"Bosom's."
Emily's eyebrows shot up and I asked, "Like boobs?"
"No, like…well…yeah. It's all about sisterly love and stuff." The more we stared at her, the more uncertain Brown became. She was staring at her shoes by the end of that statement.
"It sounds like a witch bar," Kates said in a flat voice.
"It's not a witch bar." But Brown was busy inspecting anything around us. No eye contact.
"Wait!" Emily held up a hand and skirted from the room. She was back within minutes with a full grin on her face. "I asked the girl across the hall and she recommended a place called Barbwire?"
"Sold," Kates sighed.
I surged to my feet. "I'm good with that one."
Brown frowned. "Where is that place?"
"It doesn't matter. That's where we're going." Kates raked her up and down. "You need a wardrobe change."
She looked down. "What are you talking about? I think I look good."
"For a witch." Kates bent into her own bag and started rummaging around.
"I am a witch."
I couldn't help but watch Emily through their exchange. She had seemed uneasy about the witch stuff before I disappeared, but now she didn't blink an eye. I started to wonder if she knew more about the supernatural than she was letting on.
"Not tonight you are. If you hang out with me, you gotta look good. None of this stuff." She waved a hand up and down Brown's figure.
Brown looked down at herself. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing." Kates threw an arm around her shoulder and drew her close. "Trust me. I'm going to make you hot. The witch look isn’t attractive. You're going to send the guys running away. You want them to come to you."
And make her hot she did. Brown emerged from our room with skintight jeans and a flashy white camisole. Kates wanted her to wear a black bra underneath, but it was vetoed by everyone else. She matched Kates, who wore skintight white pants and a black camisole. When my roommate disappeared with clothes, I was a little scared she would return with her Target outfit from the last time she had gone out with Kates and me. I was wrong and impressed when she came back in loose-fitting white pants and a conservative black tank. She had a classy look to her now. I frowned at my own closet. Kates would want me to look like a slut. Brown wouldn't care and Emily would vote for something similar to her outfit. I ended up with basic jeans and a pink top that ran around my neck, wrapped around the opposite side and looped together in the back.
Kates whistled when I stepped out of the room. "If only Roane could see you now."
I grinned and then stiffened as I sent a furtive look towards my roommate. Emily went rigid for a moment and then relaxed. Brown started to bounce up and down. "Girls' night out. Girls' night out."
She stopped when Kates grabbed her arm. "Chill, girl."
"Oh, okay." But the stupid smile wasn't wiped clean.
Emily fell in step beside me as the other two led the way. She remained quiet all the way until we got to the bar. We followed the directions the girl from across the hall gave us. After we parked five blocks away and crossed over a park, I caught a glimpse of Barbwire. The entire building looked like an old warehouse with a simple red door in the front. A line of people wrapped around the building. There was nothing glamorous about the place, but as we drew closer, I saw someone in line and groaned.
"What?" Emily looked ahead. "Is that Holly from the hotline?"
My joy for the night was gone.
Holly looked the same. Oval face. Pasty skin. Brown eyes that reminded me of an owl. She looked like a librarian intent on getting drunk. She wore a low cut gray skirt and a white top underneath a matching grey lace vest. When she reached behind and grabbed the arm of a guy, I felt the desire inside of her. Oh yes. The girl was on a mission. Then she looked my way.
And I froze. Adam was with her.
She gasped and a wide smile spread over her face. "Davy?! Is that you?"
Kates asked underneath her breath, "Who's that?"
"She works at the hotline," Emily murmured back.
"Wasn’t the that got killed from there too?"
"What?" Brown gasped.
Holly darted our way. Her hand was still attached to Adam's arm and he looked like he had seen a ghost.
Holly clapped her hands together. "How are you, Davy? You never showed up again to cover Adam's shifts. Adam, aren't you going to say hello?"
"Hi, Davy." His eyes darted behind my shoulder.
When he tensed, I knew he had recognized Kates. Then she jostled forward and threw out an arm. "How's it going? I'm Kates, Davy's best friend. Hi, Adam. Remember me?"
He froze. Even his eyes didn't blink.
Holly bright smile dimmed a bit and she glanced to her date. “Hi, I'm Holly. You know Davy?"
"Best friends. Childhood." Kates threw an arm around my shoulder. Her smile was easy, but her eyes were pinned on Adam.
