Page 62 of A City of Smoke and Demons
Lira spotted her, pushing her way through the crowd to shove a drink in Analise’s hand. Grateful, Analise took a sip, the whiskey setting a fire in her stomach as Lira told her this was an Order of the Dawn party. There were at least thirty people in the bar. Maddog was in the middle of the group, entertaining them with the story of what had happened tonight. A cigar dangled from the corner of his mouth as he spoke, smoke clouding his face.
‘I still can’t believe Maddog Pierce is your uncle,’ Analise muttered. The crowd hung on his every word. Ezra’s name caught her attention—she spotted his blond head as someone dragged him to his feet.
Lira grinned. ‘Can’t choose your family.’
‘What are we celebrating?’
‘Our witch-hound-come-demon-hunter. According to Jem, despite being scared out of his mind, Ezra did well. Even Tobias agreed. A high honour indeed. But, Ezra dealt the kill shot, so the celebration is warranted. We give credit where it’s due.’
Analise hadn’t known Ezra killed the demon. His expression was relaxed, happy, and he was smiling, clearly enjoying the attention as Maddog slung an arm around his shoulder. Analise noticed a beautiful dark-haired woman standing close to Ezra. Her eyes were pinned to him.
Jealousy surged with all the force of a fire. It was a knee-jerk, territorial reaction that made no sense to Analise, as a possessiveness she had no right to feel licked at her insides with a barbed tongue. The sudden, tangible sharpness of it made her bite the inside of her cheek and cringe. She had no claim to him, none at all.
So why did it hurt to see him so close to someone else, to watch a beautiful woman look at him? Maddog finished hisstory, and Ezra moved to the bar, the woman following him. Analise took a gulp of her drink, but instead of dousing the flames, all the whiskey did was add fuel to the fire. She shivered, but was unable to stop looking at Ezra, who hadn’t noticed her at all.
‘That’s Samira,’ Lira said, following Analise’s gaze. ‘One of our best hunters. She’s spent a week in the field tracking demons. We’ve been trying to find their nest.’
‘Nest?’ Analise repeated, watching as Samira threw back her head and laughed. Her body was angled towards Ezra. Analise’s fingers tightened on her glass.
‘Demons always have a nest,’ Lira explained. ‘A place they live, if you could call it that. We’ve found smaller ones, but Samira is convinced there is a larger, more central one.’
‘Hmm.’
Lira sighed. ‘Go over there, shove her out of the way, and kiss him, Analise.’
‘What?’
‘There is too much tension around here. Either kiss him, or sleep with him, or move on. It’s not good for either of you.’
Analise shook her head, though her heart fluttered. ‘I don’t care about him.’
‘Your face says otherwise.’ Lira touched her arm and moved away. Analise found herself another drink and sat at the nearest table. She felt eyes on her and she wondered what they saw. She let her gaze scan the room as surreptitiously as she could. Men, women, all dressed in black. All of them were smiling, and seemed to know one another. She was the outsider here. They were probably wondering who the hell she was.
Her eyes drifted to Ezra again. He could screw who he wanted. It wasn’t her business and she didn’t care. She wasn’t interested, even if he kissed her like he’d been born to do it. The relief that flooded her when he’d walked back into the officeafter the hunt had taken her by surprise. It wasn't until she’d practically run away and taken a deep breath that she’d realised she’d been worried about him.
She tried to tell herself she’d been worried about Jem—Maddog and Tobias as well—but sitting in the bath, staring at the patterns the candlelight made on the water, Analise had to admit that seeing Ezra come back, shaken,alive, made her want to throw her arms around him. She’d left so she didn’t do that.
She shouldn’t care about him. She couldn’t.
Analise finished her drink, deciding she’d rather go to bed than sit here, drinking alone and wondering whether Ezra …
She was halfway up the stairs when a voice made her pause.
‘I was hoping you’d have a drink with me.’
She turned, heart racing as Ezra came up the stairs towards her, a drink in each hand. His hair dangled in his eyes, and she clenched her fists to stop herself from pushing it aside. He held a glass out for her; Analise hesitated, and then took it, careful not to let their fingers touch.
‘Are we drinking on the stairs or are you going to come down?’
She sat.
‘Not a people person—I forgot,’ Ezra said, but instead of leaving like she expected him to, he sat with her. They drank in silence for a while, and when her glass was empty, Analise sighed.
‘You’re missing your own party.’
He shrugged, reclining on the stairs casually. His sleeves were rolled up, the dark ink of his tattoo curling around his forearm, and his shirt was partially unbuttoned, a glimpse of smooth chest visible. He smelled like soap and water and whiskey.
‘Won’t someone miss you?’ she mumbled before she could stop herself.
