Chapter Fifteen

EOGHAN

The bar downstairs in their hotel was part of a restaurant called Pint Brothers Alehouse. The minute Eoghan walked in with Ari by his side, he felt at home. The large, bright, and airy space boasted very high ceilings, exposed ducts, and wooden accents. All in all, it seemed to be modeled from an industrial type setting. A large square bar was positioned in the center of the room with tons of bar seating and tables set up nearby for restaurant goers. They stopped at the hostess station and perused the menu for a second.

“The food here looks good. We could eat dinner here when the shifters arrive, right?” he asked. “They’ve got some great craft beers on tap, and a nice selection of cocktails. If I were a betting man, I’d say it looks like they may even have a mixologist on staff.” He pointed to some of the unique cocktail names.

Ari nodded, still looking at the menu. “I think so. All the food looks really good.” He looked up and rubbed his belly. “I’m tempted to get an appetizer now. I’m starving.”

“We can do that but it’s nicer if we wait for the shifters,” Eoghan replied. “For sure they’d be able to smell onion rings on your breath when they get here.” He grinned as Ari smiled back.

“Yeah, you’re right. Fine. Ale it is then.” Ari pointed at the bar when the hostess came over with menus in her hand. “We’re just here for happy hour.”

“Sure,” she replied, holding out her hand. “Do you want a table or—”

“Oh, no. We’ll sit at the bar,” Eoghan replied. “Thank you.” He followed Ari, liking the way his ass looked in the black tac pants he’d pulled on. His lover wore a long-sleeved gray T-shirt which looked amazing on him. It was just tight enough to cling to his sculptured pecs, and he loved the way the muscles in his forearms bunched, revealed by the sleeves he’d pulled halfway up. They climbed onto barstools and a bartender came over, smiling as he laid napkins out in front of them.

“Hi there. I’m Binks. How you doin’ today?” he asked, smiling broadly and flashing sharp, white teeth in a dark face. Eoghan noticed that he was darker even than Ari and very handsome, long and sleek, solid but with an almost swimmer’s build. He normally didn’t check other guys out since he thought the man seated beside him…the guy who’d just fucked him into oblivion, was the best-looking guy he’d ever seen. But there was something about the almost feline shape of the bartender’s eyes that had Eoghan looking at his ass for a swishing tail the minute he turned to point out the selection of colorful bottles on the back bar.

“We’ve got just about any premium liquor here and, of course, we’re famous for having a full selection of craft beers,” the man said, pointing out the section on the menu. “There are several which are made right here in Denver.” He smiled widely. “And of course, I’m happy to make a cocktail for you. There are some special ones you might like.”

Eoghan dragged his eyes away from the feline look of the guy, almost suspecting him of being some kind of shifter. That was silly, though. Not everyone was a shifter. Most creatures were not, but still, it was hard not to wonder. He’d been surprised a number of times to find out that someone he ran into on and off the job, turned out to be one. Nothing surprised him anymore.

“I’ll take…a Citra pale ale,” Ari said, making his selection.

“Very good, sir.” The bartender nodded at Ari before turning to Eoghan. “And what can I get for you, sir?”

Eoghan smiled. “I’ll have the same, thank you.”

“Absolutely.” He took out frosted mugs and began pulling two golden mugs of ale. He smiled as he set them on the napkins before pushing two menus forward. “We have some delicious appetizers if you’d like. I recommend the crab Rangoon dip which is served with fried wonton chips or the Tuscan white bean hummus with tomato basil and olive tapenades. It’s served with pita bread.” He made a chef’s kiss gesture which Eoghan found charming. There was something so attractive about him. If Ari wasn’t in his life, he might have made a pass at him. But that was a whole other life from the one he was living with his partner, the man he loved.

Ari rubbed his belly and glanced at Eoghan who subtly shook his head. Ari sighed and looked up at the bartender. “We’ll wait for dinner. We have some friends joining us which reminds me, do we have to reserve a table for dinner?”

“I can do that for you. No problem,” Binks said. “How many are in your party and what are your names?”

“That would be great. We have a party of six and you can say it’s in Eoghan’s name,” Ari replied.

Binks smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

Eoghan picked up his ale and took a long sip as he watched the man walk away. When he turned back to Ari, he was frowning, and he swallowed hard, pulling his beer away from his mouth. “What?”

