was worse than fighting, in my opinion.
Bones was meeting a ghoul contact at this bar. He didn’t like the ghoul rumor going around about me and wanted to see how seriously it was being taken. Spade was meeting us here, too, since Hopscotch, Band-Aid, and Liza were being quarantined.
Fabian proved helpful by checking out the bar first, making sure this wasn’t a setup with the ghoul. Only two things cheered me from my current depressed mood. My best friend Denise lived in Texas now, so she was coming tonight. The other plus to the evening was that Cooper, my friend and former team member, was coming, too. Spade was picking both of them up.
When they walked into the bar, I was so glad to see them that I almost shoved past people in my way. Denise returned my hug, albeit with less desperate fervor, and Cooper was somewhat taken aback by my fierce embrace.
Spade came in behind them. He cast an appraising glance at Bones and me while he said hello. No doubt mentally weighing our friction.
“I say, Crispin, you’d look better if you were being nailed inside a wooden box,” he commented. His gaze flicked around the bar with mild distaste. “No doubt this wretched music’s to blame. I don’t know why country singers feel the need to set depression to a melody.”
Denise smiled. “I think this place is great. Is that a bull?”
“You bet.” As if commanded, the animal snorted unhappily. He and I were in perfect agreement.
“Oh, I wish I could ride it,” she said.
It was good to see Denise smile. In truth, I hadn’t seen her much at all recently, smiling or otherwise. After her husband Randy was killed, Denise stayed with Bones and me for a few weeks. Then she went back to Virginia, saying she wanted to get away from everything supernatural.
I couldn’t blame her. It was a supernatural attack that had killed Randy; why wouldn’t Denise want to get away from the reminders of that? Then she moved to Texas about two months ago, remarking it was the only way she could keep her mother from trying to set her up with other men. Denise wasn’t ready to come out of mourning yet. I couldn’t blame her there, either.
“Cooper, mate, good to have you with us,” Bones said. “Stick with the ladies whilst Charles and I go off for a moment. I’m sure Kitten wants to hear all about what’s going on with her old team.”
With that, he turned away. Spade went with him, leaving the three of us standing on the outskirts of the bull ring.
Not that I didn’t want to spend time with Denise and Cooper, but it was my ass they were discussing with the ghoul contact. Seemed only fair that I got to be in on the details.
“…remodeled the Wreck room to include…are you listening, Commander?”
Only then did Cooper’s stream of dialogue penetrate. “Ah, sorry, Coop. I need a drink,” I said, heading for the nearest bar.
I ordered a gin, no tonic, and drank it before it even hit the wooden counter. The bartender gave me a look as I slid the empty shot glass at him for a refill.
“That’ll be nine-fifty, ma’am.”
“Of course,” I began, reaching into my jeans before I froze in embarrassment. I didn’t have a wallet on me. No, the only currency I carried was about ten pounds of silver under my shirt and in my pants. God, this was the last straw.
“Here, keep the change. And pour two more just like it.”
Cooper threw money on the table. Denise sat next to me, her hazel eyes wide.
“Cat, are you okay? You look like you might blow a fuse.”
The bartender filled the drinks and passed them over. Cooper handed me the third one after I gulped the second as quickly as the first.
“I’m fine.”
No use articulating the many things that were wrong. Misery might love company, but Denise had had enough of that without me piling on.
“You don’t seem fine.”
I didn’t want to get into it, but I didn’t want to tell her that. Instead, I sought for a distraction. “Look, the bull’s out!”
With Denise’s attention fixed on the amateur cowboy struggling on top of the bull, I was able to avoid her scrutiny. Across the crowd of people, I saw Bones nudge Spade, then they turned their attention to a tall, very thin, very dead man who approached. Must be the ghoul contact. Soon the three of them melted into the crowd.
I sighed, covering it with a smile as Denise turned back to me.
“That’s so cool! Let’s grab more liquor, Cat. Maybe you can jump on next.”
I’d have loved to drink more liquor, but since Bones and Spade just went off with the contact, I couldn’t very well go over to him and demand his wallet.
“Denise, how much money do you have on you?”
She frowned. “Oh crap, I left my purse in Spade’s car.”
Cooper reached again in his pants. “I should have brought my credit card. This should last…” he pulled out a wad of twenties and gave it a critical glance “…ten minutes.”
