“Oh. Uh, well, I promised Ari I’d go out with him tonight to Electric Sands. Playing wingman. Woman.” I facepalmed.
“Ah.”
The silence ate at me. As did lying to him. “But it probably won’t go too late,” I said. “How about I call you after?”
“I’d really like that.”
“Me too.”
Half an hour at the club that night and I was already three G&Ts in. Drink one was purchased and consumed upon seeing the line of cages suspended over the dance floor which contained contortionists twisting themselves into pseudo-lewd positions with each strobe of the giant silver disco ball. All the performers dripped with ennui. Quite the emotional conveyance when one’s foot was wrapped around one’s head.
Drink two: the sleek, beautiful clientele, not to be outdone in world-weary cynicism.
I jabbed at my ice with the straw. “The pretension levels in here are puckering my anus.”
Leo wiggled her hips to the Arabic-infused electronica pulsing over the speakers, whose curling horns and sinuous percussion conjured up warm nights in a Moroccan town on the edge of the Sahara. “Eye on the goal, Nee.” Hers were on Kane and Rohan, ensconced on a couple of sofas in a far corner.
My oh my, did those boys clean up well.
Kind of. Kane sported red skinny jeans with a white shirt featuring a hideous zebra pattern which he’d paired with a red tie. I wished I could dissect his brain to best understand the thought process that went into his clothing choices.
Then there was Rohan, in dark wash jeans, a navy pinstripe vest, white and navy plaid shirt, cuffs rolled up to his elbows, and a dark fedora perched jauntily on his head. His clothes molded to his every muscle, almost like a sentient being doing its damnedest to keep earning Rohan’s approval by showing him off in the most flattering light.
Drink three, right there.
Leo snickered at my blatant ogling. “How goes things with Le Mitra?”
I wrinkled my nose, stirring my drink. I’d invited her along to offset the testosterone when Ari brought the other men along as props. Just a bunch of friends going out in a group. When she poked my side, determined to have an answer, I regretted the invitation. “Ancient history.”
She made a mocking sound. “When’s Drio coming back?”
“Please find another guy to mack on and rethink this possible demonicide.” Ever since Leo had met Drio, she’d been bugging me to hook them up while I’d done everything in my power to keep them apart. This girl had a death wish because if Drio found out about her halfie status, he’d dust her in a heartbeat, and I wanted no part of it.
My bestie licked her lips. “I’m sure it would be worth it.”
I munched on some ice. “True. He knows his way around the female body just fine.”
Her head whipped toward me. “You say that with such certainty, why?”
Right. I’d never actually told her about my little make-out session in Prague. I slid small snapshots of the victims showing them in happier–read: alive–times out of my purse. “Must work.” With that I scampered off, ignoring her demands to “get back here.”
Since the bartender and I were old friends by now, plus I’d been tipping like a baller, she was happy to take a look at the pictures, but the only person she recognized was Max. Even Mara didn’t look familiar, though if she’d only ever been here once or twice there was no reason for her to stand out.
Sulky dancers, men in metrosexual cologne and pricey suits, burly bouncers, no one yielded any results. Ari and I leaned against the second floor railing, surveying the club.
“Now what?” I asked.
“I dunno.” He stole my gin and tonic away from me and finished it off. “The patrons here are so slicked up that any of them could be an incubus or succubus. No one person stands out.”
“They’re all working what their mama gave ’em. Wanna do one more tour of the place?”
“Sure. But let’s get another drink first. Props make for a good cover.”
We hit the bar up on this level since it was less crowded. Leo was chatting with Kane, her hand on his arm and the tilt of her head making her seem particularly small and cute. Her bite-sized snack look. Her wisp of a dress didn’t hurt her appeal.
Even Team “Up With Dicks” Kane was enjoying flirting with her.
I’d just taken the first sip of my new drink when Ari elbowed me in the back. “Goblin.”
I spat out G&T, shooting a panicked look at Leo. “What?”
He motioned to a short, red-haired man headed our way.
“Because he’s a short ginger?”