“You were checking that guy out, Eoghan,” Ari replied.

Eoghan shrugged. “I wasn’t exactly checking him out. I was kind of trying to figure out if he was a shifter or not,” he said quietly.

Ari snorted, grinning as he picked up his own ale and took a long sip. “Ooh, that’s good.” He looked back at Eoghan. “You know, not everyone is a shifter.”

“I know that,” he said, “still, don’t you do that sometimes? If someone has characteristics which remind you of an animal, don’t you try to figure out what kind of animals they are in shifted form?”

“Yeah, I do. All the time actually,” Ari replied.

It was true. Knowing they shared the planet with so many creatures of this world and not of this world made it especially difficult to ignore those thoughts. Then, there were other times when he’d never know someone was a shifter. If he hadn’t known what Rana was, he wouldn’t have guessed what shifter she was from looking at her. Although her terrifyingly odd-shifted tongue would have quickly given him an idea. Since starting this job, he often looked at someone who had heavy jowls or a large midsection and wondered whether they could be a walrus or a hippo or something.

“So, if the bartender were a shifter, what kind would he be?” Ari asked.

“With a name like Binks?” Eoghan chuckled. “That’s kind of a strange name for a human. Sounds like it belongs to a bunny or a hamster. Hmm. Maybe you’re right.” He glanced across the bar and watched the man in question as he set a Mile High Manhattan down in front of a slender woman who appeared to be checking the bartender out.

Binks walked away from her and picked up a busboy’s bin to go and clear the dirty dishes from a table. Oddly enough, instead of setting down the bin and picking up plates and glasses, he pulled the chairs away and one by one, pushed the glasses off the table, watching them as they plunked into the bin before doing another.

“Oh, my God!” Eoghan exclaimed, turning toward his partner. “Did you see that just now?”

Ari grinned as he continued clearing the table in that fashion. When there was one single water glass left, he turned and glanced around the room before sticking his whole hand inside it. When it hit water halfway down, he instantly pulled his hand away like he’d been burned. He glanced around as if nervous before batting the water glass into the bin followed by the last napkin. After he’d wiped the table and repositioned the salt and pepper shakers, he turned back to the bar, taking the box with him.

When Ari turned to him, his mouth was hanging open.

Eoghan reached up and pushed it closed. “You’re catching flies.”

Ari shook his head. “Sorry. It’s just that you don’t see a cat clear a table like that too often.”

“I agree,” Eoghan said, chuckling as he watched Binks serve two other people at the bar, before reaching under it when he thought no one was looking, and patting an ice cube several times until it fell into the sink and landed with a little plunk.

“ Huh… we should probably introduce him to Bear.” Ari laughed loudly drawing the attention of several people who were standing at the hostess station. The bar was beginning to fill up since it was happy hour.

They continued enjoying their ales and Eoghan was debating ordering another when he spotted Rana, Andy, Joe, and Alo walking into the alehouse. He raised his hand and waved until they saw him as they both slid off their barstools. He watched Ari throw money onto the bar and then met the shifters halfway.

“Hi, everyone,” Eoghan said as they shook hands all around. Rana smiled warmly at them as Andy returned their greeting with a little more formality. Joe and Alo gave Eoghan and Ari bro hugs and slaps on the back which was nice. But most important of all, he felt at home with all these shifters.

“We made a six o’clock dinner reservation, so we have a few minutes to sit at the bar,” he said, looking at his watch. “Whatever you prefer.”

Rana exchanged a glance with Andy. “What would you like to do, Andy?”

He sniffed the air and Eoghan was pretty sure the yellow which flashed behind his eyes meant that he liked what he smelled. Now that Eoghan thought about it, the scents of roasting meats coming out of the kitchen were very appetizing. He realized that he was also hungry. After all, he and Ari had worked up a hell of an appetite in bed that afternoon.

“I’d just as soon sit and order dinner if that works for you all,” Andy said.

“We could do dinner,” Joe said. “I’m as hungry as a bear.” They all chuckled as they walked over and waited for the hostess to pick up menus.

“Please, follow me,” she said, smiling and heading over to a six top table near the wall in a quiet corner, exactly as Ari had specified when he made the reservation. He liked to sit with his back to the wall in public situations whenever possible. It was an old Special Forces thing that he still practiced to this day.