Good old Coop. Can’t say the man didn’t know how the half-dead could pack it away.
“I’ll pay you back,” I promised, feeling like a poor relation.
Cooper’s prediction turned out to be wrong. It was almost half an hour before his cash ran out. Of course, I hadn’t counted on the nearby men offering to buy Denise and me drinks. I refused, but Denise took one drink per male offering, thanking the guys but giving a firm “no” to a second. Most of them took it with friendly, mock disappointment, but a large guy with bushy brown hair needed a little more persuading.
“Aw, come on, honey,” he said to Denise, “let’s dance.”
His hand landed on her leg. My brows shot up. Cooper started to stand when I smacked the man’s offensive paw aside.
“My friend only dances with me.”
Denise smiled. “Sorry.”
The guy gave me an evil, disgusted look, and walked away, his three friends in tow.
“Nicely done, Commander,” Cooper commented.
“Stop calling me that.”
I didn’t mean to sound so sharp. Cooper just didn’t realize the title kept reminding me that my position as leader was forever gone. Right now, sitting at a bar trying without success to drown my sorrows, I felt pretty useless.
Denise glanced between the two of us. “I think we should get my purse now,” she said.
Cooper and I walked Denise to Spade’s car. It was unlocked, to my surprise. When I questioned that, Denise shrugged and said Spade had remarked that locks just kept honest people out. Her purse was still tucked under the passenger seat where she’d left it. Denise had just slung it over her shoulder when the slurred drawl behind us stopped her.
“Well, now, boys, lookie what we found.”
I’d heard them approach. Their smell, loud steps, and obvious heartbeats made them far from stealthy, but since they were human, I hadn’t been concerned.
“Beat it, guys,” I said.
Bushy Hair from the bar didn’t stop. Neither did his two pals, who were equally large.
“Now we was just sayin’,” Bushy Hair began with a slur that revealed how drunk he was, “that it weren’t fair two such pretty gals was only playin’ with this here Negro.”
Cooper repeated the word with open challenge. God, a trio of bigots. Just what the doctor
“I’ll handle this,” I said coldly. These dumb-asses didn’t know I was the most dangerous of the group. They kept concentrating on Cooper, seeing only the well- built male as the threat.
“Here’s some really good advice: Start walking. I’m in a bad mood, so get the fuck out of here before you get on my last nerve.”
I didn’t bother reaching in my clothes to get my silver. On humans, I didn’t need weapons. Spade had parked in the far back corner of the lot. These chumps thought that spelled opportunity, but they were wrong.
It did surprise me, though, when Bushy Hair pulled a gun from underneath his shirt. He aimed it at Cooper.
“You.” There was an ugly resonation to his voice. “You’re gonna sit on that ground while we make nice with your gals.”
“Cooper.” It came from me in an incensed growl. I wasn’t risking him or Denise getting shot. “Do as he says.”
Cooper had been following my orders for a long time. He made a furious noise but sat as directed. From the way Bushy Hair handed off the gun to his friend, he was satisfied.
“That’s real smart, redhead.” He leered. “Now, you just stand by my buds while your friend and I get in this backseat.”
I went right to his friends like he said. After all, one of them had the gun. If I quietly coldcocked them, there’d be no nasty scene—
Bushy Hair only got to place his hand on Denise before I felt a whoosh. I had an instant to tense before I realized who it was, and then there was a sickening thump. Or, to be more accurate, a splat.
It was difficult to say who had the most horrified look on their faces—the two men Bones now had dangling from their necks, or Denise as she stared at the remains of Bushy Hair’s head. Spade stood next to her, muttering something foul, then he kicked the twitching figure of Bushy Hair hard enough to have him ricochet off her car. Spade had flung the man to the ground so viciously, his head looked like a watermelon dropped from five stories.
“Denise, are you all right?” Spade asked.
“He’s…. he’s…” Denise didn’t seem to know what to say.
“Really, really dead,” I supplied, relieved that two vampires flying at high speeds over a parking lot hadn’t attracted attention. “Bones, let them go, you’re killing them.”
“That’s the point,” he answered, still holding them by their throats. “I’d break their necks, but that would be too quick.”
They kicked and clawed at his wrists while their tongues protruded from their mouths. Denise looked like she was going to throw up.
