The trendy underground bar was packed. People were pressed tightly against each other under the soft lighting. We managed to push our way through a number of the different areas in Salen, each one with different music and feel. I practically dragged Quin through the bebop section; I was not going to sit on one of the wooden benches and listen to that. We finally squeezed our way down the final narrow tunnel, the small tables pressed against the bare stone on our left. It opened out into a room no bigger than our living room with people crowded around more small round tables.
I kept my eye out for fae; all underground bars are owned by fae, and the last thing I wanted was for one of them to show up and ruin our night. Quin leaned casually against the simple wooden bar and flashed the barmaid a roguish smile while he ordered our drinks. I swore I saw the sexy guy from the tram stop across the room, his indigo eyes flashing under the pale yellow light. I tried to move closer to him, but he was gone before I got anywhere. I shook my head. I was imagining things. Quin was clearly right; I needed to find a little fun for the night.
As if on cue, Quin appeared at my side with two shots of ouzo and a pair of mojitos on the bar. His eyes were shining, a grin spread across his face; he was in his element. I knocked back the potent anise-flavoured liquor that burned all the way down and chased it with a big gulp of my mojito. Quin laughed at me before he did another shot. He had always been a much heavier drinker than me. The DJ turned up the music, and I found myself dancing to the heavy beat that thrummed through the room as we pushed our way down the wooden steps to the deepest room in the sprawling bar.
We squeezed onto a bench at the far corner and leaned back against the cool exposed stone. It was probably the alcohol, but I could feel my muscles finally starting to relax. The music filled the air and made a normal conversation close to impossible. I closed my eyes for a moment and allowed the energy of the place to wash over me. The worries of the city slipped away; it would survive without me for one night. Quin was looking around the room, no doubt hoping to find his latest conquest. His gaze settled on a brunette who looked incredibly bored with her date. She stifled a yawn as the guy kept talking animatedly. I glared at Quin; stealing her from under his nose was a little gauche. Even for a charmer such as him.
Quin leaned in and said, “Someone is interested in you, go and grab some fun."
I looked over at where he was pointing to see the guy from the tram stop. His black shirt hung over his athletic frame without hiding too much from my eager gaze. A small smile sat on his perfectly formed mouth, but he turned and walked away, giving a good view of his tight little ass mere seconds after Quin pointed him out. Quin sighed and gave me a look of 'seriously?'. I merely shrugged. I wasn't in the mood to chase anyone; I did enough of that as a hunter. At least that’s what I told myself; in truth, I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.
The alcohol made everything a little warm and fuzzy by the end of the second mojito. I was perfectly cogent, but I felt truly relaxed for the first time in months; all of the stress and tension was melting away. It had been one hell of a month, too.
I turned to Quin and said, “I can't lose you."
His expression softened and he hugged me. “You won't, sis."
“I just... after that coven kidnapped you, it really made me realise, you know?"
He smiled and leaned back crossing his arms over his chest. “I lived a more comfortable life than I do with you; I might have to get kidnapped more often."
I glared at him; he didn't like taking things too seriously.
“They were going to use you in a blood ritual!" I hissed.
He put his hand on my shoulder. “And you saved me. We're cool, don't fret over the past, Evie, you'll make yourself grey. Live the life we have."
I frowned and relented. I knew he was right, but he'd scared the hell out of me.
He grinned at me. “This calls for another shot, then we head to Nostalgia to kick this up a gear."
I returned his grin and focused on the fun of the night. We were just normal people out unwinding for the evening.
I swore that I saw the sexy indigo-eyed guy again while we were waiting for our tram to Nostalgia. It was just a glimpse, but he was quite distinctive. Quin had been chatting with a model-worthy blonde and hadn't noticed; I didn't want to bother him, but I was beginning to wonder if I was going mad. I shrugged it off and blamed it on the alcohol. It had been a while since I’d drunk so heavily, and it was hitting me a little harder than I wanted to admit. Quin remained with the blonde on the tram ride, leaving me alone. I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to walk into the fae-owned club alone. I set my shoulders back and reminded myself that I killed lycans for money; I could handle a couple of gropey humans.
Any anxiety I may have had slipped away when I walked out onto the dancefloor of Nostalgia. Quin had taken the blonde somewhere dark; I knew he'd be back in a couple of hours. That left me to enjoy the intense beat of the music by myself. Strobes flashed overhead, smiles were plastered onto everyone's face. It was intoxicating. The energy flowed over me and I allowed myself to go with it. I made my way into the middle of the dancefloor, moving with the beat and letting everything go. There was nothing but me and the beat. For a minute, at least, before I had to slap away the rough hands that grabbed my ass.
I had expected to have quite a hangover the next morning, but I was pleasantly surprised. Quin and I had decided to take a few days off; the city was in recovery after the bloodmoon. We had enough money to justify relaxing for a few days, and the gods knew we deserved it. Quin had been enjoying his time off with Kadrix, a few of the other hunters, and a variety of women. It was good to see him full of life and happy. I had decided to enjoy my down time a little more quietly; I couldn't help being a bit envious of him, though. I'd spent the last three days wandering between coffee shops and various touristy spots around the city. It felt good to admire the city and its layers without worrying about what a fae or lycan was doing.
That being said, I sat outside on a well-padded chair under a thick fleece blanket at the edge of Old Town Square, enjoying a particularly over-priced coffee and debating if I could find some trouble to get into. I scolded myself; it had only been three days, I shouldn't have been bored already. The tourists milled around me, and I couldn't blame them; the setting was stunning. A crowd had gathered in front of the astronomical clock. It must have been close to the hour. People always enjoyed watching the intricate old clock strike the hour with its varying layers and mechanisms.
