Darkened (5 page)

As he stared at me, I started to feel a pressure in my head. I’m not sure if it was the drinks or what. I looked away to find a guy standing next to me. Apparently while I was having a staring contest with the singer, the guy who bought me a drink had decided to come over.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hey, I’m Allen,” he said as he held out his hand.

“Hey Allen, Avery.”

“Another ‘A’ name, cool.”

Yeah
, whatever. Luckily I haven’t drank enough to start saying everything that pops into my head.

“Do you come here often,” Allen asked.

“Uh, no. You?”

He shook his head. “I just moved here from Montgomery. My friend lives here so I came to check it out.”

“I see. I moved here from Savannah about six months ago.”

I really didn’t feel like talking to this guy
, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Temmy was watching me like a hawk, I would have totally blown him off.

“Savannah. That’s cool. I want to go there one weekend and checkout the shops.”

“Yeah, they’re good.”

What was I supposed to say to that? Yeah, well have fun with that. Please move on. The music stopped so I looked at the band. They were having a powwow off to the side with some other guy. Then the guy took off and headed toward the DJ station as Jared came back to the microphone.

“We’re done for tonight. Thanks for coming out.”

The DJ started playing something with a techno beat
, and everyone started dancing. Jared looked up at me again as he walked to the edge of the stage and hopped off.

“Oh my Gods. He’s going to get mauled down there,” Temmy said.

But
, although everyone watched him they all moved out of his way as he walked through the crowd. He continued to watch me while everyone was watching him. A few women started to approach him, and he ignored them.

“Wow, it looks like he’s heading this way, Temmy. Maybe we’ll get a second chance,” Saundra said.

Temmy didn’t have a chance to respond because he was at the table. He cut in front of Allen, and stood next to me.

“Did you like your song?” he asked me.

I looked around him at Allen to see that he was walking away.

“That was rude,” I said.

He looked at Allen then back to me then back to Allen.

“I’m sorry, man. You can join us if you like,” Jared said to Allen.

“I have to get back to my friends,” Allen replied.

Something about that exchange didn’t sound right. Allen sounded kind of like he was reading a script or something. Oh well, I didn’t really want to hang out with him anyway.

“You didn’t answer my question. Did you like your song?” Jared said to me again.

“Uh…”

“Of course she loved it. It was great,” Temmy finished for me.

“Is that the name of it? ‘Your song’, sounds kinda lame,” I said. Total Elton John rip off.

“Avery!” Temmy reprimanded.

“Well it does,” I said in my defense.

“Actually it didn’t have a
name until now that I know yours. It will now be named Avery’s song,” Jared said.

“Oh
, that is so sweet,” Temmy said at the same time I said, “Is that the line you use on all the women?”

Temmy elbowed me in the ribs.

“Ow.”

“I assure you I have never named a song after a woman before,” Jared replied.

Sure. I believe that. Then again he probably doesn’t need to use lines to pick up women.

I finished off my drink. That way I can use getting a new one as an excuse to get away from him if I need to.

“Hey Jared. Do you remember me?” Saundra said.

He looked at her for the first time.

“Uh, yeah. You were at the party last weekend,” he said uncertainly.

She leaned forward to show as much cleavage as possible. Which was quite a bit.

“Yeah, we talked in the hall
way and I…”

“Offered to suck his dick.”

Oh my Gods! Did I just say that out loud?! I threw my hand over my mouth before something else popped out. Saundra was looking at me like she was going to kill me. Jared was looking at me with amusement.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” I said from between my fingers.

“So you were talking about me?” Jared said.

I lowered my hand and hoped nothing too crude came out.

“Yeah, Temmy was impressed with your manners.”

“My manners?” He looked confused.

“You know, how you said ‘no thank you’ to Saundra’s offer of oral sex.”

Temmy stepped on the toe of my boot with her heal. He had a brow raised but my mouth just wouldn’t shut up.

“Usually men only say thank you afterward. That is
if
they have manners anyway.”

Why won’t my mouth stop
? I have definitely drank too much. That’s it I’m cut off.

“Come on Avery. I need to use the restroom, you’ll come with me,” Temmy said as she
practically dragged me off the stool.

“Okay.”

I followed her to the restroom
, and once we finally made it through the line to inside, she turned to me with her hands on her hips.

“The hottest guy in the place is paying you total attention
, and you can talk about nothing other than some other chick offering him oral sex and his manners?”

“I know. I can’t help it though. She was practically offering everything to him again
, and it was just the first thing that popped into my mouth. Then, when he thought we had been having this whole conversation about him, I felt the need to explain that the talk was more about his manners than him himself. You know how my mouth gets when I drink.”

She rolled her eyes. Then she looked at me like she had just had a great idea. “You need more drink. That’s what the problem is.”

“If that is my problem, why do I need more?”

“The problem is that you have drank enough to have a big mouth but not enough to not care about w
hat you are saying. You’re overthinking everything and only more drink will cure that.”

“Uh, that ki
nd of makes sense, but I think not drinking anymore is the best route. After a little while, the booze will wear off then I won’t have an overactive jaw anymore.”

“Pfft. I’ll hear no more of that crazy talk. We are here to have a good time
, and that means drinking and flirting. Remember, I’m living my fantasies through you. So you better be making out with that guy by the end of the night. He named a song after you for Christ’s sake.”

“That was a total line and you know it.”

“Well, at least he’s interested enough to throw a line.”

True. I’m sure he doesn’t often need to use lines to get laid.

“Alright Temmy. We do it your way. But, I expect you to make sure I don’t go home with the guy. Okay? It’s one thing to have a drunken good time at the club. Another to take it home.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you go to your house tonight.”

Somehow I don’t think she meant the same thing I did.

