Page 126 of Veil of Death and Shadow

“I let you near my head with scissors,” I narrowed my eyes at her, “that’s all the fun you get for now. We can talk again when you graduate.”

She’d spent half of our trip to her studio today trying to convince me to let her dye my hair ten different shades of pink or try out the rainbow stripes a friend of hers recently got done at a local salon. And it took the second half of the trip to settle on a compromise—only a trim, but if she stopped arguing with me about it, then she could come hang out with me and Levi afterwards, since he’d be in town for a few hours this afternoon.

Never mind that Levi had already asked me to invite her.

Since we’d spent most of her house party a few months ago avoiding the actual party, she’d been endlessly begging me for a chance to get to know him better.

“You know,” she said, steering us in the direction of our connecting stop, her eyes sliding deviously over Levi, “I could give you a quick trim later, too, if you’d like.” She clicked her fingers together like scissors. “I need to bring in more practice models. But I promise that I’m actually pretty decent.”

“I can see that,” he said, slowing his pace to match mine. “I’ll mull it over next time I’m in need of a haircut.”

“Just be—” I stopped, forgetting whatever it was I was about to say, my focus locked on a small bar. There was something strange about it, something I couldn’t quite place. I had the oddest urge to walk in, even though I had no desire for a drink and knew they couldn’t serve me one even if I did.

“Mars?” Sora waved her hand in front of my face when I didn’t respond. “Hey, what’s up?”

“You okay?” Levi asked, his brows furrowed.

“Yeah,” I nodded, “yeah I’m fine.” I glanced over at Sora, though tugging my eyes away from the bar required an unusual amount of effort. “Sor, you know this place?”

“Uh,” she arched her brow, studying me, “what place?”

“This bar?” I asked, gesturing at the very large, very obvious building in front of me. “I don’t think I’ve noticed it before.”

“You mean the janky looking abandoned building with boards over the windows?” She squinted, then shrugged. “No.”

I processed Sora’s words, then did a double take. What was she talking about?

The building was maybe alittledivey, but it looked clean. Far better off than Mac’s or Frank’s or any of the other local holes-in-the-wall where we spent our time.

A man with dark red hair walked out, lit a cigarette, and then leaned against the wall, studying us with mild interest.

“We should go.” Levi cracked each of the knuckles in his left hand, his shoulders tense. “Don’t want to miss the bus.”

“Huh,” Sora blinked a few times, frowning. “I guess it is a bar. Weird. Never noticed it.”

“You coming in or what?” the man asked, his eyes scraping over me in a way that made me suddenly feel naked.

“No,” Levi said, his tone clipped. “She’s not.”

“Suit yourselves.” The man shrugged, snuffed the cigarette he’d taken maybe two puffs of out on the bottom of his heel, and went back inside.

“Let’s go, Mareena,” Levi said, his voice low and urgent, as he pressed his palm to the small of my back.

Normally, I would bristle at the contact, but I found that I strangely needed it. I couldn’t quite pull myself away.

With quick steps, Levi ushered me towards Sora, who’d already resumed her walk as if we were never interrupted, completely oblivious of the creepy dude.

We reached the stop in relative silence.

Levi was oddly tense, and uncharacteristically focused on his phone, while Sora checked her app for the next arrival.

The bus pulled up after a few minutes, and once we were seated, Levi relaxed a bit, though he kept darting glances out the window.

“So,” he said after a few more minutes of silence, “where is it we’re going again?”

“It’s a surprise.” Sora was in the row of seats in front of us, but she’d twisted around so that she was facing us, her chin resting between two headrests. “You’re not afraid of dogs, are you?”

Levi shook his head, an amused look on his face.

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