I thanked Ethel as she set my plate before me, and I took a bite, relishing in the salty corned beef hash. “And the ones who aren’t?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
I halted, head turning before I could take another bite. “What do you mean?”
“You’re to join me at the meeting. It’s time we made your presence known.”
10
CASSIE
Damien parked his car along a darkened sidewalk. Music pumped through the walls and the neon sign reading ‘Stokers’ glowed against the brick above the black door. I’d never heard of or seen this place before. It was hidden from the main roads on a small side street, not one you’d typically travel through regularly, and it was most definitely one I’d never been down.
I climbed out of the car at the same time as Damien, the icy wind whipping my hair around me, and I curled into my jacket. “This seems like the perfect place for an immortal bar. Do humans ever come here?”
“Sometimes, a few here and there, but everyone gets kicked out when we arrive,” he said with a cocky grin.
I raised a brow, a smile tugging at my lips as I teased him. “Oh? So, you guys are like the VIPs, then?”
“You could say that, or the owners just love us. We never request it.” He led me to the door, heavy music spilling out onto the street from within. Avenged Sevenfold’s “Brompton Cocktail” blared from the speakers, and Damien waved a hand to the others already settled at the bar.
Black brick walls surrounded us, decorated with assorted morbid oddities and neon signs. My eyes were drawn to shelves full of beautiful, intricate animal skeletons and skulls. The bar’s counter extended the stretch of wall in front of us, and behind it stood floor-to-ceiling shelves lined with all sorts of alcohol and liquor. Edgar Allan Poe meets rock seemed to be the running theme.
I noticed Thalia from behind, kicked back on one of the leather couches, sipping some concoction from a glass. She was talking loudly across the room to Vincent, Barrett, and James, who were seated at the bar, nursing their own drinks.
Barrett threw his hand up in the air as he noticed us. “Spitfire!”
I rolled my eyes, slipping my arms out of my sleeves as Damien slid my coat off my shoulders before hanging it on the coat rack. “Can’t you just call me Cas like normal people?”
He spun around in the swivel chair and leaned back against the bar, elbows resting on the counter. He cocked his head, his single silver earing swaying with the movement. “I’m not normal people. Besides, where’s the fun in that?”
The music’s volume lowered. I looked over to see a female turning the dial on the jukebox, and I was relieved I could talk without yelling now.
“Eiko!” Damien greeted, walking over to her as she approached. She leapt, throwing her arms around him. Her short, curly auburn hair bounced just above her shoulders, and her floral dress swayed just below her knees, hugging the swells of her waist and hips. She looked a little out of place in a bar like this—cute and airy.
“It’s been too long, Lord Damien!” she said, positively beaming.
“How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Damien?”
“She’s too proper to refer to you as anything else. You should know that by now,” another female said from the bar. She leaned her elbow on the counter, adjusting her black ball cap which barely hid her onyx pixie-cut hair that blended beautifully against her dark skin. Her eyes, pale silver, drifted to me. Immortal. Damien had explained to me that the pale gray eyes were a trait immortals shared, but Eiko had black ones. Was she human?
“Cas, this is Eiko." He gestured to the little female, smiling at his side. “And this is Semele.” He held his hand out to the woman behind the bar. “Ladies, this is Cas.”
Semele walked around the counter to greet me. Side by side, the females were so unalike, nearly complete opposites. Semele wore all black: a The Used T-shirt, shredded, black, skin-tight jeans, a chain hanging from her hip, and black leather boots. Piercings shined from her ears and lip in the neon glow, and I noticed numerous tattoos peeking from the rolled sleeves of her shirt. Eiko was the complete opposite in her bright floral dress and cute brown leather flats. She glowed with an aura that felt like sunshine and wildflowers.
“Welcome to Stokers, Lady Cas,” Semele said, flashing me a pearly smile.
My ears felt hot, and I fumbled my words. “Oh, please! You don’t have to call me that. It’s just Cas.”
“Careful ladies, you’ll make her blush,” Barrett called from the far end of the bar.
I whipped around, wanting to throw something at him.
“If you want to hit him, I’ve got a bat behind the counter,” Eiko joked in an all too cheerful tone, the innocent smile never leaving her face.
Thalia laughed from her spot on a nearby couch, adding to Eiko’s comment. “Eiko and Cas would wipe the floor with you, Barrett.”
“Taking bets!” Vincent called out.
