Chapter 29

Viv was helping a patron at the desk. They were trying to research how different obscure poisons worked. It would have alarmed her, but they had explained that they were an author and showed her their books as proof. Viv knew the library carried some of them, and sure enough the photo on the book matched with her customer. She wrote dark suspense romance, more along the lines of murder mystery where the detectives find a love interest. She wondered if she could talk the author into having a talk or a signing at the library. It would be great to promote a local author.

She felt a shadow of a brush against her left arm, a signal that Mac needed to talk to her.

“Let me run and see if I can find this for you in the stacks. I also want to talk to you later about maybe doing an event here at the library, if you would be willing. I’ll be right back,” Viv said, locking her screen and heading toward the stacks. It was usually empty and there were plenty of shadows for Mac to hide in there.

Walking into the stacks, she headed toward where the book would be located, knowing Mac would be porting in soon. She felt warm arms wrap around her from behind, Mac’s scent surrounding her.

“Hm, this is nice,” she said, leaning her head back on his shoulder.

“I’ve got to go to work. I should be back tonight. I was thinking we could go out to dinner tonight? Maybe to this steak place I know? They have cheesecake and chocolate cake on their dessert menu.”

“Mm, bribing me with desserts,” Viv teased. “I’d like that. Do we need to make reservations?”

“I already did. For eight o’clock. I know it’s late, but at least I should be home in time,” Mac said, turning her gently around for a kiss.

Viv parted her lips, eager to taste him. His tongue swirled around hers, tangling together. One hand holding her waist, the other cupping the back of her head, he held her close. He pulled back after a minute.

“I’ve got to go. Be safe. I’ll let you know if I’m going to be too late to make dinner. If that happens, I’ll reschedule for tomorrow. Your author might like Grim Sights, it’s more of a Victorian type of book but has arsenic, vitriol, and strychnine poisonings in it. It’s not as well known, so she might get a kick out of that.” Mac looked at the bookshelf, pulled a book out and handed it to her. Leaning down, he gave her one last kiss and ported out.

Viv looked at the two books, thumbing through the one Mac handed her. It was perfect. She hadn’t even known they had this; she didn’t think she had ever seen it before. Viv headed back to the front desk.

“Sorry for the wait. There was another book down there that I think will help you as well,” Viv said, handing over both books.

“These look perfect, thank you.” The woman took the books and sat at a nearby table, using her phone and paper to take notes since they were reference books and couldn’t be checked out.

The rest of the day passed pretty smoothly. She had a story time in the children’s room, a knitter’s group that reserved the meeting room once a week, and a few study groups came in after school let out. It was a good day and she felt content when she locked the doors behind her. Looking at her watch, she had plenty of time to grab a shower and get dressed up a bit for their date.

Things had been going well with Mac. He was making an effort to spend time with her doing all kinds of things, even if it was as simple as helping wash the dishes or cut up vegetables for dinner. They had gone on a couple of dates since the movie picnic and she was getting more comfortable with the idea of becoming his mate. He was sincere in his efforts to prove he was letting go of his bias toward humans.

Pulling into the driveway, she saw the lights on inside. Thomas must have beaten her home today. Opening the garage door, she smelled lasagna.

“Honey, I’m home!” she called out teasingly. She didn’t want to walk into another couch scene if she could help it.

“Hey! I thought you had a date tonight? Mac was asking D for advice,” Thomas explained.

“We do, but it’s later. He needed to go into work, so the reservation’s at eight. I’m going to grab a quick snack and then get a shower. It smells amazing in here,” she said.

“Yeah? Good. I wanted to do our own little dinner date.” Thomas grinned.

“Just make sure you’re not getting frisky in the living room when we come home,” Viv teased.

“One time! One time in all the years we’ve known each other. Are you ever going to let that go?” Thomas complained, but he was grinning so it didn’t hold much weight.

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘P.’ She walked back to her room laughing, eating an apple she grabbed off the counter.

She stopped in front of her closet, trying to decide what to wear. There was a cute black handkerchief dress. It was about knee-length at its longest tip, so it would work for dinner. She could dress it up with some silver thread earrings and a pendant. She moved to her dresser next. She wasn’t planning on seeing Mac naked again tonight, but she wanted to look nice if she did. Last time she had been wearing pajamas. This time, she wanted to make sure her bra and underwear at least matched. She pulled out a pale pink thong. It had a metal square that connected the two sides that sat right above the swell of her cheeks. It was plain from the front but looked amazing from behind. She had a matching bra, a pale pink with a fine lace overlay. It was lower cut, so it wouldn’t show with the dress.