“That and he’s doing a shit job of glamouring his ears. Look at the tips. A bit too pointy.”
The goblin raised a hand in greeting at someone. My best someone who’d just smiled back at him, from where she stood next to Kane: the man who Ari had said spotted everything, who was the go-to guy to take out death worms, and who had zero compunction jettisoning flotsam.
“Oh, shit.” I shoved my way down the bar and spilled my drink all over Kane’s abomination of a shirt.
“Oops,” I giggled, swaying.
He grabbed a cocktail napkin and dabbed at the cloth. “You’re a menace.” No, I was a godsend, saving Leo, and providing a service to humanity in destroying that shirt.
Leo stared at me in confusion until the goblin joined our party.
“Leonie,” he said. “Long time no see.”
“No way,” Ari breathed, his head swinging between the two of them.
Kane shot Ari a puzzled look. He turned in the direction Ari was staring and–
I stumbled against Kane, knocking him backwards.
Kane bitched about me being a crazy person and elbowed me out of the way. “If I don’t get to the bathroom and rinse this, this silk is going to be a write-off.”
I babbled profuse apologies as I helped him through the crowd.
The second the restroom door shut behind him, I raced back to the bar, practically tossing people out of my path. The goblin was gone and Leo and Ari were engaged in a game of Am Not/Are Too.
“Nava,” Leo said through clenched teeth. “Ari is high. For the last time, I am not a mythical creature.”
Ari inspected my bristling friend from head to toe. “No. You’re not a goblin.”
“Told you.”
“You’re a PD.”
“Fuck you, I’m not practice.” Leo clapped her hand over her mouth.
I muscled in between the two of them. “Here’s the thing.”
My brother swung his too-calm gaze my way and I wondered if perhaps I should have spilled that drink over his shirt instead. No, I was reasonably certain Ari wouldn’t kill Leo.
In public.
I threw my hands up. “Surprise?”
“It doesn’t change who I am,” Leo said.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked me.
“I only found out when Leo and I reconnected a couple months ago and to be fair, she had her reasons for not telling us in high school.”
“Thank you,” Leo said.
Ari pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re the snitch, aren’t you? That’s how Nee and you reunited.”
“Told you he wasn’t just a pretty face,” I said.
“I prefer informant.” Leo jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “I work part time as a P.I. for a mostly demon clientele to fund my crim degree.” She jabbed him again and he swatted her hand away. “I passed on a ton of good intel to Xiaoli when he was still based here, so back off.”
“Ace,” I warned, “no one can know about Leo. Xiaoli may have recognized her worth and allowed her to live–” Leo flinched, but it was what it was. “But other Rasha won’t be so understanding.”
“My silence has a price. Point out all the demons in this club.” Ari pulled out his most commanding tone.
Leo wasn’t phased. Guess my brother’s menace didn’t scare someone who’d been around for the three months of squeaky cracking when his voice was ch
anging. “It doesn’t work that way.” She reapplied her lipstick. “I’m not some kind of Hellspawn detector and we don’t have secret handshakes.”
“Sucks for you,” Ari said, downing the last of his drink.
Leo grabbed his hand, pressing it against the kill spot on her left hip.
I swallowed my “eep” and even refrained from knocking his hand away, recognizing that this was Leo’s to have out with Ari. Maybe she could get some iron plating, though. Just in case.
“Dust me or shut up already,” she said.
“There a problem?” Kane leaned his elbow on the bar.
Ari tore his hand off her.
Leo smiled up at Kane. “Nothing a drink can’t fix.”
“My pleasure.” He waved at the bartender to get her attention, then looked at Ari. “Twin the elder? You look like you could use a couple of drinks yourself.”
Tight-lipped, Ari shook his head and strode off.
Leo squeezed her first twice at me. Our code for someone being a giant douchebag.
Not entirely sure which Katz twin it was directed at, I shot her an apologetic look and hurried after my brother, catching up to him halfway down the stairs. “Why are you so mad? She’s no different than she’s always been.”
