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I considered catching the boar, but those tusks made me think twice. If I was in the mood to be impaled, I would’ve let the flirtatious vampire do it.
Vaughn returned to the scene. “Can’t find Josie.”
“She was here earlier,” Gun said. His gaze was riveted on an elf now climbing up the Christmas tree to escape the clutches of an angry minotaur. The mage clapped like he was being treated to a performance. “Bravo!”
The tree swayed from side to side as the elf scrambled toward the ceiling. If the minotaur grabbed the tree, the whole thing would come crashing down, baubles and all.
I elbowed Gun. “Use a card, please. This is only getting worse.” I could feel the tempers in the room rising.
Gun fumbled through his cards, too drunk to choose one.
In the end, it was Sunny who saved the day. Kane’s chimera cat landed in the middle of the dance floor with a hiss that drowned out the music. With its two-colored face of orange and black and a set of mismatched eyes, Sunny looked like a Halloween decoration come to life. The cat fixed her ire on the wild boar and backed the interloper into a corner.
Boars might be mean and aggressive, but Sunny had one major advantage.
The chimera could breathe fire.
The boar seemed to sense Sunny’s power and began to whine.
The chaos died down. Even the elf jumped down from the tree and scampered away before the minotaur found him.
“Help the boar find its way out,” Dan said, in a voice that sounded like he’d much rather be lording over hell than Kane’s nightclub.
Larry appeared on the dance floor. He stalked toward the boar, grabbed its tusk, and dragged the animal out of the building. Whatever the bouncer was being paid, it wasn’t enough.
I looked at Gun. “Still feeling understimulated?”
“The excitement level was adequate.”
Someone went flying over our heads and crashed onto the table behind us.
“Fight!” a voice cried out.
It seemed the night was still young.
The flying patron jumped to his feet and brushed the broken glass from his clothing. Blood streaked his skin. He dragged his sleeve across his face to wipe it away. Pointy fangs now protruded from his mouth.
In a single leap, he hurdled over us and returned to his opponent on the dance floor.
Make that several opponents. The fight had quickly morphed into a brawl. Sunny remained on the floor with her back arched, and I worried she was about to spray them with fire. The building could burn to the ground in Kane’s absence. As angry as I was with him, I couldn’t let that happen on my watch.
I turned toward the bar in search of Josie. I expected to see the vampire vaulting over the counter. Instead, I saw Dantalion looking panicked. My gaze snagged on a brunette at the counter. Her features were even and pretty, stopping just short of beautiful. In a movie, she would’ve played the role of attractive best friend or ex-girlfriend. She wore a sleeveless black dress cinched at the waist with a gold buckled belt. Her bare arms were covered in colorful tattoos. She appeared eerily calm amidst the uproar. Hereyes met mine, and she raised a flute of champagne in salute.
I turned away from her. If I didn’t do something, this whole place would be destroyed. I felt a stinging sense of responsibility. If I hadn’t scared off the owner, Kane would be here right now to defend his turf.
I pushed my way closer to the scuffle. I could try to stop the beatings without using my powers. Just because Kane knew the truth didn’t mean I wanted anyone else to know.
I quickly assessed the fighters for the one doing the most damage. A horned demon with hands the size of Texas seemed to be at the center of the action. There were so many bodies in the mix at this point, nobody would notice me—or so I hoped. I joined the fray and grabbed the demon’s arm as he pulled back to throw another punch.
“Care to dance?” I twirled him toward me and hooked a hand around his neck, slipping into his subconscious. I wasn’t interested in his nightmares. I was only interested in what might soothe the savage beast.
I quickly sorted through his mind for the right dream. It was basically like finding the file cabinet of his subconscious and rooting through the emotional drawers until I identified the one I wanted.
Found one.
The demon listened to a lullaby while being cradled in the lap of a larger, female version of himself. It was hard to tell from his point of view, but based on the size of his extremities, he seemed to be the adult version of himself.
I wasn’t here to judge, only to subdue. I tugged the dream to the surface and felt his anger melt away. I looked over to see that Vaughn had the bleeding vampire in a headlock, and the other assassins had stepped in to quash the fight.
