“So, we going out tonight?” Jinx asked.
I wiped sweat from my brow and gulped down the bottle of water.
“Yeah, where to?” I asked. “Your choice.”
“Really?” she asked. “Pinky swear. No take backs.”
“I swear,” I said.
I smiled, but didn’t offer my pinky. Jinx didn’t seem to mind.
I might be getting better at dealing with Ceff’s visions, but that didn’t mean I wanted to go around touching everybody. The thought left my mouth dry. I tipped the bottle back and finished off the last sip. No, I didn’t want to live through everyone’s painful memories. I had enough of my own. Plus, I owed my friend some privacy.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” she said. Jinx placed a hand on her hip and winked. “There’s a club I’ve been dying to get back into, but it seems I’m not on the guest list.” Jinx pushed her full, red lips into a pout. “You really should do something about that. I’m sure Nexus would allow a human vassal through the doors if you put me on the list.”
Oberon’s eyes on a stick, Jinx wanted carte blanche access to Club Nexus. And she wanted to go there tonight. The room filled with the hollow, rapid-fire sound of my gloved hand crushing the empty, plastic water bottle.
“You’re kidding, right?” I asked.
“How much trouble can I get into anyway?” she asked. “As your human vassal, I’m protected. Plus, there were so many hotties there the other night.”
“You want to go out with a faerie?” I asked. “That’s insane.”
“What, think I’m not good enough for your kind?” she asked. Her chin trembled and she caught her lip between her teeth.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Mab knows you’re better than all the guys in that club combined. I’m just worried what they might do to you. The fae aren’t known for their good behavior toward humans.”
“They can’t be much worse than the human creeps I’ve dated lately,” she said.
Jinx had a point. Hans was moody and violent and her other boyfriends had routinely cheated on her. And I’d be a hypocrite to claim that all supernaturals were bad. I was a half-breed dating a full-blooded kelpie and I was friends with a powerful witch, a hearth brownie, and a bridge troll. Maybe Jinx was right.
“Okay,” I said. “We’ll go to Nexus tonight.” Jinx started vibrating with excitement and I held up a hand. “But I’m not promising to sign you onto the guest list yet. Consider this a reconnaissance mission, a trial run to test security and club safety. If they don’t enforce the protection of human vassals, there’s no way I’m leaving you there unprotected.”
In her crop top, overalls, and bandana, Jinx reminded me of the girl in the WWII propaganda posters with the slogan, “We can do it!” She was like a rockabilly Rosie the Riveter. I knew that my friend had come a long way and could take care of herself in most situations, but there was no way I was leaving her unprotected in a fae club. If I didn’t like what I saw tonight, I wasn’t adding her to the guest list. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t have fun in the meantime.
“Sure, yeah, that sounds great,” she said. Jinx pulled the kerchief from her head and hurried to gather up her things. “Thanks Ivy. You won’t regret it. Scout’s honor.”
Jinx had never been a Girl Scout in her life, but I smiled. Her excitement was contagious. She fluttered around the room, turning off lights and grabbing her purse.
I opened my desk drawer and lifted out a vial of iron shavings and a handful of wooden stakes. If we were partying at a supernatural club tonight, I’d best be prepared for anything. I opened my jacket and slid the iron into an inner pocket and shoved the extra stakes into the belt at my waist.
I had a bad feeling about this.
Chapter 39
Humans have a difficult time getting into Nexus, but for tonight, Jinx was my plus one. Her eyes were lined with faerie ointment and she wore a crossbow slung across her back and a dagger strapped to her thigh. In the short, sleeveless dress that clung to her body like cling-wrap, the weapons were on display for all to see. I hoped that would be enough to keep straying hands, paws, and tentacles away from my friend.
My heart raced as I scanned the room. Yes, there were tentacles and other bizarre appendages waving around the dance floor. Faeries of every size, shape, and court were gyrating to the music. In a booth along the wall, I spied a vampire and a succubus in flagrante delicto. Apparently, they were feeding off each other in their own unique ways. I blushed and looked away. What the hell was I thinking agreeing to bring Jinx to this place?
I rubbed my arm where a silver and iron throwing knife was sheathed beneath my jacket. My weapons may not be on display, but that didn’t mean I’d come unarmed. I wore a layer of silk underwear as a base layer to prevent unwanted visions. Over these I’d strapped my throwing knives and wore jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt, and my leather jacket. My jacket was filled with anti-fae charms. More than a dozen slender wooden stakes were tucked into my belt and I had a dagger in each boot.
I’d tied my hair into a knot at the base of my neck where it hid my backup vial of iron shavings and a set of iron-tipped, wooden hair sticks that would double as stakes. Any fae unlucky enough to be pierced by the hair sticks would get a whopping case of iron poisoning. Overkill? Perhaps, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Jinx wanted a good time and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let some supernatural creep stand in her way.
I continued my scan of the room, reaching out with my newly heightened senses. An itch started between my shoulder blades and I turned to see the Green Lady. She smiled and whispered in the ear of her drinking companion. I swallowed hard and turned away. I owed the glaistig two wishes of her choosing. One of these days she’d come to collect.
The Green Lady wasn’t the only familiar face in the crowd. The bar was the least crowded area in the lower section of Nexus, so I made my way to the smooth curve of black stone. The stone was polished to a high shine and reflected the backlit bottles and jars that lined the shelves behind the barkeeper. I surveyed the path to the bar and recognized the scarred face and tattered ears of Torn leaning against a tall round table.
Torn was chatting up a scantily clad sylph. As Jinx and I made our way to the bar, Torn lifted his eyes from the sylph’s chest and winked. I narrowed my eyes and checked my weapons. I wasn’t feeling overly loquacious toward the cat sidhe at the moment. I had questions that needed answers, namely where I could find the mysterious Inari, but I was still annoyed with my new ally. I jerked my head in a curt nod and kept moving.
As we passed, other fae smiled, nodded, bowed, or raised their glass in salute. I forced a smile and nodded to each in turn. Out on the street it was easy to forget I was royalty, but here at Nexus my status as princess was both known and acknowledged.
“Dude, you’re like a total celebrity,” Jinx said.
Yeah, too bad that attention could get me killed. So far the fae we encountered were polite, but I knew better than to let my guard down. I kept my eyes open, shoulders loose, and gloved hands ready.
I wasn’t naïve enough to believe my status as wisp princess didn’t come without its dangers. Fae, especially those of the Unseelie court to which I owed allegiance, never tired of political power plays. There could be hundreds in this very crowd who wished to usurp my throne. I took a steadying breath against the tightness in my chest, eyes flicking from face to face. Any one of these people could be a potential assassin.