Chapter 18

When Lucien returned, I excused myself to the bathroom, which despite the general state of the pub, were actually clean. A pleasant surprise and I stood at the lone sink, staring at myself in the mirror as I tried to come up with a way of doing what I needed to do with Jack watching.

There was one way, but it was risky.

Not that I had much choice.

I pulled the bag of Kenny's things from my purse and took out the ring and watch, weighing both in my hand before I dropped the watch back and pocketed the ring. It would be enough, I was sure.

Taking a deep breath and forming a fist with my left hand, I squeezed tight and headed out of the bathroom.

No one looked at me as I made my way through the crowded bar, stepping carefully between tables and around the odd patron moving across the floor. My hand was already starting to ache from gripping it tight, and I knew I had to hurry.

Banner was speaking to an older man as I approached, and I hung back, eavesdropping.

"I'm really sorry," the old man was saying, his voice low enough I had to lean in to hear clearly over the chatter of the crowd. "It's been a tough week. They cut my hours at work, and the kids need new uniforms ready for when school starts up."

The large drug dealer nodded along, listening, his face set.

"I can pay you back next week, I promise," the old man continued. "It's just-"

Banner's hand clasped the other's shoulder, and he shook his head. "Don't sweat it, Bernie." He gave the man's shoulder a companionable squeeze. "It's tough times, I get it. Look, leave it a few weeks. When work picks up, come see me and we can work out a repayment plan."

"You know I'd pay if I could…"

"Yeah, I know you would, mate. It's grand, don't worry." Banner looked around, making sure they weren't being overheard. "You good, yeah? You need a bit more to tide you over?"

"No, I couldn't ask-"

"You're not asking, I'm offering." Banner reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of notes. Another look to make sure no one was paying attention and counted out twenties before passing them over and pressing them into the other man's hand. "Another two hundred. That'll see you right. Make sure the kids have what they need, yeah?"

The old man smiled shyly, and there was a brightening of his eyes as though he had found a little bit of hope.

"Thank you. I'll pay you back, you know I will."

"Yeah, course I do, Bernie. You know the rules. Don't take the piss and we won't have a problem."

"I wouldn't." he shook his head. "I swear. I'll pay it back, with interest!"

"Don't worry about interest. Things'll pick up at work and then you come see me. We'll work out a payment plan that won't leave you short."

"You're a good man," the old man said, bobbing his head. "I won't forget this."

"Hey, we look after our own here, right?" Banner said. "Bloody government won't."

I stepped away from the two men and released my hand, bobbing back into visibility. If anyone was looking and had noticed, they would convince themselves I'd simply stepped into view. After all, no one could really turn invisible so there had to be an explanation for it, right?

"Alright?" Jack asked, as I slipped into the seat beside him. I nodded as he wrinkled his nose, then rubbed at it with a thick finger.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, though I wasn't. Not remotely.

Banner was a decent guy, as far as a drug dealer could be. At least that was the impression I had from listening in on his conversation. He was lending money to the people in his community who needed that help, and he wasn't charging interest.

He wasn't even pressuring them to repay quickly.

Those weren't the actions of a bad man. They were the actions of someone who cared about the people around him and wanted to help them.

I had to wonder how much of the drug dealing was done to provide money to help others.

Crap.

No way I could implicate him in Kenny's death and disappearance.

Which left the Gwiber.

A shiver ran through me at the thought.

"What' wrong with you?" Lucien asked Jack, slyly. His eyes flicked to me as the corners of his mouth tugged upwards. "Look like you're about to sneeze."

"Too much smoke," he said, gruffly. "Hard to get a fix on any smell other than tobacco but I swear I smelt half-demon a minute ago."

Lucien's eyes darkened, the irises glowing unnaturally violet with black striations running throughout. I lowered my eyes immediately, but not fast enough, and I felt the darkness in them even as Jack's glowed amber.

The warlock made a point of turning in his seat, scanning the faces in the crowd and using his power to draw out any supernatural creature that might be lurking amongst the humans.

But no one's eyes changed, other than the three of us seated at the table, and that change wasn't something humans could see.

"None in here," Lucien said, shrugging.

"Must just be my imagination," Jack grumbled, though he was bothered, I could tell.

Which was just what I needed, more suspicion.

"How are you going to get Banner to answer your questions?" I asked, changing the subject.

Lucien released his power, and I sighed softly as my eyes returned to normal along with his and Jacks.

