Page 31 of Wolf Cursed
“Yeah, I’m good,” I said, shaking off the nightmare still clinging to the edges of my mind.
“You sure?” she said uncertainly.
Isaac crowded in beside her. “We can go if you want. There are other places we can show you—”
“I’m good,” I said again, more firmly this time. “I promise.”
Neither one looked convinced, but they let it go. Idrissa led the way and very quickly, I realized everyone inside had stopped talking and turned to stare. At me.
Several tables had been dragged together to accommodate a group of seven. Four guys and three girls. Every one of them had a drink in their hands, and something told me it wasn’t their first of the day. Cards had been dealt, and in the center was a pile of miscellaneous items. Money. Jewelry. Lottery tickets. Condoms.
They all stopped their game to look at me.
I did my best to ignore them, but the stares weren’t exactly friendly. It felt like being under a microscope. A very big, very hostile microscope.
Idrissa sailed past them, ignoring their greetings to her, and sauntered up to the bar. She leaned forward and snapped her fingers at the bartender. Behind me, Isaac had stopped to say hi to the group playing cards and a few others who called his name.
“Hey, Teddy,” Idrissa called as the bartender looked up.
“Dris,” he said, offering her a chin nod. He glanced past Isaac and looked straight at me. His dark brown eyes were intent and direct. “Who’s your friend?”
The entire bar remained quiet, and something about the not-so-subtle nosiness made my patience thin.
“I’m Ash,” I said, stepping up beside Idrissa. “Oscar’s my uncle, and I’m staying with him for a while. Can we get something to drink?”
Teddy blinked like he hadn’t been expecting me to just spill all my details like that. He recovered, nodding. “Sure. What’ll you have?” he asked.
“You like margaritas?” Idrissa asked me.
“Um, I can’t,” I said. “I’m only nineteen—”
“Three margaritas,” Idrissa told him, cutting me off. “On the rocks.”
“Coming up.” Teddy went to work, making the drinks.
“Come on,” Idrissa said, and I fell into step behind her with Isaac bringing up the rear.
She wove a path around the tables to an empty booth at the back. A couple of dartboards were mounted to the wall beside us, and on the other side of those was a jukebox. An actual, honest-to-goodness jukebox.
What year was it in here, anyway?
Idrissa slid into the booth, her back to the wall, and I took the seat opposite her. Isaac sat next to me and immediately slouched down so he could prop his feet on the seat beside his sister.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I knew the stares hadn’t abated even with only the back of my head for them to admire. Thankfully, the conversations had resumed, at least. And the card game was back in full swing. Someone bet their pet snake, and I tuned them out. Gambling was not something I wanted to be around ever again.
“Well, that went better than expected,” Isaac said.
Better?
“What did you expect?” I asked.
The twins shared a look.
“Tell me,” I hissed.
Before they could answer, Teddy appeared with our drinks. He set them in front of us and said, “Your tab’s been paid. Compliments of a friend at the bar.”
“Which friend?” Idrissa asked, eyes narrowing.
