The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (70 page)

“You’ll see
,” was all Draven
offered before nodding in Jerry’s direction. Thankfully for him he was at hand within a second knowi
ng Draven is not a boss you kept
waiting… for anything.

“Yes
,
Mr Draven Sir
.
”

“Jerry can you bring me a bottle from the VIP reserve
?
” Jerry looked startled like he would get caught out for saying yes. It made me wonder if he knew about the Dravens like I did. He looked terrified and let’s face it, if you did know what they were
,
then you would be in your right mind to be scared shitless.
It was a little different in my case
,
as I was already accustomed to their world even before I met the Dravens. Hell
,
maybe I was nuts but the rest of humanity would not be so easily comforted by the idea that there were Demons and Angels feeding from their emotions.

“It’s alright Jerry, proceed
.
” He prompted, making Jerry scuttle of
f
into the back room where he kept some of the bottles behind lock and key. It took me back to the night when I first stepped foot into the VIP. I had been given
a crate of bottles to take up there and had been just as terrified as Jerry.

It didn’t
take
him long to find the bottle Draven had asked for and I knew instantly what liquid the bottle held.
...
Absinth
e
.

The
bottle looked antique with a me
tal clasp at the top making it like a flask. The green liquid swirled around like a sea serpent trying to escape. RJ’s eyes widened at the sight but Justin just sighed.

“Absinth
e,
right? I had that same shit in Spain, supposed to make you lose your head but it didn’t even
touch
me
.
” He boasted
,
but I was the only one that noticed the malicious grin flash across Draven’s lips.

“
Is that so? Then you should be just fine…right?” Draven taunted
,
looking over his shoulder at him. RJ couldn’t help but giggle
at the drama play
ing
out. Meanw
hile I was ready for dropping
the two egos and going home. Draven could be the bigger person here and let this all go but no
,
here he was pushing Justin into a game he would never win. For one Draven never got drunk and secondly
,
Justin was like a pit-bull with a bone…he would never back down and give it up!

Draven had acquired some glasses and flipped the clasp on the bottle top ready to pour. He gave it one last swirl before pouring out three, one a little less full for RJ. He slid it towards her saying
,

“Ladies first
!
”

“And who said chivalry was dead
?
”
She said looking at me and I couldn’t help but smile. It was surprising that a girl like RJ was a sucker for manners, giving she was rude to most people, most of the time. However Draven wasn’t as pleasant with Justin and slid the glass down the bar which stopped right in front of him, making Draven seem like the luckiest son of a gun in the west!

I stood watching the three of them knock them back like it was water but as soon as the liquid touched the back of their throats the impulse to cough couldn’t be helped. Of course Draven remained silent, while the other two sounded like they smoked forty a day.

“Another?” Draven asked
and,
not waiting for their voices to return, he poured three more. I placed my hand over RJ’s glass and gave him a warning look.

“Hey, I’m game
.
” She protested and Draven gave me a wink she didn’t catch. I hoped this meant that he would make hers a dummy drink so it wouldn’t affect her.

“Yeah
,
me too, that
’s
good stuff
.
” He was trying to
o
hard to
sound convincing
and Draven knew it.

“Ok
,
what do you say we make this a little more interesting
?
” He suggested and I just wanted to scream
“
grow up
”
to the both of them.

“What did you have in mind
?
” Justin showed just a hint of apprehension in his eyes making Draven’s glint in return.

“RJ
,
do you want to see a little magic
?
” It was as if he was talking to a child and the size difference made it seem more plausible. Of course she reacted like a child, clapping her hands again, something she always did when she was excited.

“Gonna pull a rabbit out of your sleeve, cause you know I’ve seen that one before
?
” Justin said adding an unimpressed expression to his slouched shoulders.

Draven ignored him and placed all three
glassed in a row ready for his ‘magic trick’
.

“RJ
,
pick
one
.
” She looked at me and then back at him before pointing to the one in the middle. Draven smirked and said “Watch” slipping back to his masterful tone. He then leaned over and blew over the one at the end closest to himself making it begin the transformation. Three sets of wide eyed humans, me included watched like puppets in the hands of a master.

A black cloud had emerged from deep within the emerald liquid
making it turn into a black so
dark it had a bluish tint. Like the night of a storm raging up from the elements
,
the green land provides. The amazing thing about the change was that it passed over the glass RJ had picked, keeping it lush bottle green colour that seem fresh in comparison to the destruction of the other two drinks. It was like it floated through RJ’s choice and hit its m
ark with the next, making it to
,
a d
ark mist. Now we were all looking at two black drinks either side of one untouched.

