Chapter Nineteen

Will and his cousin flanked Helena as they approached the building. At this point, it was natural for them. He knew it certainly felt natural for him.

He studied the edifice as Liam grabbed the door and pulled it open. There was something off about the bar, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what. He had this vague impression that he was walking into a piece of a dream or onto a movie set. It was too isolated, quaint, and too quiet. But when they stepped inside, that impression was diluted like ink in water.

It’s the Tardis, he thought distractedly. That was the first thing that ran through his head, though it wasn’t technically true. The inside wasn’t really any bigger than the outside, but the amount of life in the tavern was so chaotically in opposition to the calm of the Louisiana night outside, it was disorienting. Like stepping through a time warp or portal or, yeah, the Tardis.

There were video game arcades all along one wall – and gambling one-armed bandit machines all along another. The floor had everything from neon-lit craps tables to pool tables to ping pong tables, and a third wall was covered in dart boards. Booths occupied the fourth wall, and the bar was in the middle back of the room, an open sort of deal with a counter that circled the bartender’s area so he could serve people from all sides.

Helena seemed to be well familiar with the joint; she made a bee line for the bar. When the bartender, a small man with a green baseball cap sporting a shamrock, saw her approaching he nodded pointedly at one of the patrons. The patron hastily stood up to vacate his stool, taking his drink with him.

Will’s brow arched. Interesting.

When Helena was a good yard or two away, Liam put his hand on Will’s chest, stopping him. “We need to talk,” he said, his eyes merciless.

Will’s forehead furrowed.

“About the vampire in your cantaloupe,” Liam followed up, lowering his voice and tapping his own temple with his forefinger. He arched his brow meaningfully and gestured with his head to an empty booth at the back of the bar.

Will’s gut clenched and his heart sank. This was not a conversation he wanted to have with his cousin at this juncture. He glanced over at Helena, who was gracefully sliding onto the stool at the bar. The bartender smiled warmly and they struck up a conversation, as familiar as if she’d been here a hundred times. She ordered a drink, a simple beer in the bottle, and Will unconsciously slipped his hand into the pocket of his leather jacket to touch the small glass vial he’d tucked away there.

Suddenly the bartender looked over, singling Will out with a hard look from clear across the room. Helena didn’t notice; she was taking her first drink of the beer. But Will felt that gaze like something pointy.

An immediate notion raced through his head: He can read my thoughts and he knows what I’m planning to do.

But the bartender looked away, returning his attention to Helena, and then the other patrons. Will swallowed hard. He looked around the bar as Liam slid into the metal flake green vinyl bench seat across from him. Darryl had veered off and was now joining a group of people at the dart boards.

“Hey Liam, does that bartender seem a little –”

“Well hi, boys,” interrupted a sultry voice. “What can I get for you two?”

Will cut off mid-speech and looked up to find Liam utterly entranced. At the end of their table stood the waitress – a drop dead gorgeous redhead with a small waist and a chest more than ample enough for Victoria’s Secret. She was wearing a pendant chain with a silver Dodge Deluxe Hemi hanging from it. The two-door version of the very same car Liam drove.

A name tag on her tight white shirt, just above one of her generous gifts, labeled her as “Destiny.” She smiled a coy smile at Liam as she pulled a pad from her apron front pocket, and the pencil from behind her ear.

Liam opened his mouth to say something, stuttered a phrase or two of nonsensical bullshit, and then closed his mouth again. He was obviously as shocked by Destiny as Will was.

“He’ll have a beer,” Will filled in for him quickly. He was honestly grateful for the interruption, and that gratitude put him at ease. When the waitress softly laughed and ducked her head a little to look at Liam through her long, lowered eyelashes, it only helped matters.

Liam blushed furiously, which never failed to endear women to him, and cleared his throat. “Yes, that – that sounds good. I’ll have that.”

“Gotcha,” she said with a big grin, and Will had to wonder if it wasn’t a double entendre. Liam clearly thought it was, or maybe he just hoped it was; his blush deepened. “And for you, big guy?” she asked, turning to Will. She didn’t grace him with nearly the depth of attention she’d been dishing on Liam, and for the second time since they’d walked into Lucky’s bar, Will found himself grateful. She dug Liam. This was perfect.

“I’ll have the same,” he said easily.

She nodded, slipped the pad back into her front pocket, and said, “Be right back.” Then as she turned away, seemingly to Liam alone she added, “Don’t go anywhere.”

When she was out of ear shot, Liam whistled low. Will chuckled again. He’d seen enough of Liam’s “Ginger Jugs” porn magazines to know full well his tastes leaned toward heavy-chested redheads. “She’s just your type,” he said, grinning at his older cousin. “What are the chances?”

“Who the hell cares?” Liam replied. He had yet to take his eyes off the waitress, who was now at the bar, leaning over slightly to place drinks on her tray.

Will’s eyes, however, slipped from the waitress back to the bartender she was talking to. And once again, the man looked up and over, pinning Will to the spot with an un-giving, knowing look. Will blinked, his brow furrowing with real concern. Then he turned to Liam.

“Hey, uh, I’m gonna go keep our new warden friend company,” he said, angling his head toward Helena meaningfully.

Liam didn’t respond.

“Liam.”

No response. Liam smiled, and Will noticed the waitress was smiling back at him over her shoulder as she placed drinks on another person’s table.

“Liam!” Will said, adding a bit more volume and leaning over the table to get his cousin’s attention.

“What?” Liam jumped a little and whipped his head around. Will just stared at him a moment. Almost at once, Liam realized what had happened and he shifted nervously in his seat. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

“I’m getting up now. Have fun with Destiny.”

Liam watched him rise. Still somewhat uncomfortably abashed, he shifted a bit more and said, “Right. Go for it. Job to do.”

Will left his big cousin at the booth just as Destiny was returning. They passed right by one another, so Will stopped beside her. “That one mine?”

“Sure is,” she said, handing him one of the just-opened bottles of beer. He took it from her with a grateful nod, then continued on his way to the bar.

He was a few yards away when he heard his cousin’s voice back at the table, raised in friendly flirtation. “You know… I drive a hemi.”

“Do you, now?” Destiny asked, either genuinely interested in Liam’s car, or just genuinely interested in Liam himself. Either way, Will felt a smile on his lips. Things couldn’t get any better. Helena had an open drink he could dump the potion into, he didn’t have to explain away Cain’s presence in his head to Liam, Liam was probably going to hook up with the girl of his dreams – and the stool right beside Helena at the bar had just opened up.

Will shook his head in wonder and thought, Lucky’s indeed.