"Oh. That's great."
Then Brown burst forward. "I'm Sarah, but you can call me Sarah. I'm a witch. What are you?"
Holly's eyes threatened to burst out. "What did you say?"
"I'm a witch. I'm not very powerful. Or, well, I barely have any power, but I will. Someday."
Kates muttered under her breath, "You really need to stop telling people that."
Emily moved forward. "I agree. You need to learn some boundaries."
"Boundaries? But she's a friend of Davy's."
"There are different types of friends."
Emily nodded.
"Wait, what?" Holly kept glancing between all of us. Her hand tightened on Adam. "What’s going on? Davy?"
Adam looked everywhere and anywhere, just not as us.
"Oh look. It's almost time for you to go in." Kates pointed behind them. When Holly saw the bouncer motioning towards them, she swallowed and then came to a decision. "You can come in with us."
"What? No. That's okay." I shook my head.
"I mean it. The line's really long and they have a limit. Come on. Come in with us."
"What the hell." Kates broke free and led us forward. Holly seemed uncertain, but then nodded before jumping forward. She motioned to the big guy in black. "They're with us."
When the bouncer's cold eyes passed over us, he paused on me and then nodded. "Sure."
A shiver went down my spine. I felt like he had looked inside of me. As I passed through, I looked back over my shoulder. He was still watching me, but Kates grasped my hand and dragged me the rest of the way. When the door closed she whispered in my ear, "He's one of Lucan's. Don't draw any more attention. He knows me, not you. Let's keep it that way."
I nodded and then was distracted when Adam stopped beside me. When I looked into his eyes, I was shocked. The Adam I knew had been happy and carefree. He had liked me before, but now he feared me.
The old Adam was gone. I had been a part of that.
I didn't say anything. He didn't say anything either, but his eyes went to Kates again. No matter what he'd told the police before, he knew what she had done. I went inside of him and felt how he blamed her for Shelly's death. That's when I knew that no matter how much time he took off, he'd never be over the past.
"Let's get something to drink." Kates gestured towards the bar and then grabbed Brown and Emily. She pulled them around groups and weaved through until they were on the other side of the club. I followed at a more sedate pace, but I couldn't shake the look from Adam's eyes. He watched us go as Holly stood silent beside him. She had a hand over her mouth, but she didn't stop us. When we found an empty table, I saw the relief in Kates' eyes. I wondered why, but then she plopped her purse on the table and took out her clutch. "I'll buy. Save my seat."
Emily scooted onto a high-top stool. "Is this going to be a repeat of the last time all three of us went out? I still don't quite remember what happened that night."
I gritted my teeth and realized that no one had explained she'd been love-bitten by Bennett. But that had been when she hadn't known about vampi
res and werewolves. Now she knew about werewolves, which reminded me. "How’d you handle it when Pete told you he was a werewolf?"
Emily blinked. She didn’t look surprised at the question. "I thought he was nuts at first. And I ran away from him, but then he changed in front of me. I had to believe it after that."
"He changed in front of you? He could control the werewolf?"
She nodded. "It's a part of him. He can change whenever he wants. It's very exciting at times."
"You're okay dating a werewolf?"
"You're okay dating Lucas?" Emily shot back with a hard look in her eyes.
It made me pause. Did he know what he was?
She added, "We never talked about him before you disappeared."
We hadn’t. "This is awkward."
Brown scooted off her stool. "I'm going to the bathroom."
Now it was just me and Ems, and there so many lies I had told her.
I cleared my throat. Emily had a guarded look in her eyes, but she stared right back. So I started, "I met Roane—"
"You call him Roane."
"That's his last name."
"How long?"
"What?"
"How long have you two been together?"
"A few months, I guess. We started a few months ago, but I guess we didn't get together 'together' until yesterday?"
"Yesterday?" Emily gulped and reared back. "I thought you didn't come back until today. You went to see him first?"
"I…" …had no idea what to say now.
Kates appeared with a tray of drinks in hand. She pushed her purse onto my lap and shoved the tray on the table at the same moment. Then she scooted next to me on a stool. "I forgot how grabby guys can be. I've been spending too much time with stiffs. One guy had his hand down my pants before I could knee him in the balls."
A look of hurt flared in Emily's eyes before she grinned and looked down. As she did, I met Kates' knowing look and knew she had come back at the right time.
