Page 39 of Angel's Smoke

Iron groaned into the phone, and for the first time, she began to question the bargain she’d just struck with him.

“Trivia.”

Chapter19

The Thursday night crowd at the Cider Citadel and Brewing Bastion was well thinned given the time of year, but that didn’t stop the diehards from attending trivia night. The bar was what Anna expected: lots of dim lighting broken up by random fluorescent beams advertising one brand of beer or another, a few high-top tables, an only-mildly-sticky floor, and pint after pint of some house ale or another.

The whiteboard was a surprise, as was the microphone setup. However, that made sense for emcee and scoring purposes if trivia was indeed the main item on the menu that evening.

However, an entirely different set of questions raced through her head, none of which would fall under thepop cultureorsports and statscategories.

No, her qualms fell more in line with “What will everyone think of me?” and “Can I keep the bathroom trips to a reasonable number?”

“Can I take your coat?” Iron asked as he ushered her toward a cluster of tables at the back of the barroom. His hand never left her lower back the entire time, guiding them both through the meager crowd with bladed purpose. Every time he pressed against her just a little more firmly, piloting her away from any of the well-lubricated men who’d gotten a head start on their evening’s enjoyment, she recalled the rough thrill of his fingers when they’d caged her own during a far different type of game.

Not for the first time since she hastily swept on some mascara and broke out her one tube of questionably salvageable lip gloss earlier that evening, she wondered whether she was in over her head.

“I might just keep my coat on for a bit.” He didn’t need to know how grateful she was for the crappy lighting because it would hide her threadbare maternity leggings, which were the only pants she wore these days, and her very muchnonmaternity cardigan, which was dipping and pulling in places a pregnant woman need not call more attention to.

Iron eyed her carefully, then nodded. “Whatever makes you comfortable.”

“Are you? Comfortable, that is? I’m getting the sense that I may have asked for too much from you.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Let’s just say you’re about to witness a very crude display of family bonding.” Iron caught the eye of whoever he was walking toward and nodded. “And that’s just when Drea and Rose get teamed up. Molly tries to keep the peace when she can, but those women come up with some answers during the wild card rounds that would put Chrome’s penchant for cursing to shame.”

Anna laughed softly. “They sound wonderful.”

“Theysoundlike a designated driver’s worst nightmare. And here they are, Trouble One and Trouble Two.”

Anna took a deep breath to center . . . whatever the hell it was that usually got centered when people took a deep breath and smiled at the assembled crowd.

Or she tried to, at any rate, because the second Iron escorted her to their table, she was swept up in a warm hug of Amazonian proportions.

“Oh my gosh, you’re Anna, right? Iron’s told us absolutely nothing useful about you. I really don’t know why Chrome and the others keep him around. I’m Drea, by the way.”

When the hug was finally relinquished, Anna was staring into the violet exuberant eyes of a six-foot-tall blonde woman whose breath and braid already carried the scent of a good time.

Mental note: discuss definition of the wordtroublewith Iron.

“Hi. Yes, I’m Anna. It’s nice to meet you.”

“To clarify, we keep him around because he knows the Wi-Fi password. Chrome. Pleasure.” A behemoth of a man with a military crew cut and two beers in hand winked at her, then passed one of the longnecks to Iron.

“Drea is Chrome’s soul bond, and Chrome is about to spend some quality time with the blunt end of my mace.”

Anna stifled a giggle and spoke out of the side of her mouth to Iron. “Well, he did just confirm your Wi-Fi password theory, so maybe he’s not all bad.”

“Oh, I like her! I like her so much! Can we keep her? I’d like to keep her.” Drea was bouncing on the balls of her feet like a kid who’d just cashed in their Skee-Ball tickets for a prize that was actually worth something.

Iron rolled his eyes and put an arm around Anna’s shoulders before gesturing to the group in front of them. “I’m probably going to need something a lot stronger than beer pretty soon, but before I get to that, let me introduce you to everyone. If you need name tags, let me know. I have absolutely zero problem slapping someHello, My Name Isstickers on their shirts. That adhesive is hell on cotton fibers, and some of these clowns could use some humbling.”

They had four tables reserved for their group, which was the only reason Anna was able to keep anyone straight, especially when it came to the set of twins: Rose—Trouble Two, Anna presumed—and Tammy. Rose was soul bound to Titan, second-in-command to Tungsten, the sentinels’ leader, who Tammy was mated to. Thankfully, the twins were on different teams. Also, the two women not only had different hairstyles but wildly different personalities, which helped separate them in Anna’s mental catalog. Rose was sarcastic and endearing while her sister was a bit more reserved and studious but sweet as all get out. Validating Iron’s apparent fears from earlier, Chrome and Drea were paired with Titan and Rose.

At Tungsten and Tammy’s table sat another couple, Bronze and Clara. Iron explained that Bronze’s soul bond didn’t normally attend human functions because, her being a lycan, metal didn’t agree with her molecular makeup, but she could usually manage short periods without any major hiccups.

Brass and his mate, Molly, a woman who Anna recognized as an owner of one of the restaurants in town, sat at another table, their heads bowed over in strategy with another couple. Neela, who was the first female charmer and former kin of Cyro, and Rhode, the only angel among them created of the seraph class. Now,thatwas a relationship story she’d like to hear someday.

Then that left Steel and Bridget, who both had lighthearted gamer smiles plastered on their faces.

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