As she waited for the water to heat up in the shower, she debated on washing her hair, knowing it wouldn’t dry in time. Taking a sniff, she wrinkled her nose. It smelled like the gyro she had for lunch, which was great for food but not so much for her hair. She would just throw it up and let it be wet, she decided. Viv took time to shower everything, shaving her legs again. When she got out, she dried off and applied lotion. Brushing out her hair, she pulled it up into a bun. She was never very fussy when it came to dressing up. She actually hated makeup, so the most she ever put on was a tinted lip gloss. She threaded the wire through her ears, making sure it hung evenly. The pendant had a bright blue stone, bringing some color to her outfit. She grabbed her lower heels, not wanting to wear tall ones tonight.

Finishing the last few touches, making sure she hadn’t missed any strands of hair when she was twisting it up, she looked at her phone. No messages yet, she thought. Yay, the date was still on. She had about a half hour or so until Mac should be home, so she sat in her reading room and pulled out a new book. These were a lower-angst series with paranormals finding love with their fated mates. She liked how the series went through each couple but still kept the previous characters involved in the story.

Getting lost in the words, she startled when there was a knock on her door. Getting up and smoothing the bottom of her dress into place, she answered, finding Mac on the other side. Oh my deliciousness, she thought. He had changed into an all-black suit, black dress shirt, a deep red tie that looked almost black from far away. The suit clung to his shoulders, emphasizing his strong build and slim waist. He looked amazing.

“You look gorgeous,” he said, holding out a rose. Its petals matched his tie, the red so deep and dark it was almost black.

“Thank you, so do you. Handsome, I mean. Well, you’re gorgeous too,” she said, face-palming her forehead. “Ignore me. I don’t know why I’m rambling. Thank you for the flower, it’s beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it, it’s a special one from the Netherworld. I have it spelled so it won’t die either,” he said.

“It’s perfect,” she replied, bending to smell it. It didn’t smell like a normal rose. It was floral but with slight hints of sweetness like a dark chocolate, and a very slight undercurrent of smokiness. “Oh wow, that’s different. I love it.” She took another sniff. It was so different than other flowers she had smelled. “Let me put this in a vase and we can go,” she said. “Does it need water?”

“No, it will stay like this without water. I grabbed a vase on my way here; D gave me a heads-up that they were having their own date in the kitchen, and I didn’t want to disturb them,” Mac replied, pulling out a bud vase from behind his back.

Viv placed the rose on her dresser where she could see it easily every day. “How are we going to sneak past them to the front door?”

“The owner of the restaurant is a nonhuman, so there’s a portal safe room in the back. I thought we could port there and then we don’t have to risk seeing anything we don’t want to,” Mac said.

Viv laughed. “I already had a talk with Thomas. I guess you heard about the time I accidently walked in on them? I can do without that again,” she agreed, taking his outstretched hand.

“Got everything?” Mac asked.

Viv reached over and grabbed her purse and phone off the dresser and nodded. She walked through the portal with Mac and ended up in a seating room of sorts. You could hear the bustle of the restaurant and kitchen, but it was nicely decorated with a loveseat and a couple of upholstered chairs to sit in.

Mac placed his hand on a sensor and the door popped open. Stepping out into the hallway, she heard sounds of the kitchen to the left. As they turned to the right and began walking down the hallway, she looked at the different doors. To the left was a large dining room, barely visible through the heavy velvet curtains. They were open just enough to walk through. It was a gorgeous room with leather and dark woods. The booths were high backs, giving the feel of privacy. She imagined they may also help keep the sound down. The tables had plenty of space between them, the dark red leather chairs looking plush and comfortable. There were a variety of sizes, anywhere from a cozy two-seater to a large table that looked like it could fit twenty people. There were a few rounded corner booths as well, probably fitting six to eight. The space had a variety of chandeliers, all clear glass, all different sizes and types. Some looked like octopuses with long dangling crystal strands, others were shaped like a mushroom or a UFO, while others were more traditional. They were bright enough to light the space, but not so bright as to take away from the intimate feel. Continuing down the hallway, they passed the manager’s office on the right, another separate dining room on the left, and then the bathrooms on the right. Turning to the left, they entered the waiting and hostess area.

Mac led her to the hostess stand. The woman smiled and Viv thought she saw a brief glance of fangs, but when she blinked and looked closer, they were gone.

“Reservation for Mac,” he said, keeping a hand on Viv’s lower back.

“Right this way,” the hostess replied, leading them back to the room closest to the rear of the restaurant. Viv wondered why they separated the two dining rooms; maybe to keep the noise level down?

They were led to a smaller booth, although it could still fit four people. There was even a sliding door to separate it off from the rest of the room if they desired. The menus were laid on the table.

“Your server will be right with you,” the hostess said, this time definitely showing fang.

