Lyra patted his head. “Yes. We know. Now hush.”
Lola pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the affronted look on Otto’s face.
“Taras and I will address the matter with the male,” Lyra continued. “Raphael, you will join us. You have some persuasive ability that we might need. The rest of you will wait here.”
Nico started to speak, but Lyra shot him a sharp look. The shaman’s mouth snapped closed.
Taras rested his hand on his mate’s lower back and steered her toward the tavern, Raphael on their heels.
“Your mom is a badass.” Lola watched the trio walk away.
“That she is.”
She could feel Callon’s eyes on her and could sense frustration coming through their bond loud and clear.
Finally, Lola sighed and turned to face him. “We have things we need to discuss.”
“Yes, when this is all said and done. We will deal with relationship expectations. Realisticandunrealistic.”
Lola nodded. She wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
Chapter Thirteen
A Snake Without Its Den.
“There’s an emptiness in all of us that longs to be filled. We don’t know what with, but we do a darn good job of attempting to fill it with everything and anything that brings happiness, no matter how fleeting. For most of us, it takes hitting rock bottom to realize that the emptiness we come into the world with is actually our own soul crying out for companionship. We weren’t designed to be alone, to be islands in a massive ocean. We have been created for fellowship, to enrich the lives of others, and to be enriched. And when we live out that task, we have something so much more than happiness. We have joy. Joy is everlasting. It sticks with us even when fickle happiness has fled.” ~Katy
Katy stared around at the neon chaos of the Las Vegas strip in awe. Her nose wrinkled at the overload of smells and sounds bombarding her heightened senses. After the quiet of nature, the city was utterly overwhelming.
Beside her, Gage’s large hand engulfed her own, keeping her anchored amidst the teeming crowds flowing past them. Now that they were mates, she could pierce the glamour magic concealing the Damarians around them. And what a bizarre array they were. She wanted to take pictures and send them to Lola and Maddie to see if they saw what she did. But then she remembered that Gage had said he didn’t want anyone knowing what they were up to. Katy hoped her friends were safe. She wasn’t sure if she wanted their quest to be successful because that would put them in the path of Azure and his witch. She thought of Otto, and though she worried for him, too, he was capable of protecting himself, or else he surely wouldn’t have lived as long as he had. Another strange person, or whatever, walked by, and Katy tried hard not to stare at the legs, which belonged to some animal with hooves rather than a human.
Most had only the barest of animal characteristics, a set of horns here, a lion’s tail there. Others seemed an impossible mishmash, blending feline, canine, or even insectile and reptilian features. Katy shook her head, still struggling to process this new supernatural reality in which she found herself immersed. “Uh, Gage? What’s up with the locals here?” She gestured discreetly at a couple strolling by. The man’s arms were furry and had claws while the woman sported patches of feathers amidst her wild curls.
“The Kingdom of Chaos,” Gage rumbled close to her ear as he followed her gaze, unperturbed. “Chaos members cannot fully change into their animal natures. As you might notice, some of them seem like splices of several different species. They can use glamour enough to fool humans. But they can’t hide their trueselves from other supernatural creatures. That now includes you.”
He steered them confidently through the garishly lit streets. Katy kept pace, studying the jumbled beings around her curiously. Her eyes bounced between the odd Damarians and the overwhelming spectacle of the Strip. Who could ever have imagined such diversity existed right under the human’s noses?Lola. Her friend and those supernatural books she read; she could have imagined it. Not to mention every author that wrote books about such species. Wouldn’t they love to know they were right all along, or at least on the right track?
After several blocks, Gage led the way down a shadowy side street. They stopped before a grimy building sporting a battered “CLOSED” sign. To Katy’s eyes, the place appeared completely abandoned. Katy made a face. “Seriously? This place is where you think we will find Zeena?” The windows were blacked out with age and filth. Weeds pushed up through cracked concrete. It did not look like a place the Queen of Snakes would frequent.
Gage shook his head as he pushed the door open, ushering her inside. Her nose wrinkled at the powerful smells of beer, sweat, and other less pleasant odors. Raucous laughter and the clink of glasses rang out from a room down a dingy hallway.
“A chaos watering hole,” Gage explained in an undertone. “I’m sure we won’t find Zeena here, but wewillprobably find loose tongues.”
As they moved toward the noise, Katy spied a warped funhouse mirror on the wall, reflecting their forms back grotesquely misshapen. She grimaced. “Charming decor.”
Once they’d cleared the hallway, they stepped into a large room. Inside was a lively bar, music pumping as a mixed crowd drank and mingled beneath strings of novelty lights. And not a single fully human face among them that Katy could see.
She glanced at Gage with raised brows. He gave a slight nod to confirm what she was realizing—these strange patrons were all Chaos members like he’d described. Katy moved closer to Gage as they wound through the boisterous patrons toward the bar.
A burly man with a bull’s horns, snout, and hooves served up drinks with a bored expression. When he noticed Gage, he visibly perked up.
“Been awhile, Dire. What brings you to the land of misfit beasts?” The bartender’s beady eyes shifted to Katy in blatant curiosity.
Gage’s hand settled on Katy’s lower back possessively. “I’m looking for someone. Hoping you fine Chaos folk can point me in the right direction.”
The bull-man shrugged. “Can try. What’s it worth to you?”
Pulling out a roll of cash, Gage set it on the bar top. “A viper. Azure’s queen, to be precise.”
