Page 67 of Of Blood and Smoke

Kiam held up his glass, followed by Nicholas, and we raised ours, signaling our friendship.

Refills were brought quickly by the specially selected staff we’d detained, and we began to relax.

Nicholas set his glass down and turned his head at the same time I swiveled my own. “Well, there’s no time like the present,” he drawled, his eyes gleaming.

There was another commotion by the front entrance.

THIRTY-ONE

Della

Josiah’s event was the epitome of class. I could’ve sworn I’d seen some of the people in attendance on television or in a magazine. It was hard not feeling intimidated, but it didn’t take long to relax. I wouldn’t have been there if I didn’t belong and if anyone tried to say I didn’t or kick me out, well the two security guards Josiah had following me around would take care of that for me if not the man himself.

He’d tried to explain to me that there were different types of beings such as himself and the guards were one of them. They seemed human to me. I couldn’t detect any differences between them and say, Andy or Brett. It would have been easy if they had horns growing out of the top of their heads or wings sprouting from their backs but there was nothing. They looked like everybody else—just slightly more attractive than normal.

“Who are those guys Josiah and Micha are talking to?” Ashley asked me.

I tried to look but I couldn’t see clearly, there were a lot of people in the way. “I don’t know, probably industry people.”

Andy had his hand on her side and was rubbing her lightly. I couldn’t help but notice she stiffened a little. When I caught hereye, I tried to silently ask her what the deal was withthat,but she quickly glanced away.

“I see someone. I’ll be back,” Andy said, dropping his arm and taking off.

“Don’t ask,” she said, as soon as he was out of earshot.

She was holding out on me. “C’mon. Something’s up.”

“Not really the time or the place, Della,” she said.

“Fine, whatever.”

Caving, she replied after a beat of silence. “Things have been rocky for a bit. He blames my job; I think we outgrew each other.” She took a sip of her drink. “It's not like we did anything to each other, it's not really like something bad happened, just one of those things.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say anything?”

She looked sheepish. “Well, you’ve been kinda caught up in the boss...” She grinned. “You’ve been a bit...busy.”

She wasn’t wrong. “Okay, point taken. You can always talk to me, you know that.”

Ashley nodded. “I do. We’re still together though. I’m gonna get a refill. You want?”

“Sure, thanks.” She took my empty glass and strode away as quickly as she could, as fast as the tight hem of her dress would allow. I stifled a giggle at her penguin-walk.

Sudden movement out of the corner of my eye had me whipping my head away from my friend and toward the entry. A body lurched forward but the figure caught himself before he stumbled. A low murmur of alarm rose up as a few people gasped and quickly composed themselves.

Next thing I knew, Brett was tugging on my arm.

“What are you doing? What are you doing here?” I whisper-shouted at him.

He started pulling me to the side and the slippery heels of my new shoes forced me to go along with him. “Brett,” I hissed. “Stop.” I wrenched my arm back, but he grabbed it again.

“No, Della. I’m not going to just stand around and watch you do this to yourself.” He began dragging me down a corridor, forcing me nearly into a run.

We passed multiple doors, dodging wait staff here and there until we took a corner and were out of the line of sight of the main room.

“Brett! Stop.” I slapped him with my free hand, but he grabbed it and shoved me against the wall. “What do you want? You shouldn’t be here. Let go of me.”

Brett’s face was twisted into an angry scowl. “Everything I’ve done for you, everything we’ve been through, and you’re gonna shack up with that guy?”

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