The bouncer cries out, reaching toward her, seeking mercy, before clutching his stomach again with a moan.
Everyone else takes a step back.
The white-haired man doesn’t even turn to look at his sister. The woman tilts her head at the writhing security guard, as if pondering how much she can play with her toy before it breaks. Her brother continues to scan the bar as if searching for something in particular.
His eyes settle and alight on Red.
I don’t like one single fucking thing about this.
He strides toward her in long, lazy steps, and people split to make way for him. Fear and awe fill the air in a cloying stench.
This. This is why Weres live far from civilization. I'm practically choking on all the emotion, magic and pheromones in the room.
Still, I snake through the crowd, pacing the newcomer as he makes his way toward Red.
He stops six feet from her, and I finally catch sight of her. Her eyes are wild. Like a trapped animal, the scent of her terror cuts through the spoiled magic. It’s acidic yet somehow still sweet.
Fear is different from terror. I’ve sensed Red’s fear of being attacked, her fear for her grandmother, her fear of failure, but her terror is acute. Fear is usually about anticipation of the bad thing, but terror is immediacy to danger in the moment. Red seems struck, though it is just a mage walking toward her.
“Red,” the man says, his voice like silk. “It’s been such a long time.”
Red nervously glances about the room, licking her lips. “Not nearly long enough, Hansel. Tell your sister to let him go.”
Goldie and Cinder look back and forth between Red and the male mage with confused expressions.
“That’s all you have to say?” He spreads his thin arms out wide. “You don’t miss your old schoolmates?”
A muscle jumps in Red’s face, and her knuckles go white where she grips the edge of the bar.
I squelch the instinct to run up and put myself between them. If I hang back, I have an opportunity to learn why people have been coming after Red. Because something tells me it has everything to do with these two.
But the fear on Red’s face makes my emotions surge to the surface, as my wolf demands I protect her.
So I can get to her grandma, I insist to myself, but it’s no use. Lying to myself is nearly impossible now. My wolf wants Red in every way, and right now, it wants her safe.
The bouncer moans in pain again.
Fire sparks in Red’s eyes, overcoming her terror. She clutches the edge of the counter even harder as she leans in. “Go fuck your sister, Hansel.” Again, she licks her lips as if she can’t wet them enough.
“Did you hear that, Gretel?” Hansel says in a bored, disaffected voice that makes me want to punch him in the face.
“I did, dear brother,” Gretel replies, losing interest in the security guard. He slumps to the ground, moaning and gasping, but seemingly released from whatever acute pain she was inflicting on him.
“Living among talentless humans has made you crude, Red. Last we saw you . . . ” Hansel’s eyes trace the piercing at her nose and travels down her revealing outfit with a disgusted leer. “ . . . you were as timid and useless as a field mouse. But it looks as though you’ve entered an adorable little rebellious phase. Regardless, that is no way to talk to your friends.”
Tonight, Red wears severely torn up jeans over fishnet stockings, and a rock band tee-shirt that’s been cut off to reveal the bottom swells of her breasts. Half her hair is pulled up into a high ponytail and the smoky makeup on her eyes makes her gray irises pop. She’s a sultry rock goddess, but right now she’s not acting like it.
Red licks her lips yet again, the reaction is a compulsion she can’t seem to control around these two. She shoots a wary glance at Goldie and Cinder. I notice Rap has appeared in the crowd at some point, but like me, she takes in the scene as if gauging what move is best to make next.
“Friends,” Red’s echo of his word comes out as a humorless, dry laugh. Fury and terror are still fighting for dominance in her.
She doesn’t notice Cinder and Goldie exchange a confused look behind her back.
“Of course,” Hansel tries to use a soothing tone, but it holds too much menace. “Gretel and I thought we’d catch up. Maybe you could be a good little slop slinger and pour us a drink. You know howthirstywe get. Maybe you should have one too, you look a bit parched.”
Red’s shoulders stiffen and she has gone so still, I wonder if she is still breathing.
It’s then that Rap steps up. “Hey, you heard it before. This is a humans-only bar.”
