“I was there,” Devona confirmed.
“After you left Skully’s, Devona asked me to help her out with a problem, Lyra. We’re here because I think Bennie might be able to help us.”
“Sure-come on in!” Lyra stepped aside so we could enter. When we were inside, Lyra closed to the door and even I, without any mystical training whatsoever, could sense a battery of defensive spells activating.
“So you decided to return to your old, uh, stomping grounds?” I asked Lyra.
Lyra grinned with Honani’s mixblood mouth, and though she displayed a truly intimidating array of teeth, she still somehow managed look cute.
“More than that, I’ve got a new job! Bennie made me a bouncer!” Lyra flexed her right arm, and her new mixblood muscles bulged impressively.
I couldn’t help laughing. “Perfect!”
“I know! Bennie’s the best, aren’t they? They also offered to get me an appointment with Dr. Moreau at the House of Pain to see if he might be able to give my new body a sex change, but I think I’m going to keep it as is for now. I always wanted to see how the other half lives, and I now I’ve got my chance!”
Devona looked at me. “They?”
“It’ll all make sense soon. Trust me.”
Lyra led us through the foyer and into the lounge which, as usual, was filled with customers waiting for appointments to begin, restocking on fluids between assignations, or bragging about their performance to their companions afterward. The lounge was decorated like a tasteful upscale neighborhood tavern back on Earth: black lacquer tables and chairs, a small kitchen which served appetizers and snacks, and-instead of flat-screen TV’s-giant Mind’s Eye devices were mounted on the walls, the orbs broadcasting news coverage of Descension Day activities throughout the city. But the heart of the lounge was undeniably the large circular bar in the middle of the room. The bartenders on duty could mix any type of drink you wanted, but every one of them was Arcane and their true specialty was potion-making. They could create any manner of aphrodisiac or performance-enhancing substance imaginable, and many that were beyond imagination, even in Nekropolis.
Every table in the lounge was taken by men and women representing all the races the city has to offer-Bennie doesn’t believe in discrimination when it comes to love, or the reasonable facsimile on the menu at the House of Dark Delights-and it looked like Devona and I were going to have to stand. But Lyra escorted us over to a table where two vampires I recognized were playing a holographic game of bloodshards.
The male looked up as we approached, his holo-eye implants switching over to normal vision, and he groaned when he got a good look at us, or more specifically, at me.
“Not you again! My sister and I just want to be left alone to play in peace!”
“And that’s all you’ve been doing for the last four hours” Lyra said. “This lounge is reserved for paying customers, Reshem. I let you slide because of the trouble Matt and I caused you at Skully’s earlier, but now I have to ask you to take your game elsewhere.”
The female vampire switched her implants over to regular vision then too, and the holographic game pieces vanished. “But this is the only place we’ve able to find where a fight hasn’t broken out within ten minutes of our arrival,” she protested. “We figured it would be safe to play here because the customers aren’t interested in fighting.”
Her brother grinned. “Because they have other activities on their mind.”
Lyra put her large clawed hands onto the table and went into her pissed-off mixblood routine, teeth bared, brow furrowed, growl rumbling deep in her throat.
The male vampire sighed. “All right, we’re going. Come, Halina, let’s try the restaurant across the street. We should be able to get in at least a dozen games before the server arrives to take our drink orders.”
The vampire siblings left, and Lyra gestured to the now empty table. “If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll go find Bennie and tell her you want to talk to her. I’ll have someone come over and get you something to drink while you wait.” Lyra gestured to one of the servers, gave us a last smile, and then turned to go.
We sat and watched Lyra make her way back to the foyer, everyone in her path stumbling over one another to get out of her way. Lyra acted as if she didn’t notice, but I knew she loved every minute of it.
“I think that girl has a bright future ahead of her in the nuisance-deterrent business,” Devona said.
I couldn’t help but agree.
While waited for a server to come over, Devona glanced around the lounge, taking everything in. She frowned. “All these people…the place hardly seems large enough to accommodate them all. As big as the lounge is, I don’t see how they have any space left over for rooms.”
“That’s because only part of the House of Dark Delights is aboveground,” I said. “There are seven levels beneath us, each more, ah, intense than the last.”
Devona raised an eyebrow and I hastened to add, “Or so I’ve been told. I’ve never actually had the opportunity-or the desire-to explore beyond the lounge.”
Devona smiled, obviously enjoying my discomfort. “Sure, Matt. Whatever you say.”
A white-furred werecat server wearing an almost nonexistent black leather bikini came over and asked if we’d like anything to drink-on the house. I politely declined, but Devona ordered a glass of aqua sanguis. The server winked at me as she left, swishing her tail a bit more strictly than necessary as she headed toward the bar. I noticed Devona scowling.
“Why Ms. Kanti, if I didn’t know better, I might think you were actually jealous.”
Devona laughed just a little too loudly. “ Right. As if I would be jealous of a cheap little thing like. Doesn’t she realize that six breasts is just overkill?”
“You’re right: you don’t sound a bit jealous.”
She smiled. “All right, I admit it, I am.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about anyone snatching me away. I’m not exactly the best-looking guy in the place at the moment.” Cuts on my face, burnt arm, missing ear and pinkie, chewed-up leg, tilted head, and skin getting grayer by the minute-not to mention the state of my suit. I’d never been a male model, but I’d definitely seen better days.
Devona reached over and took my hand. “It’s not the outside I see when I look at you. Especially after what happened in the glen.”
All I could feel of Devona’s touch was the slight pressure of her fingers against my skin. But it was enough.
“So you felt it too?”
She nodded. “It was the most intense experience of any kind I’ve ever had.”
“I thought you said you’d linked with men before.”
“I have, but it was never like that. Those men were Shadows in more ways than one, Matt. Shallow, hollow men who just wanted me for my body, or because I was Bloodborn and exotic, or because they thought I could make them Bloodborn too. But you-you’re special. I don’t think you realize just how much.”
“Devona…” I didn’t know what to say. We’d met each other less than a day ago, but after what had happened in the glen, after joining souls as we’d done, it was like we’d known each other for years. No, forever. But I couldn’t let this go on, no matter how much I wanted it to, and believe me, I did.
The werecat brought Devona’s drink, and we were silent while she put it down on the table. She saw we were holding hands, so she kept her winks to herself this time when she departed.
When the girl was out of earshot, I continued. “What kind of relationship can you have with a zombie? I’m not exactly fully functional, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t care about that, Matt. We don’t need physical love, not when we can link.”
“Even so, I think it would be best for now if we just tried to concentrate our attention on the job at hand.”
Her eyes grew cold and hurt and she tried to pull away, but I held her hand tight.
“I’m not rejecting you, Devona. I want to make that clear. I probably should reject you, to be honest, but I can’t. But we shouldn’t go forward with this until I know for certain that I’m going to…I guess ‘live’ isn’t the right word. Survive, I guess. Unless your father can help me, I’ll be gone soon.”