Frost & Bothered (6 page)

D
ane hadn’t found anything, or rather, he had found more of the same. Club employees who remembered seeing Rico around, some of them recalling that he’d been there the night before, but none had noticed when he’d left.

I sighed. “So this is a dead end.”

“Guess so.” Dane chugged the rest of his ale. “We don’t have to leave, do we? You want another one, Logan?”

He didn’t bother asking if I wanted a refill, since I’d barely made a dent in mine. Logan accepted, and leaned close once Dane headed for the bar. “There’s still whoever watches the exit to talk to.”

“True. I’ll go look.” I managed to lever myself out of my chair.

“Do you want some company?”

“Um, no. I need to powder my nose first.”

“Okay. I’ll be here.”

I left in search of the restroom, and after asking a waitress in glittery purple, found it. No magic present in there. It was just a restroom, clean and, amazingly for a club, nothing broken. While waiting for a turn at a stall, I wondered if asking Logan along had been a mistake. Maybe I hadn’t been in love with Nick, but we’d spent a lot of time together. People grow accustomed to being part of a couple, and when they aren’t, they miss it.

At least, I did. Witness my realization about why I’d been with Nick in the first place.

The truth was, I did miss the cuddling while watching movies, or watching Nick try new foods, and yes, the sex. I also missed seeing Nick wake up in the morning, stretching with a drowsy smile.

Missing those sorts of things, and the person they were attached to, was what caused rebounds. When you were rebounding, you never chose a person for themselves. You chose them to fill the empty space.

“Have you guys seen Becky?”

More than eager to quit my current line of thought, I looked at the woman who’d walked in. She was a pretty brunette in jeans, pirate boots, and a black leather corset.

“She probably hooked up with Tommy,” another woman said. She had neon red hair.

“He’s dancing with Michelle.”

The line shuffled forward, the two before me hurrying into vacated stalls.

“She got mad and left then. After all, draaaaaama queen!” Neon Red sang.

The brunette wrinkled her nose, considering her friend’s response. “Yeah, I guess. Hurry up. We’re ordering jello shots.”

My turn arrived. I took care of business, made certain of my dress, washed my hands, and left. I avoided the bar and looked for an exit sign, but didn’t find one. The restrooms, a door with an “Employees Only” sign, but nothing else.

Not even the door we’d entered the club through. Weird. I flagged down one of the waitresses. “Hi, I was wondering if you could help me. Where’s the door that was here?”

She smiled. “This is like, the weirdest place. It’s there, but only when people are coming in.”

“But it leads to the coat room, right?”

She nodded, orange glitter flashing. “Yeah, it does. I mean, it kind of does? Like I said, this is the weirdest place. When you’re ready to leave, it’ll be the exit, and you’ll be on the other side of the coat room. That’s where you’ll pick up your coat, and then, you’ll go out the Night Room, instead of the White one.”

I sighed. “Friggin’ elves and their magic.”

The waitress laughed. “Right? But they pay well, and we don’t have to wear heels.”

“Big perks,” I agreed. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Skirting the dance floor, I walked back to the table and sat down. “Can’t find the exit, because it’s a magic exit and doesn’t appear until you’re ready to leave.”

Dane put his tankard down. There were a total of seven on the table, but he didn’t look drunk. “Kind of not ready to leave yet.”

I wasn’t either. Personal worries aside, it was nice spending time with Logan without Danielle scowling at me. I checked my mental Rico file to make certain the gold shimmer was there. It was.

We didn’t know anything bad was going on in regard to him. He wouldn’t be the first twenty-one-year-old to check out for a day or two. As had been suggested, Rico could be shacked up with a girl, having a little vacation before returning to his daily grind. Mrs. Guerra would probably yell at him for an hour or two for scaring her, and he’d promise never to do it again.

It wasn’t like we had anything else to go on anyway. I looked at my drink. It appeared to be mocking me. “Challenge accepted. We are off the clock.”

A
bout halfway through my pina colada, I stopped flinching each time Ginger popped up, and the practice run I’d talked Logan into appeared to be turning into a real date.

Dane checked in from time to time, often with a girl or two attached, but for the most part, Logan and I were left to ourselves.

We danced, talked about my new place and his hopes for a new place for the clan. He wanted to know all about the period of my life when I’d woken up from the coma to beginning to work at Arcane Solutions.

“I’m in the tub for the first time in a year, and kind of dozing because hey, bubble bath and no worries about freezing myself into a giant block of ice again.” I had to pause as we both laughed. I’d already told him about that misadventure. “And I thought I heard Mom call me.”

Logan was beginning to chuckle. “And?”

“I opened my eyes, and there I was, standing in the kitchen wearing nothing but bubbles, with Mom and five of her friends staring at me. That’s how I learned I could teleport.”

He began laughing.

“It wasn’t funny, dude.” My statement had no force, because I was laughing too. “I nearly died from embarrassment.”

