by A. C. James
“Did you feel that?” I whispered to Rue, who was standing next to me.
“Yes. It tingled, but it didn’t hurt.”
I rubbed my arm. “Weird.”
“I don’t like it,” Arie said. “I don’t like any of it.”
“Me either,” Toren said. “Let’s just find her, crack some skulls on the way out, and get the hell out of here before something else zaps us.”
“You felt it too?”
He rolled his eyes. “What do you think?”
I agreed with him for once, about getting out of there, but I didn’t think this was the type of place where we should flex our muscles, because we’d be outmatched. This wasn’t our turf and clearly we were at a disadvantage. Dealing with the bouncer had taught me one thing, though; demons could be quite reasonable if you were polite about it.
“You know you can catch more flies with honey, right?”
“Personally, I prefer to smack the shit out flies.”
“Enough.” Rue elbowed me. “Look at the wall.”
The same symbol that marked the door we’d just passed through was on the far wall across from the bar where the bartender had been pointing. The symbol glowed bright red. I walked toward to the wall and the rest of them trailed behind me. We stood there eying the symbol, and I was wondering what to do next when a hissing sound thrummed through my mind and then turned into a loud whisper. Touch it. When I looked at Rue, Arie, and Toren they were all staring at it, but none of them looked like they’d heard the whisper. Go on. Touch it. The whispering sounded like it was coming from behind me, so I turned toward the bar. The bartender inclined his head.
-You?-
Yes.
I gulped in air even though I didn’t need it—I needed courage. How could I trust him? I didn’t, of course, but if this was what it took to get Arie’s memories back then it was worth the risk. I straightened my shoulders.
“What now?” Rue asked.
“We go through it,” I said, and reached out to touch the symbol. It felt warm.
When I moved my hand away from its fiery glow, the symbol began to separate and widen. As it became wider and wider, it opened into a vast portal. Its surface was watery, reflective, and I couldn’t see what was on the other side, but I’d already made up my mind. I stepped through it before any of them could stop me. And now I knew why they called it the Flamethrower.
Chapter 15
A female demon stood on top of the bar, a boa made of fire strung around her neck. She wasn’t wearing much else, and she was dancing slowly and seductively in front of a line of demons that filled the seats from one end of the bar to the other. She ran her fingers through the boa and produced a fireball in her hand. She threw it into the nearest empty shot glass, sitting in front a demon ten feet down the bar, and it turned into liquid—some sort of demonic libation that didn’t look appealing at all. He downed the shot and let out a yowl. There was another demon behind the bar who was pouring drinks from a tap at the other end. None of them were paying me any mind, but that didn’t make me feel any less out of place. I was definitely out of my element, and I was glad when Rue, Arie, and Toren popped through the portal moments later.
“Wow, check out her rack,” Toren said as he gestured toward the demon dancing on the bar. Then he gave me a seething look. “But that was really fucking stupid, Holly. What if the portal closed behind you and we couldn’t get through?”
I sighed. “Right. Then maybe I’d be able to ask around without you shooting off your mouth and getting us kicked out.”
I’d rather put him in his place than explain that Rue had seen the symbol as well, and I had a hunch she’d be able to open the portal too. I imagined having the Sight had something to do with our ability to see the demonic marking and open the portal that led to the bar. The bar on the other side was probably only there to disguise this one. At least that would explain why it had been practically empty except for the two demons who had been masquerading as humans.
He glared at me. -You know, you’re a stubborn pain in the ass.-
-I’ve heard worse, and we’re wasting time.-
-Maybe one of the most stubborn women that I’ve ever met.-
Arie shot us both a look. “Come on.”
He headed toward the bartender at the other end, and we followed suit. Arie nudged his way through the thick line of demons in front of the bartender. They weren’t hostile, but I didn’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling from the looks of them. There were two on either side of Arie: one had tree-trunk arms and greenish skin, while the other had an orange tint and a forked tongue that darted out when he picked up his pint.
“We’re looking for Daeveena,” Arie shouted above the din to get the bartender’s attention.
“Yeah? Who’s asking?”
“We’re friends of hers.” I figured diplomacy had got me in here, and if anything it would serve up some information and get me the hell out of here.
But the bartender barely glanced at me. “Well I haven’t seen her in months.”
“Are you sure about that?” Toren asked as he cracked his knuckles.
Shit.
“Look, I know all the regulars, and I know what they drink too.” He pointed down the bar. “He drinks Fireball Shots.” He pointed to the demon next to Arie with the large arms and green skin. “He likes a Touch of Evil and my dancer likes Everything Rotten on her breaks. I remember their faces and their drinks. If I tell you she hasn’t been in here, she hasn’t been in here.”
My heart sunk. “Thank you for your time.”
But Rue grabbed my arm. “He’s lying.”
She was clutching Daeveena’s necklace, the one she’d passed along to Luna, in her hand. Its silver chain dangled from her hand. I knew that it was more than just an educated guess that told her this guy wasn’t telling us the truth. Toren had noticed the chain too. I could tell from his clenched fists that he wasn’t going to let this go unless this bartender gave us the information we needed.
