Wildfire

Chapter 15

15. Trust

I wasn't drunk.

Nope, definitely not drunk. Drunk was too mild a word for the sensation sizzling through my veins and lighting up my skin like a bulb. I was literally glowing from the inside out.

"Huh." I stretched my arms out in front me, fascinated by the play of yellow light that shimmered over my limbs. That wasn't even the weird part – the weird part was that whatever the heck the drink had done to my system, my mood seemed to match the colour play perfectly. I felt comfortably warm, happy, bubbly, hyper, maybe a little bit agitated but –

Soooooooo good, I thought happily.

"Maybe you've had enough."

I glanced up from my glowing arms. Blond Bartender-Girl was staring at me, her expression equal parts amused and wary – and she was holding the luminous yellow bottle of Kri Drekavac hostage.

"Maaaaybe," I conceded, my lips trembling with the effort it took not to smile. She was so serious looking, it made me want to school my face into an expression as solemn as hers. "What sort of rum is that? I feel all sloshy-happy-hyper... eee." I frowned. "Is hyper-ee a word? It should be."

Blond Bartender-Girl rolled her eyes, but I could tell the amusement was winning out. Hmm... maybe she wasn't so serious after-all, then. "I said it tasted like rum. I didn't say there was rum in it."

My eyes widened. "But I'm glowing! C'mere and look at my hair." I leaned over the bar a little, tossing my hair forward. Like my skin, light glittered along the strands of my dark mane, although the effect was somewhat duller.

"Ohhhhkay, I'm cutting you off." The bottle of Kri Drekavac disappeared, and then she was yanking me back onto my stool. "Stay put, okay?"

"Yes, boss." I saluted her with a smile. "Or... bartender girl – hey, what is your name?"

"Diesel."

"What, Petrol was taken?" I started to laugh at my own joke, but I had a feeling that she didn't find it so funny. She just rolled her eyes again and moved back up the bar, taking orders as she went. I watched, fascinated, as she dealt with difficult customers and accepted strange orders without blinking an eye. She moved with a lithe grace that I envied, like a little ballerina doll.

The crowd began to thin soon after the band finished their set, the chaos at the bar lessening, and I noticed Diesel starting to slow down as she delivered orders. She seemed to relax a little, but her eyes still scanned the crowd as she worked. I wondered if she was looking for more trouble.

Eventually, she wandered back toward my corner of the bar. I had gone back to studying my arms at this point, fascinated by the glow on my skin. Every time the overheard strobe lights changed colour, my skin seemed to soak up the colour and reflect it back at me.

"Cool, huh?"

I glanced up at her, nodding slowly. "Freaky... but cool. Freaky-cool."

"I thought you might appreciate something a little less dangerous," she said, her tone a little careful. "I heard most of your argument with your... friend, and I figured you weren't adapting too well to the real world."

My brows lowered, pulling into a frown that felt wrong on my face. My body was too relaxed, too happy to feel worried or perturbed. "This doesn't feel like the real world. It feels like... a not-real world. Like I'm Alice, except instead of falling down a rabbit hole, I punched gunman in the face and played Operation on a live body and suddenly bam! People with weird eyeballs –" I lowered my voice and pointed to a guy sitting further down bar. "- everywhere."