As we took our seats in the booth, Poe and Adaela on one side, me on the other, Poe appeared to be having another vision. Adaela got comfortable, placing her elbows on the table, her chin resting on the top of her hand. She cocked her head to the side, trying to get a read on me. I didn’t know what she was searching for, but she quirked her lips in a mischievous grin before shaking her head and turning away. I smiled into my coffee cup as I took a sip.
“So, what brought you to St. Louis, Vada?” Adaela asked. She moved her hair behind her shoulders, then took a sip of her latte and cursed. “Shit, that’s still too hot to drink.”
I laughed. “Nothing is too hot or cold in Hell. It’s always just a slight inconvenience. You want hot coffee? You’re getting lukewarm at best,” I sighed. “Honestly, I decided to come to Earth again because of curiosity and a desperate need for change. I was bored and complacent. Even Asmodaeus could tell. Az has been ready to boot my ass out for about 400 years now.”
Adaela rubbed her neck. “I sometimes forget how old you are. I often think about the long lives of the Fae and forget that Gods have been around a lot longer than we have.”
Smiling, I took a sip of my coffee. It really was too hot, but I’d take the inconvenience of hot coffee over lukewarm any day, “Yeah, us old broads gotta stick together, am I right, Poe?”
Poe, coming out of her vision, seemed a little shaken. “Yeah, definitely. Hey, I need to head out. I’m so sorry. Something’s come up and I need to go consult with my sisters. I’ll catch you both later?”
“Everything alright?” Adaela asked, alarm in her voice.
“I’ll let you know as soon as I do.” And with that ominous statement, Poe quickly exited the diner.
Adaela paled as she started to get out of the booth to go follow Poe when the food arrived. She glanced at me, indecision written in every line of her body, but she sat back down instead, a line between her brows as she watched Poe get in her car to leave. “I know it’s a bit awkward to sit on the same side of the booth when the other side is empty, but if you’re okay with it, it’ll be easier for me to point out what each thing is.”
I scooched over to make room for Adaela to sit. The table was overrun with food. Our coffees were moved over to the other side as my eyes got wider at the selection of almost two dozen different crepes and kolaches set down in front of us. Adaela did a little happy shoulder shimmy and thanked the server, then shifted her body toward me while I tried to hide my amusement. She was just too cute.
“Are you ready for this?” she asked me as she started scanning the selections. She picked one of the buns off the table and set it in front of me, her giddiness almost palpable. “This is my favorite savory bun. Let me know what you think.”
I took a bite out of the pastry. The bun had a bit of sweetness to it, and then I got hit with the mouthwatering taste of brisket and egg. My eyes went wide, and I quickly took another bite. The brisket was so tender, I might have moaned when I took that second bite. It wasn’t like wrestling the grittiness some brisket had. It melted in your mouth, and the eggs were the perfect amount of fluffy. It was delicious.
“Holy shit, sweet girl, this is incredible,” Isaid without thinking. I froze, then glanced over at her, hoping that she didn’t catch my slip.
Adaela had this soft look on her face—one I couldn’t quite put a name to. It was quickly replaced with that mischievous grin I was coming to associate with her. “Sweet girl, huh? What makes you think anything about me is sweet?” she snarked.
Her shadows came up and wrapped around the hand I had the kolache in. They pulled my hand toward her mouth, and she took a large bite of the bun in my hand. I sat there with my mouth agape, trying to come up with a comeback. I was struck by her directness, and I finally understood what getting turned on felt like. I pressed my thighs together, crossing my legs casually to avoid questions. She was going to be a challenge for sure, if she’d have me. Nothing was hotter to me than a woman who took what she wanted without apology…as long as it was consensual. And it was consensual on my end.
She finished chewing her stolen food and chortled, “What’s wrong, Seductress? Not used to being on the other side of things?” Her shadows slowly stroked down my arm and made me shiver.
“It’s not often that someone gets under my skin. I think you might have the ability to do so,” I replied, scanning the table for the next thing in line.
We tried most of the food on the table, and I was fuller than I’d ever been in my life. We packed up what we couldn’t eat. Adaela mentioned taking it to her little “beasties” at thePaxon our way to keep exploring of the city.
We were at the counter to close out our tab when a loud alarm went off outside. I jumped out of my skin, but I was thankful that I hadn’t screamed in fright. Years of training kept me mostly collected. Everyone around us gaped at each other and at Adaela, apprehension on their faces. The sound meantnothing to me, but my hackles rose nonetheless at the sheer volume of that alarm.
“What’s that noise?” I asked, speaking louder than usual to be heard over it.
“Everyone, I need you to stay calm and follow emergency procedures. Your faction leaders will be in touch once the coast is clear.” She turned to me. “That’s a ward alarm. It usually means something nefarious is going on either by the ward, or within the walls of the city. In the sixty-five years we’ve been here, so far, this is the fifth time it has gone off. Fuck. It’s probably nothing.”
A little Elven girl cried in her dad’s arms while her mother rocked an infant. Another table had what appeared to be some elderly Humans, and another had various factions of magical inhabitants. All of them were quickly gathering up everything they’d been eating and working on getting to their emergency locations.
A man stood up from a table near the back of the cafe and spoke. “Anyone who cannot quickly make it home, please come to me. I can get you where you need to go.” I’d assumed he likely had portal magic, or maybe he was a flying Shifter.
“Thank you, Silas. ThePaxappreciates your help. You will all be notified as soon as we determine the cause,” Adaela said, quickly grabbing her phone and shooting off a text.
She turned her focus back on me. “I guess it’s a good thing we have food to take with us. It seems like we’re about to have a busy day at work. So much for taking a day off.”
I placed my hand at the small of her back. “It’s okay. Just let me know what you need from me, and I’ll make it happen. I don’t know what the protocol is here.”
Her shoulders crept toward her ears, stress evident. “We need an adultier adult.”
March 19th
Vada quickly ushered me out the door as concerned patrons tried to question me about what was going on. I knew as little as they did. My shadows poured out in a rush to patrol nearby and report back, just in case there was a direct threat. While Vada and a couple servers helped us pack the trunk with food, I scanned the area, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. My shadows came back with an all-clear message, but they were just as alert as I was.
Vada had clearly captured the eye of the servers helping us to put food into the trunk, and a surge of jealousy bit through my system.What the fuck?I quickly squashed it as Vada’s succubus powers hit me like a truck, the stress of the moment likely preventing her from noticing. They were just reacting to her magic, which she likely didn’t even notice due to the stress of the moment. I couldn’t comprehend why I was jealous either. We didn’t know each other well enough for that, but I was protective over those I deemed mine. And I had a feeling that Vada was mine.
