Page 66 of Hex and the City
I rubbed my eyes and sighed. “Do you really think she goes around chopping people’s heads off?”
“I’ll chop both your heads off,” Tina growled. “Did you think I named myself Guillotina Hernandez?”
Leon goggled at her. “Oh, no. Your parents named you that?”
“Why would I name myself Guillotina? And aren’t you Filipino, too? You should know how weird our names can get. Like Jonathan, only with a second H.”
I frowned, scratching the side of my head. “Wait. Where would the second H even go?”
“Oh, wow!” Leon clapped me by the shoulder. “Max, you didn’t tell me she was Filipino. How awesome. I have a local Filipino friend.”
“Who said we were friends?”
Tina looked liked she was on the verge of a breakdown, or at least on the verge of living up to her birth name. And Leon, sweet little nugget that he was, either didn’t notice or didn’t care. He’d win her over eventually. Maybe. That, or this would all lead to another dustup in another alley.
Leonardo had a gift for getting exactly what he wanted. It didn’t seem that way, perhaps because he wasn’t so forceful about it. But he knew how to get under someone’s skin, or burrow into someone’s heart. Mine, in both instances, and he’d probably smack me for comparing him to a parasite.
He’d be the cutest parasite in Dos Lunas, though.
I kept quiet, watching as he needled at Tina’s hardened carapace, looking for any chink in her armor. He liked her, and this place, and me. At least now, Leon had more reasons not to keep moving. He had more reasons to stay.
And I really, really wanted him to stay.
29
LEON
Iblew on my to-go cup of coffee, watching as both my breath and the heat tumbled down the sidewalk in wisps. Johnny Slivers had made the very helpful suggestion of getting some caffeine in me, something to counteract all those cocktails he’d also put inside me.
God, I didn’t know I wasn’t that good at holding my liquor until Johnny had turned my insides into a Hawaiian luau. Or maybe no one man was supposed to be able to survive everything he’d thrown at me. One of those fluorescent green biohazards he’d made for Vera, and a piña colada, and a mango margarita, then something that was on fire.
I took a swig of the milky, faintly sweet coffee, realizing I’d hardly paid for anything in all our visits to Unholy Grounds. Johnny and Roscoe made faces each time I reached for my wallet. I simply stopped attempting. I couldn’t believe that anyone could be so generous.
“Or maybe they’re just nice people,” I muttered to myself, cup in hand, hugging my elbows as I stared into the bar.
Everyone was mostly tipsy, with the exception of Max, who either had the constitution of a bull or was really, really good at pretending to be completely sober. A roar of laughter came from our table, loud enough to spill out onto the sidewalk.
I grinned at the sight of Johnny and Tina loudly arguing about — well, something very divisive, it looked like, all that animated gesticulation. This was nice. I hadn’t had this much fun with a group of people since forever.
Johnny, all gruff and rough around the edges with his heart of gold, and Roscoe, the sun to his moon, his sweet candy coating disguising a sharp, calculating wit. Even Guillotina wasn’t all that scary once you got to know her, and while Vera would always be eccentric and extravagant, as far as bosses went, she was far from the worst.
My God. Was I really becoming so attached to these people already?
And Max. Where would I even start with him? I’d staple my lips shut before I said it to his face, but he was the right guy who’d just happened to wander into the same house with me at exactly the right time. For all the uncertainty of my life these past few months, Max felt so grounded and solid. He was just what I wanted. Just what I needed.
A cold wind blew down the sidewalk, too icy for anything I’d ever experienced in Dos Lunas. The lamppost closest to me flickered.
Great. Just what I needed, another supernatural visitation. Couldn’t I get a break for just a day or two? I stared on, gathered my jacket closer, waiting for her to appear. I blinked, and suddenly she was there, standing in a puddle of light, a puddle of seawater.
“Much has changed, has it not, little lion?”
“And hello to you too, Tiamat.” I glanced at the bar and shrugged. “I suppose you could say that.”
“Yes, on the outside,” said the goddess. “New friends, it seems, and what appears to be a new, permanent home. But I was more referring to changes within. How has it felt, truly, to savor a taste of my power?”
I stared at my coffee, at the thin wisps of rising steam. It reminded me of smoke, of dragonfire. I answered very, very quietly.
“Truly? It’s been exhilarating. Terrifying. And at times, painful, too. I don’t think I’ve ever felt stronger. More powerful. More like a mage than ever.”
