Shepherd and Viktor moved the table and chairs back while the rest of us scooted out of the booth.
Viktor gestured to me. “You ride with Claude and show us the way.”
“There’s not enough room in the Jeep for an extra person,” Wyatt said, eyeballing Shepherd. “And I’m not riding on the roof.”
After everyone scraped their food into the empty containers, we left them with Christian since we didn’t know exactly how the dead rules worked. I didn’t want to risk all the food reappearing on the table after we left.
“Where’s your shirt?” Gem asked Claude.
He held the front door open for everyone as we shuffled into the parking lot. “I have a feeling I’m going to be hearing that question for a long time.”
Once outside, Christian dumped all the food into a trash can. “Feck if I’m carrying all that shite. You can’t even eat it.”
“I was being nice,” I pointed out.
“You paid them.That’snice.”
I ripped off a piece of Styrofoam from a container poking out and flicked it into the wind. “Maybe you should have saved something for Niko before shoving everything into the trash.”
Christian fell behind when he went chasing after the litter that blew onto the sidewalk.
I looked at the cars parked next to each other. “If Claude drove, I guess it’s a good sign the car’s still here. That means we can move things. We just can’t keep them on our body.”
“On ourperson,” Gem corrected.
“That just sounds weird.” I glimpsed a white cat darting across the parking lot.
She giggled. “Englishisweird. Body isn’t wrong, but person usually implies in your possession.”
I closed the slit in my dress with my hand. “So we can’t keep a weapon unless we carry it in our hand the whole time?”
“You should test your abilities,” Niko suggested. “Given what I’ve heard, it’s entirely possible that you may lose more as time goes by. Best to learn what you can and can’t do now.”
“Maybe we should call a cab.” Wyatt folded his arms, covering his elf jacket. It did nothing to hide the curled shoes though, which were the most ridiculous part of his costume. “I’m not sitting on Shep’s lap.”
“Jaysus wept.” Christian removed his silver jacket and draped it over his shoulder. “You can sit on mine if that’ll make you happy.”
“Not as happy as I’m sure it’ll make you,” Wyatt quipped, jutting his hips to the side.
While Claude circled his Porsche, I opened the passenger door and then looked back at Shepherd, who was right behind me and getting into the Jeep. “All three of you rode in this tiny car?”
He paused, one hand on the door. “It was a tight fit. Let’s leave it at that.”
CHAPTER6
When we arrived at the Flamingo Hotel, easily identified by the pink flamingo on the neon sign that extended from the six-story building, Shepherd and Claude dropped us off while they went to find parking.
“Hey, honey. Wanna have a good time?” A woman in a faux-fur coat and black stockings stroked Viktor’s arm. “I like this vest. Very sexy. Wanna get a room, Daddy? I’ve been real bad. You can spank me. Whatever you want.”
“Nyet.”
The four prostitutes near us were each walking their corner as if it was their territory.
“Classy joint,” Wyatt said, sarcasm dripping off his tongue as he watched a man urinating on the building. “You sure know how to pick ’em, Raven.”
Before we reached the door, a clamor erupted from inside. Christian, Shepherd, and I moved to the front of the line.
“Ohbaby,” the prostitute purred. “You look like the most fun. Can I sit on your lap? Or did Santa put me on the naughty list?”
