Frost & Bothered (Discord Jones Book 4)

by Gayla Drummond

  “We never forget which article belongs to which guest,” he assured me, and gestured to the far door with a fluid gesture. “Please, enjoy your evening.”

  “Thank you.” I sincerely hoped the next door actually opened into the club. The gauntlet thing was growing old.

  Onward we went, and a blast of warm air, music, and loud conversations smacked me in the face as Dane opened the door. He went through first, I followed, only to back up and bump into Logan after looking down. The floor was water, fish flashing neon colors darting around under the surface. “Whoa.”

  “It’s solid,” Logan said, and I looked up to see people dancing on the water in the middle of an underground grotto. The place was huge, with thick coral columns spaced around the dance floor.

  I took a step forward, my gaze moving up the nearest column. A greenish fog concealed the ceiling. “Pocket realm, glamour, or super interior decorating?”

  “My vote is pocket realm.” Logan moved to my right side. “The air smells salty.”

  It did. “Okay, this is actually kind of awesome.”

  “There’s a bar.” Dane pointed off to our left. “And tables. Unless we find some clues on Rico, I vote we make Thorandryll really, really sorry about that complimentary drink thing.”

  “I’ll be under the table in three drinks.”

  He laughed. “You’re a wuss. We can drink gallons.”

  “Seriously?” I looked at Logan, who nodded. “How?”

  “Our metabolism is higher than humans’. That’s why we heal far faster. We break down alcohol and drugs extremely fast too.”

  “That is so unfair. Wait, does that mean you can’t get a buzz?”

  “We can, but we have to drink a lot to keep it going.” Dane grinned, looking around. “I hope he has a big stock room.”

  “Uh huh. How much is a lot?”

  “I’ll show you if we’re here for a while.” His grin widened. “I really like this place.”

  I followed his line of sight to a waitress in a skin-tight cat suit of glittering blue scales and matching go-go boots. Her eye makeup and lipstick matched the suit. Way too much glitter for me. She looked human though, under it all.

  “I think I’ll start questioning the waitresses.” Dane made a beeline for her.

  “You do that,” I called after him, noticing a small school of fish trailing his footsteps. “I can’t tell if there’s non-watery floor over there.”

  “There is.” Logan took my hand and led me after Dane. “Do you want a drink?”

  “Yes, please.” The neon flashing fish were darting around us too, and I couldn’t stop watching them, expecting to plunge through whatever was holding us above the water. “Have you seen Jaws yet?”

  “No, what’s it about?”

  “A man-eating shark.” An eel slid by, trailing red lightning, and I squeaked.

  He laughed. “I doubt there’s sharks.”

  “Thorandryll might be here.” We stepped from “water” to what looked like stone, but felt like thin carpeting under my shoes. The music went from loud to muted, but the buzz of a lot of people laughing and talking continued. I checked my new mental maze shield for weakness, but all its walls were firm. One area was humming, but not loud enough to be irritating.

  Straight to the bar we went. I fought laughter at the sight of the bar stools: Coral columns, loads shorter and more slender than those holding up the roof, topped with upturned clam half shells for seats. “Dare you to sit on one.”

  “Ah, think I’ll stand, but you go right ahead.” Logan patted the stool closest. “Nice and cushy.”

  “And kind of tall.” I didn’t see an easy way to climb aboard the stool. Logan turned, put his hands around my waist, and hello! I was on the stool. Even managed to find a slight protrusion to plant the heels of my shoes on. “Thanks for the lift.”

  “My pleasure.” He rested his forearm on the bar’s edge. “What would you like to drink?”

  “Pina colada.”

  “All right.” It wasn’t necessary to wave for a bartender’s attention, because one arrived then. “A pina colada for the lady, and a Weirding Pale for me, please.”

  The bartender, yet another elf dressed like Coat Check Guy, inclined his head and walked down the bar a short distance.

  “What’s a Weirding Pale?”

  “Dwarf-brewed ale. It has a stouter taste than any of the human ales I’ve tried.”

