Chapter 159
“Fine,” Aaron agreed and walked off toward the back of the room where the pool sticks were kept.
“Hey, we got next on this table.”
Elliott turned to see a pair of lanky looking guys he’d never met before staring up at him. One of them had a mullet and the other was nearly bald with just a fringe of hair above his ears.
“Is that so?” Elliott asked, his tone friendly, though he wasn’t about to give up his lucky table. “Why don’t the two of you take on my friend and I?” Elliott asked as Aaron returned.
The two guys looked at each other and shrugged as if they were considering it.
Putting his arm around Aaron’s shoulders like they were long last pals, he continued. “In fact, do you care to make it interesting? How about we place a little wager. How does a hundred bucks sound?”
“A hundred bucks?” Mullet asked. “I don’t know. That’s kinda steep.”
“No, it’s not. You’ve got the money,” Elliott replied, looking him right in the eye. “In fact,” he continued, shifting to Baldy, “I think we should make it a hundred bucks per person.”
“Yeah, okay,” they both agreed within a nanosecond of Elliott completing the suggestion. They began to ready their sticks, and Elliott felt his new buddy tugging on his arm.
“I’m not a very good billiards player,” Aaron whispered sharply.
Elliott pulled away from him, and shaking his head said, “This is Oklahoma. It’s called pool.” He thought he detected some sort of accent when he said “billiards” but he had no idea whether it was British, Scottish, or something else entirely. Stepping around the nervous Guardian, he said, “Don’t worry about it, man. I’ve got this.” He wanted to laugh a little bit. He had an idea this guy had probably ripped the heads off of a couple thousand Vampires, but he seemed scared to shoot some pool. He thought maybe he could learn to like the guy—if he had any intent at all in joining his band of superheroes—which he didn’t.
Mullet broke, and it turned out the pair wasn’t too bad. Aaron, on the other hand, was terrible. He missed two easy shots early on, and Elliott ducked in to give him a few pointers while the other guys were shooting. The Leader learned quickly, though, and by his third shot, he was doing much better. Once he scratched, and Baldy moved to the table, Elliott asked him, “Who’s that other guy?”
Aaron looked back over his shoulder at his friend who was sitting at a table near a woman who appeared to be talking to him, though his eyes were locked on the game. “That’s Jamie Joplin,” Aaron replied in a hushed tone, like he was afraid the other man might know they were talking about him. “He’s our Healer.”
“What’s a Healer?” He remembered Janette mentioning that at one point, but he didn’t really know what it was, unless of course, it was a person who healed people. Seemed obvious enough.
“He puts broken Hunters and Guardians back together. He’s also a surgeon.”
“Oh. Is that why he’s afraid of germs?”
Aaron laughed. “I don’t know. I’m not a surgeon, and this place is killing me.”
“Huh. Couldn’t tell,” Elliott mused, folding his arms.
“That’s because Janette is really important to me, and I don’t want to disappoint her.”
“Well, I’d hate to be the one to tell you this, but you’re gonna have to tell the old lady you tried your best but no cigar.” It was Elliott’s shot now, and he moved away from Aaron before he could say anything else. He managed to clear the table this time, much to Baldy and Mullet’s displeasure, but when he turned back to them to take the money, his wide smile and friendly eyes wiped away their angst. “You’re happy to give me your dough, now ain’t ya boys?”
Both men reached into their wallets and took out enough bills to cover the bet, handing them over to Elliott with glee, and he wished them both a good night before turning back to the Guardian at his shoulder. “You know, you and I make a pretty damn good team.” He smacked Aaron on the arm and then looked around for his next victim.
“You’re right, we do,” he agreed. “So why don’t you come back to KC with us, and we’ll talk about that?”
Elliott laughed. This guy just wouldn’t give up. “Are you kidding? And leave all this? Thanks, but no thanks, boss man.” He noticed Aaron’s eyebrows raise at the impromptu nickname and was just about to say something a little snarkier when movement at the front of the club near the door caught his attention. “Shit!”
Bikers. Lots of them. And none of them friendly. They filed through the door with scowls on their faces interrupted only by the look of recognition that tugged at the corners of their mouths when they saw him. “And that’s my cue to call it a night,” Elliott muttered, turning to make a hasty exit out the back door.
Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t any better back there. At least as many bikers had the back door covered as well, including the guy who’d lost his money, and something told Elliott he wasn’t going to settle for having the cash back now. Charming his way out of this situation probably wasn’t going to work either.
“I don’t understand what the big deal is,” Aaron said quietly. “They can’t hurt you, you know.”
Elliott snickered, wondering when was the last time this guy fought with humans. “Nah, they can’t kill me. But I’m not much for having my face punched into a bloody pulp right now either.”
The biker who’d lost his money shouted out, “Hey, Sanderson!” and the rest of the gang started to move forward in force. The rest of the patrons went scrambling, hiding under tables or wherever they could find a place to get out of the way.
