Page 108 of Throwing Shade
25
She strodeup to Laurent and gave a small wave. “Hi. I’m Jude and I’m really sorry that I hurled that godawful sculpture at you. Next time, I’ll throw a car.”
I smirked, eavesdropping through my partially rolled-down window.
Laurent swung his key chain around his finger. “You and Mitzi share an overinflated sense of your comedic abilities.”
Jude cackled, and I winced, cringing with a specific embarrassment I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager, and that I’d been happy to never experience again. “I can’t speak for Mitzi, but I’m the life of the party, darling.” She held out her wrists. “Now, I guess you’d better lock me up.” She shot me a sly grin. “Unless you’d like to do the honors, Feldman, seeing how versatile you are with cuffs? Hug that strapping cop ex of yours for me when you see him, will you?”
I thunked my head against the wheel because my forty-year-old artistically successful friend was acting like she was fourteen, and enjoying herself far too much. I was also never telling her anything again.
Thankfully, Laurent merely looked perplexed.
“I’m not coming in,” I said.
“However will I survive?” he said, dryly. “Oh wait. I’ll comfort myself with the warmth of your departing headlights like I did at the farm.”
I swallowed and mustered up a weak smile. “Great.” Even if Jude had accepted being temporarily imprisoned again, I couldn’t watch her be chained up. “Well, I have some things to do.”
Laurent narrowed his eyes and walked toward me. “Where exactly are you going at this time of night?”
“Later!” I hit the gas before he could stop me. Just because I had almost a full day before Zev’s deadline was no reason not to get the jump on him. Laurent was too much of a risk to bring since BatKian could compel him.
It was time for my second visit to Blood Alley.
I only used my cloaking to reveal the hidden space, dropping my magic the second I stepped inside vamp territory. I expected to be approached or, more likely, apprehended by a vampire sooner rather than later, but I wasn’t prepared for Zev to fall into step with me partway up the outside right lane.
“Ms. Feldman. You came alone and you didn’t bring me a new desk chair. How disappointing on both counts.” The vampire wore another bespoke suit.
“On the plus side, I didn’t sneak in. Look at me following proper protocol.” I drew in a deep breath. “I wanted to discuss some incorrect assumptions you made.”
He cocked an eyebrow, dubious, but his polite manner could have been lifted from the fussiest etiquette book when he invited me to have a drink with him.
We walked a short distance through the patrons, passing a young woman using her magic to change her hairstyle from a long braid to an explosion of tight curls.
A crescent of light flared up next to her.
I stepped forward to throw my shadow over her, but Zev clasped my arm with a curt shake of his head.
The young woman’s mouth fell open in an “oh,” and she was consumed by the blindspot, which flashed and vanished in an instant.
Everyone else had given her a wide berth, their eyes averted from the tragedy as they continued to their destinations.
It was all so senseless.
“Ohrists understand the risks inherent to their magic,” Zev said, and rapped briskly on the only door that didn’t have any red lightbulbs above it.
“Humans understand the risks inherent to getting on a boat and we still throw people a ring and a lifeline if they go overboard.”
“You may well be the sole Banim Shovavim in this city. Do you plan to save everyone? For the ohr to be replenished, people must die.” There was a crisp click of the door being unlocked. “Learn from the wolf’s experiences, Ms. Feldman,” Zev said. “You will not be heralded for your good deeds. Quite the opposite.”
The truth of his words grated on me, both for myself and Laurent. However, he was correct that I couldn’t save everyone, nor did I desire to play knight in shining armor for that community. It was a losing battle anyway: a life jacket against a tsunami of magic.
A vamp of Japanese descent welcomed us. “Zev. Perfect timing. I just chilled the sake.”
The vampire leader clasped his shoulder. “Thank you, Yoshi.”
Yoshi looked about twenty, but given how fast and gracefully he moved, like a fast-running stream, I’d bet he was quite old. There was also an ease between the two vampires that suggested a very long friendship.
