Page 94 of Sin

I stared. Not even Lewis changing lanes and nearly crashing into another car because he didn’t check his blind spots could make me look away.

We arrived at a lively restaurant in the heart of the next big city. A live band played softly in the front corner of the restaurant, their smooth, jazzy notes lifting the atmosphere. A woman with black and caramel box braids crooned into a microphone, singing about regrets and second chances. I couldn’t help but feel like she was singing to me.

The evening breeze blew ocean air through my hair, and the setting sun painted our little group in gold as the hostess showed us a circular table out on the patio, per London’s request. A stark-white tablecloth cloaked the table and a couple candles and a plate of rolls sat in the center. There were only a couple of other small groups outside with us, most of the diners preferring to be inside where they could better hear and see the live music.

Mare shoved ahead of the rest of us, choosing to sit in the nearest chair, her back to the restaurant. She immediately snatched one of the menus piled on the table and flipped open before any of the rest of us had even taken a seat. Lewis rolled his eyes, dragging the chair on her left out and sitting down beside the hungry, blue-haired girl. Blade and Jinx took the next several seats beside Lewis, leaving the last two chairs around the circular table for London and me. Mare, now on my left, handed me a menu without even looking up from her own.

A young waitress came by to grab our drink orders, and all of us but Lewis ordered some form of alcoholic beverage. I guessed he was our designated driver. Maybe by some small mercy, he’d drive more carefully than normal because I had a feeling his crazy driving didn’t mix well with inebriated passengers. But then again, we were only planning to have one drink.

The menu had too many options, and my mouth watered as I perused all the items.

“What are you getting?” London asked me after a minute or so.

“I’m not sure yet. Maybe the chicken bacon ranch quesadilla or… Ooh, they have shrimp tacos! Ugh, I don’t know,” I said, peeking at him out of the corner of my eye. “You know I don’t do well with too many options.”

His lip quirked. “I know.”

“What about you?”

“Well, we could always get things and share them,” he offered hesitantly, like he didn’t know how his offer would be received. In the past, we used to share our food so we could try multiple things.

I grinned like a fool. Because that’s exactly what I was. “I’d like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

We ended up deciding on the tacos and a mandarin glazed pork chop and some fettuccine alfredo. And odd combo, sure, but whatever.

The waitress showed up again, and after gathering our dinner orders, plus a couple of appetizers for the table to share, she let us know the kitchen was a little behind due to the number of patrons tonight but they’d get our food out as soon as possible.

After she’d left, Mare kicked back in her seat, and London sent her a reproachful look which she ignored. “Man, it’s nice to have a night off.”

“It’s not a night off,” London contradicted, sipping from the watermelon margarita he’d ordered for himself. When he licked pink sugar off his lips from the rim of his glass, my focus lasered in on the move.

Mare caught me staring and smirked before she responded to London. “Whatever you say, Donny.”

London cursed Bennett’s name.

Blade swirled the deep red wine in her glass, staring past our table toward the band. We could just see them through the open doorway separating the patio from inside. “Well, whatever this is, I needed it.”

“Same,” Jinx mumbled around a mouthful of roll. He shoved another in his mouth and moaned. “Damn, these are good.”

Blade concealed her grin behind her wine glass. “If you eat too many of those, you won’t be hungry for dinner.”

He huffed a laugh. “Not possible. I’m always hungry.”

Which was true. One thing I’d discovered after joining the team was their different needs. Jinx, even when not using his powers, burned excessive amounts of energy, like the atoms which made up his body were always vibrating at high speeds and needing to be refueled. He always kept a snack or three on hand, usually protein bars.

London needed sleep to recover after using his tracking gifts. Though, the amount of sleep he needed depended on the amount of time and energy he exerted into the thing he tracked.

Blade didn’t necessarily need sleep after utilizing her marksman power, but more meditation. She often used earplugs to drown out the noise and help calm and focus herself.

Lewis needed to be around electronics, the energy they released boosting his own.

Mare… Mare had been a little bit harder to figure out. As someone who fed on fear, I would have thought maybe watching horror movies or listening to murder podcasts would have been her jam. And that’s what I thought she was doing every time she placed those headphones over her ears. But then I caught a glimpse of her phone once and found her watching a cheesy romcom or listening to more Disney songs. I wondered then, if after feeling so much of other’s dread and phobias, if the only way to balance and calm herself was to fill up on the opposite emotions like joy and comedy.

For me, I was similar to London in that I needed to take it easy, letting my mind and body relax. I didn’t need sleep, per say, nor was it necessarily meditation. But more, somewhere in the middle.

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