"Could just ask," the warlock said.

"He doesn't strike me as a killer," I offered, hesitantly. "Seems like a decent enough guy."

"For a drug dealer," Jack snorted.

"Really?" Lucien said, looking back over his shoulder at the big man standing by the bar. "Then it will be easy to get him outside. I'll just offer to buy his product."

"What! No!" Jack snapped but it was too late.

Lucien was on his feet and moving through the crowd without a glance back. I shared a look of surprise with Jack who just shook his head.

"This won't end well."

I couldn't disagree with that. Still, I turned to watch the show, hoping I was wrong.

Lucien leant in and spoke quietly to Banner who narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the younger man. They exchanged words, and Lucien reached into to his pocket and pulled a large wad of notes just far enough out for Banner to see.

Banner jerked his head towards the back door, and Lucien grinned triumphantly as he led the way out. He didn't see the look Banner gave his buddies, or the two men that waited just long enough so Lucien wouldn't notice and then followed them outside.

"Bollocks," Jack swore, rising to his feet. "Wait here."

Not a chance in hell.

Jack moved quickly through the crowd that seemed to just naturally part way for him, as though the people could sense he was someone they didn't want to mess with. It was decidedly different for me, and I had to push and shove, and slide past people as I moved through the crowded area before the door.

Then I was outside.

There was a tarmacked yard behind the pub surrounded by a high wall of dirty red brick. A heavy wooden gate was closed and locked, and the large metal rubbish bin was piled high with black rubbish bags and empty boxes.

Jack was nowhere to be seen.

Lucien was.

He was held by Banner's mates, one at either side of him with his arms gripped firmly in their hands as Banner spat questions at him. The warlock didn't seem at all perturbed and merely returned Banner's steely glare with a thin smile, and a cocked eyebrow, his amusement plain to read.

"He'd gonna get himself killed," I muttered as I hurried over, looking quickly around for sign of Jack.

"The fuck, do you think you're doing?" Banner was asking. "Coming to my pub and talking about shit you don't know nothing about."

"Merely looking to purchase," Lucien replied. "For personal use only, I can assure you."

Banner shook his head and lifted his chin towards one of his mates. The bearded man sent a quick punch to Lucien's stomach and the warlock doubled over, wheezing.

"Stop!" I hissed, marching forward. "Leave him alone."

Banner turned to look at me, his expression showing his irritation. "Yeah, I'd not forgotten you. What is this? You two working together then?"

"We're not police," I said.

It was, apparently, entirely the wrong thing to say.

Banner's mouth twisted as he snarled a command and one of the two men broke away, pulling out a knife as he stepped towards me.

I held up my hands and backed away. "We just have some questions."

"Nah, you don't," Banner said. "I'm done with this. Get rid of them."

Another step towards me from the knife wielder, and I yelped and promptly vanished from sight as I curled my hand into a tight fist and moved rapidly away from the sharp and pointed knife that had been heading my way.

Knife wielder gaped and looked around, searching for me.

He didn't see Jack leap from the roof of the pub.

Jack hit him hard, and the man went down. Banner turned towards the sound as Jack landed a solid blow against the downed man's chin, sending him to sleep. Then he was charging Banner.

Lucien spoke a few words and pressed two fingers against the bearded man's cheek. He recoiled, eyes flashing with annoyance and confusion, that quickly turned to fear as Lucien continued to chant soft words, and the man bent almost double, backwards.

Banner and Jack were exchanging blows and while they were closely matched in strength, Jack was a werewolf with all the agility and stamina of his race.

The outcome of the fight wasn't even in doubt.

He fought with an almost methodical calm, deflecting or simply sliding out of the way of thrown punches, and retaliating with short, quick, incredibly fast strikes to the upper body and head of the other man.

In moments, Banner was down, and the yard was silent but for the high-pitched squeals of the bearded man whose limbs were twisting and pulling in unnatural ways. Lucien watched the man, a smile playing on his lips, eyes full of hunger and delight at the man's suffering.

"Enough," Jack snapped, stepping in and knocking the poor man unconscious with a single heavy blow from his right fist.

"No fun at all," Lucien murmured, but didn't argue. He looked around, brow furrowed, and I realised I was still invisible.

I released my hand, sheepishly.

Jack turned and glared, nose wrinkling at an aroma he couldn't pretend was his imagination. He lifted one big hand and pointed at me.

"We need to talk," he said.