
Gia had to admit that she was begrudgingly respectful of the girl’s gall.
“Hey, sexy!” one of the boys called. “Why don’t you come sit on my lap?”
The smile on the blonde’s pretty face froze, and she glanced at Gia, a perplexed expression on her face.
“Did—did he just really say that to me?” she asked aloud, confusion coloring her face while the men laughed. Gia lowered her eyes, but as she did, she watched the girl stride around the table, a bemused smirk on her face.
Dread swept through Gia. She recognized the determination on her face. This woman was the opposite of her.
“I would love to!” she cooed with fake enthusiasm. “Would you like a lap dance, too?”
The boys whooped, apparently oblivious to the sinister undertones of the blonde’s words, though Gia could hear them perfectly.
Oh, shit.
As if it were unfolding in slow motion, she watched the new server straddle the punk, her chest almost over his face. No matter how much Gia tried, she couldn’t look away.
“How come you never do that for us, Mia?” the guy demanded, and his friends nodded in agreement, watching the scene with naked lust in their eyes.
They can’t sincerely be that stupid, can they? Gia thought.
But they were, lines of drool almost visible along the corners of their mouths as they gawked.
“You like the ladies, huh?” the blonde asked, grinding over his lap. “Do they usually like you, too?”
No one except Gia seemed to notice her hand reaching for the frosted beer mug. She should speak up, put a stop to this before it escalated.
Even though she knew what she should do, no words sprung from her lips. She hated to admit that she was taking a deep-rooted and very perverse pleasure in what was happening before her.
“When the ladies look like you,” the unsuspecting chump murmured. “And yeah, I do all right. I’ve got a hot blonde on my lap, don’t I?”
Again, the boys cheered as if they were sitting at a seedy strip club. Out of the corner of her eye, Gia saw Egan studying them, his mouth twisting into a scowl of anger.
“Gia? What’s going on?” he yelled. It didn’t matter. It was too late for him to stop it. Gia couldn’t even tear her eyes away long enough to look at him, her gaze locked on the sultry blonde.
The girl seductively picked up one of the drinks and took a long sip, her eyes fixated on the guy in front of her, holding his gaze. His mouth opened in aroused shock, and when it did, the mysterious girl dumped the entire contents of the beer mug on his head, moving as though this were part of her erotic dance.
For a full three seconds, no one moved. Time seemed to stop altogether.
Suddenly, there was raucous laughter as she rose from her spot, her manicured hands still wrapped around the jug. The entire bar howled at the drenched college boy, who no longer seemed aroused as he jumped to his feet, raging.
“You bitch!” he swore. “I’ll kill you!”
The girl’s face twisted into an expression so ugly, she seemed to transform into an entirely different person.
“I double dog dare you,” she hissed, nearly thrusting her face against the guy’s. “Kill me.”
Whatever he saw in her face made him back down instantly, and Gia watched in amazement as he seemed to shrivel under her steely gaze.
“You assholes are outta here!” Egan raged. “And don’t come back! I’m sick of seeing your pimply faces in here!”
“Fuck this place!” Bryan yelled, but Gia could read the fear in his face as the boys tripped over themselves trying to get to the exit.
“Not so fast!” the girl called out to them. “You still owe for this round!”
They paused and stared open-mouthed at her, but they didn’t argue, each of them reaching for their wallets to silently throw a twenty onto the table before ducking out of the exit.
“I hate those little bastards,” Egan growled, turning to the girl. “Are you okay?”
She grinned, no sign of the near-demon she’d appeared to be seconds earlier.
“Of course,” she replied. Her pale green eyes lightened as she glanced at Gia. Egan turned back to the bar, still grumbling, and the girl faced Gia. “Well,” she sighed, “I could not do this for a living, but that was fun.”
“I…” Gia didn’t know what to say. “Thank you.”
The girl laughed, and Gia was entranced by the lyrical sound of her voice. She decided the blonde must be a sorceress.
“I’m Allegra, by the way,” the woman said.
“Gia Cirone.”
Allegra’s smile widened, and she leaned in closely. “You know, just because you’re a fairy doesn’t mean you need to act like one.”
“I- I don’t know what you mean,” Gia whispered, her eyes wide as she tried to absorb what was meant to be sage advice.
“It means you can stand up for yourself, Gia. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.” Allegra whirled to leave, but Gia cried out to her, half-panicked that she would never see her again.
