Page 50 of Flesh and Fury
“To new friends. We couldn’t do this without you.” After they clinked glasses and sipped more of their beer, he had to admit, he was feeling pretty good about things. Priest had said she was proud of them and if he had to admit things to himself, he would agree. All their travels up and downCalifornia, and all the hand shaking he and Ari had done over the last five or six long months, had really paid off. They’d made new alliances and could now boast a whole host of new friends. They’d outdone themselves, even when faced with some challenges like toe sucking vampires and fucked up, scary space faeries.
Eoghan was taking another drag from his ale when two men dressed all in black came walking into the alehouse. He wouldn’t normally have noticed them except that they each wore cowboy boots and black hats, decked out in long-sleeved, black cambric shirts and well-worn jeans, looking like they’d just walked off the set of Yellowstone. He stared for a minute and then dragged his gaze away from them, only to find Ari staring at him.
“What is it?” Ari asked, looking over at the bar where the two men sat down side by side, facing their direction.
Eoghan shrugged. “Probably nothing. It’s just that I didn’t realize there were real life cowboys in Denver.” As he watched the two men, both turned and made eye contact with him, confirming that he’d been overheard. For a split second, an almost imperceptible purple ring flashed in their eyes before they both blinked and looked up at Binks, frowning at the young man as he walked over.
“Denver is loaded with cowboys,” Andy said to him.
The others turned to look at the men who’d begun some sort of argument with the cute bartender. As Eoghan watched, one of the men reached out and grabbed Binks by the wrist, holding his hand on the bar as he tugged at the iron grip. The man was wearing a snarl on his face and flashed bright purple eyes for a second.
“Cowboys yes, but are they always shifters?” Ari whispered under his breath.
The raised voice they recognized as Binks drifted over to them. “You don’t have any claim over me, Chris, not since you started chasing Roy’s tail. Now, let go!” He yanked but the taller, more muscular man held him tight. It took every cell in Eoghan’s body screaming at him not to intervene, to stay in his seat.
The cowboy Chris sneered at the bartender, smiling evilly. “I love it when you fight back, little kitty.”
“Fuck this,” Andy suddenly said, starting to get out of his seat when Rana’s hand shot out and grabbed his forearm.
“Stop it and sit down, Andy! I know your feline is clawing right now, but there will be no catfights in the middle of a downtown Denver bar if I can stop it.”
Eoghan hadn’t thought they’d have to worry about anyone shifting in public with humans around. Most shifters were too careful to do anything so stupid. And the instinct for self-preservation and secrecy around humans was something trained into them when they were young. When the shit had turned bad during their visit to Alvin Walter’s bar and they’d witnessed the fast healing of the waitress, it hadn’t been a big deal; all the patrons as well as the employees in the bar at the time were werewolves.
This time around, things were different. This was a very public restaurant in a very human-run, high profile hotel and they couldn’t afford to have a shifter incident here.
“I’ll do something about this,” Ari suddenly said, standing up.
“Ari! Sit down,” Eoghan hissed, grabbing his sleeve.
He turned and smiled at Eoghan, bending close. “It’s okay, Eoghan,” he whispered for his ears only. “I’m human and someone has to diffuse the situation before shift happens.” He chuckled at his own play on words.
“That’s a bad idea,” Eoghan said, even as Ari turned his back on them.
He glanced over at the shifters at the table. They were all watching him and when Joe nodded and opened his mouth, Eoghan was really hoping his friend would have something to say.
“He’s right, Eoghan. We’re shifters. If any of us tried to do something to diffuse the situation, it would turn into a real problem. It’s best if we let your partner try and stop those three idiots from shifting.”
Eoghan nodded, feeling his stomach do a flip-flop as he turned back to find Ari had walked up behind the two cowboys, positioning himself between them at the now very busy bar. When Ari clapped a large hand on each cowboy’s shoulder and grinned at them, he felt his heart skip a beat. The one which Binks had called Chris, instantly let go of the young bartender’s arm.
Ari bent close, insinuating himself between the two cowboys and saying something Eoghan couldn’t hear. Both men immediately nodded and slid off the barstools. The bartender nodded, said something to his colleague behind the bar, and then ducked under the cut through, and came out in front of the bar.
“What the hell is he doing?” Eoghan said to himself as Ari glanced over and then pointed at the exit with a big grin on his face.
“It looks like we’re about to have a catfight after all,” Rana said, disgustedly. She turned to Andy. “Come on, Andy.” She stood up. “If those domestic short hairs really want a cat, it’s time we give them you.”
Andy rubbed both hands together gleefully as the others stood up. Eoghan watched Joe say something to their serverbefore pointing to the exit and flashing her his badge. As he came around the table, he smiled at Eoghan.
“I just told her not to give away our table. We’d be right back to eat those steaks, but one of our friends has to show us something quite urgently,” Joe said as they all headed for the exit. “I showed my badge so she wouldn’t think we’re running out on her without paying and asked her to have the kitchen keep everything warm.”
“What in the hell has Ari gotten me into now?” Eoghan asked, feeling upset and rattled.
“Don’t know, but I gotta tell you, the dude has style,” Alo said, chuckling.
“Exactly what none of us needs right now. I could kill him.”
“Cheer up, Eoghan. They’re house cats,” Andy said, already unbuttoning his shirt and revealing his wide, hairy chest of black fur.
“When I brought my house cat home, he left so many scratches on me while ‘playing,’ I practically needed a blood transfusion,” he said, mock playing with air quotes.