-Toren…-
He didn’t even look at me. Toren edged around Arie and yanked the bartender’s shirt until he was halfway over the bar and almost in Arie’s lap.
“You’re going to tell me what I need to know, and you’re going to tell me now, or you’ll find out that knowing everyone’s drink orders doesn’t mean dick when you’re dead,” Toren said.
The bartender’s eyes just about popped out of his skull. I worried that Toren had scared him a bit too much and he wouldn’t be of any use to us. This twisting knot in my gut told me that if we could find Daeveena, there was a part of her that didn’t quite except that she was half demon. I’d appeal to her fey side and strike her only weakness. Her half-sister. If she’d come home for Luna, it only meant one thing. She loved her. Whether I could acknowledge it at the moment or not, I knew that Luna cared about Arie, and she’d be devastated if what her half-sister had done made Arie lose everything he loved…or worse.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I grabbed Toren’s forearm, but my eyes were on the bartender. I had his attention now. In fact, I had everyone’s attention, and the bar had grown incredibly quiet considering it was wall-to -wall muscle and skin in all sorts of shades, some pale and others bright. Either way, we were now at the bartender’s mercy because no matter how this played out, we were definitely on the losing side.
“Please, help me. I really need to find her. It’s extremely urgent. We just need to talk to her about our friend…” I nodded toward Arie. “She’s the only one who can help him. We don’t want any trouble. I swear we just want to talk.”
The bartender had been reaching under the sleek black surface of the bar for something, and I was sure it was something that would finish us. What I didn’t expect was for him to go limp in Toren’s grasp and look at me like he knew what I was thinking. Maybe that was his power, and he was posted at the bar because it was the first point of contact once you traveled through the watery abyss of the portal.
He sigh
ed. “Daeveena is in the back room playing cards. She’s been losing, so I imagine her mood will be piss-poor.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Just be careful…” he said. “They don’t like those with the Sight back there. It’s too easy to cheat.”
“Understood. We’re just here to see Daeveena.”
Toren released him. “And where can we find the card room?”
The bartender pointed toward the stage where a band rocked out, fast and furious, for the demons out on the dance floor. Beside the stage was a door with another bouncer, whose arms were as big around as my whole head.
“Thank you,” I said to the bartender.
He nodded.
We slowly pushed our way through the crowd moving in rhythm to the pulsating beat that literally vibrated through my bones. The four of us were edging our way along the wall because the crush of bodies was less thick around the outskirts of what I imagined was a dance floor. At the moment it was more of a mosh pit filled with all manner of demon—eerie skin tones, human-looking demons, spiked horns, and tails that were doing things I didn’t even want to think about. I didn’t notice until we were almost on top of them, but there was a woman, human, pressed against the wall on my right with two demons on either side of her. I looked away. It was hard to keep track of all the body parts, but she seemed to be enjoying it immensely. It reminded me of the vision I had on the plane, and my body tingled inexplicably at the mere thought of it. And it didn’t help that I looked like Katarina. That made it too easy for me to imagine it was my body crushed between Arie and Toren.
We reached the well-endowed bouncer, whose massive arms could crush me.
“State your purpose,” he said.
“I’m here to see Daeveena back in the card room.”
The bouncer gave me a funny look, but he opened the door and let us in. I realized that my aura was what gave me away. That had to be how the bartender knew that I had the Sight, and why he was looking sideways at Rue too. Now the bouncer was doing the same thing, but we slid past him and the door opened to a long corridor. The smell of smoke wafted down its dark length, and laughter resounding from the small sliver of light at the very end.
I grabbed Rue’s hand. “Come on.”
Arie and Toren followed us toward the light, which came from a door cracked open. When we reached the door and opened it, there were five demons sitting around a round table playing cards. One of them had a woman perched on his lap. The cards had weird symbols on them that I didn’t recognize, but I’d have recognized Daeveena anywhere. She had hair as dark as a raven and onyx eyes that glittered when she looked up from her position. She’d been slumped over her cards, and she looked nearly as miserable as Ty had. Daeveena straightened and her eyes shifted to Arie. If I wasn’t mistaken, she looked nervous.
Good. She should be.
The demons all regarded me with the same look I got from the bartender and the bouncer.
I started talking fast so they’d know I wasn’t there to gamble. With the way they were looking at me I could tell they’d seen my aura, which shimmered gold and betrayed my abilities. Having the Sight and being in a room like this one they’d only assume one thing—that I was a cheat and that I was stupid enough to try it.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your game, but I’m not here for that. I need to speak with Daeveena.”
“What do you want?” she asked.
“You know damn well what we want,” Arie said.
Toren cracked his knuckles.
I shot Arie a look. “Daeveena, can I speak with you in private?”
After all, this was something best dealt with woman to woman. I knew Arie and Toren wouldn’t win us any points with brute force.
She regarded the two of them and then eyed me suspiciously. “Just you. Not them.”
I nodded. “Fine.”