We checked our makeup before heading back to the table. As we got closer, I saw there were a couple of women at the table with the guys and Saundra. One of them was rubbing up against Jared while talking to him. We walked up and I went to walk around the table to get to my seat since the two of them were blocking the way, but his arm reached out, wrapped around my waist, and pulled me toward him.

H
e whispered in my ear. “I’m so glad you are back. This woman will not leave me alone.”

I looked behind me at the chick that was staring at us.

“Why didn’t you just tell her to leave?” I asked him.

“I didn’t want to be accused of being rude again,” he whispered into my ear.

I rolled my eyes at him then walked past the both of them to my stool and had a seat. He wrapped his other arm around me, and I looked at him like he was one step away from losing it.

“If I appear to be with you, then the others will leave me alone,” he whispered again.

Right. Whatever. I saw that the women had gotten the message and moved on. I looked down, and there was a full margarita on the table in front of me.

“Your other was empty,” Jared said.

“Thank you.”

“You are most welcome.”

I took an experimental sip. I’m good at detecting hidden drugs so I always take a sip first to make sure it hasn’t been roofied.

“Would you like to dance?” Jared asked.

“Uh…” I saw Temmy was looking at me. “Sure.”

I took a full drink out of my glass before he took my hand, and led me to the dance floor. As soon as his bare skin touched mine, I knew he wasn’t mundane Human. It was actually kind of weird. I didn’t know exactly what he is. I could feel his magic rubbing against my own, and it actually felt good, but I couldn’t figure out what kind of magic it was. It definitely wasn’t Demon or Vamp or Were. It was something I had never felt before. It could be that he is a magic-wielding Human and his particular gift made his magic feel weird, but I’m not sure. I decided it wasn’t that important. Others made up about sixty percent of the planet’s population so you were just as likely to meet an Other as mundane Human. Hell, I was Other so maybe that was why he was interested in me.

There was a slow song on so I put my arms around his neck, and he pulled me close. As we moved together, I couldn’t help noticing he had really good rhythm.

“You’re a good dancer,” he said.

“Thanks,” I replied.

The slow song went off
, and a fast one took its place. I released his neck, and started to dance to it too. He danced with me without releasing my hips. I turned as I danced, and he released me long enough for me to turn around then pulled me up against his front, and we continued to dance together until the song was over.

He led me from the dance floor to the VIP section. A bouncer opened the rope for us without hesitation. He looked like your typical bouncer but something about him said Other. I would guess he had to be a Were given how scruffy he looked. I nodded to him as we passed, and he nodded back. Once in the VIP section, Jared led us to the back table. You could still hear the music here, but it wasn’t deafening like it was in the rest of the club.

“We can talk here without having to scream in each other’s ear,” he said as he sat next to me in the booth.

He scooted
right up next to me and I moved over a bit to give myself some room.

“It must be nice to be VIP,” I said as I looked around.

He shrugged. “I don’t come here much. Would you like a drink?”

“Um, sure.”

He motioned for a server then placed our drink orders.

“What is Ambrosia?” I asked.

It’s what he had ordered for himself.

“You don’t know the drink of the Gods?”

“I’ve heard of Ambrosia before, but what is the drink you ordered?”

He shrugged again. “Ambrosia. I’ll let you taste it. If you like it, I’ll order you one.”

“Alright.”

The server came back with our drinks and Jared slid his over to me. I smelled it. The smell was similar to honeysuckle so I took a tentative sip. It was good. It was sweet but not too sweet, and the taste was almost like sugar cane with a little bit of another flavor I couldn’t identify.

“It’s good,” I said then slid it back to him.

He looked at me and smiled. Then he called the server back over and ordered me my own. When mine arrived, he cautioned me.

“Don’t drink it too fast. It doesn’t taste like it
, but it is very potent.”

I nodded then took a small drink.
“It has an unusual flavor, but I like it.”

“Most of our kind do.”

I took that to mean Others. It was probably extra strong so that our kind could actually get drunk without having to drink a liter of tequila.

“So, where are you from Avery?” he asked.

“Marietta, I just spent the last eight and half years in prison for killing my boyfriend.”

I flashed my crazy smile at him.

He started laughing. 

“What? You don’t believe me?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Okay. How about I’m originally from
the Atlanta area, but have lived in Savannah for the last several years until I moved back six months ago. It’s a lot closer to visit my grandmother.”

“Your grandmother?”

“Yeah. She lives in Decatur.”

“And she is Human?” He looked confused. I’m sure I did too. What did it matter that my grandmother was Human?

“Yes, she’s a White Witch.”

“Ah, I knew you seem to have some Human in you. What about your father?”

What did he mean I seem to have Human in me? Did he think I was a full blooded Demon?

“I’d rather not talk about him,” I said with venom.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you mad. I just want to know more about you, and I thought I might know him.”

“I’m sure you don’t. So can we stop the twenty questions about my parentage?”

Unless he hung out with Demon on a regular basis he wouldn’t know my father. I have personally never met him or else he would be locked in Hell for all eternity courtesy of my stiletto.

“Fair enough. Would you like another?” He pointed toward my drink.

I hadn’t even realized I had finished the first one.

“Yes, please,” I replied.

One thing my grandmother always made sure of was that I used my manners. He ordered me another Ambrosia and him
self a glass of water then looked back at me.

“I like your eyes. That was the first thing I noticed about you.”

“Uh, thanks. Most people think they’re freaky.”

They were mostly amber with a little green. It was the fact that the colors
were almost constantly swirling around that most people found weird.

“I think they are beautiful. I could look into them for days.”

He was moving closer to me, and I couldn’t think of what I should do so I allowed him to kiss me. He tasted like the Ambrosia, and Gods, he was a great kisser. After a few moments, he pulled back and licked his lips.