Shadow Thief - Eva Chase Page 0,38

of the bar and watch them on my own terms—see if they focused in on someone else, and if they didn’t, where they went after they’d finished their rounds.

I checked my phone, pretending I’d gotten a text, and wrinkled my nose at Vivi. “I’ve got to get going. Sorry to take off so early.”

“Hey, we still had fun,” Vivi said, but curiosity still shone in her eyes. “Need any help?”

“No, I’m good. Just going to duck out the back to avoid the crowd.”

“Talk soon, then. And you know if you ever do need me, I’m all in.” She made an air kiss at my cheek. “Ditto.”

The corner of my lips quirked upward. “Ditto.” We’d taken that as our way of saying, “Love ya!” ever since watching the movie Ghost together way back when.

I gave her a little wave and took off for the back door as fast as I could jet it without catching the preppy squadron’s eyes.

13

Snap

The place Sorsha had called a “bar” didn’t look anything like the long, straight pieces of metal I’d used that word for in the past. Even viewed from the shadows, the images slightly warbled and the sounds and scents faded, it was much more interesting. Interesting enough that I couldn’t quite bring myself to ask Thorn whether it really was a good idea for us to be slinking through these shadows.

Sorsha had insisted it wasn’t safe for us to come along. I’d have thought she should know, since she’d been here before and we hadn’t. But Ruse knew a lot about the mortal realm and Thorn knew a lot about danger, and neither of them seemed concerned that we’d run into any trouble here. I could follow their lead.

Especially when it meant getting to take in so many new aspects of mortal-side life.

I slipped through a patch of darkness under an empty table to tip my head close to a glass that one of the mortals had left there, a trace of amber liquid ringing its base. I couldn’t taste anything while remaining in the shadows, directly or with my deeper senses, but the sour smell tickled my nose.

“Why are they drinking these liquids?” I asked Ruse, a languid presence nearby. “They smell almost like plants gone to rot.”

The incubus’s chuckle came with a distant tone. “In some ways, that’s what they are. It’s called fermenting. It brings out some… interesting qualities that help mortals relax and find courage.”

I peered at the people socializing in the room around us. “Are they bolstering themselves to head into some kind of battle?” Sorsha’s world hadn’t appeared to be the sort of place where masses of warriors took up swords against each other on a regular basis, regardless of the hints Thorn liked to drop about his past adventures in this realm.

Ruse laughed again. “Only battles with their own self-esteem and other people’s opinions of them. Mortals come to establishments like this to enjoy themselves with friends and to pick up potential mates. Usually short-term ones, but for some reason many of them get much more anxious about that than looking for marriage material.”

Mates. Like that couple over there, two men with their arms twined as they rocked with the music a few paces from where Sorsha and her friend were dancing. You could tell they were mates and Sorsha and her friend weren’t because of the amount of closeness… and also a sort of energy around them that I could taste without even using my tongue.

Sometimes Ruse and Sorsha generated that kind of energy between them. But not always. I didn’t fully understand what it accomplished other than that they seemed to enjoy something about it, which maybe was reason enough to want it. Like eating food I didn’t need but that tasted so delicious.

Did they decide to create the energy or did it just happen? What did it feel like when you had it? I didn’t think I’d ever encountered it in myself.

I might have asked, but as I turned in Ruse’s direction, I spotted another shadowkind—not in the shadows like us but sitting at one of the stone tables with a drink of her own. A dappling of scales showed across her skin. From that along with her pose, I expected she was some sort of reptilian shifter.

“There are other kind here,” I said, nodding toward her. “Should we avoid her?” We’d already known the being distributing drinks from behind the shiny counter was one of us, but she stayed on the other