Free Anubis Nights by Gary Jonas

about him. She missed him already.
    She considered what Chronos and Sharon had told them. She would be alone here for however long it took for Jonathan to dispatch Winslow in 1323 BCE and again in 1877. She didn’t know if their relationship was strong enough to withstand a long separation if it took years for Jonathan to get here. She hoped it wouldn’t take that long. She also thought about the way Kelly looked at Jonathan. Maybe she was imagining things. Jonathan didn’t see Kelly that way, so she really had nothing to worry about. She just wished he would get here sooner rather than later.
    After dropping off her purchases in her room, she went downstairs and looked for the hotel bar. Then she remembered Prohibition was in effect, so there wouldn’t be any hotel bars, at least not officially. She remembered reading that the government actively poisoned illegal alcohol, which killed a number of citizens during the twenties. She wanted a drink, which meant she’d need to find a speakeasy. She approached the concierge, a man in his mid-twenties with slicked-back dark hair. He saw her moving toward him and gave her a smile.
    “Good evening, ma’am. Is there something I can do for you?”
    She nodded, gave him a shy grin, and leaned close, putting her hand on his arm as she whispered in his ear, “Do you know where a lady can get a drink around here?”
    He glanced down at her hand, saw a folded twenty dollar bill peeking out from under her fingers. She slid her hand up his arm then tucked the twenty into his breast pocket behind the handkerchief. His eyes went wide for a moment and she realized she could have used a smaller denomination.
    He winked at her, looked around, then leaned close. “There’s a joint called Sully’s two blocks north on Lexington. You’ll see some stairs going down. Knock on the door and tell them Buffalo Bill sent you.” He handed her a card with an address printed on it.
    “Thanks, Bill.”
    He smiled. “Buffalo Bill is the password to get in. If you need anything else, you let me know.”
    “I will. Thanks again.”
    Lexington was a short block over. Then she walked two long blocks north, looking for the address. She saw a number of places that looked as if they could be speakeasies, though. For a moment she felt silly for bribing the concierge and irritated that he told her to walk a few blocks when there was probably a good place on every block.
    Oh well. She had the feeling of being watched, but she knew it was just nerves. She didn’t know anyone here, and nobody knew her. She glanced behind her and saw people on the sidewalk but nobody who looked potentially threatening. The feeling faded and she continued down the street. She saw the steps Charlie had mentioned, went down, and knocked on the door.
    A grate slid open at eye level, and a man looked out at her. The sound of smooth jazz spilled onto the street. “I don’t know you.”
    “Buffalo Bill sent me.”
    “Step back.”
    For a split second, she thought the man wanted to get a better look at her, but the door swung outward. “Come on in.”
    “Thank you,” Rayna said as she walked past the man into a smoky club. A jazz band played at the back, tables lined the floor, and the bar stood off to the left. She noticed that all the patrons were white, but the musicians were black. The place was packed. Men clad in nice suits chatted with women in flapper dresses. Some of the women wore long gloves and smoked cigarettes while they laughed at whatever mildly witty remarks the men buying them drinks happened to make.
    Rayna moved through the crowd toward the bar. There weren’t any open stools, but she managed to squeeze between two couples. When she finally got the bartender’s attention, she said, “Whiskey.”
    “One panther sweat coming up,” the bartender said.
    She placed a bill on the counter as he filled her glass. He slid it to her, snatched up the bill, and placed her change before her. She slid a tip his way,