When it was all over, Tabitha and Valerius fought the crowd to her side. Marla hugged Tabitha first, then grabbed Valerius. "Thank you!"
Valerius nodded. "My pleasure. Congratulations on winning, Marla."
Marla smiled. "I owe the two of you. Don't think I'm going to forget, now. Y'all go on and I'll catch up to you later."
"All right," Tabitha said. "I'll see you at home."
They made their way out of the club, to the busy Canal Street that bordered the French Quarter.
Tabitha checked her watch. It was almost ten. "I don't know about you, but I'm famished. Want to go grab a bite?"
Valerius gave her an amused stare. "You have to be the only woman alive who would ask a man with fangs that question."
She laughed. "You're probably right. So would you like to join me?"
"We don't have reservations anywhere."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Hon, where I'm going we don't need no stinking reservations."
"Where are we going?"
She headed down Royal Street, which connected Canal to Iberville. "The Antoine's of seafood. Acme Oyster House."
"Acme? I've never eaten there."
And as soon as Tabitha reached the door of the place, Valerius knew why. It actually had plastic black-and-white checked tablecloths.
He hesitated in the doorway as he scanned the small restaurant. The place was tiny and the crowd thinning. It had a bar to his right that stretched along the wall, and tables set up to his left. The walls were a tawdry mixture of mirrors, pictures, and neon signs. It was loud and obnoxious.
Not to mention, Valerius had to quickly catch himself and mentally force his image into the mirrors before someone realized he didn't cast a reflection.
Tabitha turned to look at him. She put her hands on her hips. "Would you stop looking like someone just scuffed your brand-new shoes? They have the best oysters on earth here."
"It's so... neon."
"So put on your sunglasses."
"It doesn't look sanitary," he said in a low tone.
"Oh please, you're about to eat something that is the vacuum cleaner of the ocean. You do know how pearls are formed, right? All an oyster does is ingest trash. Besides, you're immortal, what do you care?"
"Valerius?"
He looked past Tabitha to see Vane and Bride Kattalakis seated at the oyster bar, where two men behind the counter were shucking oysters for the handful of people who sat there. Valerius let out a relieved breath. Finally, someone he could relate to. A little, anyway since Vane was an Arcadian wolf and Bride his human mate.
Dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, Vane was Valerius's height and had long dark brown hair that he wore loose around his shoulders. Bride was a plump, beautiful woman whose long auburn hair was worn up in a messy bun. She had on a tan sweater over a brown dress with little white flowers.
Valerius crossed the floor to shake Vane's hand. "Wolf," he said in greeting... it was always polite to refer to the Arcadians and Katagaria by their animal selves. "Nice seeing you again." He looked to Bride. "And you, my lady, always an honor."
Bride smiled at him, then looked at Tabitha. "What are the two of you doing here? Together?"
"Val was doing a favor for me," Tabitha said as she came up behind him. She turned to one of the men behind the counter, who was wiping his hands after shucking a plate of oysters. "Hey, Luther, two beers and a fork."
The tall African-American laughed at her. "Tabby, this is what, the fourth time this week you've been here? Don't you have a home?"
"Yeah, but we don't have oysters in it. At least not good ones. And I have to come here just to harass you. Imagine a whole day without Tabitha in it... What would you do?"
Luther laughed.