I no longer wanted to be there.
"I would recommend no one going to the bathroom without me." Brown returned and pulled up a stool on the other side of Emily. "I have sanitizer with me and you'll want it. I think people were having sex in the stall beside me. And I think a girl was puking in the other stall."
Kates choked back a laugh. "Something tells me you're a magnet for fun."
"Fun for you maybe, but not me." Brown reached for a drink and downed it in two swallows. Then she reached for another.
Kates laughed and pulled the tray out of reach before she pointed at Emily. "This girl was wasted the last time we went out. Davy took care of her and so that means it's my turn to take care of the drunk. I don't want to have to take care of you."
"Oh, that's okay. It takes a lot for me to get drunk." Brown tipped her head back and finished the second drink.
"There are seven shots in each of these."
The glass fell to the table from Brown's hand, but Kates' caught it. Her grab was lightning fast and Brown's eyes went wide.
As Kates placed the glass on the table, Emily let out a ragged breath. "Oh wow. That was, that was fast."
Brown had new emotion in her eyes as she watched Kates. "You're really fast, like crazy fast. Oh my—"
Emily grabbed the witch's hand and dragged her off the stool. "I'm going to take her to the dance floor before she goes into too much shock."
"Did you see how fast she was?" We heard Brown ask Emily before they were out of earshot.
Kates turned to me. "So what'd the roommate have to say?"
I shook my head and reached for a glass. "I don't want to go over it."
"It was about Roane?"
"Yeah." Then I took a sip and wrinkled my nose. "This is awful, Kates."
"I know." Kates shook her head. "And that says a lot about the witch. The girl isn't normal. What are you doing hanging out with her?"
I tried another sip, but it tasted too horrible. "I thought you liked her?"
"I do, but she's off. I can't get a good read on her and that makes me nervous. What read do you have on her?"
What read did I have on her? That she was going to be a very powerful witch and sooner than I had thought. But I wasn't going to tell Kates that so I smiled. "She's a good person. I trust her."
"Okay." She lifted her glass and saluted me. "Here's to you and who you pick to surround yourself. I shouldn't complain. You're still talking to me."
"Very true."
As I reached forward to clink my glass with Kates, tingles shot up and down my spine. Someone was watching me. I scanned the club and then backpedaled when I saw a lone female in a narrow hallway. She watched me back and then I realized it was Pippa. When she saw that I'd seen her, she motioned to me.
"I'll be right back." I slid off my stool before Kates could ask me any other questions. As I drew closer, I asked, "Pippa?"
She looked scared. Pale.
"What are you doing here?"
Her eyes glanced over my shoulder. "You're in danger."
"Come again?" When she looked behind me again, I turned as well. Emily and Brown had returned to the table with Kates. All of them were smiling and laughing. "Do you want to go over there?"
Her eyes went wide. "No. I can't. And you shouldn't either. You have to get out of here, Davy."
"Why?"
"Um." She bit her lip and her hands were twisted into the ends of her shirt.
"Pippa, what's going on?" I couldn't look away from her hands. They kept twisting around each other. Something was wrong, horribly wrong. And then I slipped inside of her.
'She has no idea. I don't know how to tell her. Oh god. Why couldn't he leave it alone? He had to go and tell Mother Wolf. What's Emily going to think?"
I grabbed her shoulders. "Pippa! What is wrong? What's happened?"
"It's Pete," she wrung out. "I've been shielding you from Mother Wolf, but he didn't. He went straight to her. I could tell he didn't like you. He knows that you're different. He doesn't know what it is, but neither do I. He went straight to her."
"To who?"
"To Mother Wolf." She took a deep breath. "She sent a small army for you. They're coming here. Now."
I gulped. "How big is a 'small army'?"
"Twenty wolves. Her best fighters."
"And Pete? Is he one of them?" I had no idea what to do if the Alpha was going to attack. Saren helped me evade him once. And after my first encounter with him, I didn't think I could suppress the Immortal again so quickly.
"No, but he'll be watching. They aren't supposed to hurt Emily, but it's hard to control that in a fight. Especially when it includes vampires." As she finished speaking, her eyes went over my shoulder again.
I turned, but I already knew who she meant. Roane stood a few feet from the doorway. Gregory trickled in behind him, followed by Gavin, Wren, and Tracey. Another vampire stood behind her, but all of them stood as one force.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO