Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond(118)
Author: Kim Harrison

His gaze drifted over the shadowed booths, landing on a particularly amorous couple, arms wrapped around each other and heads locked together as the rest of the table ignored them, one blond woman with her head on the table next to her wineglass, and the other staring vacantly into the dancing mob.

Chuckling, he started to look away, but a glint of teeth yanked his attention back.

Jaw dropping, he stared as the man pulled from the woman for a breath of air, then slowly bent back to her, shifting her head slightly to show her bleeding, torn flesh. Holy shit! he thought, going cold as a wash of fear hit him. He’d bitten her! The woman was bleeding!

Cooper looked from the woman passed out on the table to the one staring vacantly at nothing. Sweet Jesus, he thought in a panic. Was he in a bestial bar? He’d heard about these, places where bored, wealthy people went to abuse poor slobs . . . like himself.

His blood pounded, and he forced himself not to move, freezing like a cornered animal. The food he’d been warned not to eat . . . Was it drugged? Why else would someone sit there and let another person take a chunk out of them!

"Emily . . ." he whispered, and she looked at him, sweet and innocent as she played with her kitten, little feet swinging in those white stockings and shiny black shoes.

"Your eyes are brown," he stammered. And her hair was black. Her hair was black. He knew it had been red, like autumn leaves. Sweet Jesus, save me, I’m going crazy.

The little girl beamed at him. "They’re only green when I’m hungry, silly."

Swallowing, Cooper looked at the kitten, unmoving in her arms, at the spot of blood on her fur. In a rush of motion, he stood. Emily had bitten her. The little cat had let her, drugged when it ate that piece of cake. Felicity had helped her.

"My God," he whispered, not knowing what to do. Emily hadn’t been smelling the cat’s fur, she had been biting it!

"Oh my God . . ." he breathed again as the band hammered out a pulse-pounding beat and people howled like savages praying to their gods. "I have . . . to go."

He scanned the bar, counting more than a dozen people unconscious, some being carried out the back to who knew what. There were too many people between the door and himself. Terrified, he took a step.

"Cooper."

Felicity’s voice cut through the noise, diving to his middle and igniting his panic. He spun, knowing his fear was obvious when she held up a hand. Her hair was darker, and her eyes were now a deep brown. Cooper’s gaze flicked behind her to the doorman hoisting one of the men she had been talking to over his shoulder and carrying him away.

"Y-You . . ." he stammered, his stomach twisting. "My God . . ." He couldn’t say it. She was a beast. She’d bitten that man. Like a vampire. He’d known the woman had problems, but this was unreal!

Felicity wiped the corner of her mouth with a pinky before saying, "How else am I supposed to know which one tasted the best?"

Flip, but still true. Reeling, he staggered back, hand reaching for the support of the chair. "Oh my God!" he said louder. "This is not happening! You. All of you! This isn’t happening!"

Emily had crawled back under the pool table, and Felicity came close, making Cooper retreat until he couldn’t move any farther. "Keep your voice down!" she almost hissed, and Cooper could smell a weird, musky smell on her breath.

Not one of the beautiful people in the bar had red hair anymore. They were all black haired now, their faces pale and their lips red as they danced, their motions becoming wilder as they left their "invites" at the tables for others to remove so they could join the dance. The music had become bestial-arms flinging, feet stomping, chanting in unison.

"Oh my God," he breathed. Feeling as if he might pass out, he fell into a chair and put his head in his hands. Things like this weren’t real! This wasn’t happening!

"Shit," Felicity said, and she stood between him and the rest of the bar. "Emily, did you let him eat anything?"

"No, Mama," came from under the pool table.

Cooper jerked when someone touched him, and he looked at the two in horror, Felicity peering at him in concern and Emily petting her kitten, passed out in her arms. "I gotta go," he said thinly, and Felicity pushed him back into his chair.

She was stronger than she looked, and Cooper flopped back, feeling his chest where she’d touched him as she moved a chair to block everyone’s view of him and sat. "If you want to die, get up and run to a door you can’t open," she said, her expression hard. "If you want to live, really live, sit down, shut up, and do what I tell you."

This is not happening.

"You can’t get out," Felicity said, her musty breath mingling with his as she leaned close. "The veil is on the cusp of turning, and we’re in the gateway."

He tried to stand again, and she put a hand on his chest, holding him down. "It’s sealed!" she whispered as she saw his panic. "There’s only one way to go, and that’s through the veil. You can either pass through with me as my consort or as part of my father’s larder. Listen to me!"

Panting, he looked up, seeing her dark eyes, her ebony hair-her red, red lips. Seeing his attention, she moved her hand from his chest to his fingers, holding them lightly. Behind Felicity, people danced, and he nodded, humoring her. He had to get out of here.

"I’m immortal, Cooper," she said, a curious lilt to her voice as if she delighted in it. "I’ve been raising Emily and Leonard alone after my fool husband died when a hunter thought a bearskin rug would be a fine thing to have. I love my children, but they grow so slowly, and I’m tired of doing this alone. I can’t trust anyone else."

Cooper tried to stand, halting when she squeezed his hand and his knees threatened to give out. "You drink blood!" he whispered, cold as he saw Emily sitting cross-legged under the pool table with the kitten. "Oh God, she’s killing that cat," he moaned.

"Don’t be silly," Felicity snapped. "That cat has to last Emily for at least a year. She’s not about to kill it." She turned, smiling. "Are you, lovey?"

"No, Mama," the little girl said, hugging the unmoving animal.

Nausea bubbled up, and Cooper forced it down. "I don’t feel good," he said, unable to keep his head up. He shivered when Felicity touched his hair, petting him. Shoving her hand off him, he stared at the lyrical figures wildly dancing, the food he had been told not to eat, and the unconscious people being carried away. "You’re fairies," he said, and Felicity blinked. "My grandmother told me never to eat with fairies or I’d be spirited away for a hundred years."