Page 36 of Lady Death

Keres raised an eyebrow. “What’d I miss?”

“That’s a long story,” Chase said.

“It’ll be funnier if we tell you when we’re all getting shit-faced,” Sidonie added.

“Or stoned,” Chase said cheerfully.

The music changed and Sidonie sat up. “Oh, that’s my cue. Chase, save my seat!”

Then she hurried to the stage.

“She sings one or two songs a night,” Chase explained. Then she looked at the bartender. “Hey, Charlie, can you watch our seat?”

“Sure,” Charlie said. “Have fun, girls.”

“Come on, Keres, let’s go watch her.”

She hopped off her chair and grabbed Keres’s hand, following after Sidonie. They weaved their way through until they stood in front of the stage. The lights on the stage cameup and Sidonie held a microphone. People clapped and threw out comments about what she should sing. Sidonie smiled at everyone as she pretended to think about each suggestion.

Sidonie had an amazing voice. It was hard to believe she didn’t want to be a professional singer. She sang a Bishop Briggs tune for her first song. After the roar of the audience died down a little, she launched into a Sia song. People around her danced, and Chase encouraged her to join in. Keres was surrounded by people, and the noise and crush of bodies took her mind off her heartache. It was exactly what she needed, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had this type of fun.

After the second song, Sidonie waved at the crowd, and the speakers immediately turned back to pump out music through the sound system. It was too loud for her, so Keres made her way back to the bar with Chase following her. When they reached their seats, a woman and two men talked with Sidonie.

“Oh, good!” Chase said. “I’m so happy that Adira could finally come out!”

Chase hugged the woman named Adira. She was quite striking, with pale blond hair and ice-blue eyes. The two men trailing after her were intense. One with shoulder-length blonde hair and the other had tattoos trailing up his neck and into his hairline. As good looking as they were, they scared Keres just a bit.

“You finally managed to drag these two lugs out to play?” Chase asked.

Adira chuckled. “I had to bribe them with lots of kisses.”

“Just kisses?” Sidonie teased.

The man with the longer hair laughed and stepped up behind Adira to wrap his arms around her. “We never kiss and tell.”

“Keres, this is Ares and Hunter, and their girlfriend Adira.”

She’d heard of polyamorous relationships but had never met anyone in that type of relationship and wondered how that worked. Were they just a threesome every night? What was the draw to sharing a woman all the time?

“This is Keres,” Chase said. “She’s with Ronin.”

The eyebrows of both men shot up with pure surprise in their gazes.

“Ronin with a woman?” Ares mused.

“Didn’t he say they were too distracting?” Hunter added.

“Something like that,” Ares replied.

“Stop teasing, you two,” Adira murmured, laying a hand on each of their arms. Ares picked it up and kissed the back before threading his fingers through hers. “It’s nice to meet you, Keres.”

“Same,” she replied, smiling.

Ares tilted Adira’s chin up to kiss her on the mouth. “I’m going to play poker with the others. Be good for Hunter, sweetheart.”

“I thought both of you were playing,” she said, confusion in her tone.

“I’m gonna stay here with you and your girls,” Hunter told her.

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