The Phoenix Prophecy: Nova

Tanner has been gone for three hours. It’s past midday. The bar is open, and the usual suspects are starting to file in, but the only thing running through my mind is Nova.

Each time the door opens, my eyes snap up and my muscles twitch with anticipation. When it’s not her, I have to fight the urge to stride out into the street and shout her name.

How did this happen? She arrived in town less than twenty-four hours ago and she’s infected my mind quicker than F.H.B. ever did.

Fermented Human Blood. My tongue darts out to lick my lower lip as I picture the small glass vial that’s been hidden in my desk since the day I vowed never to touch another drop.

Three years, it’s been there.

Three years and I’ve barely thought about it.

Until she walked in.

There wasn’t a mark on her, and yet the hunger washed through me like a tsunami — devouring every bit of resistance in its path.

It is taking all the willpower I have not to lock myself away and open up that vial. Breathe in the metallic scent. Let the sour, dark red droplets slide down my throat, and feel the power that pulses through me as the drug takes hold.

“Kole? I’ve been waiting ten minutes, man.” A vamp I know from an F.H.B. recovery group raps his knuckles on the bar. He only drinks in daylight now. Precisely because he doesn’t want to be tempted into the shadows by the occasional dealer who dares to show up in town.Exclusive content from NôvelDrama.Org.

They don’t last long. Mack and Luther are brutal and take no prisoners when it comes to F.H.B. — they know what it does to mages.

But the occasional one slips in, so Pete remains cautious.

“Sorry, Pete.” I pour him a whiskey and slide it over.

“You doing okay?” He’s studying my face.

“Pretty good. You?”

Pete sips his whiskey. All vamps are pale, but he’s paler than most and it makes his eyes look frighteningly green. “Haven’t seen you at a meeting for a while.”

I clear my throat, trying to resist the urge to look at the door again.

Pete knows this look. No one else would notice, except Tanner, maybe. The furtive glances, the distracted answers. “There’s a meeting tonight. Back room at Elements. Maybe I’ll see you there?”

I nod and look down at my hands. I’m holding a dishcloth and twisting it between my fingers. “Maybe you will.” A knowing silence passes between us.

Pete takes his drink and heads for the booth near the TV. I flick it on for him and turn it to the news channel.

I’m serving Luther’s water witch, who seems to hang out here more and more often on the off chance of seeing him, when I feel her; Nova.

Something’s coming. 

The voice rings so loud in my ears that I drop the glass I’m holding. It doesn’t break, but vodka-tonic splashes across the bar and onto the water witch’s shirt.

“Shit! Kole? What the fuck?” She jumps back, rolls her eyes, then clicks her fingers, and the stain is gone.

“Sorry. Here.” I pour her another. “On the house.”

Finally, the door opens. It’s Tanner I see first. He’s smiling, his cheek dimpled as he laughs. He stands back and holds the door for Nova to walk through.

At first, I don’t recognize her. If it wasn’t for the vibration in my veins, and her hair — silver-like ash — I’d have thought it was someone else.

She’s wearing tight, dark blue jeans and a black halter. Fuck. I shake my shoulders and force myself to look away. Hunger and lust are close relations, and the way she looks in that top isn’t helping.

I take a few deep breaths and try to center myself. We did a lot of ‘centering’ in rehab. I got good at it. With her around, it’s hard.

By the time Tanner and Nova reach the bar, I’m just about capable of saying, “Get what you needed?”

Nova nods and swings herself up onto a bar stool, dropping a bag of clothes from Rev’s at her feet. She leans forward on her forearms, then looks at Tanner. “You treated me, so at least let me buy you a drink to say thank you.”

Tanner nods and casually sits down next to her. “All right. Soft, though. I have to be at work in…” He glances at the clock. “An hour. Shit. Better make this a quick one.”

Without him having to ask, I grab a Coke from the fridge and hand it to him. “Nova?” Her name is like chili powder on my tongue.

“Same, please.” She’s brighter than this morning. It’s hard to look at her. I serve her, then turn and start rearranging the bottles on the shelves behind the bar.

“What are you going to do now?” Tanner asks her.

“When do you finish work?” I hear her take a sip from her bottle and the image of her lips wrapped around it flashes through my head.

“Ten. I can meet you here? If you won’t be in bed by then?”

“I’ll wait up.”

I catch a glimpse of them in the mirror. She’s angled toward him, and he’s doing a terrible job of hiding the fact he wants to jump her. Bad idea, Tanner. Bad idea. 

“In the meantime, I should probably figure out what to do about my job situation. I don’t know how long I’m staying, but I know I’ll need money while I’m here.”

“What did you do back home?”

She wrinkles her nose. “I worked in a pharmacy. But I’m guessing magick pharmacies are a little different.”

Tanner laughs. “You could say that. But it’s nothing you couldn’t pick up. Let me ask around at the hospital later.”

Turning back to face them, abruptly, I lean onto the bar and look Tanner in the eyes. “Are you kidding? No way they’ll let a human work at the hospital.”

Nova flinches a little at my tone.

“You can work here.” I rub my beard, looking at the tattoos on my knuckles instead of her big, blinking eyes.

“Here?” There’s an edge to Tanner’s voice.

Him I can look at. “I’ve been short staffed since Angel left. If she can serve drugs over the counter, she can serve beer over a bar.”

“Really? That would be wonderful. Thank you.” I can feel her eyes on my skin. Her gaze is heat, and stars, and fire.

“You can start now. Pay isn’t great, but the apartment’s free, so…”

I’m standing up, pulling away from the bar when her hand grazes mine. A jolt of electricity hits my veins. My mouth is dry. If she’s going to work here, I have to be able to look at her. So, I brace myself and meet her eyes.

“Thank you. Really, Kole, thank you.” She holds my gaze for a moment. I can hear my heart beating in my ears. The sound merges with the throb of the blood in her veins. Finally, she looks away. “Both of you,” she says to Tanner. “Thank you.”

Brushing herself down, she hops off the stool. “I’ll just use the restroom, then you can show me the ropes.” She taps the bar with the palm of her hand, and then she’s gone.

I breathe out hard.

“Your hands are shaking.” Tanner ducks his head to make me look at him. “You’re sure this is a good idea?”

“She needs to be where we can keep an eye on her. It makes sense.”

“Kole…” Before he can finish, she’s back and stepping around to my side of the bar. Opening her arms at me, she shrugs and says, “Okay. Teach me.”