"I don't know, and who cares?" Juanita said in a tone close to a wail. "Champagne, some mango, watermelon, avocado sushi - without fish, some - "
"Oh, my Father..." Marlene whispered. "The girl got a nose."
"Look, the club section is starting to fill up, people," Berkfield said, his eyelids fluttering.
"We need to move."
"Sho' he right. About fifty big blood suckas at the bar. I got 'em," Mike rumbled and pounded Jose's fist.
"Yeah, I got them punk bitches by the gaming tables," Jose said.
"You saw something in your head, Richard?" Marjorie asked in awe.
"Wait!" Inez hollered, putting her hands up. "You can see, Mike?"
"Yeah, baby - "
"Since when?" Inez shrieked, now walking around in a tizzy.
"My point exactly," Juanita said, going up to Jose and stroking his cheek. "Baby, you couldn't ever see; don't you think something is way wrong up in this joint?"
"Okay, fellas, just hold up for a second, okay - you all can go, we couldn't stop you if we wanted to, but check it out ... don't you find any of this a little strange?" Damali's voice was strident as her hands went to her hips.
"I need to do a divination," Marlene said.
"We ain't got time for all of that right now, baby," Shabazz said, his eyes hard.
"This club," Marjorie asked. "Where is it?" Carlos looked around at the assembled male warriors, gave them a discreet nod, and they stepped in close to him. "Babylon," he muttered, then he quickly folded the group away into a silver splinter of light.
Pandemonium broke out in the suite.
"I cannot believe they did something like that!" Inez yelled, walking in a circle where the male team had been.
Both Marlene and Damali glanced at each other as though to say, that was a Rivera move if ever they saw one. They let their breaths out hard at the same time and spoke in unison.
"Puhlease ... I can."
* * *
their landing was silent right inside the main entrance - not a funnel cloud or a light burst, but rather a mere parting between the fabric of time-space density allowing them to never break stride. The message jettisoned from Carlos's mind to the brothers: Let me ask for her and Nuit, then we leave a calling card,
Silent nods with angry eyes were the response. Carlos glanced at Rider first, the message
clear: No matter what, Yonnie is still my boy. You won. Leave the man his dignity. Rider's response was one word as they began walking forward. "Done." Leather coats dusted ankles, hair on backs of necks bris tled, and heavy weapons caused sweat to slick palms - not from fear, but from fury grips. They stood at the edge of the high crevice and looked down; their entry had been so smooth that even the darkside's border guards didn't see them... then again, it could have had something to do with the heat waves of pure rage rising off each man that blinded them. Right now, the Guardian team fit right in with the population at Hell's gate.
The team stared down at the six-hundred-foot drop to the main floor. Designed for a spectacular entry, the only way in was to demon-scamper over the crags, tunnel up from a portal, or touch down vampire-style in a funnel cloud.
They'd entered ground zero through a small cave slit that opened out to a wider cavern. Glittering gold-laden bars serving blood and human flesh provided an endless demon feast before them. Writhing, na**d bodies twisted in every imaginable carnal act littered the floors as well as the plush, crimson surfaces swathed in Bedouin silks and black drapes. Persian rugs covered gleaming black marble floors as musclebound servers brought fresh golden goblets of blood to sate the enraptured. Massive gold leaf-covered fountains with depraved images spiraled in orgies spewed human blood for bathers reenacting the last days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Huge gaming tables with world territories and human lives at stake in the gold chips were heavily loaded with gamblers. Carlos motioned with his chin toward the pit bulls walking the perimeter at the top of the cavern with Harpies riding their backs.
Everybody got the layout? Carlos's steely gaze roved over the group. Don't sleep on nothing down here.
Stone-jawed nods were his answer. With that, he folded the team away, and opened them out onto the floor as though coming in for a vamp landing.
Seven battle-ready males wafting adrenaline and more approached the bar, drawing hisses of admiration from nearby female entities.
"Lilith send you boys to join the party?" a long, lithe, snakelike female asked Big Mike, beginning to coil around his legs. Her skin was made of glistening almond-hued scales like that of a yellow boa, and her eyes were an eerie shade of hazel that bordered on greengray-gold. Each of her long platinum tresses seemed alive, as though they were tiny snakes, as she swayed invitingly before Mike. "And you're dinner, too ... she thinks of everything."
The moment she pulled back to strike, Big Mike whipped out a snub-nosed pump shotgun and shoved it into her mouth as she lurched forward, fingering the trigger. "Baby, if you're gonna give me deep throat, do it like a pro - don't bite." She gagged and eased off the weapon. "I like your style," she murmured, uncoiling from his leg and stroking his groin. "What you're packing under the belt is to die for, lover. My bad, on jumping the gun with a first strike - shoulda known a man like you would wanna be the aggressor. Let me make it up to you?"