“WOW
,
that was one hell of a trick! How in God’s name did you do that?” RJ shouted and because I was
,
at that moment
,
taking a swig of my drink
,
I nearly choked on it.
What she didn’t realise in that question is how right on the money she had been! Draven knew of course
,
the reason for my reaction but he calmly just patted my back and carried on.

“Just a slei
ght of hand really, but please drink
.
”

“Is it safe?” RJ asked a little timidly for the RJ character I knew
,
and I realised it was the first time I had seen her freaked.

“Yes
,
but I must warn you, it can have some foul side effects if you plan on engaging in any dishonourable acts
.
”
He winked at RJ but scowled at Justin.

“Yeah right, just give it here Mr Hey Presto!”
Justin reached across and downed it, trying his best not to make a gagging face with a coughing fit. RJ looked up at Draven and took note of his wicked smile at the
sight of Justin that had just d
owned every last drop. My stomach felt like a vat of acid had just been poured into it because I knew Draven and knew him well.

I recalled his words earlier and they swam around my head in their own little bubble making my brain ache.

“
Keira
knows I always keep my word
,” h
e had said to Justin and now I wanted to repeat them but I knew it was too late…
h
e had already drank his fate,                                             

That’s why Draven was smiling...

He
had won.

Chapter 31

Dishonourable Acts

Now
,
this was my dilemma. See
,
I was the one that had convinced Draven that Justin was not only to be trusted but he too didn’t hold any feelings for me but ones of friendship. This would all be fine and dandy if I still believed it to be the case but now I was as sure of trouble brewing
,
as I was that the sun would rise tomorrow.

Draven had created this
little game that would only benefit his needs. If Justin could only behave until I got him home it would work out being just a bad hangover
for him
in the morning,
providing
Draven
his assurance of Justin’s intent
ions but this w
as Justin we were talking about.
Oh
,
this was going to go terribly wrong and I would no doubt have to pick up the pieces!
I just hoped they weren’t body parts.

We all remained at the bar, each of us acting out the perfect example of ease and comfort, when not one of us was being him
self
or herself.
RJ was trying her best
to
keep the conversation light and avoiding drama. (This was solely unlike her
, I hasten to add) B
ut at least she was doing better than me. I was nodding like a toy dog on a dashboard every time someone spoke. Of course, inside I was mentally punching myself for ever thinking this night was going to go well enough for me not to remember
it
for all the wrong reasons.

Justin kept up the bad boy “I don’t give a shit who you are” persona but every now and again I could see a flash of the unknown when he looked deep into his enemy’s eyes. 
Draven remained civil despite Justin’s attitude but there was a definite undertone of the need to rip his head off as Draven flexed his muscles every time he spoke.

It
was as if the very sound of Justin’s
voice was causing
Draven
’
s demon blood to flow faster. I knew this because without being able to control it I kept seeing his Demon form come to light. In the end
,
I had to try very hard not to keep making little gasps whenever it happened as the looks I received from both RJ and Justin were ones of worry mixed with
a
weary
“Is she nuts?”
Then when I thought it couldn’t get any worse
,
Justin said the unthinkable.

“Well you know, me and Keira go way back, isn’t that right Kazzy
?
” At this point I thought Draven would blow up because not only was Justin playing fire with someone twice his size, he was playing with a man that controlled that fire! Justin had come closer towards me and put his arm casually around my shoulders as he spoke. I just shrugged away and laughed nervously.

“Yeah
,
on account of Libby and Frank… you know
,
my sister
?
” I don’t know who this last statement was aimed at because everyon
e I was looking at had sure as
shit
met my sister. I didn’t know where to stand or to put my mouth for that matter. I ended up next to RJ trying not to look at Draven who was glowing like Christmas.

“Of course
,
when I say way back, I mean we have history
.
” Oh my God
,
was he trying to get himself killed! Draven looked like he had somehow got even taller because he towered above Justin like he was getting smaller. I had to hand it
to the surfer
, he had the balls of a bull combined with
the tact of a
tidal wave and
b
oy
,
he really knew how
to make a bad situation worse.

“Is that so, then I think you had better elaborate
,
given
the confused look on
my
girlfriend
’s
face
.
” Draven
’
s voice came out in an eerie calm that went as deep as
the earth
’
s
mant
l
e
.

“Oh
,
I’m sure she remembers, it got pretty heated one night, but we never really gave it a go, on account of the distance thing but when Frank told me
Kaz had moved here…well
!
”