Read Online Fallen Ever After by A. C. James - Free Book Online Page B

pocket. The bottle contained a clear liquid and was marked with a label that read ‘Synthetic Inducer.’ She took the bottle from him and walked around the bar to the modified refrigerated tap system where we stored Puncture. I couldn’t see what she was doing with her back turned toward me, but when she turned back around the bottle looked empty.
    The images dissolved as quickly as they had appeared.
    She’d done something to tamper with our blood supply. It had to be some sort of poison. With the bad blood between vampires and the fae that ran the Chicago Crew there was no other logical explanation. The waitress departed still wearing the please-fuck-me expression that she’d directed at Julian.
    Neither of them seemed to notice my discomfort.
    “We need to see Tessa right away,” I said, giving Arie an imploring look. - It’s important. -
    “She’s not here right now but she’ll be here soon,” Arie said. - Can it wait? -
    I half-nodded, half-shook my head. I was just about to blurt what I had just seen in my vision when Arie gave me a puzzled look and turned to his friend and started talking.
    Fuck! What should I do?
    “So how’s business in New York these days?” Arie asked.
    Arie seemed to take a genuine interest in his friend, but panic left me momentarily frozen. I couldn’t stop thinking about the waitress. And I wondered if the fae in my vision worked for Luna’s father. I didn’t know what I should do, because I didn’t know if the vision was something that had already happened or if it was going to happen. There was no way of knowing if the waitress had already tampered with the Puncture.
    Julian shrugged. “Busy. Complicated. But I’ve managed to keep my clients out of the thick of it. It’s not really competition, but if it were I’d be winning.”
    “So what do you do, Julian?” I asked, trying to be polite even though I wanted nothing more than to get up and go confront the waitress. I wasn’t sure how to deal with it, and wished to God that Tessa were there. My mind spun in a million different directions. I looked toward the bar, but I didn’t see our waitress anywhere.
    Something bad is going to happen. I need to do something…
    “It’s not what he does, but who he represents,” Arie said.
    Julian shrugged. “I’m a criminal defense attorney. It pays the bills.”
    “Fighting to keep the damned out of jail for all of eternity. Right, Julian?” Arie asked, rhetorically.
    I didn’t know how I knew it but I sensed that my vision wasn’t a glimpse of the future, this was the present. My gut instinct told me that whatever the waitress had planned was going to happen soon and if I didn’t do something to stop it things were going to get ugly.
    - Arie…? -
    Arie looked at me with concern from my telepathic entreaty.
    “Like I said—it pays the bills,” Julian said.
    The waitress returned with our drink order just when it looked like Arie was about to say something. She slid two pints of Puncture across the table to me and Arie. I desperately wanted water, but I couldn’t think about that now. Her mouth twisted into an ugly smile before she turned to walk away. As she left our table, Arie grabbed the glass and started to bring it to his mouth.
    - Stop! - I grabbed Arie’s arm.
    Arie looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.
    - Please, you can’t. -
    “Don’t drink it.” I grabbed the glass from Arie. “There’s something wrong with it.”
    He gave me a puzzled look. “Holly, are you okay?”
    “No, I’m not.” Both Arie and Julian were looking at me as if I’d grown two heads. “I’m sorry, Julian. I don’t mean to be rude. Arie, I saw something. It’s hard to explain but we need to stop serving Puncture. Now.”
    I looked around the crowded bar at the pint glasses filled with the familiar red liquid on various tables. Bile rose in the back of my throat. There weren’t many vampires in the bar when Arie had me cuffed to the pole, but now there were plenty and