Daeveena pushed back from the card table and pulled me into the dimly lit hallway. The others were still in the card room, but Daeveena had closed the door. Still, I could signal them telepathically if I needed help.
“You have exactly five minutes to tell me what you want,” Daeveena said as she leaned back against the wall.
“I want you to give Arie his memories back,” I whispered.
Daeveena’s laugh was harsh. “He took my sister.”
It wouldn’t do any good to argue the point that Luna had made her own choice and that Arie had nothing to do with it. When people saw things a certain way, there was no changing their mind. It was better to let them go on believing it than waste your breath on disputing their crock-of-shit perception.
So I agreed with her instead. “Right, but how do you think Luna will feel about you now?”
Daeveena’s hands had been shoved in her pockets. She pulled out a silver case and then a fiery-looking stick, stuck it in her mouth, and lit it with her fingertip. She sucked a long drag from it and puffed out a ring of smoke, blowing it over my head.
“Like that matters when she won’t even speak to me.”
“Yeah, but you can guarantee that she won’t come around if you do this to someone she cares about.” My voice was quiet, but in the long, dark hallway you could have heard a pin drop.
“I’m done with Luna. She could have come with me.” Daeveena shrugged and took another drag. “She didn’t.”
Okay, time to try a different tactic.
“What about Ty? Are you done with him?”
She looked away. “What do you know about it?”
“I know that he loves you. And I know that you’re taking the one person that I’m meant to be with. You should know what it’s like not to be able to be with the one person who really gets you. Don’t do this.”
Her eyes glittered with emotion, but she pressed her lips together in a firm line.
“Please, Daeveena.”
She let out a long and heavy sigh. “Fine.”
Daeveena yanked open the door to the card room and I followed her inside. She didn’t say anything; instead she walked right up to Arie and placed her palm flat on his chest. I didn’t know what the words she murmured meant, but I didn’t have to know their meaning. His eyes shifted from gray to onyx and then back again. For a moment he seemed disorientated and confused, but then he turned toward me and with just one look I knew that everything would be all right.
That was the Arie that I’d always known. He looked at me like I lit up his world. He crossed the room without regard for anyone sitting at the card table, not that it mattered because they didn’t seem overly interested in us even from the moment we walked in the room ready for a fight.
“Holly?’ His voice seemed hesitant.
My soul felt like it was on fire. I couldn’t speak, I could barely move, but somehow I made my way across the room. Then we were both moving at the same time, and finally we were together…like we were always meant to be.
“Yes…”
Arie’s arms were around me and he kissed my forehead, my cheeks, my shoulders—hell, he kissed me all over as if we’d been separated forever. I was okay with that. He got to my fingertips, my left hand, which was bare. He was crushed. I could tell by the way he looked at me that he thought that I’d given up on him, but nothing could be further from the truth. I’d followed him here, and I’d practically followed him to hell and back with our visit to the demon bar in Manhattan.
“Holly…”
He was looking at my left ring finger. I couldn’t breathe.
“Why aren’t you wearing your ring?”
I paused. Not because I wasn’t sure what to say, but I didn’t know whether he’d be able to hear it. “I didn’t want you to know…if you couldn’t remember.”
Arie shook his head. “Holly, I asked you to marry me and I meant it. I mean it now as much as I did then.” He got down on one knee.
All the demons circling the card table where watching us now, but none of that mattered. The only thing that did was that Arie remembered me. He loved me. My eyes filled with re
d droplets, but I refused to shed them and make my face a bloody mess at a time like this.
“Yes. God, yes.” I knew I was sputtering and I sounded like an idiot, but I didn’t care. I’d been reduced into a blubbering mess, and if I melted into a puddle right there on the spot it wouldn’t make a difference as long as Arie was holding me. If his arms were wrapped around me, then all the things that didn’t make sense in the world wouldn’t matter in mine.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Yes.”
His gray eyes reminded me of a winter day, the kind where the snow reflects a brightness that shines through all the dullness. I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of my life looking into them as long as he knew me, along with all my flaws, and murmured my name like it was the last thing he’d ever say. That’s all I wanted at the end of the day.
“I’m sorry,” Arie said.
My eyes searched his in confusion. “For what?”
He cupped my face in his hands. “For so much more than you could ever imagine.” He closed his eyes. “You are my entire world.” He enunciated his words quite purposefully.
So much emotion swelled in my throat that I thought it would close around it. I wanted to cry and laugh and scream all at the same time. There was so much that had been left unsaid between us, and there were so many questions that I was too afraid to ask. I couldn’t unload them on him when I just got him back. I knew he sensed it simmering beneath the surface, but it was all I could do to keep from pinching myself. Daeveena had reversed the demon magic that she’d unleashed on him, and as far as I was concerned, all the rest could wait.
“I didn’t want to lose you. I don’t ever want to lose you,” I croaked.
“Forever. As long as we have that, then you’ll have me.”
I nuzzled my head into his shoulder. I wouldn’t make him promise, because the one thing I’d learned was that eternity could be very uncertain.