Chapter 68

Julia

I hadn’t been to The Cauldron since I’d broken up with Katherine more than a year ago. Things had definitely changed since my last visit. During the time I’d been a regular at the club, it had a very industrial feel. They’d been trying to remind visitors that it was an old warehouse. The décor was periodically updated. The industrial theme had been adopted during the nineties.

The witch who owned The Cauldron was old. I’m talking about a woman who was once friends with Ann Boleyn. She went by Mary, but I had no clue what her birth name was. She had no ties to the Council of Witches. Mary didn’t often go out, so it was hard to tell what had inspired her to decorate the club as it was now. The walls were covered with gold velvet, and the place was lit by Christmas lights strung across the ceiling. All the seats were upholstered with red velvet, and the staff looked like they’d stepped out of the twenties. The music was your typical loud club mix, which seemed out of place with the theme. I had to assume Mary was going for a speakeasy feel, but it was impossible to tell.

“Interesting place,” Gryph remarked loudly so he’d be heard over the music.

“This place has changed a lot since the last time I was here,” Trevor stated. “I like this better.”

“It looks like a whorehouse on Christmas,” Melina stated as she entered by his side.

Gryph had Joey, Cash, and two other werewolves from the Sonoma pack working security detail outside the club. I’d hoped Allie and Dylan would come, but Dylan had a late-night phone meeting, and Allie didn’t want to go without him.

“Thanks for letting me tag along,” Evie said as she came up beside me. “I know I’m not a total badass like Mel. In fact, I’m not much of a fighter.”

Gryph cursed under his breath but said nothing about her presence. I had no clue why it bothered him, but he didn’t seem happy about Evie being there.

“You aren’t going to convince Gryph it’s good to have you around if you don’t stop talking that way. He might call you a liability and send you away,” I teased Evie.

“I’m not that bad,” Gryph argued before studying Evie and adding, “How bad are you in a fight? Do I need to get extra security outside in case there’s a problem?”

“Don’t listen to her, Gryph,” Mel began. “My older sisters are all evil bitches. She knows how to fight dirty.”

“How am I an evil bitch?” Evie asked innocently.

“As I recall, you recently pretended to be dating a warlock so you could avoid being harassed by our aunts,” Mel pointed out. “I was forced to endure double the harassment from our aunts as a result of your lie.”

“How do you know I was pretending?” Evie asked.

“You don’t date,” Mel stated.

I could have sworn I heard Gryph muttering something about how it was good Evie hadn’t brought a date.

Evie and Mel stopped arguing long enough for us to order drinks, so I used that opportunity to steer conversation away from Evie’s dating habits. I wasn’t sure why Mel had brought it up. Dating was a touchy subject with Evie. “I can’t believe I picked a night when Floating Darkness is playing. I haven’t seen them in years.”

Floating Darkness was a local demon band that had been playing since the nineties. They preferred to avoid living in the demon realm. From what I’d heard, their loving fans could be more than a little scary over there. They didn’t just try to steal shirts or locks of hair. They often tried to steal body parts. I could only imagine what they did to really famous bands in the demon realm.

“As soon as I heard you were coming here, I begged Mel to let me tag along,” Evie admitted. “Have you seen the drummer for Floating Darkness?”

“He’s nothing compared to the lead singer,” Mel argued.

“I used to have a huge crush on the guitarist,” I admitted.

“Me too,” Trevor added. “I even tried to talk to her once.”

“She bought me a drink,” I bragged. “I get the impression you’re not her type.”

Trevor chuckled. “You just have to one up me, don’t you?”

“Julia’s just better looking than you are,” Gryph added.

“Who else did you get to come tonight?” Trevor asked Gryph. “I was so busy worrying about things from my end that I didn’t even think to ask.”

“I didn’t know you invited anyone else,” I remarked.

“Yeah, I didn’t know Evie was coming,” Gryph began hesitantly. “Rainer came by the office again when I was setting things up. He offered to help out. I figured he’d be good back-up.”

The entire group fell silent. Evie looked truly horrified.

“This is going to be a mess, isn’t it?” Gryph asked.

“I need to leave,” Evie said in a panic, looking ready to climb out the bathroom window and escape through the alley.

“You can’t leave,” Trevor told her.

When she glared at him, Mel interjected. “He’s right. We can’t afford to send any security with you, and plenty of people could have seen you come in with us. The police detectives who followed us here certainly saw you. Besides, you rode here with me and Trevor. Like it or not, you’re stuck here until we’re ready to leave.”

“What police detectives?” I asked, annoyed that no one had mentioned anyone being followed.

“There were two following us from the time we left the office,” Trevor told me. “I didn’t recognize either of them.”

“How do you know they’re police then?” I asked.

“I suppose they might not be,” Mel agreed.

“Regardless of who followed you here, we all need to stay together when we leave. I understand that this is a safe zone, but that safe zone ends the second we walk out the door. We all need to leave at the same time.”

“He’s right,” Mel agreed.

“You already said that,” Evie snapped before flashing a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be taking this out on all of you. I know Gryph made these plans before he knew I was coming. Maybe I can hide in a corner somewhere.”

“That probably won’t work since Rainer just walked in the door, and he hasn’t looked anywhere other than you,” Mel remarked with a pleasant smile.

Evie tensed. I was standing beside her, so I hadn’t seen Rainer enter either, but Mel and Trevor had. Mel looked far too delighted by her sister’s distress. While I was under the impression Mel didn’t have many more details than I did about Evie’s past with the infamous Rainer Vigil, she didn’t seem to think he’d mistreated her. If Mel had suspected such a thing, she’d only be grinning at the prospect of ripping Rainer’s balls off.

Gryph turned to greet Rainer. “Thanks for coming tonight,” he said, extending a hand.

Surprisingly, Rainer immediately took his hand and shook it with a wide grin. “The pleasure’s mine. I’m off for the next two weeks, so you can let me know if you need my help with anything. One would think I’d want to relax, considering the stress from my job, but it seems I don’t do well with idle time.”

“I can relate to that,” Gryph told him. “Your boss must keep you busy.”

“Always,” Rainer replied.

While he was making polite conversation with Gryph, Rainer’s eyes kept drifting to Evie. I’d turned to my side so I could watch both of them. Rainer looked like he wanted to devour Evie. I wasn’t sure how to read her expression. While she still looked like she wanted to run, there was also a strange longing in her eyes.

“How are you, Evangalina?” Rainer asked.

Evie tensed. “I’m fine,” she replied in a voice that barely carried over the loud music.

“How have you been?” Mel asked Rainer.

“Melina Blackwood,” Rainer mused with a shake of his head. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you since your father took you on a tour of the demon realm. You were barely twelve at the time.”

Mel laughed at the memory. “I’m surprised I wasn’t banned after that day.”

“That surprised me, as well,” Rainer admitted. “Even with your family heritage, I was certain Lucifer wouldn’t welcome you back after you released twenty dangerous demons into the human realm.”

“How was I to know they were evil?” Mel asked.

“You were specifically warned to stay away from them,” Rainer reminded her.

“Melina isn’t good at following orders,” Trevor stated.

“In my defense, they all seemed very nice,” Mel argued.

“Since we were able to recapture them before anyone was hurt, everything turned out fine,” Rainer added. His eyes drifted to Evie again, and he looked like he was about to say something to her. His gazed moved across the room. “I’m going to grab a drink.” On those words, he walked off toward the bar.

“I can do this,” Evie said to herself. “There’ll be loud music, and it won’t be hard to avoid Rainer. This isn’t a problem.”

Mel smiled and shook her head. “Just keep telling yourself that until you believe it.”