She looked over Zayvion’s shoulder at me, and her eyes were sapphire in sunlight.
“Allie?” Zayvion said-had been saying, I realized. I hadn’t heard him over the din. Well, that and I was still thinking a little slow.
“Sorry.” I looked over at him. “Kind of loud in here.”
His Zen was on full strength, making his face a dark, unreadable mask. But his gaze held some worry as he searched my face.
I smiled to let him know I was okay.
“This is Chase Warren,” he said.
I stepped around Zayvion enough to shake her hand. Calluses on the girl. Strength. She obviously worked for a living.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“So, you’re
the
Allie Beckstrom,” she said. “Zay’s said a lot about you.” She gave me the oh-so-female up-down appraisal that made me want to grind my teeth. Really, I didn’t care what she thought about me, my faded jeans, or my sweaty, messy hair. And I smiled at her to let her know it.
“That’s nice,” I said to cut this little convo short. I took the only seat between Zayvion and Shamus, and leaned both elbows on the bar.
Shamus had finally managed to snag the attention of one of the girls behind the counter and she stood there, a small pad of paper in her hand.
“What are you buying me, Shame?” I asked.
“Beer. Wait. Bet you’re a wine girl.”
“Beer’s fine,” I said, even though I didn’t like beer much, “dark.” Then to the waitress: “Could I get a glass of water, burger, and fries, please?”
She nodded and headed off.
“Nice shiner,” Zayvion said to Shamus. “How did she do?”
Shamus leaned back so they could talk behind my back.
“She’s sitting right here, you know,” I said.
“Fucking amazing. I can’t believe the amount of power she pulled on-and you were right-she took it in her body, right through it. Got my mum’s panties in a knot, seeing all that. Might even make your bullshit about you two being Soul Complements a little easier for the Authority to swallow.”
Zayvion made a little
huh
sound, then took a drink of his beer, hiding his smile. He was exceedingly pleased. It rolled off him in waves.
“Did your mother actually say she was impressed?” Chase, who had leaned forward so she could see around Zayvion, asked. I caught a whiff of her vanilla perfume.
“As much as.”
“That’s a no, then.” Chase gave me a hard, flat look, and I wondered what the hell I’d done to piss her off.
Maybe it was just hate at first sight. Lucky me. ’Cause that’s what I needed-another person who didn’t like me.
I turned away from her. “What do you mean ‘bullshit about Complements’? We are, aren’t we?”
“Not without Authority sanctioning you’re not,” Chase said.
This time I looked at Zayvion. “I thought you said we were.”
Shamus laughed. “Oh, sure. If I had a dollar for every time a man used that line to get a woman in bed, I’d be richer than your daddy-wait. Richer than you, Beckstrom.”
“Shame,” Zay said, “you talk too much.” He leaned in toward me and the hops smell of beer mixed with his pine cologne. “It isn’t easy to quantify. Soul Complements are rare. So rare it is hard to prove.”
“But there is a way to tell. Some kind of test?”
“Yes. There is a way.”
“Let me guess, it’s dangerous?”
“Yes.”
Great.
“And if we don’t do it?”
Zay pressed his lips together. I noted Chase, behind him, suddenly stiffened. “That’s a choice we make. It’s a practical choice. A safe choice. It’s the choice people who are afraid to risk it all take.”
Chase swore. She dug money out of her pocket and threw it on the countertop next to her empty glass. Her pale cheeks were washed in red.
“But?” I asked.
“Safe doesn’t get you anywhere in life,” he said.
Chase, now standing, tipped her head up and groaned loudly. “Give it a damn rest.”
“Problem?” Zayvion asked her while still looking at me.
Chase, behind him, looked back down. The smile she wore was not pretty-no easy feat with a face like hers.
“With you?” she said. “Plenty.”
“Will you two shut the hell up?” Shamus said. “This is supposed to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Hot new girlfriend meets hot ex-girlfriend, both get along like twins separated at birth, there’s probably at least one drunken three-way, and voilà, happy all around.”
“Girlfriend?” I said before I could bite back my surprise.
“Shame,” Zayvion warned.
Shamus laughed. “Priceless. You didn’t tell her? You are such an idiot.”
Zayvion gave me a pleading look while Chase scowled death at Shamus. I leaned back, and Shamus swiveled his stool completely around so that both his elbows were on the counter and his back leaned against it. He flashed Chase an innocent smile and held up his middle finger like he’d just discovered he had one.
“Allie,” Zayvion started.
“I just want my burger and beer,” I said. It came out calm, considering the thoughts spinning through my head. Normally I would be pissed off that Zayvion had put me in this kind of social situation without telling me he used to date her. If I’d known they were lovers, I would have handled this totally differently.
Or maybe I wouldn’t have. In the long run, I didn’t think it mattered.
See? I can be practical about these kinds of things. I mean, I knew he hadn’t been saving himself for me all his life.
And besides, he and I were together now, even though he didn’t look quite as sure as I was about that. His Zen slipped and he looked an awful lot like a man who realized he might have made a big mistake.
Chase leaned full body against Zayvion’s back, wrapping her hands up under his arms so she could splay her palms over his chest.
He tensed, and it wasn’t love in his eyes. Not quite anger either. Maybe tolerance. Maybe denial. It got me thinking about those scars he said he had on his heart. It got me thinking maybe she had put them there.
Chase tipped her head down to Zay’s face, her perfect lips so close she wouldn’t have to move an inch to lick him. “Fuck you, Zay.” I didn’t actually hear her words over the noise in the room, but I was plenty close enough to read her lips.
Shamus, who must also be pretty good at lip reading, laughed again.
“Good night, Chase.” Zayvion did not move, but it was like he suddenly drew a wall of ice between himself and her.
She tipped her head and rested her chin on his shoulder. She smiled at me, and for the life of me I could not figure out what kind of game she was playing.
Have I mentioned I have always sucked at all the bitchy backstabbing games women play? Consider it mentioned.
“Enjoy,” she said.
I nodded. “I will.” Simple. Honest.
I guess that wasn’t what she was hoping for. She stood, turned off her smile, and strode out the door on this side of the building.
“That. Was. Awesome,” Shamus declared.
Zayvion rubbed the back of his neck. “You,” he said, spearing Shamus with a look, “talk too much.”
Shamus chuckled. “And you are too easy to rile up, but you’ll forgive me anyway.”
“No,” Zayvion said, “I won’t.”
From the tone of his voice, it was clear he liked Shamus. Maybe the way a person likes paying their taxes, or hanging out with an annoying little brother.