Read Online Reliquary (Reliquary Series Book 1) by Sarah Fine - Free Book Online
Authors: Sarah Fine
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teasing their partners, running the sticks along their bodies. It reminded me of the magic den the night before, only for the younger crowd.
I scanned the room and was relieved that the jerk was nowhere in sight.
I moved along the wall, narrowly avoiding a few grasping dancers trying to pull me into their clothed orgy. My body trembling with the temptation even as I stared in shock at some of the stuff taking place in plain view, I managed to reach the bar without losing myself again. To one side, people were stumbling along and ducking into different rooms down a long hallway. They seemed more stoned than the people on the dance floor.
“What can I get you?” asked the bartender, an Asian woman with short, spiky hair and intricately patterned tattoos down the sides of her neck.
I pulled out the card Bart had given me. “I was actually hoping I could talk to Nestor. I have a referral from Sandro.”
She glanced down at the card and nodded. I wanted to lean over the bar and kiss her, simply for being the first person who didn’t tell me I wasn’t the right type or that I was in over my head. “I think he’s in the back. I’ll let him know he’s got a customer.”
She headed toward the hallway, but stopped as another guy walked out carrying a box of glow sticks. “Is Nestor back there?” she hollered over the music.
“Yeah,” the guy said in a loud voice. “He’s helping Asa get settled with his clients. He’ll be out in a minute.”
Asa? My stomach dropped as the bartender came back over to deliver the good news. “Oh, hey,” I chirped. “I went to school with a guy named Asa!”
Her eyebrow arched. “Probably not this guy.”
“It’s a pretty unusual name.” I took a step back when her eyes narrowed. “But you’re right. That Asa was very straitlaced. Very conservative, that one! Not the kind of person to hang out in a place like this. I mean, not that there’s anything wrong. With this place, I mean.”
I was babbling, and I knew it. “Never mind. I’ll have a glass of merl—I mean, a Bud Light. Can I have a Bud Light?”
She nodded slowly. “Coming right up.”
Good lord, I was not a subtle beast. I’d managed to get myself in the door, but I was my own worst enemy. I sat there with my beer and slowly churned through everything I’d learned. People were buying and selling objects imbued with magic, this drug that could induce phenomenal pleasure with a single touch. But there was more to it than that—the bouncer outside seemed to be able to sense stuff from people, like Bart had done to me the night before, and the stamp lady had a weird ability to influence others, which maybe I’d been able to do with the detective when I’d been holding Ben’s anchor pendant. Grandpa had hinted that some people produced magic naturally, while others used artificial forms . . . I laid my head down on the bar and closed my eyes, unable to get traction.
And then there was the Asa issue. Ben’s older brother, a known drug dealer even as a teen, this unfindable guy who had threatened to kill Ben the last time they were together. And now someone named Asa was right down the hall, and I was betting he had honey-brown eyes and a sneer that made people feel two feet tall. He was dealing magic now, and I wondered if it hadn’t been as long since the brothers had seen each other as Ben had led me to believe. I sat up straight, downed the rest of my beer, and hopped off my stool, feeling a little queasy. I needed to get Asa to spill.
I melted into the crowd near the bar and cautiously danced my way to the entrance of the hallway, where I slipped in behind a couple that was headed for a room.
“You sure you want to do this?” the woman asked her companion.
“Yeah,” said the guy. “They’ll never trace it back to me. I’ll just put it in the office where he’ll find it and pick it up, and wham —” He glanced over his shoulder, saw me, and clamped his mouth shut.
“It’s okay,” I
I scanned the room and was relieved that the jerk was nowhere in sight.
I moved along the wall, narrowly avoiding a few grasping dancers trying to pull me into their clothed orgy. My body trembling with the temptation even as I stared in shock at some of the stuff taking place in plain view, I managed to reach the bar without losing myself again. To one side, people were stumbling along and ducking into different rooms down a long hallway. They seemed more stoned than the people on the dance floor.
“What can I get you?” asked the bartender, an Asian woman with short, spiky hair and intricately patterned tattoos down the sides of her neck.
I pulled out the card Bart had given me. “I was actually hoping I could talk to Nestor. I have a referral from Sandro.”
She glanced down at the card and nodded. I wanted to lean over the bar and kiss her, simply for being the first person who didn’t tell me I wasn’t the right type or that I was in over my head. “I think he’s in the back. I’ll let him know he’s got a customer.”
She headed toward the hallway, but stopped as another guy walked out carrying a box of glow sticks. “Is Nestor back there?” she hollered over the music.
“Yeah,” the guy said in a loud voice. “He’s helping Asa get settled with his clients. He’ll be out in a minute.”
Asa? My stomach dropped as the bartender came back over to deliver the good news. “Oh, hey,” I chirped. “I went to school with a guy named Asa!”
Her eyebrow arched. “Probably not this guy.”
“It’s a pretty unusual name.” I took a step back when her eyes narrowed. “But you’re right. That Asa was very straitlaced. Very conservative, that one! Not the kind of person to hang out in a place like this. I mean, not that there’s anything wrong. With this place, I mean.”
I was babbling, and I knew it. “Never mind. I’ll have a glass of merl—I mean, a Bud Light. Can I have a Bud Light?”
She nodded slowly. “Coming right up.”
Good lord, I was not a subtle beast. I’d managed to get myself in the door, but I was my own worst enemy. I sat there with my beer and slowly churned through everything I’d learned. People were buying and selling objects imbued with magic, this drug that could induce phenomenal pleasure with a single touch. But there was more to it than that—the bouncer outside seemed to be able to sense stuff from people, like Bart had done to me the night before, and the stamp lady had a weird ability to influence others, which maybe I’d been able to do with the detective when I’d been holding Ben’s anchor pendant. Grandpa had hinted that some people produced magic naturally, while others used artificial forms . . . I laid my head down on the bar and closed my eyes, unable to get traction.
And then there was the Asa issue. Ben’s older brother, a known drug dealer even as a teen, this unfindable guy who had threatened to kill Ben the last time they were together. And now someone named Asa was right down the hall, and I was betting he had honey-brown eyes and a sneer that made people feel two feet tall. He was dealing magic now, and I wondered if it hadn’t been as long since the brothers had seen each other as Ben had led me to believe. I sat up straight, downed the rest of my beer, and hopped off my stool, feeling a little queasy. I needed to get Asa to spill.
I melted into the crowd near the bar and cautiously danced my way to the entrance of the hallway, where I slipped in behind a couple that was headed for a room.
“You sure you want to do this?” the woman asked her companion.
“Yeah,” said the guy. “They’ll never trace it back to me. I’ll just put it in the office where he’ll find it and pick it up, and wham —” He glanced over his shoulder, saw me, and clamped his mouth shut.
“It’s okay,” I
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