by Danae Ayusso
“It is recorded-” I started to recite what I was told to when this came up.
“I know what’s recorded,” Alder interrupted. “And I know it’s a lie in order to protect him.”
“Luka is the one that bit me. Luka is the one that buried me in a cemetery and left me for dead. Luka is-”
“Not powerful enough to create life that is pure Light,” Alder interrupted, shaking his head. “War will ensue, that I am most certain.”
It was a struggle, but eventually I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.
“I shouldn’t be here,” I whispered.
“No, you shouldn’t,” Alder agreed. “But at the moment it’s exactly where you need to be,” he promised, wiping away the tears staining my cheeks. “You are worth fighting for, Shawn. Never question or doubt that.”
It was a nice thought, one only found in the pages of fairytales though.
In the fairytales there was always a Prince in shining armor that saved the damsel in distress, the girl that’s beauty inadvertently started a war that would bring ruin to the kingdom, and the villain was always slain in the end.
That wouldn’t be my fairytale.
No.
Not even close.
In the end, I’ll be the one that ends up slain since I’m the villain in some form or another.
I really wish Luka would have finished the job.
“You okay, Sis?” Giovanni asked.
I nodded. “Not even close,” I whispered, and he forced a smile.
Sometimes I hated how well my brother knew me, and right now he knew I was on the verge of completely losing it. That would be the only thing that would keep him from flirting with Tybalt.
Giovanni wrapped his airy arms around me and they passed through my body, causing his face to drop and tears flooded his eyes.
“I know, Polpetto,” I said, forcing a smile, and wiped away the tears that stained my cheeks. “In the morning when I’m dreaming we can hug. I’ll even sing and dance with you.”
“You better,” he sternly warned, trying to put on his big boy pants, but I knew he was on the verge of losing it as much as I was.
We were very emotional Italians that night.
Tybalt pushed his hand through his dark curls. “If this is too much we can do something else. Catch a movie or something,” he offered.
Giovanni looked at me, his eyes moving over my face many times. “You got this, Sis. Time to show this new world just how bad ass and beautiful you are. Even if you hide out in the bathroom the entire time, I’ll keep you company and scratch the eyes out of any bitch that runs her mouth.”
I laughed.
“Thanks for the lovely mental picture of you wind milling your arms and screeching like you used to do on the playground when we were kids,” I said.
A smile consumed his face.
“Try to stay out of trouble,” we said in unison before laughing.
Yes, we were like twins most of the time. Only Giovanni was the up front, in your face, center of attention, and I was his timid shadow that always stood behind him where it was safe.
Irony that he’s now my Spirit Shadow.
‘You can do this. Just have fun, and if needed I am most certain more than one knight in shining armor will save you.’
Stay out of my head, Jerk.
‘Nyte. Do not make me come get you. Stay out of trouble and reel your brother in.’
Yes, Sir.
‘Do not call me that.’
Yes, Master.
‘Do not call me… Actually,’ he sounded contemplative. ‘I will admit I am torn on you calling me Master.’
Perv.
‘Only in your mind. Be safe.’
I took Tybalt’s offered arm and smiled. “I’m ready now. Sorry my brother was trying to hump you without your consent. This new side of him, since I was turned into a vampire, he’s been strangely horny for sexy men. I had no idea he was gay.”
Giovanni snorted. “Please. I’m not gay… Somewhat gay, more gay than straight… Let’s call it seventy-five twenty-five gay to straight. Why do you think I played sports?” he asked. “Locker rooms full of naked, sweaty boys,” he informed me, wagging his brows.
My eyes widened; that was news to me.
“Really?” I asked.
He nodded with a face-consuming smile, causing Alder to laugh.
“Huh, I guess I learn something new every day. Why didn’t you ever tell me?” I asked as we headed towards the building on the other side of the parking lot.
Giovanni shrugged. “I knew I was bi-curious, just didn’t know the depth of my queerness until you started hanging around with such sexy eye-candy. I mean, damn,” he said, looking between Tybalt and Alder. “Eighty-five percent gay, let’s call it a strong eighty-five.”
“Seriously?” I complained.
He chuckled. “Sorry. I got sexy men on the mind. Anyway, we were already considered freaks and heathens, Sis. Could you imagine what ‘dem good ol’ boys in Usk would have done to me if they knew I was primarily queer?” he rhetorically ask. “They would have strung me up in a tree. I was way too pretty to be hung. You know what happens with hangings, right? You shit and piss yourself while dangling. Total loss of bowel control.”
Tybalt and Alder roared with laughter.
As mildly amusing as it was, I was greatly disturbed by this new side of my brother I was getting to see on my date.
“You are a troubled little man,” I informed him.
“Not so little. Six-two on a good day, two-thirty of muscle at my peak,” he reminded me, flexing.
“Uh huh. Good thing we didn’t embalm and you couldn’t keep anything down otherwise… Sorry,” I caught myself much too late.
He made a face. “It’s okay. I guess that’s what I get for crashing your first actual, non-questionable-hookup, date.”
“Try to stay out of trouble, please,” I whispered.
Giovanni made a face, causing me to giggle. “I make no promises, but I’ll do whatever I can to keep you from being targeted,” he conceded.
