Page 3 of Pretty Little Shadow
Late bloomers for the win.
I put on a skintight black romper, threw my long, gray hair up in a ponytail, and drew my eyeliner in dramatic wings. Black lipstick followed, too.
The routine was as easy as breathing for me, after so many years of it. The makeup was a mask. One I loved deeply.
I shoved my fuzzy-socked feet into my combat boots before pulling up Dare's location and comparing it to the map app I had on my phone.
I could transport through the shadows, because I basically was one, but I could only do it if I had been to the place I was going. I had to know exactly what it looked like to appear there.
Luckily, Darius happened to be in one of Grayson's bars.
I had an idea forming. A small one. A terrible one, probably.
But it was still an idea.
Grayson made me learn how to be a bartender for a few weeks, shortly after I was officially an adult.
He'd been helping me try to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I'd complained endlessly, and I had been shitty at making drinks, but most people in his breweries just wanted the enchanted beer anyway.
If I showed up, none of his employees would tell me I wasn't allowed to work there.
While most immortals only whispered about me, pretty much all of the demons in the Shadow District knew what I looked like and made it a point to stay the fuck away from me.
I think they were all worried I'd do what Grayson had been trying to convince me to for the past ten-ish years and agree to take the vampire throne.
There was no chance I would ever let that happen. Zero. I'd sooner die.
But anyway.
I could pretend to be a bartender for a few minutes. Just long enough to see if Darius was still there. He could've already hooked up with someone, or changed his mind about making a bargain with me.
I wasn't going to allow myself to imagine how it would affect me if he wasn't interested.
After checking my eyeliner and lipstick to make sure I looked intimidating enough, I focused on my shadows, and used them to travel to the parking lot behind the brewery.
Someone swore and jumped away as I appeared directly in front of them.
Whoops.
No, I wasn't going to acknowledge them. Too uncomfortable.
I strode through the back door and into the building. Everyone who saw me usually either grimaced or stepped away in fear, so I didn't attempt to make eye contact with anyone.
There was a row of half-aprons hanging near the door that led directly behind the bar. I grabbed one without looking at the name on it, and tied it quickly behind my back. It was mine for now.
"Rae, uh... what are you doing here?" The manager asked.
I glanced her way, pausing just for a moment.
Lorelai.
She'd been there the last time I was, too.
She was a lamia, obnoxiously friendly, a decent manager, and not a threat.
"Bartending," I said.
She blinked. "Regularly? Or..."
