Page 105 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

Charley snorted.

“No,” Donovan said. “I mean how’d you know about the drink?Did you use your superpowers or something?”

Farrow frowned, seemingly unimpressed. “Superpowers?”

“You have money and superpowers?” the Brazilianasked.

“He does,” Charley said to her before leaning closer to herhusband. “And, of course, Donovan still flirts with me. Have you seen my ass?”She gave Farrow a wink before sauntering off to see to the customers on theother side of the bar.

Farrow took a long, hard look at that very ass beforepointing to the mirror behind the bar. “I saw her pour something from a smallvial into your drink. It’ll still be in her bag.”

“Oh, my God. I can’t imagine why she would do that. We’vebeen friends for almost two years. Why throw that away?”

Why, indeed. Donovan left them to their conversation untilthe cops arrived. He made drinks for a table of tourists raving about MeowWolf, at least according to his server, Eric—another biker who gotbumped from bartender to server when Donovan’s newest hire called in with thelatest contagion. Thus his need to bring in his pinchhitter. Aka, Charley. Had he known she’d invite her husband...

Nah, he still would’ve called. Farrow was good for business.Once word got out that he was here, the place would fill up within an hour. Thegroup of female patrons currently rushing inside his establishment, looks offeral excitement on their flushed faces, proved that. He’d have to invite thesurly billionaire in more often.

One of the new customers ordered a drink for Farrow beforeshe even sat down. Donovan filled the order and took it over to the man as twocops talked to him and the Brazilian, getting the story before they headed backto the office.

Charley walked up and propped an arm on Donovan’s shoulderagain. “Do you feel that?”

He turned to look at her, suddenly not sure he was in themood to put up with an entire bar full of Farrow fans. “My burning desire to beborn a rock in my next life?”

“No.” She spun and looked at the door to the kitchen. Itswung as if someone had just walked through it, but both of Donovan’s serverswere working the floor. “Like something is off.” Shedried her hands and took a step toward the kitchen before turning back to herhusband. “Do you feel it?”

Though he was busy corroborating the Brazilian’s story,Farrow nodded without looking over at them.

“See?” Charley said, as though that confirmed everything. “Ihaven’t felt anything like that in a long time.”

Having no clue what she was going on about, Donovan slid hisgaze to the booth as he had every few seconds since the doc had arrived. Agroup of twenty-somethings sat there now. “Shit,” he said when he realized hismark had slipped out when he wasn’t looking. “She’s gone.”

Chapter Two

One word can change someone’s

entire day: Margarita

—Meme

She should’ve known better. Actually,she would’ve known better had she not panicked. But she’d lostcontact with the others, one by one. She could no longer hear their thoughts.So, when she discovered that Elle-Ryn-Ahleethia—orCharley Davidson as those on this plane knew her—would be tending bar atDonovan’s establishment, she’d decided to take a chance. If anyone could help,it would be a god. A very powerful one from what Zhou remembered. No, not Zhou.Sia. Her name was Sia here. And then she’d seen her. Charley Davidson.The celestial being she hadn’t set eyes on in five years. Whatever Sia hadexpected to find, it hadn’t been... this. It wasn’t a human where a god shouldhave been.

And the man at the end of the bar with a woman on eitherarm, what was that about? Was he her husband? The god who’d been tricked by anentity called Satan to create a son? If that was thehusband, Charley hadn’t been kidding all those years ago. He wasa gorgeous being. Not that he had anything on Donovan St. James, but to eachtheir own.

At least she’d gotten to see Donovan again. That particular human had filled Sia’s dreams with salaciousfantasies since she landed on this rock five years ago. It must be the body shenow inhabited. She’d found it on the brink of death in a dark alley and waited.Far be it from her to change the woman’s history.

It hadn’t taken long. At the exact moment Dr. LuciaMirabal’s soul left the woman’s body, Zhou entered it to become the tenaciousdoctor known to her friends as Sia. Corporeal possession was all in thetiming—and nine-tenths of the law.

When she inhabited it, all the doctor’s knowledge hadspilled into her, allowing Zhou to pick up where Dr. Lucia Mirabal had leftoff. After a lengthy hospital stay, that was. The body still had to recoverfrom the wounds the attacker had inflicted.

But all the baggage that came with said body was provingmore hindrance than help to Sia now. Humans had these annoying little parasitescalled hormones that seemed to control both the physical and the mentalwell-being to an alarming degree. And they were proving far more complicatedthan a simple ka-zhouah,one who’d spent centuries trapped in a dark void while slowly being drained ofher energy, would’ve imagined. But seeing him again, possibly for the lasttime, was worth the risk of being found out. Of Charleyrecognizing her and, fearing for her daughter’s safety from a sentient beingwith a questionable history, vanquishing her before she had a chance toexplain.

Either way, Charley was human now. It mystified Sia how thatwas even possible. How did one go from being a god to a human? Maybe it was atrick of some kind. A mystical cloak to make other preternatural entities only thinkshe was human. If it were, it’d worked. She’d fooled Sia, and Siawas never easily fooled.

One of Donovan’s best friends was working as a bouncertonight. A biker named Michael. She recognized both him and Donovan’s otherbest friend, a younger kid named Eric, who looked like a movie star. After acommotion of some kind, Donovan summoned Michael over to the bar. A few secondslater, Michael escorted one of the women to the back. It all looked ratherominous—and became Sia’s cue to leave.

She took one last look at the scruffy biker behind the bar.Or, more pointedly, at his wild, dark hair and impossibly broad shoulders.

“What can I get you, Doc?” Eric asked. He was playing servertonight, which was unusual. Everything about that night was strange, thoughEric did look adorable with an apron tied around his waist.