“Yep, until one. Then who knows? Should be plenty to do around town after that.”

“I’ll bet,” I said.

Now what? Should I, like, wink at him or something? Flirting with strangers might not have been my forte, but drinking definitely was, and he liked that. I took another long, cold gulp, and relaxed as the first beer hit my system and kicked things into gear. Oh, shoot, I forgot to get the time. I twisted my wrist until the silver watch was in place. Nine twenty.

A group of people came up to the bar next to me. The bartender took their orders, but he kept glancing back at me. I waved with my fingers in that coy way I’d seen girls do to Jay. I felt dumb, but he grinned and swiped his hair aside, sporting a steady stream of red in his aura.

I left the bar, wondering what the heck I was going to do now, and walked straight into the grisly shadows of two demon whisperers. Even though I couldn’t feel them, I shivered with revulsion as I rushed through the vapors.

The party was coming to life now, and the deejay was on the mic, making announcements and getting everyone riled with his electric excitement. I stopped amid the moving bodies, acutely aware of being followed. Over at the deejay booth, Jay scrambled around, organizing things for his boss. I couldn’t see Veronica anywhere.

I started to search for the other Neph, but caught myself. The last thing I wanted was to see Kaidan at work. I couldn’t afford to be distracted. The mere thought of Kai made me empty half my drink. It was too soon to finish the second one. I was already light-headed.

“Anna! There you are! Holy... What is that?” Veronica perched a hand on her hip and pointed at my beer. “And how the heck did you get a bracelet?”

“Connections,” I said, tensing as the whisperers circled the two of us, watching, trying to listen. My heart began to pound. “I needed to relax.”

She blinked at me, a look of disbelief displayed on her face. I should have warned her ahead of time that I’d “changed” my attitude toward drinking. I leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Let’s just be careful and have fun, ’kay?”

“Fine, okay,” she shot back, still acting unsure about my out-of-character behavior. “I guess as long as you hook me up, too.”

A whisperer leaned near Veronica’s ear, and her guardian angel dived between them. I pretended not to see, grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her toward the deejay booth, only to stop short. Jay was leaning down, grinning, and talking with Marna. Veronica’s eyes narrowed. This was about to turn into a hot mess. I changed direction, pointing us at the bar instead.

“No, hold up,” she said, pulling away and watching them.

The two raunchy spirits could see the dark disappointment trickling around Veronica, swirled with green envy. The demons attacked, both whispering to her at once despite her guardian angel’s efforts to stop them. My breathing went shallow as her aura darkened and the green became more vivid. Standing there, not interfering, was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.

At that moment Marna tugged Jay’s arm, as if she were trying to get him to come out of the booth, and he laughed, shaking his head and pointing to his work. She went up on her tiptoes and hollered something to Jay’s boss, who grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders, patting Jay on the back. Marna clapped at her success and grabbed Jay by the hand, leading him out to the dance floor. What were they thinking?

Veronica stared out at them, and the spirits, who were finished whispering, danced around her, further antagonizing her angel as Veronica struggled internally.

I whispered to her, “She’s just a friend of Kai’s from England. Jay met her over the summer.”

“That’s the English chick? He told me about her, back when we were just...”

“Friends,” I finished for her.

Veronica never took her eyes off the two of them as they danced closer and closer, Marna’s ample chest pressed up against his, their hips moving together. I felt dizzy and nauseous. I drained the rest of my beer and noted the time. Two beers in fourteen minutes. That wasn’t good.

I leaned in again to tell Veronica not to worry, to tell her that the twins would be gone tomorrow, but an abrasive demon voice shot through my thoughts.

“No more whispering to the girl.”

I lifted my face to the thing hovering above us. As I met its sunken, mossy eyes, my foot automatically stepped back from the malevolent stare. Even in spirit form, it appeared malnourished, with hollow cheeks and a snarling hole for a mouth. I jerked my eyes away.

“Come on, Veronica,” I said to her, gripping her elbow. “Let’s go get a drink.”

She stood her ground, continuing to stare at Jay.

“I’m going over there.” Her voice was resolute as she started forward. Then she stopped. I looked past her to the dance floor. Marna’s hands were around the back of Jay’s head, and they were kissing, right there for the world to see. He was caught in a whirl of red lust. Not. Good.

Veronica pushed away, running toward the exit near the bathrooms. My muscles itched to run after her. The proud spirits were air-prancing and high-fiving each other. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t comfort Veronica or say anything to Marna and Jay.

I knew I should work, so I looked around, hoping for inspiration. I worried the two demons were becoming bored with me as they bobbed up and down, assessing the crowd and swooping down to whisper to people. A rush of paranoia overcame me.

“Don’t worry, they’re always a bit ADHD.” I turned to the quiet speaker next to me. Ginger sipped her cocktail from a small straw, watching as Jay jogged back to the deejay booth. Marna paused at the edge of the dance floor. When she saw me, she turned the other way and disappeared into the sea of bodies.