Page 47 of Dance for the Dragon
With a laugh, he promised he would call. “I’ll make it a point. If I have to, I’ll use Hawke’s phone. Although, it might be a text so no one will overhear. Now let’s go get your car.”
Once they’d fetched Devon’s car and he’d deposited her back at her apartment, with a promise her “BFF and neighbor” would keep an eye on her and she wouldn’t open her door to anyone, even if they appeared human, he made his way back to the club on foot.
At best, he’d expected the Master to be waiting for him, or at least Hawke and a few others to be there to escort him down into the throne room. At worst, he’d expected to walk into his own assassination. But what he didn’t expect to find was business as usual.
The club was hopping when he walked in the back door. As he rounded the bar, Andrew came up from grabbing a bottle that was stashed underneath and shot him a grin. “Hey, man! Where’ve you been?”
It wasn’t his night to work, so he accepted the beer Andrew slid down to him and settled in on a barstool to find out what he could. “I, uh, lost track of time. Had to spend the night elsewhere.” Not really a lie. Andrew could search his thoughts and find out where he’d really been—and with whom—but he just nodded knowingly and turned to wait on a human customer. There was a band at the club tonight, a way to draw in fresh blood. Kohl tipped his beer up to his mouth, watching the dude beside him head banging along to the song. The guy had long, stringy, black hair, a T-shirt with the band’s recent album on the front and “Y’all motherfucking need Satan” scrawled across the back. Kohl’s eyes drifted down to the white go-go boots on his feet, and he lifted one eyebrow. Looking around, he saw most of the crowd was dressed in a similar fashion.
Whatever floats their boat, I guess.
He turned back to Andrew and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at the guy making his way back to the front of the stage. “Is that still a thing?”
Andrew looked at the stage and laughed. “Apparently!”
“I thought that look went out in the 90’s.”
“Nope. Hair bands are dying off, but cover bands are taking their place, and these old fuckers are still head bangin’.”
“Yeah, but what’s with the boots?”
“That’s something I don’t have an answer for.” Andrew walked down to the other end of the bar to get drinks for a couple who were both grey-haired and leathery from too much sun and not enough sunscreen, but were still rockin’ their sixties biker gear.
Kohl watched Andrew work for a while, biding his time and trying to give the impression all was normal. “Who’s helping you tonight?”
“One of the young ones. She just ran out for a break.” He looked pointedly at the front entrance, meaning she’d found herself a meal for the night.
“Ah.” Taking a swig of his beer, Kohl asked, “Have you seen Hawke?”
“Yeah. Right before I came up. He was talking to a few of the guys about making a supply run or something.”
“Or something?”
Andrew popped the cap off a bottle and handed it to a customer, then slid the money he’d left off the bar and rang it up. “We just stocked up on liquor so I’m not sure what we need to make a run for.”
Anxiety crept up Kohl’s spine like tiny fingers. “Have you seen Jaz?”
Andrew shook his head. “Not tonight. He never came home this morning, either.”
Kohl rubbed the back of his neck, then downed the rest of his beer and with a nod at Andrew, headed down to the caverns to find Hawke.
He found him in the throne room with a few of the other guys, talking to the Master. When Kohl wandered in, he was immediately waved over.
As Kohl kneeled in greeting, the Master asked, “What did you find out from the woman, Kohl?” Not one to waste time, their leader always got right to the point.
Rising to his full height, Kohl just stared at him for a moment, not sure what to make of the question. But then he figured he’d play along, and see where things went with it. “She doesn’t know anything. Nothing more than what I’ve already told you. I wined her, dined her, plied her with alcohol. Hell, I even fucked her. She told me lots of stuff, but nothing we didn’t already know.” Talking about Devon in such a way left a bitter taste in his mouth, but showing he cared would only put more of a target on her back. “She’s no threat to us.”
“But she’s no use to us, either,” the Master pointed out. His black eyes held steady on Kohl’s.
“Her memories were erased.” No one needed to know otherwise. “If she makes you uncomfortable, I can convince her to live somewhere else, or Hawke can.” He glanced over at his friend, trying to get feel for what they’d been talking about before he’d come in, but Hawke refused to look at him.
The Master sat back in his seat and chewed the inside of his cheek as he made a show of thinking things over. Lifting his head, he frowned. “Have you seen Jaz, by chance?”
He knew this game the Master was playing. He’d watched him do it too many times to count over the years. Pure force of will kept his heartbeat slow and steady. He knew damn well he’d already talked to Jaz. How else would he have known he’d seen Devon? Any show of guilt at this point would mean an immediate attempt at his life. “No, I haven’t.” He was tempted to explain more, to babble on as he tended to do when he was nervous, but he refrained.
“Hmph.” Rubbing his chin with one hand, the Master stared off into the distance. “Funny. He said he ran into you last night before he disappeared.”
“He did. I saw him as I was on my way out.”
