“It’s a good thing that’s not a load-bearing wall,” I said. My voice sounded distant to my own ears, and my lips had turned numb.
“It’s going to be okay, Mere.”
I nodded. Dread twisted in my gut as I pushed the door open, and we stepped inside.
Kyla let out a low growl as we all stared at the wreckage of my bar.
I stared at the broken chairs. At the graffiti staining the walls. At the countless bottles of alcohol lying smashed in puddles on the floor. The brick wall closest to the street looked as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to it.
From the look of the matches dropped around the bar, they’d attempted to light the spilled alcohol on fire. Thankfully, I’d overpaid for a rare anti-fire charm a few years ago. It currently hung in the corner of my bar like a piece of mistletoe.
They would have burned this place to the ground.Myplace.
I pulled out my phone and messaged Orin. Then I walked around the perimeter of the bar, my heart racing as I took in the casual destruction.
Nero. This was all Nero. Sure, he’d been scared of me, but this was his revenge for humiliating him in front of his goons.
My head spun, and Evie reached out, steadying me. “You should sit down.”
I let her lead me to one of the few barstools still standing, and I watched numbly as she poured us each a shot of whiskey.
“Fuck.”
I turned. Orin stood by the door, his expression hard.
“I’m sorry, boss. I should have been here.”
“It’s not your fault. We both deserve a day off.”
“We’ll fix it.”
I laughed. Evie winced and poured us all another shot.
“Who would do this?” she asked. I swallowed. I really, really didn’t want to admit how stupid I’d been.
“You may as well spit it out,” Kyla said, taking her shot.
Orin leaned on the bar in front of me. “This has something to do with the letter you received the other day, doesn’t it? I could smell the blood.”
I sighed. “I should have told you. But up until now, I had it handled. My father took out a loan on the bar before he disappeared.” Orin stared steadily back at me, and I took a deep breath. “The loan is with Nero.”
Orin’s expression turned hard. “The human loan shark? He did this?”
“He probably sent one of his henchmen. I was making the payments each month, and then he raised the interest by another 35%. So, I went and gave him a little display of my power. The scrap of telekinesis—not the tech stuff.” At least, not that he’d know about until it was too late.
Orin cursed. My cheeks burned. Yeah, it had been stupid.
“What does Nero want?” Evie asked.
“This place.”
“What the fuck happened here?”
I jumped. Orin glowered at someone behind me, and I whirled, my heart still racing. Vas stood in the entranceway, his eyes blazing, and for a moment, I could’ve sworn they glowed with suppressed demon fire. His hair was mussed, a scowl on his face as he took in the state of my bar, and I had to wrestle with the urge to run my hands through his soft hair.
What had gotten into me?
Shock and anger. My body was just leaping for any distraction it could find.
