“Skye, what is going on with you? I literally introduced you an hour ago, and you barely looked at him!”
“Eva, hon, that wasnotthe same guy you introduced me to. Pretty sure I’d remember if I’d met him before.”
“Youhavemet him!”
Skye scoffed, and Eva kept staring at her, beyond confused. A tingly feeling went down her spine, and she spun around to look at Ash up on the stage. She scanned the crowd, gauging their reactions.
It was night and day from before. There was no mistaking it. There was a noticeably strong female presence right up front beside the piano, and they were all craning to get a better look at him. Ash was talking to the others in the band and didn’t seem to notice. Eva scanned the crowd and looked for his brothers. Her confusion deepened.
They weren’t flirting and messing around anymore. They were standing in a circle, talking suspiciously to each other, looking as confused as she was as they watched Ash on the stage.
Something was going on. Something not normal. Images of bat wings and headless gargoyles flashed through her mind, but that didn’t make sense. What could her hallucinations possibly have to do with... whatever this was?
13
Feeling Off-Color
Asmodeus stayed up for three more jams. He couldn’t help it. The guitar player and band leader, Tim, kept asking him to stay, and he couldn’t refuse. He was having way too much fun. He felt bad for ditching Eva, but she was the one who’d encouraged him to stay up. He hoped she didn’t mind.
Finally, after the third set was finished, he called it quits. He needed a drink, and he wanted to find Eva. All the built-up exhilaration from playing music was making him feel high, and he wanted to release into her. Physically. With sex. Lots of sex.
He stood, already looking forward to executing that plan, thinking that Earth was a weird, mostly shitty place, but that there was absolutely no comparison to the good experiences. He’d existed for countless ages in Hell and never felt close to as good as he did now just from jamming with some strangers for a couple hours. Strangers who were all smiling and clapping him on the back as he left the stage.
He made a mental note to thank Eva for encouraging him to come out tonight, since Bel had finally gotten his hands on that Nephilim blood and he’d been looking for the perfect way to celebrate.
He didn’t notice anything unusual until he stepped off the stage.
As soon as his foot landed on the floor, a woman approached him. She smiled. Looked him right in the eye. Her hair was brown, her eyes blue. Not black or gray, but brown and blue.
He froze in his tracks.
“Hey.” She smiled and twirled a lock of hair around her fingers. There was no mistaking the look in her eyes. “That was amazing.”
“Uh—” he croaked, wondering if he’d been knocked unconscious and was having a vivid dream. Smells of beer and bodies and stuffy air assailed him.Smells.
“I’m here every week, and I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Are you new here?”
“Yeah.” Surely this wasn’t really happening.
“I’m Carly.”
“Ash.”
“That’s a cool name.”
“Yeah.” He scanned the bar, looking for his brothers or Eva, suddenly feeling totally out of his element. Everywhere he looked, he saw colors. There was blue and red and yellow and orange and purple and green and— “If you’ll excuse me, I’m looking for someone.”
“Oh, sure.” She looked disappointed. “See you around?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t look back as he stepped around her. His heart was beating strangely fast, and it felt uncomfortable.
Another female immediately approached. This one had dark brown skin and a curly black afro. Her shirt was red. She smelled like floral perfume. “Hey, you really made an impression up there!”
This can’t be happening. This is not happening. I’m dreaming.“Uh, thanks.”
“Where are you from? I’ve never seen you around before. A lot of us are regulars and you get to know people.”
“I’m from... somewhere else.” He looked over her head, desperate to escape though he didn’t understand why. This had been his dream for millennia. Not one buttwowomen were hitting on him. Subtly, with class, but he could tell by the look in their eyes that they were interested.
