“Why’s that?” Storm asked.
“There’s a new admission policy. All humans have to take one of these.” He withdrew a plastic baggy from his jacket pocket, bulging with little black capsules.
Nathan’s head spun.
“What the hell?” Alex blurted.
“Lilith is forcing people to take these as a price of admission?” Talon said incredulously. “They’re killing people!”
Tripp looked confused. “What? No, they aren’t. One dose doesn’t kill anyone.”
“What about multiple doses?” Nathan asked urgently. “People who come back to the club multiple nights in a row. Have any of them stopped showing up?”
Tripp tilted his head thoughtfully. “I don’t know. I don’t pay that much attention.”
Nathan’s palms were sweaty. It was easy enough to find a local article written about the dead boy on his phone. Sloan’s police friends had suppressed most of the information about it, but the tragic death of a college-age kid was still noteworthy. He zoomed in on the kid’s photo and held it up for Tripp to see.
“Have you seen this guy here before?”
Tripp studied it for a moment, then pursed his lips, bobbing his head back and forth. “Yeah, maybe. Looks a little familiar.”
Alex looked stricken. “I thought halflings didn’t kill people.”
Tripp drew himself up. “We don’t. I told you, these pills aren’t hurting anyone. It just increases the fun. That’s what Lilith told me. She said it’d make people drink more.”
“But you don’t know exactly what it does,” Nathan said. “That’s all she told you?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Above my pay grade, I figured.”
Storm rolled his eyes.
“Neither of you is taking one of those,” Talon told the humans.
“Then no entrance,” Tripp declared.
Nathan hesitated, eyeing the bag of pills. They really needed to talk to Lilith. She was responsible for this, and he wanted to know why.
“Nate,” Alex said, pulling him from his thoughts. “What do you think?”
“It’s too dangerous,” Storm said.
“If it’s true that one dose doesn’t kill,” Nathan said slowly, ignoring the sick twist of his gut, “maybe we can do this. We take it, go in, get our answers, and stick our fingers down our throats as soon as we get out.”
“What if it takes too long?” Talon asked. “What if Lilith is uncooperative? What if a fight breaks out?”
“Hey,” Tripp said, “there’s no fighting allowed inside?—”
“Shut the fuck up, halfling, and mind your business,” Talon snapped. To the humans, he said, “It’s too big a risk.”
“Not if it takes multiple doses,” Nathan said. He could barely believe he was even arguing in favor of this. But if it meant getting answers, he owed it to the dead to do this.
Alex looked uncertain, but he said decisively, “We’re takingTripp’sword for it that these pills take multiple doses to kill?”
“Hey,” Tripp protested. “I’m telling you. We have some regulars here tonight who have had at least five in the last week, and they’re just fine.”
Nathan blew out a breath and stuck his hand out. “Just give me one.”
“Sunshine,” Storm murmured, curling a hand around the back of his neck.
