knocked her energy levels on
their ass and it took twenty hours of sleep to recover from that little
manipulation. She didn’t get as worn out by it now because her mental muscles
were in better shape, but it still drained her to use her mental ability.
But all of that happened a couple of years after the Veil
and by then, Lori knew the danger of letting anyone know about her ability. In
the ES, not everyone developed those special gifts and those who had were
oddities to be feared and maligned. She knew to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t
want to mysteriously disappear like all the Others had. That’s what they called
them in the media—Others.
But then she had met Teddy.
So, yeah, she had a hard time trusting anyone. The people of
the WS had been nothing but kind to her and she didn’t see any evidence of
duplicity, but she just couldn’t let her defenses down.
Marcus and she had been playing cards on the couch for a
couple of hours to pass the time. It turned out they were both pretty evenly
matched and competitive, but after being cooped up for so long, this wasn’t a
good enough distraction.
Marcus suddenly jumped up and said, “Come on. We’re getting
out of here for a little bit.”
“What? Where are we going?”
“Let’s go to the pub.”
“You have a pub here?” Granted, she hadn’t seen much of the
village, but what she had seen all looked like homes.
He nodded with a flirty, boyish half-grin that took her by
surprise just because it was such an unusual expression for him, but she liked
it. “Yes,” he said. “It’s pretty low-key, but it’s a fun place to hang out and
will give you a better idea about life here.”
Well, she certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to
learn more about them. She hoped to bring the Others back here when she freed
them, so she needed to figure out exactly how they would all fit into this new
society. “Okay, sounds fun, but…” She glanced down dispiritedly at her
extremely casual cargo pants and T-shirt. “I don’t have anything nicer to
wear.”
Before she even finished talking, he twisted his mouth and
shook his head. “It’s very casual. I promise you, that’s actually perfect.”
The bar was built like Marcus’s house, on several floors
circling around the trunk of a huge tree. The main bar was located on the
bottom floor where they entered.
Every eye in the place turned to Lori as they walked in.
There were more people here than she expected and all dressed very casually.
Like the Warriors she’d already met, a lot of the women wore barely-there
shirts, and the men wore none at all.
At least twenty people stood and sat in groups around the
room and that was just on this level. She hadn’t considered how much attention
she would garner as the obvious newcomer. It made her uncomfortable. Marcus
settled his hand into the center of her lower back, soothing her with his
strong presence.
“Do you drink beer?” he whispered over the noise of the bar.
His breath brushed across her ear and sent a shiver down her spine.
She gave a short nod. Suddenly a beer sounded very good.
Swallowing hard at her nerves, she moved forward, following the gentle pressure
of Marcus’s hand on her back as he guided her through the crowd. They stopped
several times as Marcus introduced her to the villagers. Most were friendly and
polite, but she still felt the surreptitious gazes and whispers. This had been
a really bad idea.
“Relax,” Marcus whispered into her ear. “We’ll get our beers
and then find a quiet table on the floor with the live music. No one will bother
us.”
That sounded good and now that he mentioned it, she could
hear some sort of acoustic music floating down from above. They found an open
space at the bar and Marcus caged her body from behind. He leaned over to talk
to the bartender, the motion pushing his solid body against the full length of
her back. Damn, the guy was hard and muscular everywhere, not that that was
their ass and it took twenty hours of sleep to recover from that little
manipulation. She didn’t get as worn out by it now because her mental muscles
were in better shape, but it still drained her to use her mental ability.
But all of that happened a couple of years after the Veil
and by then, Lori knew the danger of letting anyone know about her ability. In
the ES, not everyone developed those special gifts and those who had were
oddities to be feared and maligned. She knew to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t
want to mysteriously disappear like all the Others had. That’s what they called
them in the media—Others.
But then she had met Teddy.
So, yeah, she had a hard time trusting anyone. The people of
the WS had been nothing but kind to her and she didn’t see any evidence of
duplicity, but she just couldn’t let her defenses down.
Marcus and she had been playing cards on the couch for a
couple of hours to pass the time. It turned out they were both pretty evenly
matched and competitive, but after being cooped up for so long, this wasn’t a
good enough distraction.
Marcus suddenly jumped up and said, “Come on. We’re getting
out of here for a little bit.”
“What? Where are we going?”
“Let’s go to the pub.”
“You have a pub here?” Granted, she hadn’t seen much of the
village, but what she had seen all looked like homes.
He nodded with a flirty, boyish half-grin that took her by
surprise just because it was such an unusual expression for him, but she liked
it. “Yes,” he said. “It’s pretty low-key, but it’s a fun place to hang out and
will give you a better idea about life here.”
Well, she certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to
learn more about them. She hoped to bring the Others back here when she freed
them, so she needed to figure out exactly how they would all fit into this new
society. “Okay, sounds fun, but…” She glanced down dispiritedly at her
extremely casual cargo pants and T-shirt. “I don’t have anything nicer to
wear.”
Before she even finished talking, he twisted his mouth and
shook his head. “It’s very casual. I promise you, that’s actually perfect.”
The bar was built like Marcus’s house, on several floors
circling around the trunk of a huge tree. The main bar was located on the
bottom floor where they entered.
Every eye in the place turned to Lori as they walked in.
There were more people here than she expected and all dressed very casually.
Like the Warriors she’d already met, a lot of the women wore barely-there
shirts, and the men wore none at all.
At least twenty people stood and sat in groups around the
room and that was just on this level. She hadn’t considered how much attention
she would garner as the obvious newcomer. It made her uncomfortable. Marcus
settled his hand into the center of her lower back, soothing her with his
strong presence.
“Do you drink beer?” he whispered over the noise of the bar.
His breath brushed across her ear and sent a shiver down her spine.
She gave a short nod. Suddenly a beer sounded very good.
Swallowing hard at her nerves, she moved forward, following the gentle pressure
of Marcus’s hand on her back as he guided her through the crowd. They stopped
several times as Marcus introduced her to the villagers. Most were friendly and
polite, but she still felt the surreptitious gazes and whispers. This had been
a really bad idea.
“Relax,” Marcus whispered into her ear. “We’ll get our beers
and then find a quiet table on the floor with the live music. No one will bother
us.”
That sounded good and now that he mentioned it, she could
hear some sort of acoustic music floating down from above. They found an open
space at the bar and Marcus caged her body from behind. He leaned over to talk
to the bartender, the motion pushing his solid body against the full length of
her back. Damn, the guy was hard and muscular everywhere, not that that was
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