At the far end, the stage was illuminated by colored lights. A stand-up bass leaned in the corner beside an old upright piano that looked as beat to shit as the rest of the club. The lights reflected off the cymbals of the drum kit, and there was a stack of vintage guitar amps lining the back of the stage. The band was between sets, so only the din of a hundred voices and the thump of the house music filled the air.
“Want a drink?” Eva asked, almost yelling to be heard over the din. Thanks to the crowd, she was pressed right against him. He’d watched her walk up the stairs ahead of him and nearly died. Her ass truly was a masterpiece.
He nodded, so she grabbed his hand and led him through the crowd. At the bar, she chatted with the bartender, introducing him, but of course, the other woman’s eyes glazed over the minute she looked at him. Not that he cared. He only had eyes for Eva tonight.
She passed him a beer. “I can pay,” he offered.
But she shook her head. “I work here. Free drinks for me. There’s a table over by the stage. Let’s go.”
She grabbed his hand again and led him back through the crowd, stopping occasionally to chat with someone she knew. They had just snagged two seats around the tiny table when the band climbed back on the stage. One of them waved at Eva and she waved back.
“People know you,” Ash said in her ear, watching attentively as the musicians fiddled with their gear.
“I’m here a lot. When I’m not working, I’m on stage.”
“Are you going to play tonight? You didn’t bring your violin.”
“I might. But my violin’s for classical stuff and my DJ project. When I play jazz, I play...” She reached back to pull something out of the bag slung over her shoulder. “Ta-da.”
It was a flute. A very scratched and beat-up flute, not in any sort of protective case and evidently well used.
“You play the flute too?” Color him impressed.
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “Violin was always my serious instrument. Flute’s just on the side. But that makes it more fun sometimes, you know?”
“I want to see you play.”
“Then maybe I’ll go up later.” She smiled at him.
Her lips were lush and indescribably inviting, and his attention zeroed in on them—until he realized they were moving. She was telling him something, and he hadn’t heard a word of it.
He dragged his gaze up to her eyes. “What?”
“I said it’s cool how much you appreciate music even though you haven’t been around it much.”
“I’ve found ways to be over the years.” He shrugged. “It’s logical, since my hearing is the only sense that functions properly.”
“What do you mean?”
Shit.He really hadn’t meant to go into that. Bel had lectured him about what not to say around humans since he was so out of practice, specifically warning him not to go into his curse. So, of course, he’d gone and blurted it out immediately.
Eva was waiting for an answer, and he had no choice but to give her one. “I have a... condition.” He winced at the feeble lie. “I can’t see color. Or taste anything. Or feel much.”
Her mouth fell open. “Oh my god.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“You can’t see color? Like at all?”
He shook his head. “Only black and white.”
“And you can’t feel anything either?”
“I don’t mind that one. It’s handy for ignoring extreme pain.”
She looked horrified, and he guessed it was because most humans didn’t have cause to ignore extreme pain very often. “Can you smell?”
“No sense of smell either.”
