Page 55 of Thief of Night
“We’ll wait for him too,” Adeline said. “Then we can go out, just like I said we would.”
Charlie recalled Adeline telling her about Remy’s friends wanting to see him—but she hadn’t thought they’d just show up at Rapture. “Have fun.”
“You’re coming too, silly,” said Madison.
Two in the morning was the legal closing time for pretty much all bars in Massachusetts. “Not a lot of places open at this hour.”
The four of them planted themselves on stools. Adeline checked her watch. “Oh, don’t worry about that. But since we’re here, what do you have to drink?”
“The basics,” Charlie said discouragingly. “Gin. Vodka. Whiskey.”
“Espresso martinis then,” Adeline said. “Black. No cream.”
“You do have an espresso machine, don’t you?” asked Brooks, looking around Rapture with grave concern.
“We use cold brew,” Charlie told him.
Brooks’s expression remained skeptical. “Fine. I suppose.”
At least Charlie had a reason to walk away from their narrowed stares. As she dumped the ingredients in the shaker and shook it hard, she sent her thoughts at her shadow.Red, this would be a good time to show up.
Make me.She heard the words in the back of her head, as intimately as if they were whispered against her throat. Heard the teasing in his voice.
“You reallyarea monster,” Charlie whispered, shaking her head as she poured out the martinis.
The fancy foursome drank their drinks and laughed together, ignoringher. Charlie made every interaction with other patrons last as long as she felt she could reasonably get away with, and then took her time to close up.
“Looks like you’ve got friends here,” Rachel told her. “Just go. I can take over.”
“No, I—” But Charlie had no idea what excuse to give—it would be weird for her to admit that she didn’t even like them. “Thank you.”
“And sorry I was so weird before.” A line of worry sat between Rachel’s brows, as though she was the one who’d done something wrong.
“You’re fine,” Charlie promised.
Adeline walked over and threw an arm around Charlie’s shoulders. “Heard we can go. Wonderful.”
Charlie gave her an extremely fake smile. “Looks like Re—Remy’s not going to make it. I’ll just head home and—”
The door swung open. And there he was, in his black shirt and black jeans, pushing back slightly too long blond hair. Red.
“Carver!” Topher said, standing.
A not-at-all-pleasant smile curved on Red’s mouth. His gaze went to Charlie. Something about his expression made Topher hesitate in the middle of moving to greet him.
Adeline took Charlie’s hand. “I’d hate for you to get comfortable back at your place. It would be twice as hard to drag you back out again.”
Charlie thought of the Blight in her bag. She’d said she’d take it to Malhar, in the hope he could make sense of her half-formed theories. But she was increasingly unsure she could get out of spending time with these people.
“I’ve got to change—” Charlie started, gesturing to her daiquiri-stained shirt.
“See, I knew you would say that!” Adeline told her. “That’s why I brought you a dress. It’s in the car. Be a dear, Topher, and get the bag, won’t you?”
“Clever Addy,” Red said, walking toward them. “But maybe Charlie is just being polite. Maybe she’s tired.”
“Then let her go home,” Brooks said, confused by all the fuss.
“Oh no,” Adeline snapped. “We’reallhaving a night out.” She knew, even if no one else did, that if Charlie refused to accompany them, Red couldn’t go either.
