Free Demon Lord 3: Blue Star Priestess by Morgan Blayde

herself, sending the regular on-duty bartender away. 
    Tossing some bills on the table, Zero-T smiled to show off a gold clip-on tooth.  “Keep ‘em coming.”
    “Sure, honey.  What will it be?”  Gloria smiled with predatory delight, making the money vanish into her cleavage. 
    Zero-T’s eyes stayed on her boobs.  If that continued, he’d be safe from getting mesmerized, but she’d probably get tired of it and punch out his lights.  “Kentucky bourbon,” he said.  “Something with a taste of bluegrass.”
    “Give me a Blue Lagoon,” I said, “and hold the umbrella.”
    Zero-T looked at me, his jaw dropping.  “That’s a kid’s drink.  I thought you were a man.  No wonder no one in the clan respects you.”
    “They’ll respect my foot up their collective asses,” I said.
    “Other people win over their peers,” Gloria told Zero-T.  “Caine stomps on their throats and asks them if they want some more.  It’s his management style.”
    “Buddha’s brass balls!” Zero-T said.
    “Life is too short to mess with assholes, unless they’re on a hot chick,” I said.
    Gray had been doing his best to ignore the conversation.  He suddenly failed, lurching a little on his stool as he slanted me a blind glare.  “Hey, some of us are trying to drink for free here.  If you’re going to keep yapping past me, the least you can do is buy me a beer—or two.”
    Zero-T settled a cold, black stare on the sloven derelict.  “And what are you supposed to be?  You don’t smell human, demon, fey, or vampire.  You don’t reek enough to be a shape-shifter.”
    In human form, a couple of were-ducks at a nearby table blasted Zero-T with murderous glances.  They scooted chairs, standing with the plain intention of coming over and getting Duck-Dynasty-crazy.
    Gloria glared.  She didn’t raise her voice, but it slapped them.  “Sit.  Back.  Down.”
    They sat, heads lowering, returning attention to their drinks.
    Gloria’s lips pressed into a thin, hard line.  Completing our orders, her hands moved by instinct, while her stare enveloped Zero-T.  “If you start trouble in my bar, I’ll cut you off, and your decapitated head will be my new dartboard.”
    I looked across the room at the darts area.  There were three regular boards plus a Japanese water-goblin’s head that had seen better days.  The kappa had yellow-green scales, a yellow beak for munching cucumbers, and a flat, bald plate on top of his head.  The eyes had gone all milky in death.  Someone had painted concentric circles on the face. 
    Guess he hadn’t been able to pay his bar tab.
    “Dart board!”  One of the were-ducks snickered loudly. 
    The other said, “I’d like to see that.”
    Gray sighed with disappointment.   “You won’t.”
    Zero-T looked at Gray, and lifted an eyebrow in inquiry.
    I picked up the neon blue drink Gloria slid over to me on a pink bar napkin.  “Gray’s half angel.  His visions are never wrong, though somehow never as helpful as you’d expect.”
    Zero-T said, “Then the name Gray…”
    Gloria slid Zero-T’s bourbon over to him.  She said, “He chose it as a sign of neutrality.”
    Gray smirked.  “What she means is that both Heaven and Hell want me dead in a passive-aggressive sort of way.”
    Zero-T motioned toward Gray so Gloria could see.  “Get the man a beer, on me.”
    I looked at Gray.  He sensed my gaze and met it, blind eyes glowing slightly.  “What?”
    I took another sip of my drink, savoring the cold sweetness.  “So, you going to help me out with a prophecy this time too?”
    “Are you going to make me a caipirinha?”
    “What’s that,” Zero-T asked, “Mexican were-coyote?  Why would you want to be turned into one of those?”
    I said the word slowly, “Caipirinha, not Chupacabra.  The first is a Brazilian drink.  The second is a spiky green vampire lizard that attacks sheep.”
    Zero-T threw back half of his drink, and looked at me.  “Oh, I