Page 74 of Witch Unexpected
“I mean, we keep it safe,” Brie said. “Revenants love Leyton, and so do malignant spirits. We’ve had to call in Reaper assistance on more than one occasion.”
Figured. Most spirits headed to Soul Savers in Necro City to be registered, but malignant spirits avoided being registered because they didn’t want to be reaped.
Sloane eased up on the gas as we drove into town.
I caught her eye in the mirror. “It’s probably a good idea to tell me what a revenant is.”
“You’ll see soon enough,” she said. “Once you’ve seen it, I’ll explain.”
The houses morphed into larger buildings—businesses and community centers, restaurants, and bars.
“I fucking love Saturday nights,” Bramble said.
“We’re not drinking,” Brie said with a grin.
“Aw, feck, what?” Bramble groaned. “It’s the only reason I tagged along.”
“Fuck, Brie,” Jessie said. “Looks like our drunken escapades are no longer secret.”
“Were they ever?” Bramble asked.
Sloane’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “Maybe a couple of drinks if we bag a revenant.”
“Whoo!” Bramble hooted.
“You drink?” Sloane said to me in the mirror.
“Yeah, I drink.”
“I’ll buy you one. You’ll need it to steady your nerves afterward.”
She had no idea the shit I’d seen, but I smiled sweetly at her and even added a simper. “Thank you.”
We pulled up at the curb outside a bar called Orion. Doors opened then slammed as we got out.
“We have a deal with the owner,” Sloane said, strapping on her weapons holster. “We keep the place clear of revenants and other supernatural threats, and the owner lets us drink and party for free.”
“And we do love to party,” Brie said with a wicked grin.
She wasn’t as robustly built as Sloane, but there was power in her compact frame, enough to have carried Bramble all the way to the cabin earlier. Her wispy, blonde elfin haircut and the rings in her nose and ears gave her more of a feminine look. Jessie was the darkest of the four, with tanned skin and short curly chestnut hair, and then there was Poppy, with her bubblegum tresses and neck tattoo. These women were strong, powerful witches, and being surrounded by them was like standing in the path of an electric storm.
“Okay,” Brie said. “Standard protocol. We go in, we split up, and we keep comms open. Once we have a sighting, we converge, remove, and eliminate. Bramble, you’ll come with me.”
“Cupcake, you stick with me,” Sloane said.
I probably should pull her up on the use of the nickname, but she’d been using it for a while without my objecting, so it felt weird making a fuss now, besides… I kinda liked it. No one had ever called me a cupcake. I was more an apple turnover, tart and spicy, with the flaky pastry that always made a mess.
“Humans won’t look twice at us once we’re inside,” Sloane said. “They’ll see us and forget us. We’re ghosts while we’re in there, and so are you, as long as you stay close.”
We headed toward the club, past the queue of humans, who glared daggers at us for skipping the line, and past the bouncer, who stepped back to admit us.
Yeah, The Elites were known here.
“Don’t lose me,” Sloane threw over her shoulder.
Then the music spilled over us, around us, loud enough to make my teeth vibrate. We stepped through an arch into a huge, open-plan space with a circular dance floor heaving with humans, bopping and writhing. Staircases led up to a balcony and probably more dance spaces. Several bars were dotted about, jutting up as thick pillars here and there on the dancefloor.
Having bars on the dance floor wasn’t the best logistical idea, in my opinion, but whatever.
