“Swell,” he said sourly.
“But you’re going to have an ugly bruise tomorrow. How bad does your head hurt?”
Pike finished his beer when the bartender brought over the new ones. “Tolerable,” he said, drinking one down as if it was medicinal.
“Headache?” I asked, but he didn’t answer. “Headache?!” I shouted, and his wandering gaze found mine. “You shouldn’t have more than one beer. Actually, you shouldn’t—”
“This isn’t necessary,” he said, and I made a scoff of a laugh as I wrung out the cloth.
“Necessary doesn’t enter into my decision-making process most days.” I dabbed at the blood under his ear, my motions turning rough when I realized it wasn’t his blood, then stopping when I discovered it hid an old puffy scar. Nice going, Rachel. “But some of this is my fault. If I’d known someone was trying to kill you, I would have let you bring a second.”
“I’ll finish if you don’t mind,” he said, and I put the cloth into his bloody-knuckled hand.
What am I doing? I wondered as I watched him work his way down to the new knife wound, dabbing the blood from his smooth, broad chest, revealing scar after scar. Some were old, some were new. Some were just scratches, but others . . . others looked as if they had been hard to survive.
“How long have your brothers been trying to kill you?” I said as I uncapped the antiseptic. “That one looks really old.”
Pike was silent, stiffening as I gave him three healthy squirts of the antiseptic spray. The one wound needed to be stitched, but I knew without asking that he wouldn’t let me do it. A butterfly bandage would do.
“Is that why you’re with Constance?” I guessed as I rummaged for the biggest Band-Aid I could find. “Is she protecting you?” It would explain why he saw to her needs when there was clearly no love between them. Most scions were dangerously infatuated with their gnomons.
Saying nothing, Pike finished the second beer and started on the third. Vamps generally had a high tolerance for alcohol, but he’d lost a lot of blood and neither of us had eaten yet. I couldn’t cart him out of here if he passed out.
“It is brothers, yes? Plural?” I prompted, and his grip on the bottle tightened, his gaze going to the stage, empty under a single, ugly spotlight. “You told that last assassin to tell your brother he came in too light.” And then you killed him. “Five against one, and they were good.” I hesitated, the sound of the bandage’s wrapper loud as I opened it. “Expensive.”
“My dad is a bastard,” he said, wincing when I pulled the cut shut with the bandage and stuck the free end down. “This is none of your business. Why do you even care?”
Good God, I was taping him together with Band-Aids when he needed a professional. “I have no idea. Jenks would say it’s a Rachel thing.” Finished, I wiped my hands clean, then opened an antiseptic package to try to get the blue out from under my nails. “I can’t stand bullies. They’ve been at you for a long time. How did you get a bounty on your head?”
Pike gingerly put his bloodstained shirt back on. “I was born.”
I waited for more, but he was silent. Worse, that blue wasn’t coming out from under my nails. “Sibling rivalry sucks.” Disgusted, I threw the wipe on the table with the bloodied rags.
He chuckled at that, choking it off when his face screwed up in pain. “So true. So true.”
I could smell our burgers cooking, and my mouth began to water as I put everything away. Pike slowly sipped at that third beer, his thoughts almost visibly beginning to shift as the immediate danger of him bleeding out grew less. “If I don’t call her, Constance will assume you kidnapped me to exchange for Zack. Are you sure that’s how you want to play this?”
I set the first aid kit on a nearby table to make room for the coming burgers. “Convince her to meet with me outside of the I.S.?” I offered, and he shook his head. I took a breath to protest, catching it when Dali headed our way, two bags of takeout in his hand. “Oh, come on!” I protested. “We fit in. We more than fit in.”
Dali put the bags on our table and frowned. “I can’t lose an entire night at the strip club because your vampire got stabbed. Take your burgers and go.”
“I’m not done with my beer yet,” I complained. My vampire?
Pike sighed and rubbed at his swollen cheekbone. “Kicked out of a strip club. Story of my life.”
Dali smiled in a not-nice way. “Would I be correct in assuming you don’t have any funds to pay for your meals?”
My wallet was probably on Doyle’s desk by now, but they didn’t take coin in Dalliance regardless. The entire demon realm ran on a complicated account system of favors and royalties from curses. I’d all but depleted Al’s considerable fortune ages ago, but I knew I had a little dribbling in. “Al has my money,” I said as Pike opened one bag and took out a handful of fries. “Get it from him.”
Dali pulled the bags out of Pike’s reach, the burgers smelling good enough to die for. “Get it from him yourself.”
Pike frowned, the beer and the blood loss clearly hitting him. “Worst date ever.”
“Tell you what we’re going to do.” Dali slammed the kitchen knife that had been tucked in his waistband into the table between the bags and Pike’s reaching hand. “You can give me a week as a waitress—”
“No,” I said, and Pike looked up, surprised at the vehemence in my voice.
“Then I’ve got an order that needs to go out.” Dali smiled to show his teeth. “Deliver it, and we’re even.” He turned to Pike and pulled the knife out.
“Done,” I said, pleased for about three seconds. Two meals and a tulpa shift for delivering a meal sounded as if we had gotten the better end. That was usually when the rug was pulled out from under me. “Why is everyone here, anyway?” I said as I peeked inside the heaviest bag to see two burgers and fries. “The curse is broken. They don’t have to stay in the ever-after.” I looked up from the moist warmth, worried. “What did they do? Are their auras that smutty already?”
Dali shook his head, a flicker of regret in his eyes. “No. Worse,” he said softly, his attention going to the trio by the stage. “They got overwhelmed. Al is the only one coping well. Probably because he has been the most active in the affairs of reality. Dalliance has always been a place to connect and resolve issues.” His attention came back to me. “Which is why I am trading two meals for a delivery of a third. Go.”
They needed me, I realized, but I wasn’t sure if that was good or not. “How far is this place?” I asked as I rolled the bag down to seal in the moist heat.