I took another sip of my coffee and glanced over towards the clock; something dark caught my eye. I looked again, trying to pinpoint what on earth it was. It hadn't moved quite like a person. I scanned the multi-coloured crowd, looking for something unusual. I was about to shrug it off when I finally caught sight of the offending thing. It seemed that the gods wanted to give me some amusement after all. I left some money next to my half-f cup of coffee and headed into the crowd.
Blood moons weaken the layers between the worlds, above, below, and parallel. That had all sorts of interesting side-effects, such as lycans going rogue, fae stealing more people, and very occasionally shades, demons, and other things from both above and below slipping through. I tucked my hands into my leather jacket and felt the comfort of my blades beneath the lining. The dark shadow that I was following remained close to the tower; the crowd hadn't noticed. They had no reason to, since as far as they were concerned it was simply a slightly oddly shaped shadow.
I, however, knew that it was a weak shade. A demonic entity that hadn't quite managed to fully come over into our plane. This one was almost translucent; it was unlikely to be able to do much harm to anyone, but if I could kill it then Kadrix would pay a very pretty penny for whatever bits of it I could bottle. The hour struck, and the air was filled with the sound of hundreds of cameras clicking. The shade pressed itself into the tall doorway that was reserved for wedding parties only. I cursed it for choosing such a public spot.
The crowd was far too busy oohing and aahing over the astronomical clock. I remained close to the stone wall of the tower and pulled out one of my blades, sheltering it from view with my body. The shade wasn't even strong enough to have formed any real features. A tall shadow a head taller than me and quite a bit broader shrank back deeper into the doorway. I smiled as the dark shape tried to condense itself; it would have been an impressive foe, had it have managed to come through more strongly.
The tourists were beginning to disperse. More people were coming closer to me as they went to the tower with plans of indulging in the view over the city. I dragged my blade upwards through the shadow; it curled away from the silver and shrank downwards, forming a dark puddle on the floor. I pulled a couple of vials out of my pocket and tried to usher the shadow into them. It was more difficult than it sounded. It was somewhat reminiscent to the breath I had to capture and use for Kadrix when he’d sent me on some errand. He never did tell me what the recipe was for that I’d retrieved for him.
I managed to fill two vials before the shadow vanished properly. Kadrix would, no doubt, be over the moon. I put my blade away and tucked the vials safely back onto my belt before I stood and walked around the tower away from the main square. Quin was already with the elf, and part of me missed him; it seemed like a good opportunity all around. I couldn't keep the smile off my face at the contents of the vials. The smile soon changed to confusion when I saw the indigo-eyed man again. He kept showing up, and I was starting to grow suspicious.
He tried to do his usual vanishing act down one of the smaller streets heading towards Charles Bridge. I was prepared for it that time, though, and I was ready to get some answers.
His movements had the clear predatory grace and assurance of someone who could hold their own in a fight. He almost reminded me of a lycan with the slightly lower centre of balance and the way he had his shoulders back, making it clear to all and sundry that he wasn’t to be screwed with. My gaze kept trailing down his strong back over his tight little ass. I focused on the real task at hand: figuring out who and what he was and why he was following me.
He ducked down one of the older narrow streets with cobblestones down the first section of the road and crumbling tarmac on the footpath. The plain walls towered overhead in more subdued colours than the square. There was no one else down the road, and I was gaining on him. I almost ran into him when he stopped dead on the corner and turned to face me, his lips pulled back into a mischievous smile.
"Evelyn, darling, so good to see you."
There was a pull to him. His voice was smoother than the finest silk. I couldn't imagine how many women had fallen at his feet; I told myself that I wasn't going to be one of them.
My resolve faltered when he closed the distance between us, his eyes dancing with mischief. He smelled of hot metal and petrichor, not that I had much of a chance to enjoy it. He grabbed my left hand and sliced it open with a small stiletto knife. I didn't get a chance to pull back from him, he held me firm as he cut open his own palm and pushed our fresh cuts together. The smile never left his face. I went to punch him in the jaw, but he took off down the street before I'd pulled myself together.
I was in shock. My mind was reeling. My palm stung like a sonofabitch, but the cut was already healing. There was a new sensation in the back of my mind, a wriggling feeling of fear.
Matyas cut through my scrambled thoughts. “Evelyn, where did it go?"
I turned to see a group of three hunters standing behind me.
Matyas stepped closer and said more sharply, "Evelyn. Where did the beast go?"
I instinctively buried my cut hand in my pocket and pointed straight ahead. I couldn't explain it, but something told me to lead them away from the mysterious man. There was something about him. I wasn't about to let the hunters tear him apart, not before I had answers anyway.
Matyas nodded and jogged down the road with the other two close behind him. With my hands in my pockets and my head down, I walked back to the main road and over to the metro station. I needed to speak to Elise. She was the only one other than Quin that I trusted. She'd give me some sound advice. Elise was my oldest friend; we'd met the first week that Quin and I had moved to Prague with our parents. She was a priestess under the moon goddess. I went down into the bustling metro station and tried to get my mind back in the game.
The guy had been following me for a few days, yet he hadn't approached me until that day. He knew who I was and blood-bonded without any prior warning. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to run the possibilities through my mind. He wasn’t fae, they were too distinctive, and it wasn’t their style. A fae would have hung around to gloat or do far more damage than he had done. He could have been a witch. I had pissed off quite a few witches not that long ago with the ‘Quin-being-kidnapped’ debacle. Male witches were very unusual and weaker than their female counterparts. I didn't know enough about magic to understand why a male witch would blood-bond with a non-witch, particularly a hunter. As far as I could remember witches were very protective over their male counterparts, as bloodlines and breeding were incredibly important to witches. Their magic flowed through family lines, so the likelihood of a witch blood-bonding with a non-witch seemed low.