But the echoes of my siblings' screams still rang in my ears. I could smell the pitch burning as it crashed over my family and fried a semi-circle into my forehead. The color had grown back white, the speckles of burning droplets dotting my flesh. I was only grateful the scars weren't apparent as a human. A smiling half-moon just above my brow would have made my business dealings difficult.
My feet paused as I reached the library door. This was not what I wanted; not tonight. Alone was too stagnant, too on the nose. I retrieved my cell phone from within and dialed a number.
The music was a blaring explosion from the other end. "Hey Eskal, what's up?"
"Where are you?"
I scowled as he waited to answer, though the music in the background dimmed significantly. I assumed he'd stepped outside or gone into a private room. "Tyg's place, there's a fight going on with a phoenix and a lion. You need something? I've got forty bucks on the lion."
"Why would you ever bet against a phoenix?"
"Odds are better thattaways. Whatcha need?"
I rolled the thought through my mind for a moment. "Is it open bar?"
"It's always open bar on a Tuesday night."
I didn't need my books or the silence of the library. Most likely, they would only serve to overwhelm my mind and make me more tired than I actually was. I needed a drink. And maybe a fight, if the lion had defeated the phoenix; I wasn't about to fight one of the firebirds.
If Nariti was there, the rest of the flight probably was, too. I hung up without another word, though he would know what that meant. All I had to do was get something to wear, my car keys, my credit card, and drive down to Masque.
Masque was the kind of bar that you don't know about unless you're supposed to, and even then, it was a difficult place to get in to for the vast majority of shapeshifters. It served only the supernatural crowd, allowing us a place to relax, get drunk, and know that our secrets would be safe no matter what. Cameras were strictly forbidden and anyone caught taking pictures inside simply disappeared.
The Nightflight donated to the legal relief fund for Masque, as well as their insurance bills. It was both the ethical and polite thing to do, considering how much they offered to the supernatural community. We needed a place to congregate and mingle, though it was rare for shifters of varying types to find long-term relationships with one another, they did happen from time to time. And we needed that place to allow that to happen.
You also have no idea how much it costs to replace a roof after a dragon has too much tequila and ends up shapeshifting through to the outside world.
Not as though it had been me, but the rational persisted. We didn't want lawsuits or emergency fundraising to need to occur. We put the money upfront first and dealt with whatever happened when we went on benders afterward.
I arrived at Masque to find a line outside filled with young shifters; most of them werewolves. I didn't recognize the majority and I was glad of it. I had enough frustration from the wolves already in my life. The bouncer dared to swing an arm in front of me. "Masque is full for the evening, sir. Head to the back of the line."
My head turned up toward him and I allowed the slightest rage of my dragon self to shine through. My slit-pupiled eyes reflected in his nighttime sunglasses and I watched the color drain from his face. "I am Eskal Vervain and if you do not remove your arm from the direction in which I am going, you will have a very poor night ahead of you."
The man, and he was certainly a man as I could smell the stink of humanity all over him, looked as though he may faint. He immediately removed himself from my path and went so far as to open the door for me. Perhaps he was aware of who I was, or maybe he only knew that the only dragons in the area were my flight. He'd certainly backed down quickly enough and I was pleased to see it.
What I was not pleased to see was my flightmate in a caged arena with a young man who was absolutely on fire.
Literally.
I moved up to the front of the pack of cheering people and frowned. Nariti's dragon form was that of a blue beast with amber eyes, but his human form couldn't have been more different. His dark skin and sharp silver eyes painted a contrast that brought the eye of men and women alike; something that he enjoyed lording over me. Though he wasn't the picture of the ridiculous bodybuilders you often saw in movies, he was getting close to it. He breathed the gym and spent his time doing stupid things like this when he wasn't busy being my lawyer.
"We have a meeting tomorrow for lunch and you are about to get your face smashed in," I told him, casually leaning against the chain link mesh; which was mostly a joke. If any of we shifters wished to free ourselves from the cage match, they would need far stronger material to hold us in.
He blinked back at me, grinned, and shook his head. "I thought you were hassling the Fontaines tonight."
"I finished early. Again. We have a meeting in the morning and you are about to get destroyed."
His only response was another grin and the ringing of a bell. It had not been enough for him to lose untold amounts of money, but he simply had to prove that he was stronger than a phoenix, too. The
