My phone rang, vibrating on the desk. I set the book down in my lap and grabbed it. As soon as I saw Gabriella’s name on the screen, butterflies filled my stomach.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said pressing the receiver to my ear.
The sound of rushing wind and traffic filled the receiver. I could barely hear Gabriella’s voice. “Are you at home?” she shouted over the roaring noise.
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m on my way to you now. Rachel just called me. The Coven has picked up an attack at a local bar called The Black Tap, happening in a few hours.”
I jumped up, spilling the book onto the floor. Adrenaline coursed through my body.
“This is it Alex. Your first real mission.”
27
The Black Tap was a bar for Pandemonians.
I hadn’t read about them, so Gabriella filled me in, as we sped along the Nexus, heading for Balham. Apparently, Illegal bars existed all over the world. Places where Pandemonians could drink and socialise in peace, away from the watchful eye of the HASEA. They were always moving about and were hard to track down. The Alliance usually chose to ignore their existence, unless any rules were broken.
Chosen were not welcome.
Gabriella assured me that as long as we kept calm, our adapted Kapre belts would make it difficult for any of the punters to identify us.
The doors of the elevator rolled open and we stepped out into a foul smelling alleyway. I turned to see a solid brick wall slide back into place. The only clue that it was an entrance to the Nexus was an almost imperceptible cross with two semi circles either side, carved onto a brick at the bottom. I guessed it was the button to call it.
The whole of Orion was in attendance, minus the recovering Sophia. We were all well-armed. I wore the Crimson Twins low over my back, concealed underneath a specially designed trench coat. A gun was holstered to my Kapre belt, loaded with multipurpose Stun rounds made from a cocktail of Iron, Silver and Wood filings. Next to the gun hung a few pairs of handcuffs, lined with various Apotrope material. A tiny receiver had been fitted in my ear, and an inconspicuous bracelet acted as the microphone. The others carried a mixture of stakes, guns and swords. The only exception was Delagio, who had a single silver dagger and a pouch full of various marbles.
The sky was overcast. The weather felt thick and oppressive. Thunder rumbled in the distance. It looked like there was going to be a storm.
Gabriella squeezed the side of her bracelet. I heard her voice deep inside my head, as if she were my own internal voice. “Can everyone hear me?”
We all nodded.
“Okay. This should be pretty straight forward. Humans are going to enter a Pandemonian bar within the hour. They are going to get attacked. We stop that attack. Any harm to a human by a Pandemonian or hybrid constitutes a violation of the treaty, so agents will come in after we’re done and shut the place down. I would prefer to avoid a mess if I can, so let’s try for arrests. Unless they engage us directly, in which case anything goes. Trojan are on standby if we need them. Is everyone clear?”
Everyone agreed.
“Okay, press your belts,” commanded Gabriella. I watched as everyone in the team apart from Rachel pressed the button on the side of the buckle. A shimmer of light rolled up their body. Rather than disappear, a silvery hue surrounded them, like an aura. Guess the Invisibility does only work on humans.
I pressed the button.
The main street was crowded with people. Business people on mobile phones, harassed mothers trailing kids, and teenagers in hoodies all battled their way along the pavements. When they reached us, each person stepped around as if we were an obstacle in their path, but didn’t give it a second thought.
A multi-storey car park stood at the top of the road. We entered at the ground level and followed the ramp down several stories. At the bottom, only a few cars were dotted around. We ran forward and crouched behind a white van plagued with rust.
Gabriella leaned around and pointed towards a door at the end marked with the words: Maintenance, staff only. “According to the Coven, that’s where The Black Tap is.” The door looked so normal; it was hard to imagine what supposedly lay behind it. “Okay Midnight, you wait here and keep an eye out for the victims. If I call, you teleport in ready for a fight.” “No worries.”
“Del and Rachel, you go in first. Get a drink and find a seat. Do a body count. Alex and I will follow after and cover the entrance. No one act until I give the order. Okay?”
