Page 15 of Stuck with my Frenemy
Chapter Seven
Ebony
If you’d ever felt so angry that a switch flipped inside you and suddenly you felt extremely Zen because of it, then you’d understand my state of mind when I dropped Cherry off at the house. She argued when she realized I had no intention of joining her, but she must’ve had some self-preservation because she backed off eventually.
I had to get away from her.
Aimlessly riding the bike helped more than any meditation ever would to get rid of the fury, so by the time I neared Black Hand again, I was almost calm. Dealing with Cherry and her obnoxious behavior made me forget for a moment about the brush of magic I felt when we entered the bar. Remembering that gave me purpose, and this time, it had nothing to do with staying away from that psycho that used makeup as a torture technique.
At least the rain stopped, although every breath carried the heavy scent of wet grass.
The parking lot was more crowded than when we were there, so I slowed, and the bike crawled until I found a spot between two SUVs tall enough to hide my presence. If I focused hard enough, I could feel the prickling on my skin even from the outside, which gave me pause. Magic was my thing. It was in my blood as well as every particle that made my corporal body. How had I gotten so sidetracked while inside the building that I’d ignored it? The answer was simple.
Cherry.
That infuriating, airheaded disaster of a being. Some unexplainable cosmic blessing made sure we entered and exited the bar earlier without anyone approaching us, but I had a sinking feeling we wouldn’t get lucky like that ever again. Not if she kept flaunting her boobs at the human’s faces and smiling at everyone like she was looking at her firstborn.
“This must bemyfucking karma getting stuck with her.” I threw my leg back to get off and parked my bike, making sure it wouldn’t tip over on the uneven dirt.
From what I could see, the furniture, walls, and even the slab of wood with very few marks on it from wear and tear was newish. The owners could’ve paved the parking lot, too, the cheapskates. My grumbling stopped when the door opened, and a few people drunkenly stumbled out, shouting instead of talking like normal beings. I waited until a car picked them up and silence blanketed the night again.
The inside was packed. Voices, the clinking of glasses, and music were a constant hum in the air as I darted to the side of the building. My boots made a squelching sound through the few puddles, but it was lost between the croaking of frogs serenading my snooping. The leather of my pants started sticking to my skin the longer I stood in the warm weather.
Head swiveling left and right, I crept to the back of the Pub, where the stench of garbage almost doubled me over. Two large black containers with their lids closed were pressed to the back wall, but it didn’t help to protect my sensitive nose. Maybe I could lure Cherry here one day and shove her inside while I sat on the lid so she couldn’t get out. That’d teach her to attack me with her war paint like she did. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth at the image that idea brought to mind, and it froze me in my tracks. I didn’t just smile like an idiot.
That fruit-loop was getting to me.
The back door opened, cutting off my glowering, and I plastered my back to the wall while holding my breath. Grateful for the trees surrounding the building that were casting deep shadows, I waited until the cover of the trash bins closed with a bang before I dared to peek around the wall. My heart punched the top of my throat when Ash’s hulking form became apparent, even shrouded in darkness as it was. Just like with Cherry, I had a dreadful feeling I’d recognize him anywhere. With his back to me, his hand moved precariously in front of his pants, and my eyes bugged out. Was he honestly jerking off out in the open? Tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, I stared while a strange sensation washed over me—one that prevented me from getting the hell out of there. I couldn’t have looked away even if my mother popped out of nowhere and skinned me on the spot. Then he yanked an apparatus from somewhere in his pants, and after wiggling his fingers over it, he pressed it to his ear.
I was lightheaded.
“Bernie, it’s me.” When he spoke, I had a full-body shiver that snapped me out of my idiocy. “I know my name comes across the screen when I call. It’s called manners.”
The galloping in my chest was a result of panic trying to choke me.
Jerking back, I plastered myself on the wall again and closed my eyes. What in all the hells was the matter with me? The way I’d acted and reacted ever since I was forced to come to this realm made me feel like I was going crazy. Was this my punishment? Did I do something Karma wanted to make me suffer for? Was thismyHell?
“I don’t need your lectures, brother. I called because I think we have a problem.” Ash’s deep voice pulled me from my panic attack. Did he just say “brother?” “I had a very strange visit today at the bar.”
Flipping over so my chest was pressed to the wall, I inched closer to the corner. The rough wood on the side of the building scraped over my face when I leaned in so I could keep him in sight. One side of his handsome face was bathed in the yellow glow of the lightbulb sticking out from above the back door, and the other half was in shadows. The thick lashes cast a dark line over his sharp cheekbone giving him a sinister look no matter how beautiful he was. Good thing he was glaring at his boots while he listened to what the other person was saying because I couldn’t look away from him.
“If you spent more time in the bar, you’d know we don’t have weirdos coming here. And, no. The strange visit was by two women, not gangster wannabe's looking to mug me.” The muscles on his arm bunched when he speared his fingers through the long blond strands. “Stop, stop. They were looking for antiques, specifically from the Norse era.” The silence stretched too long before he pulled the object from his ear and frowned at it before speaking again. “You there?”
The voice from the other side sounded like buzzing in the silence.
“Yeah, what are the odds of it not even a week after we got … our new merchandise.” The wood cut my skin when he glanced around, and I pulled back sharply. “Anyway, I told them I’d bring them to your shop tomorrow.” The person on the other side of the line screamed. “I don’t fucking know why I said that, so stop fucking yelling. It’s just …”
I held my breath like whatever he was about to say was more important than me staying alive.
“I don’t know, brother.” With a deep sigh, he waited a long moment. “One of them was … I don’t know what she was, but I had the urge to do or say anything just to have her look at me.”
My knees wobbled, and I hugged the wall because it was the only thing keeping me from dropping on the ground. Heartbeat too fast, I struggled not to pant so I could hear what else he would say. Splinters dug inside my fingertips where I had them curled on the side of the building.
“You are the one who believes in that voodoo shit, not me, Bernie. She didn’t cast anything on me. It was just her. I felt like I knew her.” A second later, he snarled. “I wasn’t thinking with my dick.”
I needed to get out of the cursed area.
I shouldn’t have been there in the first place, and I had every intention of blaming it on Cherry. If she weren’t such an idiot, I would’ve been locked in my room and away from the human. What were the odds that we found our targets on the first try? If anything, I expected at least a week or two of snooping around and questioning humans until we got a lead. All of it felt too easy. And if something were too good to be true, it’d go up in flames before I had time to blink.
