Page 1 of Blood & Bones

CHAPTER ONE

The Wayfarer was jumping when I got to work at 6:30. As the days grew longer, my start time would be pushed forward to ensure that no lingering rays of the sun remained when I stepped outside of my house, but for now—and for a couple of months—I was still good. As it was, I worked until two AM, then spent about an hour cleaning the bar and closing the till.

As I pushed through the doors, the beads in my hair the only sound I made besides the stiletto heels of my boots, several of the regulars caught a glimpse of me and waved. I waved back, giving them a cursory smile. It felt odd, smiling. It wasn’t something I’d done much in the past twelve years or so, not since Dredge had turned me and sent me home to destroy my family.

But I had the last laugh on him—if you could call it that. Camille had saved everyone in the house, and she had saved me. At first, I cursed her for it. Now, I’d do anything I could to help her. She had saved my life, and I’d do what I could to save her. I still woke out of nightmares of blood and pain; I still wandered the dreamscape in a fiendish hunger, thirsting for blood, but now when I woke, I could control myself. And I never slipped. If the hunger ever threatened to overwhelm me, I’d lock myself in my room and distract myself until the thoughts retreated into the dark corners of my mind again.

“Hey, Menolly! What’s shaking?” Jocko said from behind the counter. Jocko was a height-challenged giant who had come to the city, working for the OIA, because his people had cast him out. He was a congenial sort and a good boss. He never once made a snarky comment about me being a ‘blood-sucker’ or anything cringy like some of the wannabe fang-fuckers did. I had no interest in taking a bloodwhore. In fact, anything that reminded me of my sire made me run far, far away.

“It’s hanging,” I said. “What’s it looking like for tonight?” I glanced around. Mostly, we had a clientele of regulars—almost all Supes with a few humans mixed into the crowd. Once in a while we’d get the haters coming in, shouting about abominations and freaks, but our bouncers knew how to take care of them. And if the bouncers couldn’t convince them to leave, all I had to do was lower my fangs and give them a giddy smile. That set them running.

“We’ve got a good mix—some newbies in from Otherworld, and it looks like our usual mix of regulars. The Wayland brothers are here, so you know we’ll need to toss them out on their asses come about ten.” But he laughed as he said it.

I grinned. The Wayland brothers were twin werepumas who liked to get drunk and start shit-talking the wolf-shifters. Inevitably, at least once a week, we’d end up breaking up a brawl and tossing all of them out into the street. But Jocko never banned them because they spent a lot of money here, and they never really hurt anybody.

“Well, then, it sounds like it’s going to get lively in here,” I said, slipping behind the bar and tossing a bar rag over my shoulder. “Okay, I’ll get started. Why don’t you leave a little early? It’s fine with me.” Jocko worked his ass off, and his girlfriend—an extremely tall Amazon—always complained that he was married to his job. “Take Eliana out to dinner.”

“You sure?” he asked, brightening up.

“Yeah, I’ve got it. Let’s face it,” I added. “The job isn’t rocket science, and I’m good at it.”

“That you are. Thanks, Menolly. See you tomorrow night. Make sure everything’s locked up, and if you need help, ask Dana. He’s on call tonight.”

Dana was another bartender, and he was a wolf-shifter. He was six-seven, and though his height made Jocko feel inadequate, Jocko was never snide toward the guy. They got along great, actually. In fact, the enter bar staff was like a family in its own right.

“Oh, Tavah’s watching the portal tonight. She’ll let you know if anybody wanders through who shouldn’t,” Jocko said as he slipped into his jacket and headed toward the door.

Tavah was a vampire as well, and when she was on portal-duty, the miscreants from Otherworld never made it out of the basement. She wasn’t picky about her food, but she never attacked anybody who didn’t deserve it.

“Thanks, I’ll drop down and chat with her in a bit. Oh, are we still looking for a waitress? In case anybody comes in to answer the ad?” We’d lost a waitress a week ago when she decided to desert the city for a farm in the country.

“Yes, we are. And if we get any takers and you think they’ll work out, feel free to hire on the spot. We need someone else on the floor.” Jocko waved and headed out the door.

I scanned the bar. Two new customers had come in and were waiting at the counter, so I headed over to take their orders.

My name’s Menolly. Over in Otherworld, it’s Menolly te Maria, but over Earthside, my sisters and I used our mother’s last name instead of her first name, so I was Menolly Rosabelle D’Artigo, and I was a vampire. Years ago—back before the dark days landed in my life—I was a jian-tu, a naturally born acrobat who could scale walls and do standing flips that put contortionists to shame. But then, in one night forever burned into my memory, I fell off the ceiling where I was spying on a group of known vampires and fell into their midst.

They say that some events sear themselves so deeply into your soul that you can never forget them. I learned how true it was. Dredge, the vampire running the nest, decided not to kill me—not forever, at least. He taught me what torture is, and what it’s like to have your soul shattered. Early morning, before dawn, he sent me out into the world, and my life changed forever. All my dreams died with me, and I was reborn a monster, my soul trapped in an unchanging body, thirsting for blood.

And now, I was finding a way to live life in a new way. Camille supported me one-hundred percent, and Delilah did her best, though I knew that I still scared her at times. But I hadn’t fully become comfortable with who I was…and I wondered if I ever would be.

By the time the Wayland brothers showed up, the crowds had thinned out a little. I hopped onto a stool behind the counter and glanced around the bar. The Wayfarer had quickly become a home away from home, and I found a certain pride in working here—something I truly needed. None of us had ever been stellar OIA agents, but we’d tried. We’d done our best, but there were definitely no accolades on our shelves, and the fact that we’d been sent Earthside because our fucking supervisor had a perpetual boner for Camille told us exactly what we needed to know about our status there.

After telling Shell, a selkie and our remaining waitress on the night shift, that I’d be back soon, I hung up my bar rag and headed down to the basement. Tavah was there, next to the portal. Two large standing stones had been erected, creating the portal between them. The energy snapped and crackled as it waited for the next visitor to come through.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked, sitting down in the chair opposite her. She put down her book and gave me a fangy smile. She was dressed in leather, her long hair swept back in a braid.

“Not much. Been a slow week, which is no skin off my nose,” she said. “How’s the search for a new waitress going?”

“Not great. But Jocko just put up the notice last week, when Jewel left. I’ve got leeway to hire someone, if anybody shows up that is.” I stared at the portal. “It’s hard to believe that Y’Elestrial is just one step away from here,” I murmured.

“Yeah, but you couldn’t pay me to step through that thing.” Tavah shook her head. “I gather vampires are treated even worse over in your world than ours.”

“Not so much my world anymore,” I said. “Trust me, it’s beautiful over there, but I sure don’t want to return. There’s nothing left for me there now.”

“What about your sire—” Tavah stopped as I turned a cold stare her way. “I take it that’s not a good question to ask?”

One thing about vampires—regardless of race, we tended to be blunt with each other.