Everybody nodded. Delagio stood up and offered out his hand to Rachel. “Ready honeybunch?” he said with a wink. She rolled her eyes and took his hand Like a happy couple, they strolled up to the door. It opened and they disappeared inside. We waited for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Gabriella turned to me. “Okay Alex. Are you ready for this?” I breathed in deep. My nerves were tingling with anticipation. “I think so.” Midnight patted me on the back. “Don’t worry mate. You’ll do fine.”
Gabriella encircled her arm around my waist. I draped mine around her shoulder and together we stepped out from the protection of the van. Each step we took made my heart beat a fraction faster. “What if someone recognises us?” I said in a low voice.
“They won’t, as long as we stay calm and keep the belts switched on.”
The sound of Gabriella’s knock was loud and hollow. A few seconds later the door opened an inch and a set of silver eyes stared at us. My stomach clenched. I tried to look as nonchalant as possible. Gabriella gave a slight nod. The gesture was mirrored and the door opened. The bouncer, a large Mexican looking Vampire with an impressive black Mohawk moved out of our way and we walked inside.
For a temporary bar, The Black Tap was impressive. Crimson lanterns cast a rich red glow over everything. The bar had been carved from chunky black mahogany. A lush red carpet stretched from corner to corner. To our right were several booths — with leather seats the colour of fresh cream. A magnificent mirror with a flamboyant gold frame filled an entire wall. The corners had been shaped into Dragon heads. On the furthest wall a fire crackled in a stone hearth, surrounded by black sofas and leather beanbags. In the middle stood a couple of pool tables, lined with black upholstery. Hidden speakers played chilled music with a rich bassline.
The bar was quite busy. Like at the feast, clusters of Pandemonians stood chatting and drinking odd substances from glasses. In one booth, an Oni was laughing at something a Vampire had said. His mouth resembled a Venus Flytrap waiting to snap.
Behind the bar were a few barmen and women. The woman was moving in little dipping motions. As we approached I saw that this was because she was hovering, silvery wings beating behind her. A barman with long wavy hair came over and smiled. I hated to admit it, but he was very good looking. It seemed to radiate from him. His eyes were the colour of gold and he used them to stare at Gabriella with a look that could only have been lust.
“What can I get you?” he said, ignoring me completely and speaking only to her. His voice was the vocal equivalent of stroking velvet. It took me only a few more seconds to understand what he was. Incubus. Gabriella looked at me. “I’ll have a beer,” I said. “One Blackheart beer and a vodka on the rocks please.”
The Barman winked at her and set to work. He used a metal opener to flick the cap off my beer and snapped it with the base, sending it flying straight into the bin. He slammed the bottle down in front of me and then proceeded to flair with the vodka bottle. He spun the neck between his fingers, rolled it along his arm and flipped it up with his elbow. He caught it and then spun it on the flat of his hand, all the time his eyes never leaving Gabriella. I could feel the anger growing in my stomach as I watched him show off. He spun the bottle into the air again. Before he could grab it, Gabriella snapped her hand out like a snake. When she lowered it, the bottle was still spinning on her middle finger, which was aimed at the bartender.
“Sorry, but I’m thirsty,” she said with a fake smile. “Could we save the theatrics for someone else
?”
God, I love this girl.
The bartender’s cheeks went red and his looks seemed to diminish as if they were connected to a dimmer switch. He made the drink in silence, only speaking again to ask for the money. His voice had become gruff. Once paid, we settled down in one of the booths near the entrance.
“Incubi are like Machines — always trying it. At least Succubi show a bit of class. They annoy the hell out of me.” She made a disgusted face and took a long sip of her vodka. I looked at my beer. The label depicted a Skinshifter standing over a fearful, bleeding man. The word Blackheart was printed underneath in bold letter. I peered inside. The beer was the colour of Guinness. I took a swig and coughed as it seized my chest.
Gabriella laughed. “Strong isn’t it? Made in Pandemonia. You’ll get used to it.”
In a corner table, Rachel and Delagio were canoodling as if the world around them didn’t exist. So I was surprised when the Kinesist's voice appeared in my ear. “Thirty two includin' the bar staff. We may need Trojan for this one.”
