Free Lost to the Gray by Amanda Bonilla

that’s what made humans such a delicacy for the ghouls. Their fear is so easy to spike.
    His voice echoed off in the distance, and I almost wanted to give the poor guy a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He had no idea what he’d gotten himself into. Someone had rearranged the entire space—sending my annoyance into the stratosphere—clearing the area to leave a single table in the center of the bar and another in the center of the dance floor. I didn’t know w Kdnerinhat made me angrier: the fact that they’d infiltrated what I’d considered a safe place, or the mess they were leaving me to clean up after all of this was over. Two meager lights illuminated the space, shining down on the tables like eerie spotlights. Five chairs crowded one of the squares, four of them pulled out in invitation.
    Our host sat patiently, waiting for us to take our seats.
    My gut burned with the need to plow shoulder-first into the ghoul and take it to the floor. The bear’s spirit rumbled inside of me, anxious for blood, claws itching to tear into flesh. He wanted out, to defend my territory, to protect what belonged to me. I tamped the instinct down, reminding the beast inside of me that his fury could only be unleashed if Darian was in danger. The bear’s sole purpose was to protect my Charge. Somewhere in the back of my mind a thought took root:
A danger to you
is
a danger to her
.
This is dangerous ground
.
    As ghouls went, the Raksasha were the deadliest. Most ghouls preferred to feed on the recently deceased, sort of the vultures of the supernatural world. The Raksasha, on the other hand, nourished themselves only from living flesh. Widespread rumors circulated of how they managed to lure hapless victims to grisly deaths with nothing more than their beauty. Our host tonight embodied every tale I’d ever heard: dark, flawless skin, unreadable black eyes, full mouth that curved into a seductive smile. . . . I looked to my comrades and then back at the ghoul, taking note of the delicate features and long, shining black hair as smooth as satin.
    “Jesus,” the human breathed, clearly captivated. “She’s beautiful.”
    That she was.
    Shit
.
    “Welcome. Please, have a seat.”
    Her voice was as lovely and delicate as her face, which only served to put me on high alert. The human padded forward as if in a trance, obviously ready to lay down his life and anything else she asked of him. Slowly, I approached the table with the remaining three players and took a seat. It took every bit of self-control I had not to unleash the anger churning like an artic storm inside of me. As it was, the temperature in the bar had dropped a few degrees since I’d walked through the door.
    “First things first, no electronics of any kind. As you can all understand, tonight’s game is all about discretion. I don’t want just
anyone
thinking they can crash our party. Any attempt at use of magic or outside communication will result in expulsion. Now, can I get anyone a drink before we begin?” The ghoul snapped her fingers and a Sylph came from behind the bar with a tray of drinks. Gods, the way she’d usurped my bar was driving me crazier by the second. “I’m afraid we have a limited selection, but I guarantee you’ll like what I serve.”
    Tall, skinny shot glasses filled near to overflowing were placed in front of everyone at the table. The bright liquid glowed with an otherworldly light, swirling with opalescent gold.
    “Wh-what is that?” the human asked. He wasn’t going to do anything to stay off the Raksasha’s radar if he didn’t keep his mouth shut.
    The ghoul stared straight at me, her smiled growing wider, almost greedy. Her gaze didn’t waiver as she answered the human, “Ambrosia, Sam. A specialty of the house.”
    I wanted to call her bullshit on that one, but knew better than to Kettlty o cause trouble. No way would I serve that shit at my bar. Ambrosia was the street name for the faerie brew that had been all but