Any characters you recognize are the property of Sherrilyn Kenyon. She retains all rights to the characters and does not authorize this work. This is solely for mine and hopefully my friends’ amusement. No money is being made off of this story. This is rated PG for now….that may change.
This hasn’t been beta’d so keep that in mind…. Oh and I should mention that this story contains some spoilers through Seize the Night.
Hugs,
Maggie
The strains of Sweet Home Alabama could still be heard ringing in the air as the dust settled. Jenny Beth looked around the room to see who was left. The place wasn’t empty but the crowd was certainly downsized. Yeah, this place was definitely strange. Nick may have mentioned the busboy with the monkey to her now that she thought about it. However, she was pretty sure he never mentioned random fire drills or whatever the hell had just happened.
Her gaze moved over to front entrance where there was still something of a commotion as a new guy strolled in. The first thing she noticed was the guy was wearing his sunglasses inside the bar. Were the lights too bright for him or something? Then again maybe he was a celebrity. Everyone certainly seemed to move out of his way. Of course that could have been out of fear as well as notoriety.
He was arguably the handsomest guy she had ever seen. He was tall enough to impress and that was saying something considering Jenny’s towering brothers. The guy was wearing a black concert tee shirt of some kind and black leather pants with black boots. He had long ebony hair that seemed to flow down to blend into his shirt so she couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. He certainly looked good enough to eat, if not for the fact that something about him said he was more likely to be the predator than the prey. Yeah, he must be a celebrity. Only they exuded such arrogant self-assuredness, but who the heck was he?
As he came closer to the bar, Jenny got a better look at him. The now legible writing on the tee shirt let her know the guy was a Godsmack fan. His hair, which appeared pure ebony in the doorway, actually had streaks of royal purple running through it.
He grinned at the bartender as he greeted him. “Don’t you ever get tired of that song?”
The bartender laughed. “Nope Ash. You just seem to inspire a love of Lynryd Skynryd. Maybe we should chip in and buy you one of THEIR tee shirts.”
“Actually, I already own one. Bought it at one of their early shows before they became famous.” Ash told him. Jenny couldn’t help staring. No way was he old enough to have seen Skynryd on their first tour. He winked at her before turning back to the bartender. “Mama Lo around?”
“Yeah she’s back in the kitchen.”
Ash nodded then pointed at the bar. Looking down Jenny saw her meal had
arrived. “Better eat that before it gets cold or someone decides to help you
one.”
”I was going to. Just waiting for it cool a bit.” Jenny tried not to frown as
she flipped her back over her shoulder.
The arrogant man laughed at her. “Just too busy staring at everything to notice it more likely. It’s good. You’ll like it or so I’m told.” As he got up to move toward the kitchen he leaned in and whispered in her ear, “And try to stay out of harm’s way.”
Jenny watched the man as he walked into the kitchen then turned back to the bartender. “What kind of name is Ash anyway?”
The bartender’s smile was brittle as he refilled her drink. “It’s short for Acheron. Any other questions I can answer Miss?” The latter sounded like more of a dare than an honest offer.
Jenny looked from the now closed kitchen door to the man in front of her and back again. That name had rung a bell but she wasn’t sure where it was from. All she knew was that the odd man had bristled her nerves. How did he know she had any plans to get into trouble? What business was it of his?
Belatedly, she realized her previous question had probably sounded rather snippy and felt the heat rise on her face. She had no right to be rude to the man waiting on her just because she didn’t care for one of his customers. “I’m sorry. It must be the jet lag.” She took a bite of the food in front of her. “This is really good.”
His smile softened, becoming more natural. “Of course. Mama Lo makes the best food in town.”
“I’ve heard. I’m Jenny by the way. I just flew in from Denver on a short business trip.”
“Jenny, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Cherif.” He winked. “So Sanctuary’s reputation goes as far west as Colorado?”
“It does in some circles. I heard about the place from a friend of mine, Nick Gautier. I understand his mother, Cherise, worked here.”
Cherif gave her an odd look then said, “Yeah she used to. I have to take care of a few other customers.” He headed down to the other end of the bar before she could ask him anything else.
Feeling dismissed, the young woman sat and ate the rest of her meal. The music was good. Sweet Home Alabama had given way to Three Days Grace and Evanescence. Sighing, she looked around the room, wondering if her previous question had scared everyone off along with the bartender. She certainly didn’t get any more company as she sat there watching the ebb and flow of the crowd as her meal settled.
A young waiter finally came up to take her plate. He looked from the plate to her. “You look disappointed. Something wrong with the food Ma’am?”