Gabriella pretended to rub her arm, letting her pinkie activate the bracelet. “Understood,” she whispered. “Let’s see how this plays out first.”
“Okay boss.”
I leaned forward, rolling the bottle between my hands. “So what’s the deal with those two anyway?”
Gabriella smiled. “They have a pretty volatile relationship. On and off.” She took another sip of her vodka and crushed a bit of ice between her teeth. “Mainly off.”
I glanced over again. Rachel was running her hand along the nape of Del’s neck, smiling as he whispered something into her ear. Either they were on again, or just very good at their jobs. I couldn’t tell.
“So what do we do now?”
“We wait for Midnight’s call. If Sophia was here, she’d be able to use magic to sense the person causing the trouble, but we’re going to have to play this one step by step. Although my money’s on the silver fox to your three O’clock.”
I glanced casually over towards the fireplace. A solitary Bloodling dressed in an expensive suit lounged on one of the sofas. He rolled a tumbler of blood between his fingers. It was mostly empty, but his eyes still seemed dull. His silver hair had been combed back over his head. He looked to have been in his early forties when he was turned. I watched as he prodded a tongue gently at his own fangs. His demeanour was one of self-assured arrogance. We waited, me taking slow sips of my beer, trying to get used to the harsh taste. I let my thoughts wander. “I was meaning to ask. What’s the deal with school — do I have to leave now or what?” “Not if you don’t want to. The Alliance encourages life outside of the job. You just need to be available when they need you.”
“Good to know.” I smiled. “You know, if you’d have told me a few weeks ago that I could leave that hellhole, I’d have been out of there like a flash. But now…I’m kind of starting to enjoy it. People are nice to me, no more bullying…” I trailed off. Something I hadn’t mentioned occurred to me. I felt disgusted in myself that I’d barely given it a thought. “What happened to TJ in the end?”
“He’s fine. When we got to him, he was on his way out, but a booster brought him back. They are pretty dangerous for humans in general, but we needed to take the chance. We got lucky. I made sure he doesn’t remember a thing.” “Where is he now?” “I charmed him into changing schools. I thought it will do him good to get away from Terry.” I stared down at my bottle. “I’m glad he’s okay. What I did to him…”
“Was his fault. Sure, you went over the top, but that was because of your Awakening. He came into the alleyway with a baseball bat. Don’t forget that.”
We fell into a silence. I let everything that had happened so far wash over me. It seemed so much. I thought about how much of a contrast this world was to school, with it’s boring lessons, sports matches and winter balls. The last part snagged stuck in brain.
Gabriella took a slow sip of her drink and surveyed me over the glass.
“You look like you have something else on your mind.”
I tore a piece of the label off the bottle and folded it into a little square. “Well there was something I’d been meaning to ask you.” Inside my negative internal voice tried to stop me speaking, but I forced it away.
“You can ask me anything, you know that.”
I cleared my throat, not moving my gaze from the square of paper resting between my finger and thumb. “Well, I don’t know if you’d even be interested, but well…there’s this sixth form ball next Friday…it’s probably a bit stupid…but I…was wondering if-”
Midnight’s voice filled my head, cutting me off midsentence. “Look sharp guys, three loud arse chicks from the premonition coming your way.”
“Okay, Midnight. Del, Rachel, you get that?”
“Got it boss.”
“Good. First port of call is to get them the hell out before anything happens. Then we can leave without any drama and everyone’s happy. If not, we wait for the attack to start and act before any damage is done.” “Waitin on your word,” said Midnight and the earpiece fell silent. Gabriella put a hand on mine. “Let’s come back to that conversation later.” She stood up and motioned for me to follow. We stood up and made our way over to the bar.
Gabriella ordered another round of drinks. I pretended to take a swig and then settled the bottle on the bar and waited for the new arrivals.
The sound of giggling burst from the doorway and group of four girls stumbled into the bar. They were all dressed up ready for a night out and clearly drunk. “I can’t believe it,” a blonde one said. “They wasn't messing about,” a short one with pink heels answered. “Proper secret this place!” “It’s wicked!” slurred a third with dyed black hair and a lip piercing.
