Susan had to force herself not to laugh.
"Aw, sit your ass down, Leo," Belle said in a voice that was thick with a Texas drawl before she slammed the door shut with the heel of her foot. Tall and blond and also dressed in black jeans and a black blouse, she reminded Susan of an angel... one that was chewing her gum like a cow going to town with cud. She moved forward to set two bottles of unopened tequila on the table. "Now boys and girls, let the party start."
"All right, Annie Oakley," Ravyn said in a teasing tone. "Last time you threw a party, half of Chicago burned down."
Belle narrowed her eyes playfully on him. "That was not my fault."
Ravyn leaned back in his chair and gave her a doubting stare. "Uh-huh. The least you could have done was take the blame yourself and not put it off on Mrs. O'Leary's cow."
"Hey now, they couldn't hang old Bessie for starting the fire." Belle moved to stand by Susan. She folded her arms over her chest as she stood there with her feet slightly apart. The stance reminded Susan of a gunfighter about to draw his gun. "You're new. Who the hell are you?"
She glanced about nervously, but the men didn't seem concerned at Belle's antagonistic nature. "Susan."
"Uh-huh," Belle said in a tone that was less than impressed.
"She's a Squire," Leo said.
"Uh-huh." Belle sized her up again. "Can you shoot a gun?"
Susan frowned at the odd question. "Yeah."
"Can you hit anything after you pull the trigger?"
"Most of the time."
"Cool." She held her hand out to her. "Welcome to our little group here."
Susan shook her hand as Belle's entire demeanor changed over to friendly. "Thanks."
Menkaura shifted in his chair. "Belle used to travel with a Wild West show."
Belle opened the bottle nearest her with her teeth. "Yeah," she said as she pulled a small shot glass from her pocket and filled it, "and I kicked Annie Oakley's ass in my last show, but do they ever mention that? No. I got the shaft and she got the fame. Life's just not fair, I tell you."
Kyl opened the other bottle before he poured the tequila into the plastic cup he had before him. He held the cup up in toast to Belle before he met Susan's gaze. "Belle shot the reporter who failed to mention her as the winner." He knocked back the drink in a single gulp.
"Yeah, but he took a shot at me first." Belle tilted her head back to empty her cup, then refilled the glass. "Not my fault he missed. I just showed him up close and personal who the better shot was..." She frowned as she set the bottle aside. "But then I probably shouldn't have killed him 'cause then he could have fixed that article."
Leo gave her a dry look. "And you wouldn't have become an outlaw. "
"Shut up, Leo."
Belle grabbed the chair next to Susan, spun it around, and straddled it. At the same time an unbelievably attractive woman walked in.
Susan had to keep her mouth from dropping. She'd truly never seen a more beautiful woman in her life. And she was incredibly tall... at least six foot five, with long auburn hair that was scraped back from her face to fall in a braid all the way to her thighs. Like the others, she was dressed in what must be their uniform of black clothes. Only this Dark-Hunter had on leather pants and a black brocade corset. She was also clutching a venti-sized cup of Starbucks coffee and wearing a pair of five-inch steel-spiked boots, which accounted for some of her unbelievable height.
She stopped beside Nick's chair and took a minute to size him up. "Gautier?"
He didn't even bother to look at her while he poured his own shot of tequila. "Hi, Zoe."
Narrowing her eyes, she reached out and tilted his head to the side so that she could see the Dark-Hunter mark that was on Nick's face and neck. "Damn, boy, what happened? Artemis bitch slap you?"
He grabbed her wrist and glared up at her.
Zoe broke his hold as she shook her head. "Kyrian said he thought you'd gone over to the dark side, but I didn't believe him."
Nick gulped down his tequila. "Yeah, well, I guess he isn't as dumb as he looks."
Zoe looked surprised by the venom in Nick's voice. She took a drink of coffee before she frowned at Susan. Zoe inclined her chin toward her. "Who's the new chick?"