They all nodded and turned away from her. Enzo turned her back over to Cole before he disappeared into the office again.
"Exciting first day. Who knows what tomorrow will bring." Cole was teasing her. He did it all night, deliberately keeping things light so she didn't have time to dwell on what was happening here.
"Closing time." He took the cleaning cloth from her hand. "Time for you to go home."
"It's two already?"
"Yeah, time flies some nights and creeps on others. Do you need someone to walk you home?"
"Nah, I have a brand-new canister of mace. I'll be fine." She looked around the club, looking for Enzo before she disappeared into the back room to collect her purse.
"Where's Deja?" Enzo asked as he walked over to the bar.
"She went to go get her purse, maybe sit down for a minute. She's been on her feet almost all night long," Cole answered, doing some last-minute cleaning.
"Ven."
"Yeah, boss?" Ven looked like the rest of them: tall, big, with glowing eyes. He was finally starting to come into his maturity, but he was the youngest in the group, and every male and female watched out for him.
"I want you to follow Deja home, do a bit of reconnaissance, and come straight back. Can you manage that?"
"Yes, boss!"
His hand splayed over his chest before he closed it into a fist and stepped outside to blend in with the night.
"She'll be upset if she knows you have someone watching her," Cole said casually, leaning his hip against a bar stool.
"Upset or dead? Guess which one I prefer."
"And that's why I stay away from the pretty little mortals," Cole muttered, straightening up the stools and waiting for Deja to come out.
Enzo took the liberty of sitting and shielding himself from view.
"Sorry it took so long. I decided to change my shoes. Walking back in flats will feel better than in the heels." She gave Cole a smile, looking around the room for Enzo.
"Are you looking for someone?"
"No, of course not." Her face flushed as if she was going to admit she was disappointed that Enzo wasn't there. "I should be going. I'll see you tomorrow at eight, and I'll make sure I eat first."
She took off with long strides towards the door.
Are you trying to get us killed?The voices in her head shouted.
I'm telling you they're alien hitmen.
We need to go to the authorities and turn them in.
Can't we do one of them before we inform the police?
She was too tired to pay the voices in her head any attention. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep for a week. Being a bartender was harder than she thought, and standing on her feet for hours in heels wasn't making her happy.
A black car followed her down the street; it was running silently without headlights. She never noticed it, much too tired to care. Were they aliens, or had her lack of sleep and lack of food made her see aliens where there weren't any? Thoughts of Enzo rushed through her mind. He was tall, but there were humans astall as him. All she needed to do was turn on a basketball game or two. He was thick; okay, she didn't see that every day, but she could think of at least one ball player that was big like he was.
His eyes glowed.The helpful voices in Deja's head chimed in.
Yep, could be colored contacts.
Really?