“Good enough for me!” I beamed.
Tybalt brought my hand to his mouth and rolled it over before kissing the inside of my bare wrist. “You two are truly adorable, and I am so very grateful that the Goddess allowed me the honor of being able to see the gift she bestowed upon you.”
Giovanni gasped. “Control yourself, Puppy. Your shameless flirting will only get you caressed when you aren’t looking,” he warned before wagging his brows.
Of course, Giovanni makes it all about him, but I honestly wouldn’t want him any other way.
We stopped outside of the metal building. There wasn’t a door, and the exterior was mundanely nondescript.
Honestly, it was disappointing.
“Do we knock or something?” I asked.
Tybalt chuckled, shaking his head.
“What looks like a quiet warehouse located on the industrial side of the harbor, that no human would be stupid enough to try to sneak into, is so much more,” Alder informed us. “More than you could possibly imagine,” he said the latter ominously and I rolled my eyes causing him to laugh.
Giovanni looked apprehensive all of a sudden. “Sis, make sure you don’t mention that asshole that’s keeping you hostage in that church, or the crown his mommy dearest grudgingly bestowed upon you, and don’t mention the Herald or the Nightling thing, not that either of us know what the hell that even is or means… Just keep your head down and try to go unnoticed.”
That wasn’t like my brother in the least. Usually he wants me to emulate him and walk into a room and act as if I own the place. Now he’s telling me to revert to the wallflower mentality that he hated.
I looked to Alder for confirmation since he knew more than we did when it pertained to what, in theory, I was.
He made a face. “You can’t hide, not when you’re on Tybalt’s arm. It isn’t possible, and I’m rather confident you’ll upstage the Queen.”
I glared at him. “Wou
ld you stop giggling over that?!” I snapped at him then blushed with a small smile.
I had never upstaged anyone before, especially a Queen.
“No, it serves them right,” Alder confidently told me. “I would recommend keeping your hands to yourself, or limit skin to skin contact. Typically it’s through the hands that you can absolve someone, but you’re different so you might be able to absolve someone of their deepest, darkest sins with merely a smile. Who knows?! You’re kind of a freak.”
“Hey!” I squeaked, softly smacking him in the arm. “Not cool. That’s Miss Freak to you, Blondie.”
He smiled. “You’ll be fine, and don’t worry about the Queen. Just compliment their shoes and you’ll be golden in their eyes.”
“Shoes, got it,” I said.
Tybalt pressed his free hand against the corrugated metal and it rippled away from his touch.
“Holy-” I started, eyes wide.
“Shit,” Giovanni finished for me.
Absently I nodded my agreement.
We watched in awe as the dark, solid surface turned into a wall of rolling, molten metal. From the other side loud music poured, vibrating the ground under our feet, and the spinning and flashing lights caused the metal to have a rainbow effect that made me smile; it reminded me of the oily residue on asphalt after it rains.
“Amazing,” I said with a face-consuming smile. “How did... What is this place?” I asked, looking up at Tybalt and blushed when our eyes met.
“Welcome to Pandemonium,” he said, motioning for me to step through.
I looked from Tybalt to Alder as he hurried after my brother as he darted inside with a smile consuming his face.
“Please don’t die. Please don’t die, Please don’t die,” I chanted under my breath. “Goddess help me to not die,” I prayed before stepping through the rippling wall of metal. I looked over my shoulder as I did, just in case it was the last time I’d see the outside world, and my eyes widened.
From the darkness they appeared in black, wind blowing their long jackets away from them, their attention on the building.
Before I could say anything, the molten metal instantly solidified behind us, sealing our fate.
****
“Shawn?” Tybalt asked. “Are you okay?”
I looked around then behind us; there was no door.
Andrei, where are you? I asked in a panic.
‘Always with you,’ he said. ‘Relax and have fun. Think of your date as a learning experience in the world you are now a part of.’
Did you follow me?
‘I have no need to. I know where you are since I am always in your head.’
Ugh! You are so annoying.
‘A differing of opinions I can live with,’ he assured me.
I looked to Tybalt and forced a smile. “I know he’s up to something,” I said.
“The annoying one in your head?” Tybalt clarified.
I nodded. “He’s being too nice and supportive. That isn’t like him in the least, especially when a threat to what he views as his property being in the vicinity of what he doesn’t want to share. He’s threatened by you.”
A beautiful smile filled Tybalt’s face.
‘I am not.’
“Yes, you are,” I corrected.
“This is awesome!” Giovanni yelled, stealing the attention of everyone in the vicinity, causing me to jump, startled.
Yeah, that was a differing of opinions we’d forever have.
He was running around like a chicken with his head cut off.
“Is there security inside and out?” I asked.
Tybalt nodded. “Of course. Anytime alcohol is involved, regardless of being human or of the mythical world, people get stupid when they drink. Fights, large brawls even, deaths that aren’t avoidable, it comes with being a club or bar owner. My other business ventures aren’t nearly as security heavy. I think the most eventful thing to happen at any of them is the new born that ate her weight in vegan food this evening.”
I blushed.