“Thank you,” Mac said. Once she was gone, he leaned forward, resting his hand palm up on the table, inviting Viv to take it. “So, a few things about this restaurant,” he started to explain in a low voice. “Because it’s owned by a nonhuman, there are two different clienteles they cater to. It’s a five-star restaurant in the human world, and they are served in the first dining room. If you are a nonhuman, you can request to be sat in the back. This is only for nonhumans; if you are a mate or come with a nonhuman, you are allowed in. The food back here can be different than the front, as it caters to a much wider palate. For example, there might be warm blood brought for vampires. Some dishes have foods found only in the different planes like Arlysium and Netherworld.

“I wanted to introduce you to some of my childhood foods, but we can order regular steaks from the other menu as well. We also don’t have to be careful what we say here, unless it’s about work, so you could ask me any questions that you have or might come up,” Mac said, looking a bit nervous.

“She really did have fangs?” Viv asked.

Mac nodded.

Viv leaned back in her seat. She knew Mac would protect her and the restaurant had such amazing reviews, although they were probably all from the human side. She didn’t know what to think on this. It was exciting, but at the same time she also had bad experiences with strangers in the nonhuman world.

“Do you want to sit on the other side? We can totally move,” Mac asked. Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea, he thought.

Viv took a deep breath. She was doing the same thing she accused Mac of; judging a group by a select few and that wasn’t who she wanted to be or even who she was normally. “No, it’s fine. I just needed a minute to adjust. I’m sure it’s going to be an amazing experience. Will you pick a few things out for us to try? I think I’d like to get a small steak, just so I have something familiar,” Viv replied. She figured that having something familiar to fall back on would make trying any weird-looking new dishes better since she would have a backup plan. If they didn’t eat it all, she could always bring it home and they could have it for lunch or something.

“That sounds perfect. If it gets to be too much, we can close our table off or leave,” he told her sincerely. He wanted this to be a good experience for her, slowly introducing her to the nonhuman side. It was going to be a big enough shock if they visited Netherworld and he wanted to make it as easy as possible for her.

Viv nodded, trying to keep her eyes on him. Now that she knew it was the nonhuman side, she kind of wanted to take another look, but at the same time she didn’t want to offend anyone.

Mac smiled. “You can look around, just don’t stare. Same as with a human restaurant.”

Viv tried her best to casually look around. She didn’t want to offend anyone or embarrass Mac. Were those…

“Mac, are those tentacles?” she asked quietly.

He followed her line of sight. “Yup. There are several types of shifters that have them, generally water-based ones.”

She glanced away quickly when she saw a tentacle slide under the table to rest between their partner’s legs. In the far corner was a Bigfoot-looking creature.

“Bigfoot?”

“There’s sasquatch and yeti shifters. There’s a spell in here that allows them to be shifted but if a human were to walk by, they would see only their human forms. The manager generally catches them before they make it this far back though.”

“So you could eat in your demon form here?” she asked curiously.

Mac nodded.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you fully shifted,” Viv said.

“No, not yet. This booth isn’t quite big enough for me to fully shift,” Mac replied, an apology in his tone. “I could always show you at home, if you wanted,” he offered.

“I think I do,” Viv answered.

Their server came over and Mac ordered a bottle of wine, a steak and side salad for her. He then proceeded to order in a different language, she assumed from the nonhuman menu.

“How many languages do you know?” she asked.

“A few. I grew up speaking Netherkin and Entiretium since I was near my uncle’s work a lot. To be an Enforcer, you need to be fluent in Entiretium and one other common human language. I grew up speaking English since it’s widely used. Those three I’m fluent in. I do pretty well in Spanish and French, I know enough of German and Italian to get around. Arabic, just a few key phrases. I have a really hard time in Mandarin, so I only know a few curse words. Most nonhumans will know Entiretium. It’s the universal language.”

“Do the angels, the Arlysium side, have their own language?” Viv asked.

“They mostly use Entiretium. I’m not entirely sure how the demons came to have their own language; I guess we just wanted to be different,” Mac said with a grin.

Their server returned with their wine and a few dishes she didn’t recognize. The smells were strange too. Not unpleasant, but strange, not something she was used to. Some of the dishes had covers and she wondered if that was Mac’s doing or if they came that way normally.

Mac waited until their wine was poured and it was only the two of them before rearranging the plates. “Okay. I got a few different things, not just Netherworld food. If you don’t like something, it’s not a big deal. Some things have spices and flavors you won’t be used to. Some are going to look weird, but I double-checked that they are all safe for humans to eat. There are a few things that aren’t, so don’t order unless D or I are with you.

“This is a vegetable, kind of like a combination of an asparagus and a carrot,” he said, placing a small piece on her plate.

Viv stared at it. It was blue. Not a dark color that might shimmer blue in a certain light, but a bright cobalt blue. This definitely wasn’t a natural food color found in their world. She watched as Mac enthusiastically ate his. She ate a bite, slowly chewing, trying to figure out what it was. It was the texture of steamed carrots, with a hint of that sweetness but there were tones of asparagus and…cabbage maybe? It was also saltier. Viv couldn’t decide how she felt about it; she didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t something she would necessarily order again.