She shook her head. “It’s Jenny and no it was wonderful. I apparently just asked Cherif there the wrong question and now I doubt anyone will give me the time of day.”
He chuckled. “My brothers can be a difficult to read. I’m Kyle.
What did you ask him?”
”I mentioned I had heard about this place from my friend Nick. I was asking
about his mom since she used to work here.”
He nodded knowingly. “Ah, I see. Cherise is a sore topic around here. She was very special to a lot of us.”
The blonde nodded. “I can understand that but I haven’t heard from Nick since her death. I learned about it and have been trying to contact him ever since to no avail. I was hoping someone has heard from him or could point me in the right direction to look for him while I’m in town.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you. Nick hasn’t been in here lately but that doesn’t mean much. Would you want to go to visit where your mom worked right after her death? It’s probably too painful. Listen, if his friends who know the area can’t find him, what makes you think you can?”
“If his friends can’t find him? Then he is missing?”
“I can’t say. Maybe he is or maybe he’s just taken off
somewhere to grieve alone. Your best bet is wait for him to contact you. Nobody
is going to be able to help you find him here.”
Shoulders slumped she slid off the barstool, and picked up her backpack to
go. The young waiter grabbed her arm
before she walked away though. “Jenny. I’m really sorry. Nick is my friend too.
If you have other questions or need someone to talk to, Mama Lo always has a
good ear.” He looked to the closed kitchen door then back to the girl. “She’s
kind of busy tonight but come back some afternoon. Maybe she can ease your
worries a bit.”
She smiled. “Thanks Kyle. I’ll try to come back before I leave. The food alone is worth the trip.”
He nodded and headed off to clean another table. Jenny hefted her backpack over her shoulder and started toward the door. She still didn’t know what was up with that weird guy that told her to be careful. Why did his name sound familiar? Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t know notice the trio of tall blonde men who followed her out into the street.
Walking past the bouncers at the front door, she headed down the street back toward Jackson Square. It had gotten dark while she was inside. She was pretty sure it wasn’t too far of a hike back to the streetcar lines. Once she got on there, she would be able to get back to the hotel without any trouble. She was looking forward to a long hot soak in the tub and some quiet time to write down her impressions of the city.
She also wanted to get online and find out what there was to know about Mama Lo and what was Mr. Arrogant’s name again… Ash…. Er Acheron…. She’d probably have to try several spellings to find anything. Hell she probably wouldn’t find anything anyway. She didn’t even know if it was a first name or a last name. Maybe it was his only name like Madonna or Cher, but she doubted it. He looked too sure of himself not to have some long drawn out name that probably ended in “the fourth” or had some royal title attached to it.
Looking up from her musings, she realized that she had no idea where she was. This didn’t look like the route she had taken from Jackson Square coming down. Maybe she had gotten sidetracked. At the next corner, she turned down a street of closed shops to head toward the next block over. Maybe something would look familiar there.
Halfway down the street, she realized it was darker down here. The next street wasn’t looking so appetizing after all. She turned around intending to walk back to Sanctuary and try to get a cab. She had only taken a couple steps when she realized there were three tall attractive men heading her way. They looked like they belonged on the cover of a romance novel from what she could see in the low light. She would have been thrilled except something in her told her to run the other way. Shaking her head at her foolish thoughts, she smiled and forced herself to keep moving toward the men. She was just being silly. Maybe they could help.
As she reached them, the feeling of unease seemed to increase. They were even more attractive up close so it made no sense. She wasn’t the sort of person to be intimidated by attractive men. She knew her value and if some muscle bound airhead didn’t it was his loss. Still, she couldn’t stop the goose bumps from rising on her skin as the one in the middle smiled at her.
She smiled back and hoped she didn’t look as nervous as she felt. “Hi. I know what you must be thinking. I’m another lost tourist in the Quarter and you would be right. Could I ask you to point me back in the direction of either Jackson Square or Sanctuary, whichever is closer?”
The obvious leader of the trio chuckled before asking, “You would like our help then?”
Jenny could feel her eyebrows drawing together as she tried to figure out what the man thought was so funny. Surely she wasn’t the first tourist to get lost down here in the dark. “Yeah if you wouldn’t mind. At this point, I’d gladly hug a friendly cabby.”
The man reached out to touch her face. “Well I’m not a cabby
but I’m quite friendly. Seems we both have something the other wants, now
doesn’t it. I can’t wait to taste you.”
The man to his right piped up then. “Hey I thought I had first dibs on the next
Soul we found.”
‘Soul?’ The young woman thought. ‘Damn, were these guys daimons? She was in so much trouble.’
As she jerked away from the man’s touch and started to run down the street she heard the leader yell, “Grab her before she gets too far!”