Ari stopped on the last tread so abruptly that I ran into his back. “It’s only going to be so long before she turns on you for her own ends,” he said.
“She’d never.”
He shook his head, his eyes hard in the club’s low light. “How much intel have you handed over to her? Fuck, Nava. What have you done?”
“I’ve reconnected with my best friend. Your friend, too.”
“She’s a demon.”
“She’s Leo.” He opened his mouth to argue and I held up a hand. “Spare me the ‘Rasha and demons can’t be friends’ bullshit. I’m familiar with the party line. It’s up there with women can’t be Rasha. The Brotherhood has laid down a lot of absolutes that–”
“Not now,” he said.
“Yes, now. You and I are going to have this out.”
He clasped my shoulders and spun me around. “Mara’s roommate, Daniel. Three o’clock. Talking to sex on a stick.”
Smoldering dark eyes, lush red lips, stubble meandering into beard territory–I swear Cuntessa whimpered. My hips involuntarily thrust forward, my body’s attempt to get closer to this stranger’s orbit. “Yum. And he could be Arab.”
Though if he was an incubus, why was he hitting on Daniel?
The sexy man smiled wickedly at something that Daniel said. The punch from that was like being railroad spiked with lust. “Definitely an incubus,” I said through gritted teeth.
“He’s something else.” I thought Ari was saying that in admiration, until I took in the tight strain in his muscles and the slight flush on his cheeks. He literally meant this man was some other type of demon because he was affecting the both of us–and Daniel–and bisexual incubi were not a thing.
Ari and I groaned in tandem, shifting.
“Demon,” my brother said. “Not our faults.”
I certainly hoped so, because if we weren’t being affected by some evil compulsion, our sibling relationship was about to get extremely awkward.
16
Our suspected demon lounged on a sofa, one arm stretched along the back, his legs splayed, owning his gunmetal black suit that had to cost a small fortune. His black hair was styled in a Caesar cut. Ninety-nine percent of all men with that cut could not pull it off. This man was absolutely the one percent.
I ran my eyes over every inch of him in thorough investigation. Giving my all to this job. Tugging on my red halter top to straighten it, I sat down on the high bar stools we’d commandeered to better scope him out. “Hello, billionaire BDSM romance cover.”
“He could tie me up,” Ari said.
My brother was a switch? I desperately looked around for a drink to magically appear, though if alcohol got Ari dishing facts like this, he was cut off. “Over-sharing between us only goes the other way, bro. Don’t fuck with a perfectly acceptable system.”
With his eager expression and black-and-white striped sweater, Daniel made an incongruous sight next to this other man. He was a kitten playing with a panther. A panther who reached out a hand to stroke the kitten’s cheek.
“They seem to know each other,” I said. “Which makes sense because of Mara.”
“Right.” Ari looked pained as he tore his eyes away from our target. “We need to keep Daniel away from the demon.”
“Good luck with that. Look at him. That boy is jonsing hard for a taste of tall, evil, and ride-me-hard.”
Ari shifted his stool a couple of inches to the left in order to see around the couple now blocking us. “Not like we can pull Daniel aside and warn him off. He wouldn’t believe us.”
“Even if he did, it might not matter,” I pointed out. “My many warnings to Leo about Drio have failed to douse her interest.”
Daniel pressed close to the other man.
“The libido wants what the libido wants,” I said.
Ari leaned back, head bobbing to the music. “Think Daniel was already under this guy’s thrall? I mean, Mara only died a few days ago. A bit fast to go clubbing, isn’t it?”
“No kidding. But we need proof.” I slid off the stool. “I am the best sister ever. I’ll handle Daniel. You sample Yummytimes and report back.”
I pasted on my brightest smile as I approached. “Daniel, right?” He looked up with the blatant scowl of someone not wanting company. I kept my attention on him and not the potential demon studying Ari and I with hooded eyes. “Alison, remember?” I said.
“Right.”
I dropped onto the seat next to him. “I’m glad to see you out. After Mara’s sudden passing.” I glanced at our target but he showed no reaction to her name.
