in my head. I shivered. Tawny couldn't make her first score a moment too soon.
Suddenly, I didn't feel like passing out after all. I wanted to go out. Not for a victim or anything...just to, well, be out. Grab a drink. Do a little flirting. It might salvage the train wreck I'd just endured.
I headed downtown to the Cellar, a favorite watering hole for local immortals. After Tawny's coming-out party tonight, I doubted anyone I knew would be there. A little alone time suited me just fine. Yet, as I entered the crowded bar and slipped through the drinking, laughing patrons, I felt a cool sensation tickle my immortal senses. It made me think of crystal and ozone.
Scanning around, I finally found Carter sitting across the room at a round table. Seattle's most powerful angel - and the one who had burned down my Christmas tree - had sensed me too, and a slight smile curled his lips in greeting. Although he naturally hadn't been at Hell's all staff meeting, he did have a tendency to hang out with my little clique. It had weirded me out at first, but I'd since come to view him as a normal fixture in my life, albeit a strange and badly dressed one.
More startling than seeing him out tonight, however, was his assortment of companions. Three angels and a human - none of whom I'd ever met before. All of them watched me, displaying curiosity and - for one of them - scorn at my presence. Whatever. He could scorn all he wanted. It would take more than an angel posse to get to me after everything I'd experienced today. Carter's company did strike me as odd; I'd never known him to work with others. A grudging curiosity rose up within me, wondering what could have brought them all together - with a human, no less.
Noting my scrutiny, Carter winked and made a small gesture of invitation, much to the astonishment of two of the angels. I nodded back in acknowledgement, first stopping by the bar to get a vodka gimlet.
When I walked over a minute later, I put on my best saucy succubus attitude and pulled up a chair beside Carter.
"Well, well," I said. "I feel like it's Rush weekend or something. We're all entertaining guests, huh?"
"So I hear," he said. He absentmindedly ran a hand through his chin-length blond hair. Unless I was mistaken, it had been washed for the first time in six months. These guests must be serious. "I also hear one of yours is of a more permanent nature."
I pulled a face. "I don't really want to talk about that, if it's all the same to you."
"Can we expect a cat fight soon?"
"That joke is so one hour ago. You want to introduce me to the rest of the class?"
This made one of the angels laugh. She had deeply tanned skin and black hair that shone like silk. A merry glitter danced in her eyes as she extended a hand to me.
"Yasmine. And you're Georgina."
I nodded back, unable to help a smile. The one she gave me in return filled me with warmth and joy. Maybe some angels weren't so bad after all. It was a good thing, too, because her companions seemed less thrilled to make my acquaintance.
"I'm Whitney," said another slowly, a pretty black woman whose hair consisted of myriad tiny braids. She dressed with a fashion sense that met my standards and wore cat-eye glasses that made her look both cute and wise. Her handshake took a moment in coming, but it did come.
I glanced at the last angel expectantly. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes, paired with a long and narrow face. His expression conveyed clear disapproval and a haughty coldness. Now that was behavior I associated with angels. For a moment, I didn't think he'd speak at all. Then, with great stiffness, he said, "I'm Joel." No handshake followed.
I turned to the human. He grinned back with as much enthusiasm as Yasmine and flipped his longish dark hair out of his eyes. "Vincent Damiani. Nice to meet you."
"You too." I cut Carter a sly look. "And all this time, I didn't think you had any friends."
"You're jumping to conclusions, Daughter of Lilith." He sipped from what looked like whiskey straight up. "They're here on business."
"Ooh. Top secret angel business, huh? What're you going to do? Dance on a pinhead? Lobby for National Cute Puppy Day?"
Joel's cold look dropped another ten degrees.