  “Oh.” Dwarves were real. Of course. It struck me again how little I’d learned about supes. They had different cultures, just like humans did. “In fairytales, dwarves mine and make stuff like weapons.”

  Logan nodded. “They are master miners and weapon smiths, but they’re also famous brewers. At least with us.”

  The bartender returned with our drinks. Mine was in a fishbowl glass I’d have to use both hands to carry, and lowered my “under the table in three” estimate to one. Logan’s was in a stone tankard, sans lid. He tipped the elf a five while I tried a sip through the green straw stuck in my drink. “Mm. I may need help with this.”

  Logan lifted his tankard, shaking his head. “You’re on your own with fruity drinks. They make my ale taste funny.”

  “I won’t be having a second, that’s for sure.” I moved, and the seat twisted. Sliding my over-sized drink closer to him, I turned until I could see the dance floor. Dane was talking to a waitress in red. “He seems to have things under control.”

  “Does that mean you’re off the clock unless he finds something?” Logan watched me over the lip of his tankard as he took a drink.

  I checked my mental Rico file, and the gold shimmer was present. “Delegation is such a useful tool.”

  “Good. Want to move to a table?”

  “Sure.” He helped me off the stool before I hefted my drink. “Lead on.”

  He chose a table about ten feet from the edge of the dance floor. We both eyed the chairs—they had stubby tentacles and were orange—but the tentacles stayed on the backs. We sat down, and I realized the table’s top was glass, showing a scene of gently waving seaweed. A soft green glow emanated from the table. “Weird. The air and lighting all looks green, but people don’t.”

  “Magic lighting.” Logan scooted his chair a bit closer to mine. “I like your dress.”

  “Thank you.” Suddenly nervous, I took another drink, only to wonder if I looked like a fish sucking on the straw.

  He settled back in his chair. “Are you excited about your house?”

  Ooh, conversation I could handle. “You have no idea. It’s been crazy at Mom’s.”

  “I bet. How’s Leglin and the Pit Crew?”

  “They’re doing good. They don’t mention Red much, though.” My eyes grew hot. I blinked before taking another drink. “How’s the search for a new place going for you guys?”

  “A couple of possibilities. It’s kind of hard to find something that’ll work for as many people as we have.”

  “Yeah.”

  Dane walked up and squatted between our chairs. “A couple of the ladies remember Rico being here last night, but no one remembers seeing him leave. Hey, is that Weirding?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m getting one, and then I’ll do some more asking around.” Dane rose and strode off to the bar.

  “He likes the job,” Logan said.

  “He’s good at it, and fun to work with.” The music slowed down, and I glanced at the dance floor as people began pairing off for ‘Lady in Red’.

  “Found your sea legs yet?”

  “What?”

  Logan smiled. “Would you like to dance?”

  “Oh. Um, sure.” I needed his help to escape my chair. Once on the dance floor, Logan pulled me close and right into a slow Two Step. A warm tingling sensation spread through me, one I’d felt before when we’d touched. It only lasted a few breaths, so I didn’t think it was sexual. Those kinds of tingles tended to congregate a bit lower and stick around until something was done about them. “Where’d you learn to
dance?”

  “Television.”

  I laughed. “You learned well.”

  “Thanks.” His hand settled more firmly on my back. “You should see me do the Lambada. It probably works better with a partner though.”

  Imagining him dancing alone in his living room drew another laugh from me. “You’ll have to teach me. I can waltz, Two Step, shake and shimmy to rock, but that’s it.”

  “What, no tango?”

  “No tango,” I confirmed. “But I do a mean Cotton-Eyed Joe, and a not bad Electric Slide.”

  “I should make a request.” Logan spun me while looking around. “But I have no idea where the DJ booth is.”

  “Darn. Or not darn, since I’m not wearing my boots.”

  “What if,” he spun me again. “For our first date, we have dinner and go dancing somewhere Cotton-Eyed Joe is welcome?”

  “Mm,” I said. “That depends. Are you going to wear a Stetson?”

  “That’s a cowboy hat, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he promised. I squinted at him. “What?”

