Seventeen
Portia had sent me to a hole in the wall I’d never heard of. I stood in front of the old rickety building wondering if it was going to collapse on top of my head once I stepped inside. That wouldn’t kill me, but it would piss me off. Me angry was never good for anyone.
There was an old neon sign dangling over the side of the door that flashed Girls, Girls, Girls. I frowned at it. If I walked in and saw naked supernaturals, I was turning right back around and going home to soak in my tub. Then I was going to send Portia a strongly worded letter.
With a lot of cuss words.
The first thing to hit me when I walked in the place was the light. Or lack thereof. The place was so dimly lit I could barely make out anything except for the bar and the pool table. This was definite beer goggles territory. Carefully stepping through, I made my way over to the bar and ordered an IPA from the tall, burly guy behind the counter. He grunted in acknowledgment and sent a bottle sliding across to me. I slapped a five down, saluted him with the bottle, and turned to see if I could see anyone I knew. My eyes took a moment to adjust.
To my left, three women were waving at me. One had black hair and a decidedly exotic look to her. The other was blonde and wore glasses. I recognized her. Helen was infamous in this town. The other had dark hair and was waving a glass tumbler at me.
I headed over to their table. Helen was the first to stand up and greet me. “Portia told us all about you. I’m Helen.” She held her hand out and I shook it. She pointed at the brunette. “That right there is Grace. Don’t let her touch you unless you want to know all sorts of terrible things that will happen in your future. And this is Katie. She grants wishes. Sometimes.” Helen rolled her eyes. “Though I still don’t have my Lamborghini. She’s super stingy with them.”
“Whatever, Helen. You still haven’t brought Twinkles back to me, so I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation,” Katie said.
“I do not bring back people’s pets. It’s weird and creepy, and haven’t you ever read Pet Sematary? Because you should. Then you’d never ask me again.”
Katie wiggled her fingers. “Twinkles returns. Then you get your Lamborghini.”
Grace interjected with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. We’ve been here for awhile.” She waved a hand down at the table. “As you can see.” Shot glasses littered the table.
“Hi,” I said and stood there stupidly.
Katie pulled out a chair. “Sit. Please. We have lots to talk about.”
Helen leaned forward. Her bright eyes were glazed with tequila. Or whiskey. Or whatever these ladies had been drinking. “That storm,” she said and pointed up at the ceiling. “That’s something. Am I right?”
I eyed her warily. This felt like the beginnings of a bachelorette party gone wrong rather than a meeting. “You’re right,” I said after a moment.
“Helen is a lightweight,” Grace said. “I’m the only sober one here.” She patted her rounded tummy. “I’m due in a few months. Everything hurts. But back to the storm. I knew it was coming, though I did see it slightly different than what’s actually happening here. We brought you here tonight because we need your help.”
That wasn’t part of the deal. I felt bamboozled. “Okay?”
She smiled apologetically at me. “Portia mentioned you’ve been hanging around some of those men from the Noncomformist club?”
Sterling. This had to be about him. “Not really. I had a single date with Sterling. But he’s a tool.”
Katie snorted. “They’re all tools at first,” she said.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Helen said as she poured herself another shot.
“Anywaaaaay,” Grace said, trying to get them back on track. “They have plans to do something monumentally stupid tomorrow night.”
“I’m not sure what this has to do with me,” I said honestly.
“Well, they’d planned to do it beforehand, but it took a long time for it to stop raining.”
“You’ve been watching them?” I asked. I’m not sure why I was surprised. If Portia was involved in this whole thing, I bet she’d been watching Sterling for awhile now.
Katie snorted as she poured herself another. “Almost nothing happens around here without Portia getting wind of it. Apparently these guys are trying to send a drone up in to the storm center.”
My eyebrows rose. “A drone? Do they want to lose it?”
Helen shook her head. “There not just going to lose it. They’re going to piss it off.”
“It?” I echoed. “The storm is sentient?”
“Oh yeah,” Grace said. “Sentient and getting angrier by the second. Dark forces are coming in, Maron. It’s disturbing how casual people are about this entire thing. I’ve been nervous about this since I saw it in a dream.”