“Sorry.” Logan, his face flushed, reached for my hand. “Really.”

“No, you’re not.” My attempt to pout failed for two reasons. One, that event was funny now, with a few years’ perspective. Two, he was holding my hand, his thumb stroking the back of it.

“Okay, you’re correct. I’m not sorry, but I’ll tell you some of my most embarrassing moments sometime. Then you can laugh at me. Deal?”

“Deal.” Tingles were attacking me again, and they weren’t the warm, fuzzy kind. I squeezed his hand before pulling mine away. “Nose powdering time again.”

“Okay.” He looked at my drink. “Your ice has melted. Do you want a fresh drink?”

“Mm,” I checked my balance as we both stood. There was a faint buzz in my ears. “No, but maybe more ice?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

We went our separate ways. There wasn’t a line at the restroom this time, and I noticed a clock on the wall when I went in. It gave the time as a few minutes before midnight.

It felt as though we’d been there longer than a few hours. Maybe Thorandryll had a stretchy time spell on the place, to sell more drinks or something. I could totally see maximizing profits being a thing for him.

Once at the sink, I checked my makeup as I washed my hands, ignoring Ginger darting from side to side behind me. Two women walked in while I was leaving, so I exchanged smiles with them.

Logan was at the table, and there was fresh ice in my drink, bringing the level up to about three-quarters to the top.

Out on the dance floor, Dane was rocking with a blonde to Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. I sat down. “He’s having a blast.”

“Looks like it.” Logan watched Dane spin his partner out and back. The blonde planted a laughing kiss on my partner’s cheek. “He’s always been one of our more outgoing people.”

“And you’re not?”

“Let’s just say I’ll be glad to retire from the clan’s limelight when the time comes.”

“When will that be?”

He shrugged. “When Terra choses her mate.”

Puzzled, I asked, “But isn’t she the leader now?”

“She’s our Queen, yes, but turning the reins over takes time. She has to learn how to handle everything herself. What’s okay to delegate and not worry about, what she needs regular reports on, and what she’ll need to stay on top of herself instead of depending on someone else to take care of it.”

I propped my elbow on the table and rested my chin in my hand. “You’re kind of peeling the shiny off the whole royalty thing.”

“Sorry. It’s more complicated here than it was back home. We didn’t have to depend on things like money, working for other people, or if the grocery store is out of something.”

“My mom says life always seems simpler when you’re looking back.”

“Sunny’s a wise woman.”

“Yeah. Think I’ll keep her.” I took a drink, wondering if I’d ever reach the bottom of the damn glass. “Do you guys celebrate Christmas?”

“Winter Solstice, which I hope you’ll be able to join us for. It’s December twenty-second this year.”

I’d dropped my arm to rest on the table, and he slid his hand closer, our fingers barely touching. “I’d love to. Is there a ceremony or something?”

Leaning forward, Logan put his hand completely over mine. “There will be food, drink, and a huge bonfire. The high point of the evening is dancing naked around it.”

I stared at him. His lips twitched after a few seconds. “Dude, that’s so not funny.”

“The look on your face was.”

“Meanie.” I hesitated. “You are joking, right?”

He laughed and sat back. “Yes. What we really do is write down our wishes for the new year, tie them to a twig or pine cone—something that will burn to ash—and toss them into the bonfire.”

“Neat idea. Does the smoke carry the wishes to the gods or something?”

“You’d have to ask Moira about that. We collect the ashes. Before the Melding, we used them to fertilize our fields.”

Interesting. “What do you do with them now?”

“Save them. When we have land of our own again, we’ll use them in flowerbeds or whatever we have available.”

“So the ashes are,” I thought about it for a second. “Positive energy?”

Logan nodded.

“That’s pretty cool, and you’ll have eight years of it to spread around. Have any of your wishes come true?” None of my birthday wishes had, unless I counted my last one: Live to see my next birthday. I’d made the same wish a couple of weeks before, on my twenty-third birthday, and felt certain I’d be repeating that wish for years to come.

“A few have. We made some useful connections, found a place to live, and we haven’t lost anyone.”

We both moved to take drinks. Once I’d swallowed, I asked, “You haven’t made any wishes for yourself?”

One corner of his mouth quirked. “I did last year.”

“And?” I prompted, my curiosity quick to rise.

“It may come true. Looks promising.”

“Hm. Not going to tell what it is, are you?”

“That jinxes them.” Logan hid a smile in his tankard. I could tell because the corners of his eyes crinkled.

“Well, I hope it does come true for you.” Didn’t matter what his wish had been. I had ample evidence that Logan was a great guy, one who cared about and for his people. Other people too. He deserved having a personal wish or three come true.

“Thank you.” The music had slowed down again. He placed his tankard on the table. “How about another dance?”

“Absolutely.”

W
e danced more than once, because I dared Logan to try Two Stepping to rock songs. It was a dare he accepted, picking up the pace and adding enough spins that I was slightly dizzy and breathless when the fourth song ended.