“I had to get out of the house,” Daniel said.
I nodded. “Totally understandable.”
While I babbled on to Daniel, ignoring his crossed arms, frowning, and curt answers, Ari had moved in on the other guy. I was having trouble hearing both conversations over the music, but then Sexy placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, interrupting us.
“Excuse me.” I gripped the top of the sofa because, dear lord, he had a posh British accent. Could he get any more delectable? “We’re going for a drink.”
There was no invitation for Daniel to join them.
I raked an objective eye over my twin. Blond, buff, and owning the bad boy vibe. I wasn’t thrilled with his constant penchant for all-black these days but it suited him.
Daniel didn’t stand a chance.
Ari and the target left. Daniel tried to follow but I stopped him, clasping his hands and mouthing platitudes about how much Mara was missed at the clinic. I sent her a silent apology and hoped that wherever she was, she understood that this was for the greater good of saving her roommate’s ass.
I kept up my verbal barrage until Daniel extricated himself to join some other friends that had arrived. After ensuring to the best of my ability that they were human, I wove through the patrons tossing off “excuse me,” circling the club searching for Ari. There was no sign of him or Sexy anywhere on this level.
Kane and Rohan were in the same back corner as the beginning of the evening, but there were a lot more glasses on their table now. Rohan sprawled in the chair. His slack posture changed as I approached; the intensity on his face made my skin tingle and he gazed at me like I needed devouring.
Eat me. Please and thank you. I pinched the inside of my arm. “We need to find Ari.”
Kane tossed a handful of peanuts into his mouth. “What’s the wayward twin up to now?”
“She’s standing right here,” Rohan joked.
“Yes, yes, you’re both hilarious. He’s with a potentially incubus-esque thing.”
“Incubi are hetero,” Rohan said.
“Hence the ‘esque,’” I replied. “We should find him.”
Kane rolled his eyes and
stood up. “You think?”
After another check of the ground floor, we started up the stairs, Rohan’s fingers ghosting across the exposed skin on my lower back. I clutched the railing, focusing on the treads beneath my feet and not the whisper of contact along my sacrum. Rohan wasn’t drunk. Unlike the one other time I’d seen him soused, there was no glittering edge to him tonight. He was just relaxed.
Oh, the things I could do with a pliant Rohan.
We found my brother upstairs, slumped over a table. “Ace!” I shook his shoulders.
He raised his head. “Crazy strong power. Conversation alone was…” He dropped his head back down. “I got Malik’s number.”
Malik was an Arabic name, which fit the pattern we were looking at, but right now we had a more pressing concern. “We need to go after him,” I said.
“Nope.”
I frowned. Kane and Rohan exchanged amused smiles.
Kane chucked my brother under the chin. “Need a moment there, sport?”
“Get lost,” he groaned.
“Oh my god,” I sputtered. “Will down the hard-on and move. We can’t let him get away.”
“Demon-induced erections. Got a good hour before it comes off crowbar status.” Kane jammed his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. “What?” he said at my look. “Hunter. Shit happens.”
“Boys and their stupid genitals,” I said. “Fine. I’ll find him.”
“Buddy system.” Rohan grinned at me, placing his hand flat against my shoulder blades. His warmth sunk into me like a hot stone massage, unraveling me. I rued my choice of halter top which left so much of me exposed.
I wrenched myself out of touching range. “You’re… no. You?” I boffed my brother across the head. “Also no. Kane. You’re with me.”
“No way, babyslay.” He tugged on his waistband. “These pants don’t stretch.”
“Ugh.”
“The demon isn’t going to be able to hurt anyone for a few days,” Ari said, shifting with a wince. “I put ground labradorite in his drink.”
Kane clapped him on the shoulder. “Nice work.”
I shook my head, uncomprehending.
“It protects against ill will and negative energy,” Rohan explained. “By getting him to ingest it, Ari has bought a couple days of this Malik not being able to hurt anyone.”
The Unlikeable Demon Hunter Collection: Books 1-3 (Nava Katz Box Set) Page 74