The Severed Thread (28 page)

“Why are you helping me then?” I had to ask.  He just said he hated smugglers and drug dealers.  This whole thing seemed to go against his principles.

“Two reasons.  I have decided I like you Miss Lassiter.  I didn’t expect to but I do.  Never did have much time for the rich and famous.”

“I’m hardly famous,” I scoffed.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you didn’t try to say you weren’t rich.”  There was a little twinkle in his eye.  “You been in the paper more than once?”

“Sure, I suppose,” I said with a shrug.

“That’s famous.”

“If you say so,” I laughed.  I liked Joey.  He was a good guy.  And he was going to help me!  I wanted to reach across the table and hug him.

“I do.”

“And?”  I prompted.  He looked up from his coffee with a puzzled expression.

“You said there were two reasons.”

“So I did,” he answered with a smile.  “You smell like pack and nothing aggravates me more than seeing one of my pack-mates between a vampire and hard place.”  I was becoming less annoyed and increasingly more grateful to Corbin for his little ‘mark Abigail’ extravaganza with each passing day.

Chapter 25

“You are
so
not wearing that!”  Samantha said later that evening when I opened the door to let her into the house.

I looked down at my outfit and frowned as she breezed past me into the foyer.  I had on heels and black slacks with a green V-neck sweater.  I knew it was perhaps a bit conservative but I still thought I looked nice.  "What's wrong with my outfit?"

"Nothing, if you are going out for afternoon tea!" Samantha said flinging her hands up in exasperation.  "This is a club, Abigail!  A club where people will be high on Sapphire and grinding their bodies against each other."

"I'm not planning on being high or doing any grinding."  Samantha gave my outfit the hairy eyeball, completely unmoved by my argument.

"I realize that, but you need to look like that's what you want to do, or else you’re going to stand out, and not in a good way."

“I still think I look fine,” I said stubbornly, shutting the door on the muffled laughter of the two wolves standing guard outside.

 "Mmmhmm," she said before grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the stairs.  "Come on.  I know you have to have something in that huge closet that will work."

She started pulling things out of my closet as soon as we got to my bedroom.  She threw a pair of indigo skinny jeans on my bed, followed by a pair of four inch strappy silver sandals that I wore to a wedding once.... as the bridesmaid!  Then I heard a muffled, “Oh this is perfect!” before she emerged from the closet holding up a slinky beaded top that had been an impulse purchase that I had never gotten up the nerve to actually wear.

“I will only wear that under a jacket.”

 “Not tonight,” she said giving me a wink.  I must have had a stubborn look on my face because she sighed deeply.

“Abigail,” she said.  “Why do you want to go to The Howler tonight?”

“To see if Harvey shows up and to see if I can find out what he is up to.”

“So, tonight is sort of like a secret spy mission, right?”

“I guess,” I said uncomfortably, guessing where her logic was headed.

“Spies wear disguises," she said smugly.  "Think of
this
as your disguise."  She picked up the heels and shook them to emphasize her point.

“I just wish there was more of it,” I grumbled fingering the thin straps of the glittery silver top.   

“That’s the point,” she said happily.

An hour later I found myself standing outside The Howler waiting in a ridiculously long line in four inch heels, way too much eyeliner and the skimpiest top I had ever worn out in public.  Since it was one of those odd early fall evenings when the weather was balmy despite the chance of frost predicted in the ten day forecast, I could not even use the weather as an excuse to bring along a jacket.  Samantha was having a wonderful time watching me adjust the silver material – trying unsuccessfully to gain more coverage out of the thin fabric.

“Stop fidgeting,” Samantha said to me out of the corner of her mouth.  “You look great.”

 “I’m not trying to look great.”

“Yeah, well you should be.”  She looked around the line sweeping her hand out as she spoke.  “You see anyone in line dressed like a nanny?”