  “Trying to imagine you in a Stetson, doing the Cotton-Eyed Joe. Or maybe the Schottische.”

  His teeth flashed in a grin. “I know that one too.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “When in Texas,” Logan said as the song ended. He stepped back, holding my hand, and doffed an imaginary hat. “Ma’am.”

  It’s entirely possible I fell a tiny bit in love at that moment, looking into his eyes and watching a cute grin spread across his face. The same grin I’d seen the night we met, when he’d shoved his hands in his pockets to try to look harmless.

  Then I saw Ginger behind him and to his left, her mottled, gray skin flaking as her mouth stretched into a mocking grin.

  “What?” Logan asked, glancing that way. Fortunately, Dane was at the edge of the dance floor, waving at us. “Oh.”

  Just as well she’d decided to turn up, or I may have embarrassed the holy crap out of myself again. You know, by blurting out something stupid like “can I keep you?” to Logan. “We better go see what he’s found.”

  FIVE

  Dane hadn’t found anything, or rather, he had found more of the same. Club employees who remembered seeing Rico around, some of them recalling that he’d been there the night before, but none had noticed when he’d left.

  I sighed. “So this is a dead end.”

  “Guess so.” Dane chugged the rest of his ale. “We don’t have to leave, do we? You want another one, Logan?”

  He didn’t bother asking if I wanted a refill, since I’d barely made a dent in mine. Logan accepted, and leaned close once Dane headed for the bar. “There’s still whoever watches the exit to talk to.”

  “True. I’ll go look.” I managed to lever myself out of my chair.

  “Do you want some company?”

  “Um, no. I need to powder my nose first.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here.”

  I left in search of the restroom, and after asking a waitress in glittery purple, found it. No magic present in there. It was just a restroom, clean and, amazingly for a club, nothing broken. While waiting for a turn at a stall, I wondered if asking Logan along had been a mistake. Maybe I hadn’t been in love with Nick, but we’d spent a lot of time together. People grow accustomed to being part of a couple, and when they aren’t, they miss it.

  At least, I did. Witness my realization about why I’d been with Nick in the first place.

  The truth was, I did miss the cuddling while watching movies, or watching Nick try new foods, and yes, the sex. I also missed seeing Nick wake up in the morning, stretching with a drowsy smile.

  Missing those sorts of things, and the person they were attached to, was what caused rebounds. When you were rebounding, you never chose a person for themselves. You chose them to fill the empty space.

  “Have you guys seen Becky?”

  More than eager to quit my current line of thought, I looked at the woman who’d walked in. She was a pretty brunette in jeans, pirate boots, and a black leather corset.

  “She probably hooked up with Tommy,” another woman said. She had neon red hair.

  “He’s dancing with Michelle.”

  The line shuffled forward, the two before me hurrying into vacated stalls.

  “She got mad and left then. After all, draaaaaama queen!” Neon Red sang.

  The brunette wrinkled her nose, considering her friend’s response. “Yeah, I guess. Hurry up. We’re ordering jello shots.”

  My turn arrived. I took care of business, made certain of my dress, washed my hands, and left. I avoided the bar and looked for an exit sign, but didn’t find one. The restrooms, a door with an “Employees Only” sign, but nothing else.

  Not even the door we’d entered the club through. Weird. I flagged down one of the waitresses. “Hi, I was wondering if you could help me. Where’s the door that was here?”

  She smiled. “This is like, the weirdest place. It’s there, but only when people are coming in.”

  “But it leads to the coat room, right?”

  She nodded, orange glitter flashing. “Yeah, it does. I mean, it kind of does? Like I said, this is the weirdest place. When you’re ready to leave, it’ll be the exit, and you’ll be on the other side of the coat room. That’s where you’ll pick up your coat, and then, you’ll go out the Night Room, instead of the White one.”

  I sighed. “Friggin’ elves and their magic.”

  The waitress laughed. “Right? But they pay well, and we don’t have to wear heels.”