“You—you forgot your tips!” she cried lamely. That wasn’t what she had intended to say.
What Gia had wanted to ask was where Allegra had found her confidence, how she had learned her power. Allegra seemed to believe it was as easy as snapping her fingers, that the gregariousness would appear in the blink of an eye, but Gia knew better. She wanted nothing more than to be assertive and tough like the… sorceress? She still was not a hundred percent sure what to make of Allegra, and it wasn’t like she could just ask her.
Allegra pivoted back, her blonde hair fanning wildly along her shoulders.
“Those are all yours,” she replied. “Unless, of course, you want to take me out for drinks one day? We can compare war stories, but I suspect you’ll have a few that will make my skin crawl.”
“I do!” Gia gasped. “I’d love to take you out for drinks! Can you—?”
But Allegra disappeared, leaving her in a sea of drunken patrons, wondering if the girl had really existed or if Gia had made up a superhero in her own mind.
3
It had been Lennox’s immediate instinct to fly directly back to the Hollows and find his brother, but when he stormed out of Southern Belle’s headquarters, he had a change of heart. The last thing he wanted to do was see his brother’s smug face when he could already picture it so vividly in his mind.
No, he decided. I’m already in hell. No need to make it worse by going home.
Minimally, he wanted some liquid courage before going head to head with Wilder.
“Back to the hotel?” Castor asked, and Lennox grunted in response.
In his anger, he had forgotten the fact that it was eight thousand degrees outside, and when he stepped out of the car again, the humidity caught him off guard, almost knocking his breath from him.
“Are we heading back tonight?” Castor called before Lennox could fully shut the backseat door behind him.
“You can,” he said. “I might be a few days.”
“All right.” Castor pulled away, and it wasn’t until he was gone that Lennox remembered he hadn’t apologized for the way he had treated and talked about his sisters.
I’ll catch up with him when I get back, he thought, and when I’m in a better frame of mind. I couldn’t give him a sincere apology if I wanted to.
“Hotter than a witch’s tit out here, ain’t it?” a hot breath whispered in his ear, and Lennox was consumed with shivers, despite his foul mood.
He turned to address the woman at his side. She had long ginger hair that fell in coils around her, and her black eyes seemed to glint mischievously as she stood on her tiptoes, brazenly touching his arm.
“It really is, isn’t it?” Lennox replied, trying to place where he’d seen her before. She looked so familiar, but the southern accent was throwing him for a loop. She’s a pixie, isn’t she? Why is she talking like that?
There were no accents in the Hollows, n
o matter what part anyone hailed from. Their tones were even and understood everywhere.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” she sighed, dropping her arm off his broad shoulder and shaking her head with disgust.
“I do!” he protested. Now that she had dropped the accent, his mind was trying to come up with her name, unfortunately drawing a blank.
“Mira,” she reminded him with a scowl. “We… well, I would say ‘dated,’ but we both know it was more like unadulterated troll sex.”
“Mira!” Lennox exclaimed, sighing in relief. He did remember her. It had just taken a few minutes to pull it from the recesses of his mind. She had been fun, but not as fun as the lycan twins.
Lennox blushed at the comparison.
“I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I’ve had a shitty day.”
Mira snickered. “Tell me about it. We’re sweating our balls off in New Orleans in August. Pixie blood is apparently a gnat’s wet dream.”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” Lennox chuckled, looking around uncomfortably. The last thing he wanted was to make small talk with a pixie he’d only slept with twice and never bothered to call again.
“You’re staying here?” she asked, gesturing at the hotel. Lennox nodded.
“Yes—well, only for a few more hours. I have to get back home.”
“Let me buy you a drink,” Mira offered. Lennox immediately opened his mouth to refuse, but she held up a delicate hand to stop him. “It’s the least you can do after giving me the royal brush-off,” she said, laughing. Without giving him an opportunity to respond, she linked her arm through his and half-dragged him toward the lobby.
She’s not wrong, Lennox thought miserably. I just wish that she’d picked a better day for it. He was beginning to wonder how many people he’d pissed off in his life, and the number made him cringe.
They made their way to the bar, where Mira immediately took a seat on one of the barstools, patting the one next to hers so that Lennox would take it. Sighing to himself, Lennox realized he had no choice, and he sat down beside Mira.
“Mira, I—”
“Shh! No talking until I have a Cosmo between my lips.” Mira grinned coyly at Lennox. “Unless you want to put something else there for old time’s sake.”