“That one is feisty,” Archie said, lowering himself onto the barstool next to me.
Chucking my fourth drink down my throat, I cringed as the alcohol hit my stomach. My head started to spin as I ordered three more. With Brianna gone, there really was no point in me staying, but the warmth of being drunk called to me. Three more drinks and then I would leave.
“Are you happy that we’ve got your sire?” I blurted, my words starting to slur slightly.
Jeez, why was I such a lightweight with booze? Oh yeah, because I hardly ever drank. Being a kick-arse agent meant I had to be sober. Oops.
Leaning back against the bar, the handsome vampire Archie watched me. “I’m very happy. Thank you for taking him off the streets. I’d heard rumours that he planned a big event on the Equinox. Not sure what it was though.”
“I think I might know,” I muttered, shaking my head when he rose his eyebrows. As if I would give him that information. “Hear anything more about the demon thing?”
“A friend from the PFF said something about a loophole in the realm between ours and hell. I tried to dig, but they quickly shut up when they remembered I wasn’t part of the group.”
That was interesting. Even as my brain was muddled from drink, my mind tried to grab at what he was saying.
“You’re quite drunk,” Archie said when I stared at him. My eyes screwed up as I tried to focus on his pretty face.
“And, you like books... you, you, bookworm!”
His gaze traced the writing on my T-shirt. “Reading is Life. If you don’t agree, you’re dead. Very... mature?”
Who was he to decide how mature I was based on my shirt? He could go suck my butt.
“I’ve got to tell my friend something,” I blurted suddenly.
Taking my phone out, I used my free hand to down the last drink. Six vodkas in ten minutes. Not bad for a lightweight book nerd witch with a weak link to the ley line. Texting Dave, I laughed to myself when he tried to ring.
“I just told him that I’m getting chatted up by a vampire I don’t trust.” I giggled to myself when Archie crossed his arms over his chest.
“Is your friend coming to help you home?”
“What book made you re-evaluate your life?” My deep question jolted him. Where had it come from?
One moment, I was telling Dave to come and get me. The next, I was asking bookworm vampire an extremely personal question.
Rubbing his jaw as his brown eyes searched my face, Archie took a moment to respond. “The Celestine Prophecy.”
“Wow. I didn’t take you for the metaphysical type.”
Shrugging, Archie caught my arm when I went to raise it to catch the attention of the barman. Apparently, I was being cut off. Spoil sport.
“Some people have faith in religions, some people believe in spiritualism. No one is wrong, and no one is right.”
“What about destiny? Is it really my destiny to be a slave to the ley line? To Paranormal MI5?”
My teeth snapped shut when I heard the words outside of my head, catching my tongue between them. Swearing, I wished hard that I could take back what I’d said as Archie kept his gaze trained on mine.
“You have a choice in everything you do, especially as an adult. The way you perceive things, the way you react to them. That’s all on you. The world could be ending, and yet, you can choose to see it as a new beginning.”
Shit, the man was a philosopher. Saying that the end of Earth would be a new beginning and shit. It was deep. He was my soulmate. He had to be. So many people said I was a little sensitive, a bit too deep. And, yet, the vampire sitting next to me had just dropped a spiritual bomb into my mind.
“Gemma?” Ah crap, Dave had found me.
My desk friend appeared by my side, a very unpleasant smile aimed at my soulmate. Okay, that was taking it a bit too far. Vampires were not my type, but he was a bit dreamy.
“She’s a little drunk,” Archie said as he got up from his seat. “See you again, Gemma.”
He didn’t wait for me to reply as he wove his way out of the pub. Kate and Jake almost bumped into him when they burst through the doors.
“I love karaoke,” I heard Kate shout above the latest howler.
Blinking, I turned towards the bar, ready to ask for another drink. Archie had drink-blocked me, but Dave-
“No you don’t,” he interrupted my indication to the barman by swinging my chair towards him. “You’ve had enough. I’ve never seen you this drunk.”
What was he talking about? “I’m perfectly fine, thank you. I can string a sentence together and everything.”
“The drink you are holding is spilling over your lap and you didn’t even notice.” Taking the almost full glass from me, Dave placed it on the counter.
Wait. Where did that come from? Hadn’t I finished all my drinks?
Dave’s floating head came closer as Kate and Jake joined us. Pushing him on his strong chest, I swung back to the bar and placed my forehead on the cool wooden surface.
“I’m sick of being dead and weak,” I muttered. “When they just attacked, they almost had the better of me.”
My tone was whiny, even to me. Dave’s sharp intake of breath when I’d spoken had gone ignored. He was stupid, he shouldn’t be surprised that I had been attacked.
“You’re not dead,” Jake said, taking my arm and jerking me to sit up. “You’re just drunk.”
“I am dead!” I enthused my dilemma far too enthusiastically, throwing my hands high as I sighed.
“Gemma,” Dave warned.
What was wrong with
