18
THE PEARL
“Starfish.” Will overenunciated the word.
The eyes blinked, the panel slid shut, and then locks clicked and the metal door swung inward. Will cast a smug look back at Peter, Heidi, and me. “Back in the day, I used to be regular here. Guess my connections are still good.”
He then led the way down the dimly lit stairwell into the speakeasy. We’d only convinced him to get us into the jazz club by promising to leave Daisy at his clinic (which she wasn’t pleased about) and me privately promising I had juicy gossip to dish about last night.
The place occupied what had once been some underground tunnel or crypt, the walls made of rough stone, the ceiling rounded, and the space cramped. A handful of tall two-tops lined the walls leading up to the tiny bar. A low archway led to the other room, where a man plucked at an upright base, another guy tapped a swingy beat on a high hat, and Amarina, the singer from the ship last night, crooned.
They stood in the corner on a stage barely big enough to fit the three of them and their instruments, raised just about a foot off the stone ground. People crowded together before them on long benches and at tiny round tables.
The whole place was dimly lit with red lights, and the tables and stretches of wall were draped with red velvet.
“We’ll grab drinks.” Will raised his voice to be heard and jerked his head toward the bar to our right. “Peter, why don’t you be a dear and find us somewhere to sit.” His dark eyes darted toward the next room where the band played.
“Oh.” Peter nodded, grinning. “Sure.”
I shot Will a flat look as Peter, head slightly dipped, wandered off through the thick crowd. I leaned close to Will and rose on my toes to speak in his ear. “Why are you getting rid of him?”
He raised his bushy brows at me. “I was promised gossip.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course. I followed Will as he snaked through the thick mass of bodies, the crowd parting for the huge bear of a man. Heidi, hands on my shoulders, bounced along behind me.
She leaned forward. “It’s so classy in here.”
I grinned. For a tiny underground vault, The Pearl did have a pretty swanky vibe. I hadn’t known Will before his fall from grace, but back when he’d been one of the best and richest surgeons in the Water Kingdom, I could totally picture him pretention-ing out hard down here.
We lined up at the bar, which was actually made of magically playing piano keys. A single bartender busied herself making drinks, bottles of glowing potions pouring themselves into shakers and enchanted olives skewering themselves on toothpicks. While we waited our turn to order, Heidi nudged me with her shoulder.
“So…?” She bounced on her toes. “How’d it go? Did you dance?” She gasped, and her eyes grew wide. “Did you kiss?”
Will gave a mock gasp, eyes just as wide. “Did you demolish the buffet?”
They leaned close to me on either side to be able to hear over the jazz music.
“Not quite.” I filled them in on all the details of Davies’s death.
“Wow.” Heidi made a face. “Sounds like it put a real damper on the evening.”
Will shot her a flat look. “Yes, Heidi, a death usually does.”
“I just meant….” She sighed. “Jolene looked so beautiful—seems a waste to not even get a dance with Officer Hottie.”
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he wasn’t standing right behind us. Not that he probably could have heard over the music anyway.
I sighed. “There’s more. Emerson, my old boss, was there, and I had an embarrassing run-in with both my ex, Zale, and get this—his new fiancée, Eve.”
Heidi gaped. “Not the Eve? The one who cursed you?”
Will threw his head back and laughed, a deep belly laugh. Tears streamed down his face, and I shot him a flat look.
“You finished?”
He let out a few wheezy giggles, wiping tears from his eyes. “Almost.”
Heidi shook her head at him. “What’s so funny? That’s horrible!” She pouted at me. “That must have been so awful.” She gritted her teeth and scrunched up her cute little nose. “Ooh! I could just—just slap her for what she did to you. And now they’re together?! Ooh!”
I fought a grin. She was almost more angry and devastated for me than I’d been.
I tried to shrug it off. “Whatever. I’m over that guy—have been for years.” I shook my head, my eyes unfocused on a glowing green bottle behind the bar. “It’s just… everyone’s moved on, you know? And what am I doing with my life?”
Heidi squeezed my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Jolene. That’s so hard. But you’re doing your best.” She winced. “Sorry, but I see a friend—I’ll be right back.”
I nodded, and she skipped off through the thick crowd.
Will caught my eye and gave me a gentle smirk. “In all truth, I’m sorry you—”
I couldn’t hold back the secret I’d been dreading telling him any longer and cut him off. “I was summoned to Ludolf last night.”
He choked and turned a splotchy mix of red and green. “You what?!”
The men and women next to us at the bar shot us surprised looks, and I managed a wan smile. Then I flashed my eyes at Will.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Jolene, was that too extreme of a reaction for you?” The whites shone all around his huge dark eyes. “Here I was thinking I was having a nice night out with a friend, not a last hurrah with a dead woman walking!” He gritted his teeth and practically growled at me. “You were summoned to Ludolf last night and this is the first I’m hearing of it?”
I pressed my eyes shut tight before flashing them at him. “I was trying not to make a big deal out