“You own the bistro?” I asked.
“Co-own it with Alder,” Tybalt admitted. “He’s like a brother to me, the years he spent with the Queen made him a constant in my life, so he’s like a brother to me now. Alder is truly one of the sweetest, most caring people I have ever met, next to you. He’s impressive in the kitchen, as you can attest, and it only made sense to help him share that gift with the world. Plus, it really pissed the Queen off,” he added with a smirk. “What do you think? It isn’t my favorite club, I let the Queen do their thing with it, but it’s something to pass the time.”
“It’s rather impressive, even if it’s only to pass the time,” I mumbled, looking around.
The interior of the warehouse didn’t match the exterior in the least.
Where the outside looked like an abandoned building on the docks, the inside was a lively club that was ten times larger than it was on the outside, and was apparently designed to cater to more than one taste in nightlife. It wasn’t too terribly loud in the club, at least where we were standing it wasn’t, but I was guessing to Giovanni’s ears it was blaring since he was corporally challenged. Soft music played through speakers but it was a hum in the background that allowed for the patrons seated and enjoying drinks to actually be able to converse without yelling over the music.
The parameter of the large space was lined with fancy leather booths, each seating area wrapping around a low table that was purely for sitting drinks on. Most of those in the vicinity paid no attention to those standing back. Alder was trying to wrangle my brother, but he looked as if he was having fun while doing it. Tybalt was speaking with security about something in Greek, not something I speak, his hand resting on the small of my back as he did. Most likely he was speaking to them about my concerns about security, especially after what happened to Andrei, and that I shouldn’t worry about it.
But I was worrying about it.
There was a lot to worry about really, especially with how ignorant I was to all worlds it seemed.
The club didn’t smell how I expected it to; it had a fresh, clean smell to it. The only club I had been to was when I turned twenty-one and I left twenty-minutes after arriving because it smelled like sweat, cheap booze, horrible perfume, and cigarettes. I had a thing about smells, and I think that thing is what kept me in most nights when I wasn’t being held captive in a church.
“This is the weirdest place I’ve ever seen,” I whispered with a smile, looking around.
The club was quiet considering there were hundreds of people not more than thirty-feet from me dancing like crazy people.
In the center of the massive space was a dance floor that was filled with dancing patrons, but there appeared to be some kind of shimmering dividers made out of light that separated it into four sections; four party cubes that made up one larger cube. Each section was walled off in a sense, containing the party within each cube with walls of light. They were color coordinated to the area it contained; green, pink, red, and golden white.
The green walled section was illuminated with an eerie green and white light with acid green lasers that cut through the smoke from the fog machines. The patrons in that section were dancing as if they were at a rave, and were dressed in vinyl outfits, some leather that left very little to the imagination, others wore clear plastic, some over the top getups and elaborate costumes straight off the runway of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and most had bright hair, piercings, tattoos, crazy bright makeup, some had metal wings attached to their backs and others had feathers in bright colors. The attire was very 1990’s, and made me feel old that I knew that. The floor was neon painted concrete that glowed under the black lights, and reminded me of the raves portrayed in movies and on television.
Overhead, seemingly floating in midair, was a deejay booth. For that section it was a small Asian woman with a shaved head adorned with a green and black dragon tattoo on one side, tattooed scales on the other, dark green lipstick and red eyeshadow,
her eyes were solid green with red narrow pupils, and were encased in long green lashes that looked like angel wings when she blinked.
I could have sworn I saw shimmering scales when the light hit her face just right.
In her hand was a pair of headphones that she was listening to against one ear while mixing the music, the other hand was working the turntables.
‘That is a child of Watatsumi,’ Andrei explained since I was just about to ask. ‘Japanese kami, a water dragon, but she is only half. That is Moriko, and she is considered royalty even if her crown was never placed upon her head. That small dragon is the youngest in a very powerful lineage of dragons, but she is the bastard of the King and was shunned by her full-dragon-blooded siblings, so she went stateside to follow her passion: music.’
My eyes widened.
How do you know that?
Softly he snorted. ‘It is my job to know who is in my territory and why. Moriko followed me from New Amsterdam to Seattle.’
An admirer? Tiny dragon lover? Stalker?
‘A powerful ally,’ he instantly correct. ‘You are Moriko’s type, not I. In our world, you cherish your allies of power, and you make sure your enemies are theirs. That is how you survive.’
Not something I wanted to press at the moment.
Thank you for the information.
‘I had time to snoop. If something happens and your current company cannot protect you, seek out Moriko and she will. She will smell my blood and venom in your veins so you will not have to say anything at all.’
As if the tiny dragon woman heard him, her green eyes snapped up from her turntables and they locked on mine, the narrow red slits widening.
I offered a small wave. “Hi,” I greeted.
Her delicate brows pulled together, the cell phone in her hand disappearing as quickly as it suddenly appeared, before a smirk pulled at the corners of her full green lips.
‘She will be your ally.’
Thanks.
Not wanting to ask more questions than I already had, especially since speaking of needing allies and uniting against a common enemy I knew nothing about, was the last thing I wanted to think about that night, I continued to look around while Alder gave Giovanni a quick tour…
