"Or something," she said with a smile.
"You know Dev?" Talon asked her, his body going rigid as if the thought made him jealous.
"Yeah," Dev answered before she could. "She comes in all the time. Her and Aimee play pool in the back."
"You come here alone?"
Sunshine shoved Talon playfully on the shoulder. "Would you stop? You're not my father and no one bothers me here thanks to Dev and his brothers."
"That's right, Talon, you know my policy. No one harasses a woman in Sanctuary unless she wants to be harassed."
"The exception being Aimee," Sunshine couldn't resist adding. The only daughter in the massive Peltier clan, Aimee couldn't get near a man without one of her brothers or her enormously tall, well-muscled father having a stroke.
"Double damn straight." Dev inclined his head to the coffin that was kept in the corner of the club right as you came in the door. "That's the last moron who asked my sister out."
Talon laughed again. "There's another place I don't want to go to. I'm looking for Eros, has he been in here yet?"
"Upstairs by the storeroom playing poker with Rudy, Justin, and Etienne."
"Thanks." Talon led her through the front half of the bar where tables and booths were set up for eating. The place was rather crowded tonight and the music from the Howlers was loud and thumping.
"Hey, Talon," Sunshine shouted in his ear. "Why do you and Dev have the same bow-and-arrow mark on your bodies?"
He glanced back to where Dev stood at the door. "Dev thinks it's funny that he bears the mark of a..." His voice trailed off, but she caught his unspoken meaning by the glint in his eyes.
The bow mark must be the signature sign of a Dark-Hunter. "Is he one too?"
"No, he's another breed entirely."
Understanding ripped through her. "A breed like Vane?"
He paused and lowered his head so that he could speak without being overheard. "Yes, and at the same time, no."
So he must be a were-beast of a different sort. "Does this mean his entire family is able to change..."-she shifted gears as a patron came too close-"their clothes to something entirely new?" she finished.
He nodded.
Wow! Who knew? An entire were-family ran one of the most popular places in town. Very chic.
Talon straightened and headed for the back where the pool tables were kept. There was an ornate pine staircase that led to the area above, where additional tables were set up for people to eat and watch the band as they played below.
Even the upstairs area was packed tonight.
Without stopping, Talon led her past the patrons and headed for the last table on the left, which was set in a corner.
Five people sat at it and four of them were playing poker. Etienne Peltier was leaner than his older brother Dev, but no less muscular. He had shoulder-length, straight blond hair and a face that could only be called angelic. But as Sunshine had learned on more than one occasion, the devil himself resided in that handsome body. No one wanted to cross Etienne.
Rudy St. Michel sat next to Etienne. Average in appearance, he looked like the typical New Orleans drifter with long black hair, and colorful tattoos covering every inch of visible flesh. He'd started working here about a year ago and was responsible for the arcade games downstairs.
Another bouncer, Justin Portakalian, had his back to the wall and one long, leather-encased leg stretched out over a wooden chair as he handed two cards over to Rudy. He was as gorgeous as any of the Peltiers, with medium-length, dark brown hair and hazel eyes that glittered with malice. At six feet six and with a bad attitude that redefined the term, he was someone Sunshine had always tried to avoid. He didn't talk much and had tossed her last boyfriend through the back door. Literally.
She'd also heard a rumor that Justin was fresh out of prison for murder, and something about his deadly demeanor added quite a bit of credibility to that speculation.
The other two people she didn't know. One was a blond biker who held a beautiful, barely dressed redhead on his lap. He looked up, saw Talon, and the smile faded from his lips. "What are you doing here, Celt?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Can't you see I'm winning?"