  “Big perks,” I agreed. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Skirting the dance floor, I walked back to the table and sat down. “Can’t find the exit, because it’s a magic exit and doesn’t appear until you’re ready to leave.”

  Dane put his tankard down. There were a total of seven on the table, but he didn’t look drunk. “Kind of not ready to leave yet.”

  I wasn’t either. Personal worries aside, it was nice spending time with Logan without Danielle scowling at me. I checked my mental Rico file to make certain the gold shimmer was there. It was.

  We didn’t know anything bad was going on in regard to him. He wouldn’t be the first twenty-one-year-old to check out for a day or two. As had been suggested, Rico could be shacked up with a girl, having a little vacation before returning to his daily grind. Mrs. Guerra would probably yell at him for an hour or two for scaring her, and he’d promise never to do it again.

  It wasn’t like we had anything else to go on anyway. I looked at my drink. It appeared to be mocking me. “Challenge accepted. We are off the clock.”

  About halfway through my pina colada, I stopped flinching each time Ginger popped up, and the practice run I’d talked Logan into appeared to be turning into a real date.

  Dane checked in from time to time, often with a girl or two attached, but for the most part, Logan and I were left to ourselves.

  We danced, talked about my new place and his hopes for a new place for the clan. He wanted to know all about the period of my life when I’d woken up from the coma to beginning to work at Arcane Solutions.

  “I’m in the tub for the first time in a year, and kind of dozing because hey, bubble bath and no worries about freezing myself into a giant block of ice again.” I had to pause as we both laughed. I’d already told him about that misadventure. “And I thought I heard Mom call me.”

  Logan was beginning to chuckle. “And?”

  “I opened my eyes, and there I was, standing in the kitchen wearing nothing but bubbles, with Mom and five of her friends staring at me. That’s how I learned I could teleport.”

  He began laughing.

  “It wasn’t funny, dude.” My statement had no force, because I was laughing too. “I nearly died from embarrassment.”

  “Sorry.” Logan, his face flushed, reached for my hand. “Really.”

  “No, you’re not.” My attempt to pout
failed for two reasons. One, that event was funny now, with a few years’ perspective. Two, he was holding my hand, his thumb stroking the back of it.

  “Okay, you’re correct. I’m not sorry, but I’ll tell you some of my most embarrassing moments sometime. Then you can laugh at me. Deal?”

  “Deal.” Tingles were attacking me again, and they weren’t the warm, fuzzy kind. I squeezed his hand before pulling mine away. “Nose powdering time again.”

  “Okay.” He looked at my drink. “Your ice has melted. Do you want a fresh drink?”

  “Mm,” I checked my balance as we both stood. There was a faint buzz in my ears. “No, but maybe more ice?”

  “I’ll take care of it.”

  We went our separate ways. There wasn’t a line at the restroom this time, and I noticed a clock on the wall when I went in. It gave the time as a few minutes before midnight.

  It felt as though we’d been there longer than a few hours. Maybe Thorandryll had a stretchy time spell on the place, to sell more drinks or something. I could totally see maximizing profits being a thing for him.

  Once at the sink, I checked my makeup as I washed my hands, ignoring Ginger darting from side to side behind me. Two women walked in while I was leaving, so I exchanged smiles with them.

  Logan was at the table, and there was fresh ice in my drink, bringing the level up to about three-quarters to the top.

  Out on the dance floor, Dane was rocking with a blonde to Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. I sat down. “He’s having a blast.”

  “Looks like it.” Logan watched Dane spin his partner out and back. The blonde planted a laughing kiss on my partner’s cheek. “He’s always been one of our more outgoing people.”

  “And you’re not?”

  “Let’s just say I’ll be glad to retire from the clan’s limelight when the time comes.”

  “When will that be?”

  He shrugged. “When Terra choses her mate.”

  Puzzled, I asked, “But isn’t she the leader now?”

  “She’s our Queen, yes, but turning the reins over takes time. She has to learn how to handle everything herself. What’s okay to delegate and not worry about, what she needs regular reports on, and what she’ll need to stay on top of herself instead of depending on someone else to take care of it.”