Once they were all seated and had menus, their hostess left them to make their choices. He and Ari ordered the appetizers Binks had suggested and then each ordered steaks cooked medium rare. Their dessert choices looked incredible as well but with the appetizers and a twelve-ounce ribeye with all the trimmings, he really wasn’t sure he’d be hungry after his hearty meal.

He watched their new friends glance over the menu as he replayed the conversation he’d had with Priest when they’d called to update her. She’d told Eoghan to let the shifters know that everyone who planned on joining them to gather their numbers and be prepared to meet in Flagstaff in a weeks’ time when they’d commence operations. She’d hedged for the first time about the mole, saying she had a lead and hoped to have a solid answer as soon as they got back to L.A.—long before they all got together in Flagstaff.

For the first time since everything had happened, Eoghan felt positive that there would be an end to this bullshit, so he and Ari could go back to simply solving cases and helping out folks the way they’d done in Tahoe only a couple of months ago. When they’d returned from Joe and Alo’s reservation after the case with Riversong concluded, they’d received a letter from the opossum by way of their chief. She, Jack, and their three children had sent photos from their family reunion once Jack had come home from Folsom, along with pictures in colorful fingerpaints from Morgan, their oldest little girl. Eoghan had pinned it up on the fridge in his place so he could feel happy every time he saw it. Helping people like Riversong’s family and King John Townsend were what he enjoyed most about the job. He only hoped it wouldn’t be too late for Townsend’s vampire clan.

“Have you had a chance to talk to your deputy chief about the next steps?” Alo asked, interrupting his thoughts as if he’d been reading them. They’d all placed their orders and their server had gone to collect their drinks from the bar.

“We’re flying home in the morning,” Ari said. “She wants all of us in Flagstaff for a meeting in a weeks’ time. The longer we wait, the harder it’s going to be to defeat Bradshaw’s numbers. Don’t forget, he might be trying to increase them with every opportunity he gets by turning humans into vamps.”

“A week?” Rana asked.

“Yes,” Eoghan said, slightly wary of the concern in her voice. “Do you all think that’ll be enough time to talk to your clans?” he asked.

“A week!” Andy exclaimed. “That’s not very long. I still have to get my tribe together to find out how many will be willing to join us.”

“I know it’s short notice,” Eoghan said, frowning a little as he looked at the panther shifter. “But you know the danger in waiting gets worse every minute. Please help us defeat these vamps before they spill over into your own territory.”

“I’m certain you can make a week work, Andy,” Rana said, turning to her friend. “And if you need my help, I’ll drive back up here from Colorado Springs to help convince them. I’m only an hour away.”

“I would suggest you talk to the elders in your tribe and stress upon them what we’ve talked about here,” Eoghan said.

“I agree. That will be the best approach, Alpha,” Rana said. She reached out and squeezed the younger man’s bicep. “Like I said, I’m here if you need me.”

“Us too,” Joe said, looking up as their server came back with their drinks and began setting them down. Once everyone had one, and Ari and Eoghan had been served their second pale ale since they weren’t driving, Eoghan lifted his frosty mug.

“To new friends. We couldn’t do this without you.” After they clinked glasses and sipped more of their beer, he had to admit, he was feeling pretty good about things. Priest had said she was proud of them and if he had to admit things to himself, he would agree. All their travels up and down California, and all the hand shaking he and Ari had done over the last five or six long months, had really paid off. They’d made new alliances and could now boast a whole host of new friends. They’d outdone themselves, even when faced with some challenges like toe sucking vampires and fucked up, scary space faeries.

Eoghan was taking another drag from his ale when two men dressed all in black came walking into the alehouse. He wouldn’t normally have noticed them except that they each wore cowboy boots and black hats, decked out in long-sleeved, black cambric shirts and well-worn jeans, looking like they’d just walked off the set of Yellowstone. He stared for a minute and then dragged his gaze away from them, only to find Ari staring at him.

“What is it?” Ari asked, looking over at the bar where the two men sat down side by side, facing their direction.

Eoghan shrugged. “Probably nothing. It’s just that I didn’t realize there were real life cowboys in Denver.” As he watched the two men, both turned and made eye contact with him, confirming that he’d been overheard. For a split second, an almost imperceptible purple ring flashed in their eyes before they both blinked and looked up at Binks, frowning at the young man as he walked over.