Looking around I could see that every pair of eyes were on the girls. There were murmurs from the occupants of the booths and I saw the ones who couldn’t pass for human shrink quickly from sight and disappear through a door hidden in the shadows at the back. The barwoman’s wings retracted into her back with feathering sound.
The girls staggered over to the bar. One put her hands in the air and shouted ‘WOOOOO’ at the top of her lungs. I could feel the room growing hostile. The Incubus barman slid uneasily over to them. I noticed him glancing over to the same man we were keeping an eye on. When he served them, I noticed that he wasn’t trying his charms, but this didn’t stop the girls from being infatuated.
“Oh my god you’re well fit!” cooed the blonde one.
“Have a drink with us,” said the one with the lip ring.
The barman didn’t answer, just got the drinks they ordered. Around me I could feel the room stir. More Pandemonians started to leave, shaking their heads in disgust. Only a dozen or so remained. Gabriella edged her way over to the girls, armed with a winning smile. “Hi girls”, she beamed. They turned around and frowned as if trying to stare through fog. Then one by one they noticed her. “Wow, you’re so pretty!” said pink heels. “Thanks. Looks like you’re having a good night.” “It’s been quality,” said blondie. “It would be better if hottie over here gave us his number. What do you say babe?” said lip piercing. The barman cringed and glanced over at the Vampire again.
Gabriella carried on speaking, her voice taking on a diplomatic tone. “Listen girls I don’t want to ruin your night, but this bar is actually private. I think it might be better if you enjoyed your night somewhere else.”
The girl’s demeanour changed in a split second. Pink heels folded her arms and rested on her back foot, expression full of attitude. “Well the bouncer let us in so it can’t be that private, actually.” The other girls chimed in with ‘yeah.’
“And who do you think you are, comin over here and tellin us to leave?” piped up lip ring. “Why don’t you leave?”
Gabriella raised her hands in an appeasing way. “Girls I’m not trying to start an argument. I just think you should go and have fun somewhere else.” “Not a chance bitch,” said blondie. I saw G
abriella stiffen. “I see what it is,” slurred lip piercing. “You want to have all the guys in here to yourself!” Pink heels leaned over. “And what are you wearin? Mate, the Matrix isn’t real yeah?”
The girls all burst into a savage laughter. I felt a sudden temptation to march Gabriella out of the bar and leave the vile girls to their fate. But as grudging as I felt, I knew they had to be protected.
The atmosphere in the bar was now as oppressive as the weather had been outside. I could hear the patrons starting to grumble. A Bloodseeker crushed a glass in his hand.
Gabriella reached backwards for my hand. I knew what she was going to do. I closed mine around hers.
“ Listen to me now,” she said, her voice raising and taking on a sharp tone. “I want you to turn around — ”
“Stop the music!” shouted the Vampire in the suit. The bartenders looked warily over at him and then one passed through a door. The music cut off. He unwound himself from the seat and poured his drink onto the fire, causing the flames to flare angrily.
I unbuttoned my coat and held it closed with one hand. Gabriella moved out of the Vampire’s way. He stared at the girls one by one.
“Who are you?” the lip piercing girl asked, making a sucking sound with her teeth.
“Who am I?” he growled, curling his fists into balls. “I’m Malachi, the god damn owner of this bar. Who the hell are you?’ He emphasised each word of the last part, pointing a finger at each girl in turn. They shuddered.
“I think that maybe we should go,” said pink heels to her friends.
“Now that’s the best idea you’ve had all night,” he said, his voice taking on a calm, acidic tone. “Unfortunately it’s no longer that simple. You came into my bar through a fatal error by my doorman.” He cast a menacing look at the man with the Mohawk who shifted uncomfortably. “You inappropriately propositioned my bar staff. Your very presence forced my…shyer customers away and your unsightly behaviour offended others into leaving. And worst of all, you had the bare faced cheek to insult another to her face!” He gestured towards Gabriella.
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