Page 10 of The Book Reader
I give him a cheeky smile, because for as long as Manny has been on the door, trouble is at its lowest. Patting him on the arm, I walk past him and look up at the bright yellow and blue sign that reads “The House of Hades,” and my smile gets bigger. Lucy and I chose the name and design together. I still remember how proud we felt when it was installed.
Pushing open the big black doors, I’m met with a wave of happy energy that runs over my body just before the sound of music and laughter hits me. The walls are painted black, and there are gold lights scattered around, dimmed to add to the vibes. Small tables of four cover the floor, each with one candle sitting in the middle. Around the outside of the room are private booths, overlooking the main feature of the club, which is a stage for dancers. A pole sits center stage.
The bar is my favorite; its black and gold marble stretches the entire side of the club. It’s where I spend most of my time. There’s also a private section at the back, but it’s reserved for VIPs.
Reaching the bar, I pull my jacket off, placing it behind the mixing station with my bag. I’ll be working until close tonight, so it’s going to be a long one.
“Hey, lady, you’re early.” I glance up, hearing Kat’s voice, and return the fist bump she offers me. Kat has been working here since we first opened. She’s a lust daemon, meaning that she can make any man or woman fall in lust with her in seconds, and they’ll do anything she asks. The only downside to it is that if she leaves them like that for too long, they become so obsessed that they end up killing themselves.
Kat is stunning. Her pink, wavy hair falls in long waves down her back, and her eyes look like glowing pools of silver that you can’t help but get lost in. Her body is toned and covered in tattoos. Everyone goes crazy for her when she dances. I’m pretty sure she uses her powers when she does get on the stage, because that girl sure pulls in the tips.
“Yeah, thought I’d get a head start on the new cocktail menu. We have that new order of vodka and rum coming in, so I want to be ready.” She places a drink on the bar for one of the waitresses to pick up, then turns and gives me a questioning look. I laugh, knowing exactly what she is about to ask me. “And no, I didn’t call Luke. You know I don’t date men from the club.”
She shakes her head. “You should have called him, the guy stayed here all-night Saturday, ordering drinks he didn’t drink, just so he could stare at you.”
I roll my eyes at her. “He was…”
She laughs and knocks into my side. “Was what? Sexy as hell? Girl, I would have made a man sandwich out of him and eaten that all up. He was hot.”
“Yes, he was. But he wasn’t my type.”
“Sexy isn’t your type?” she says sarcastically.
I huff a laugh. “Yes, sexy is my type, just not that kind of sexy.”
Kat moves to the end of the bar to serve a guy but in true Kat fashion—the girl is not shy and definitelynotquiet—starts yelling back at me. “I don’t know what your idea of sexy is,but you need to sort it out. I’ve seen three guys give you their number, and that was just last night, yet still no date and no boyfriend… come on, Ari,” she says as she pours the mixer into a glass of rum, winking at the guy, before leaning over the bar and shouting something to him over the music. I watch as those perfect silver eyes sparkle a little, and a soft, seductive smile plays on her lips. The guy swallows hard before handing her fifty dollars and telling her to keep the change.
Compared to all the powers I’ve seen so far, Kat’s is a good one for working in a club like ours. I move to replace some of the empty bottles as I call out, “I’m just not into dating right now.” Which is an outright lie. I am interested. It’s just that the dreams I’ve had these last few years have been so vivid that I feel like they’re real. And it’s alwayshim, the guy with the most perfect blue eyes. I don’t know why I’ve been dreaming about him, but it feels so real, like we’re waiting for each other. Yes, I know it sounds stupid, but I can’t move past it. I even find myself going to bed early so I can see him.
I pick up a large bottle of Back, a special type of alcohol that Kat managed to get imported directly from the Underworld.
The bottle is made of glass, and the label is a light brown with odd-looking letters and symbols. I lift it up to get a better look and notice a crest of a blue dragon wrapped in roses on the side.
It’s so pretty.
I run my fingers over it. The dragon is raised slightly, and I run my fingers over the bumps and ridges as I follow the curve of the tail that’s wrapped around the neck of the bottle. “Illis” is carved into the back in silver.
Shifting the bottle in my hand, I carefully grip the cork, and it makes a light popping sound as I pull it from the top of the bottle.
A heady, sweet scent of Lemon surrounds me before everything starts to twist, distorting, making the colors andsounds around me blend. My stomach rolls, and then everything goes black.
Loud banging shakes my body,making scared butterflies take flight in my stomach. The sound is so intense, it seems like something must be under attack.
I don’t want to walk toward it. I fight with everything in me to keep my feet firmly planted where they are. But my body has other ideas, pushing me forward like an invisible set of hands are leading me.
Coming to an empty field, the grass is long and the edges have little droplets of water on them as if they are laced with pearls.
It’s dark here, with two moons shining high in the sky, bathing the ground in such a pretty light it almost shimmers. Ahead, I can see a dark shadow, a silhouette of an arm lifting into the air and bringing a hammer down hard.
Bang.
My heart speeds up, my breath fast puffing in and out of my mouth with a whooshing sound that is loud to my ears.
Bang.
Sauntering closer, I can now see it’s a man.
Bang.