“Denver is loaded with cowboys,” Andy said to him.

The others turned to look at the men who’d begun some sort of argument with the cute bartender. As Eoghan watched, one of the men reached out and grabbed Binks by the wrist, holding his hand on the bar as he tugged at the iron grip. The man was wearing a snarl on his face and flashed bright purple eyes for a second.

“Cowboys yes, but are they always shifters?” Ari whispered under his breath.

The raised voice they recognized as Binks drifted over to them. “You don’t have any claim over me, Chris, not since you started chasing Roy’s tail. Now, let go!” He yanked but the taller, more muscular man held him tight. It took every cell in Eoghan’s body screaming at him not to intervene, to stay in his seat.

The cowboy Chris sneered at the bartender, smiling evilly. “I love it when you fight back, little kitty.”

“Fuck this,” Andy suddenly said, starting to get out of his seat when Rana’s hand shot out and grabbed his forearm.

“Stop it and sit down, Andy! I know your feline is clawing right now, but there will be no catfights in the middle of a downtown Denver bar if I can stop it.”

Eoghan hadn’t thought they’d have to worry about anyone shifting in public with humans around. Most shifters were too careful to do anything so stupid. And the instinct for self-preservation and secrecy around humans was something trained into them when they were young. When the shit had turned bad during their visit to Alvin Walter’s bar and they’d witnessed the fast healing of the waitress, it hadn’t been a big deal; all the patrons as well as the employees in the bar at the time were werewolves.

This time around, things were different. This was a very public restaurant in a very human-run, high profile hotel and they couldn’t afford to have a shifter incident here.

“I’ll do something about this,” Ari suddenly said, standing up.

“Ari! Sit down,” Eoghan hissed, grabbing his sleeve.

He turned and smiled at Eoghan, bending close. “It’s okay, Eoghan,” he whispered for his ears only. “I’m human and someone has to diffuse the situation before shift happens.” He chuckled at his own play on words.

“That’s a bad idea,” Eoghan said, even as Ari turned his back on them.

He glanced over at the shifters at the table. They were all watching him and when Joe nodded and opened his mouth, Eoghan was really hoping his friend would have something to say.

“He’s right, Eoghan. We’re shifters. If any of us tried to do something to diffuse the situation, it would turn into a real problem. It’s best if we let your partner try and stop those three idiots from shifting.”

Eoghan nodded, feeling his stomach do a flip-flop as he turned back to find Ari had walked up behind the two cowboys, positioning himself between them at the now very busy bar. When Ari clapped a large hand on each cowboy’s shoulder and grinned at them, he felt his heart skip a beat. The one which Binks had called Chris, instantly let go of the young bartender’s arm.

Ari bent close, insinuating himself between the two cowboys and saying something Eoghan couldn’t hear. Both men immediately nodded and slid off the barstools. The bartender nodded, said something to his colleague behind the bar, and then ducked under the cut through, and came out in front of the bar.

“What the hell is he doing?” Eoghan said to himself as Ari glanced over and then pointed at the exit with a big grin on his face.

“It looks like we’re about to have a catfight after all,” Rana said, disgustedly. She turned to Andy. “Come on, Andy.” She stood up. “If those domestic short hairs really want a cat, it’s time we give them you.”

Andy rubbed both hands together gleefully as the others stood up. Eoghan watched Joe say something to their server before pointing to the exit and flashing her his badge. As he came around the table, he smiled at Eoghan.

“I just told her not to give away our table. We’d be right back to eat those steaks, but one of our friends has to show us something quite urgently,” Joe said as they all headed for the exit. “I showed my badge so she wouldn’t think we’re running out on her without paying and asked her to have the kitchen keep everything warm.”

“What in the hell has Ari gotten me into now?” Eoghan asked, feeling upset and rattled.

“Don’t know, but I gotta tell you, the dude has style,” Alo said, chuckling.

“Exactly what none of us needs right now. I could kill him.”

“Cheer up, Eoghan. They’re house cats,” Andy said, already unbuttoning his shirt and revealing his wide, hairy chest of black fur.

“When I brought my house cat home, he left so many scratches on me while ‘playing,’ I practically needed a blood transfusion,” he said, mock playing with air quotes.

Rana clapped him on the back, chuckling as they headed out into the parking lot and around to the back alley.