“I didn’t look like a nanny!” I scoffed, insulted.  I did take a look around though.  Everyone was dressed to maximize their sex appeal.  Thanks to Samantha we blended in perfectly with the other club goers in line.  Well almost.  I don’t think I saw anyone else with my hair color.  Even dressed the same as everyone else, I was destined to stand out with my silver-blond hair.  I looked over at Samantha in her tight black pants and tank top.  It would have been a casual look in flats but the exaggerated make-up, heels and jewelry took it to a different stratosphere.  I envied the way she seemed completely at ease with her body. 

A wave of energy behind me interrupted my thoughts.  I turned to find myself face to chest with a mountain.  I looked up, way up, into the face of the huge man standing before me.

“You two – come with me,” he said in a rumbling voice that made me think of the distant sound of thunder before a summer storm.  I glanced at Samantha, uncertain why we were being pulled out of line.

She just shrugged.  “Sometimes they cherry-pick who gets to go in when the club starts to fill up.”

“You want in or not?” he asked again, obviously unused to people hesitating when they were being moved to the front of the incredibly long line.

I couldn’t help wondering if everyone in line in front of us was going to be pissed off.  It didn’t matter though, I realized as I looked again at the bouncer waiting for my answer with raised eyebrows.  It was ridiculous to think that anyone was going to say anything.  It was obvious that at least one of his parents was a giant and everyone knew that giants were notoriously mean and strong.  They also had a really, really long memory.  They were the elephant of the supernatural races.  If you
ever
wanted to get inside, it was probably in your best interests not to piss him off.  He would likely just keep passing you over until you gave up and went home.

“We want in,” Samantha said, nodding her head and smiling up at him.

“Follow me,” he grunted and we did.

We walked past at least fifty people waiting to get in, and not one made so much as a peep about it.  They just watched us with envious eyes.  I noticed quite a few attractive women in line and wondered uneasily what had brought the giant past them to us.  

At the door, the throb of the music spilled out onto the pavement.  The giant waved us inside.  The intensity of the music increased dramatically once we cleared the threshold.  I could feel its pulse down to the marrow of my bones.

There was another bouncer inside to greet us– this guy was only slightly smaller than the mountain outside.  I decided this one was more of a butte than a true mountain with his stocky frame, thick neck, and old fashioned military style flat top.  I spotted two more mixed race giants looming about the bar area.  I was guessing that giants were immune to Sapphire since most of the security staff appeared to have at least some in their ancestry.

“Twenty,” the butte rumbled, holding out his hand.  “Each.” 

“I’ve got this,” I said to Samantha as I fished around in my little bag for two twenties.  I didn’t want to make her pay since she was only here because of me.  Once the butte was paid we made our way towards the first floor bar area. 

The music was throbbing and the crowd was already feeling the love… or maybe I should say lust.  It was just after eleven and the place was packed with Weres and shifters making lots of physical contact.  We had to skirt the edge of the dance floor to get to the bar.   I could smell the pheromones in the air and they were off the charts.  Why would anyone need pharmaceutical stimulus when the air was so thick with musk?

“What do you want to drink?” Samantha shouted over the music.

“Just a club soda and cranberry,” I yelled back.  At her puzzled look I decided on another avenue of communication.  “
Just a club soda and cranberry.  The pheromones in here are bad enough
,” I sent. 

She gave me a thumbs-up to let me know she heard before pushing into the ring of bodies edging the bar.  When she finally made it through, she leaned onto the bar in an attempt to catch the bartender’s attention. 

I turned to scan the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Harvey.  I knew he had to be here somewhere.  I was swaying to the music when I felt a tap on my shoulder.  It was Samantha with a frothy looking concoction in a martini glass.  I raised my eyebrows.

“
This doesn’t look like what I ordered
,” I chided her.

“Italian pear martini.  You’ll love it,” she said right into my ear so I could hear her.  I didn’t doubt it would taste good.  But was it good for me?  That was the real question.

“
You are
so
not helping
,” I sent back as I started looking around the room again.  “
Let’s walk around a little
.”

She leaned in and spoke into my hair.  “Sure, as long as you promise to at least
try
your drink.”

I raised the glass in toast to her before taking a sip in response to her taunt.  The creamy froth on top was yummy and went nice with the pale green liquor below. 