“What do you think?” Mac asked.

“It’s okay,” she said slowly. “It’s not bad, a little salty, but I didn’t hate it.”

“It’s a sea vegetable, which tends to be a little saltier naturally. Okay, next one,” Mac said, putting something new on her plate. “This was one of my favorites as a kid. I still like them when I go back home.”

Viv stared down at it. It looked like a human heart, only much tinier, about the size of a quarter. It was bright red too. This was a favorite? Viv felt like gagging, but held it in.

“Mac. Please tell me this isn’t a heart. I’m going to have to draw the line at that: no hearts, eyes, or brains, please. I don’t think I’m that adventurous.”

“What? No! No, it’s a fruit. I guess it does look like a heart. I never really paid attention before. Uncle has a bunch of these trees growing in his backyard. It’s not meat, I promise. I wouldn’t order any organs without asking you first,” Mac reassured her.

Viv closed her eyes and picked up the fruit. “I just eat it whole?”

“Yup, it’s all edible,” Mac replied.

She sniffed it. It didn’t smell like meat, not that she thought Mac would lie to her, but her brain thought for sure that something that looked like that would smell differently. There were hints of citrus. Viv popped it into her mouth, noting the texture was like a crisp apple, but the flavor was like a cross between a kiwi and an orange. If she ignored how it looked, she enjoyed it.

“If I eat it with my eyes closed, I like it,” she joked. “My brain is rebelling at eating it when I can see it,” she said.

“I can understand that,” Mac replied. “Ready for the next one?”

Viv nodded.

“This one is a warm dish. I grew up on this. It’s like…I guess a goulash is the closest description. There’s meat, no organs though, noodles, our version of a tomato sauce, and spices,” Mac explained.

It looked tasty. The sauce was a deep red, with chunks of meat, what she assumed were vegetables, and small bits of noodles. Taking a spoonful, she gently blew the steam away. Her first bite had flavors bursting against her tongue. It reminded her of a beef stew or goulash, but the savory notes were much stronger. There were hints of things that reminded her of when she used Cajun seasoning in her dishes. It was delicious and she happily scooped up another bite.

“That was delicious,” she said when her bowl was empty. “I would gladly eat that again.”

“I’ll get the ingredients next time I go back home and I’ll make dinner one night for everyone. I’m sure D would like to have it again.”

“I’d love that. Thomas would like this too,” she said.

“I’m glad you liked it. It’s like a comfort food, I think. Makes you feel all warm and cozy. This next one looks weird, but I promise it’s okay to eat and it won’t be what you expected. Do you want to see it first or try a bite with your eyes closed?” Mac asked.

“No organs?” She clarified.

“No organs, no bugs, nothing weird,” he promised.

“I’ll try with my eyes closed then,” she said, shutting her eyes. She heard some dishes moving around, a fork scraping against the dish.

“Okay, open up and I’ll feed you a bite,” Mac said.

Viv braced herself for anything from bitter to slimy. She wasn’t sure what it was going to be, but it felt and tasted a bit like pasta. With a meat of some kind, like chicken or turkey. There was a sauce, creamy, a little like an alfredo but a smidge spicier. She swallowed, feeling a lingering heat in the back of her throat.

“That one was spicier,” she said, opening her eyes. “I couldn’t really tell what it was. Pasta? With a meat like chicken and a sauce?”

Mac uncovered a dish. Viv just stared. She had eaten that? It was a good thing she hadn’t looked at it. The “pasta” looked like huge worms. The “meat” looked like eyeballs.

“No organs?”

“Nope, just looks weird when it’s cooked. This is actually a vegetarian dish. The noodles are made with a traditional pasta press. The round balls are a vegetable that is often used as an alternative to meat given its flavor.”

“Maybe breading and frying them would help them look less like eyeballs,” Viv said faintly. She didn’t want to be a wuss about trying other culture’s foods, but she thought that was about the end of her adventurousness for today. Little steps, right?

Mac tilted his head, studying the food. “I guess they do. I never really thought about it, having grown up with it. I never understood why they would keep using that pasta press; they look like worms. You could make them in any other shape, but then it wouldn’t be traditional.” He shrugged.

He pulled the dishes off to the side, just in time for her steak and salad to come out. He had ordered a steak as well, not wanting her to feel bad if she didn’t want to try any of the nonhuman dishes. She did pretty well, he thought. He felt a little bad that he hadn’t realized the vegetable and the fruit looked like body parts. He had grown up with them and that was just how they looked. He was planning on ordering a cheesecake for dessert, so it would end the meal on a familiar happy note.

Mac was also eager to get home and show off his demon side. He had been trying to take things slow, letting them get to know each other better. He thought she was much more comfortable with him now, especially after she had seen some of his demon traits pop out the other night.