This was another reason why I kept as little energy on me as I could. Self-preservation.
And going to where a Big Bad was going to be, not a smart move on my part.
“Nik’s caught up in something.”
“That’s Nik’s problem.”
“Ralph.”
“Caley Girl.”
Have I mentioned that we’re related? No? We are. See our similarities.
I sighed, looking out the window. We were nearing Bass. I didn’t need to see the downtown section. I could feel the guy’s energy. It was filling every alley we passed, covering every sidewalk. Humans were happily walking through it, not a clue what was sweltering around them.
As we drew nearer to Bass, I felt a tickling inside of me.
It started at the base of my spine.
It was light, but there. It was almost grazing against me, softly. Sensually.
I didn’t like that.
The Big Bad felt me coming; he was welcoming me.
“Cale, I really don’t like you going there.”
Ralph wasn’t looking at me anymore. The traffic was almost bumper to bumper and we had slowed to a snail’s pace. Humans in costumes were walking up and down the streets, but he wasn’t looking at them either.
He was seeing the energy. It was like a black mist that blanketed everything. Black with a tint of shiny metallic blue to it, and it was moving just as slowly as we were.
As we inched forward, it went with us.
Then it was moving toward us.
Then circling the car.
Ralph swore. “That’s it. I’m not taking you. Can’t even see to drive.” He leaned forward, his hands clenching the steering wheel. “Move! She can’t come if I can’t see!”
The energy parted, but it moved up and over the car.
There was a whole rolling movement under the energy, and the blue mist’s spark was even shinier beneath.
I swallowed over a lump in my throat. “You ever see something like that?”
Ralph had ten years on me. He was the elder and had seen a helluva lot more weird shit in his years than I had.
I wasn’t sure that meant he was the smarter one...
He replied, just as in awe, but not a good awe, “No. I don’t like that either.”
“Me neither.”
But I was still going to Bass even if I had to walk there.
Best-friend-combat ready, here I am.
Bass’ entire building was shrouded over by the black energy mist. It was thick, and strong. Ralph pulled up to the front and leaned over to get a better view of it, and said under his breath, “That’s pretty damn intense.”
It was. Not in a good way.
He glanced back at me. “You sure I can’t drive you away? Drop you off at your mom’s and you can spend the night safe?”
I gave him a grim look, my insides just as grim and locked tight. “I gotta go in, Ralphie—”
“Don’t call me Ralphie.”
“—I gotta do it. For Nik.”
We stared at each other again.
He nodded.
I nodded.
He said, “Don’t do it for Nik.”
“I hear you. I’m going in. For Nik.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying—”
I was already out of the car.
“Hey!”
Right. I forgot.
I turned back and handed him the leftover whiskey.
“Thank you. Jeez.”
Now I was off.
4
Squeak, Splash
Ralph zoomed off, and I turned to face the entrance to Bass.
The dark energy shifted aside, clearing a path for me.
Again, I have to reiterate how not normal this was. Beings, non-human and human, weren’t aware of their own energy or their auras. I could see, feel, taste, touch, and smell all of that. It was like a guidemap of the person. (I’m being gracious with this use of the word.) I knew how they felt, what they were thinking, or an indicator of what they were thinking. I knew all their past struggles, their trauma, their after-life issues even. With non-human beings, I knew what they were. I knew their powers. I knew before they did a move, sometimes before they even thought about doing the move.
Course, I kept my mouth shut about all of this.
All energy sensors did. Not just because of the whole ‘drug’ thing we had going on, but because in the past, we were used as weapons in warfare. There was a huge vampire/werewolf war years ago, and our kind had almost been wiped out. One of the remaining kids decided to shut up about letting others know about our powers and what we could do, and that started a trend.
Shutting up.
Because of that, our kind started to grow again.
I came from a family of thirty family members in our local area. That wasn’t counting the extended family members, or the extended, extended family members.
Because of all of that, and our history, I did what my ancestors did.
I shut up, kept my head down, and trudged forward into Bass.
“Heya, Nadeem.”
I lifted my head up, giving a grunt as a greeting to Terath. He was one of the bouncers, and he was one of my cousins. He wasn’t a sensor, though. He married into the family, but he knew all the secrets.
“You sure you should be here?”
See.
Another grunt was my response, and him knowing how I was, he sighed and opened the door for me. “Don’t get dead.”
A third grunt. But it was so true.
Once inside, the energy was better.
I wasn’t even going to try to figure that out, because it should be thicker inside. Inside, I saw sexy goblins, sexy nurses, sexy vampires, sexy werewolves, sexy iguanas, sexy—everything. Wait. A girl had a cow costume on, with the udders hanging out in front of her, but the general costume wasn’t sexy. Just the udder part.
Moving on.
I veered over to the bar and grabbed the first open standing area I found.
Leaning over and looking from one end to the other, I saw two bartenders and I had to stifle a curse because they were bartenders I didn’t like. Both demons. And not Nik.
One saw me and came over, a mean glint in his eye. “Surprised you’re here tonight.” He reached for