“
Yummy!  Now come on
,”
I sent to her before making my way to the other end of the bar where stairs led up to the balcony.  I looked over at Samantha and gestured to the stairs to signal my intention to go up.  She nodded.  Balancing my drink in my hand, I made my way up the stairs, looking back to make sure Samantha was following.  Heels, drinks and stairs were not the best combination.

We prowled around a bit once we reached the balcony but didn’t have any luck spotting Harvey.  Our search went largely unnoticed by the guests taking advantage of the strategically placed couches and clusters of overstuffed chairs.  They were too busy getting better acquainted with their fellow partiers. 

At the far end of the balcony there was a roped off section with another half giant guard standing next to a sign that read ‘VIP’ in a blocky black font.  This guy looked a bit surlier than the fellows downstairs.  I don’t think I had ever seen so many giant offspring in one place in my entire life.  I knew I needed to get past the bouncer to check out the VIP area but I didn’t feel very hopeful that he would let me pass.  Still, I had to try. 

I pushed out my meager chest, squared my shoulders and did a slow lazy walk towards the cordoned off area.  Just when I thought he was going to let me pass, he reached out and grabbed my arm. 

“This is the VIP lounge,” he informed me with a stony expression.

“Yes and I’d like to go in.”

“You’re not a VIP,” he stated intractably.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, so how do I become a VIP?”

“Invitation.”

“You couldn’t make an exception?” I asked with a coy smile.  Maybe a little sex appeal would work.  “I just want to look around.” 

“That’s why it’s the VIP area.  So no one can take a look around,” he smiled meanly, showing lots of blocky teeth and one large golden canine.  “Now beat it.”  Well so much for my sexual magnetism when it came to giants.  I should have brought Samantha with me.

“Alright, alright, I’m going,” I assured him, hands raised in surrender.

I walked back to Samantha who shot me a questioning look.  “
VIP area apparently,
” I explained.  “
Not getting in there anytime soon.
”

Sam touched my arm and pointed to the edge of the balcony before heading over there with me in her wake.  You could easily see all of the dancers on the floor below, as well as quite a chunk of the patrons milling around the end of the bar.

We stood there for a moment trying to spot Harvey’s mousey brown head.  “I don’t think he’s here,” Samantha said.  The music was a little less intense up here and I could hear her better.  “We should go dance and try to have some fun.  He might show up later.” 

It had only been a week since Jason’s death, I wasn’t sure I was really up for dancing.  Some of what I was thinking must have shown on my face because Samantha said gently, “It isn’t betraying Jason to have a little fun, you know.”

“Logically I know that,” I sighed, “but it still feels wrong.” 

“I understand,” she nodded sympathetically before hooking her arm in mind and tugging me towards the stairs.  “But I think it could be cathartic.  Just let the pheromones wash over you and you will relax.  Between that and the dancing, I think you will feel better.”

I looked at her doubtfully.  “Really!  Scouts honor,” she said holding up two fingers like some tall, scantily clad Girl Scout.

I rolled my eyes, “I think Girl Scouts usually hold up three fingers when they make a pledge, not two.” 

She looked at her fingers and shrugged, “I never said I was a
Girl
Scout,” she yelled over the din with a silly smile.  “Now come on, let’s get down there!”

Chapter 26

It took a while to find a place on the dance floor but we finally managed to squeeze our way into a spot.  I felt stiff and awkward but Samantha was not having any problems.  She moved effortlessly to the music, energized by a combination of the strident dance beat and pheromones.  I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, trying to let go of all the unpleasant things in my life.  Sam was right, the pheromones helped.  Little by little I could feel them starting to work their magic.  I wasn’t able to completely relax but it was a start.  I opened my eyes to see Samantha smiling at me as she danced. 

I tensed as two masculine hands settled on my hips.  “Don’t worry little elf, I just want to move with you,” a voice rumbled from over my left shoulder.  I turned to find the hands belonged to a black haired Were with twinkling hazel eyes and a warm smile.  He leaned down to speak in order to be heard over the music.