Shay stared down at the phone. Dancing with friends. Fuck… It’s so normal. The last time she went dancing it ended with three dead men and a cake blown up by a grenade. She felt worse about the cake.
So, this is change, huh? Okay, bring it.
Shay grew more excited as the Spider got closer to the club. She had the windows down, the wind blowing through the car. Her nerves kicked in as she turned onto the boulevard where the club was located.
I’m nervous about a night out dancing. That is a little fucked up.
Unlike hanging with Terry and Lisa, Shay actually gave a shit about keeping Bella as a friend. She liked the woman and saw her in one of her favorite haunts. The boxing gym. If the night ended up a disaster, it would complicate things and damage one of the few friendships she had made on the west coast.
“You can keep your shit together for one night.” She turned the radio up louder, singing along.
The light in front of her car turned red, and she rolled to a stop, drumming her fingers along the wheel.
Happiness was something Shay couldn’t say she’d ever experienced for any lengthy amount of time. Satisfaction at a job well executed, sure, but not much that looked like middle-class happiness. Go to a job where gossip or a layoff was the biggest danger. Go home, make dinner, watch Netflix.
Normal was as foreign a lifestyle as Oriceran magic to her.
Shay had escaped her old life on the East coast and embarked on a new career, one that was actually gaining traction. Maybe this will be my version of happy. She sang the chorus louder, ignoring the packed minivan next to her with kids in the back, their noses pressed against the window, smiling and pointing at her.
Shay gunned the engine as the light turned green, pressing her foot down on the accelerator as the kids cheered. She laughed as she looked in the rear-view mirror.
We all have our skeletons in our closets. I have an entire vault filled with them. Maybe a few zombies and vampires in there, too. Yeah, my version of happy may not look like anyone else’s.
The club appeared, its bright neon façade almost blinding. Shay turned off the street and pulled into the parking lot and carefully maneuvered down the rows to an open spot.
She killed the engine and hopped out of her Spider and headed toward the club. She spotted Bella and two other women standing near the edge of the parking lot, a pale brunette and a woman with warm, dark skin and short hair styled into a curl along each high cheekbone. Both were stunners, model beautiful really, just like Bella, or for that matter, Shay.
She hurried toward the trio, waving. “Sorry if I’m late.”
Bella smiled. “You’re fine.” She motioned to her friends. “Shay, this is Kara and Janelle.”
Shay stuck her hand out to shake Kara’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You’re a hot one, aren’t you?” Kara said, laughing. “Stay away from any boyfriends I snag until I’ve had my fun.”
Shay held her clutch in front of her. She could feel the small outline of a switchblade. She never went anywhere completely unprepared. “We can divvy them up. Divide and conquer.”
Janelle put out her hand to shake. “I can be the wingman tonight. My Darius is too fine to even be flirting with some other dude.”
Kara and Bella laughed as Shay felt a wave of relief come over her. So far, so good.
Janelle looked Shay up and down. “Love your shoes! Bella tells me you’re an archaeologist. That’s cool. I’ve never met someone who can dress like that and go dig in the dirt.”
“Yeah, all it takes is the right equipment.” Shay put her hands on her hips as Janelle gave her a thumbs up.
“I like your attitude,” said Kara.
“It’s just a j-o-b.”
“Girl, you’re finding out the truth of our past.” Janelle batted the air in front of her. “All the magic nonsense out there, I bet you’re learning all sorts of things that would keep me staring at the ceiling at night. Finding all sorts of things, too.”
“I can… work on the edge of things at times.”
Janelle nodded and clucked a noise of approval. “You just keep doing what you’re doing, and we’ll help you find a good man to chat up tonight.” Janelle put her hands over her head and swayed her hips to music only she could hear.
Shay grinned. She already liked them. She had her cover story ready. All of the details already worked out. One background for her life in the warehouses, another out in the world. This could work.
Bella nodded toward the club. “Let’s head inside and have some fun.”
The four turned as a unit and strolled to the club, ready to dance their asses off.
The heavy bass was sending a steady hum through Shay’s cheeks. The roar of the techno music rendered any attempts at conversation futile. Lights changed directions overhead, their colors shifting in kaleidoscopic madness. Everything about the place defined too busy, too loud, and too crowded.
Shay loved every fucking second of it.
Their tight little pack of women were jumping up and down to the beat of the music, their hands in the air. Men danced closer to them, gyrating with the beat of the music and moving away just as quickly.
Bella, Kara, and Janelle bounced and moved in time with the beat. Shay hadn’t lied to Bella. She’d been dancing before, but it’d been a long time since it was just for fun and not part of a scheme to get closer to a mark. Dancing with abandon, without worrying about the night ending in her strangling someone, or shooting them, or drowning a target in a toilet was giving her the feeling of a glorious release.
Fuck. How many guys have I drowned in toilets? She put her hands on the shoulders of a man who came right to her eye-level,
