~~Young~~

Chapter Thirteen

   Damn this!

   “Listen, I just want a drink, one beer. You let me in and you can keep that,” he shot his chin towards the money, “consider it a tip.”

   “Your money’s no good here,” the bouncer shoved Gage’s clip into his chest, rather briskly too. It may not have affected Gage that much, but had he been human it surely would have left him stumbling, “now fuck off.”

   Oh how he wished he could oblige this surprisingly ethical man, but since Twitchy was now conversing with some new friends he just couldn’t walk away. One by one their gazes slipped from the TV to where Sera sat sipping at her beer, mouths curling up as if they had some grand idea.

   “Please, it’s just one drink-” Gage started, but with his attention inside the bar instead of on what was in front of him he missed as the bouncer swung a right hook at him.

   “I said fuck off low life,” came the rumbled words just a moment before his fist collided with Gage’s face.

   He hadn’t had the time to brace his self and the blow sent him stumbling back. It was a damn good shot too, had Gage rolling his jaw to get it to pop back in socket.

   Another day, another time, and he’d take this man up on his offer for a fight. But not tonight…maybe they had a back door…

   “And if I see you around here again,” the bouncer paused and reached around the threshold of the door for a rather mean looking shot gun, “Lucy here will be the one doing the talking.”

   No back door then…

   Gage pushed himself off the ground and backed away with his hands up, not turning around until the big guy stopped aiming at Gage’s man parts. He jogged back around the corner Sera had rounded earlier and tore off his borrowed clothes as he pulled his wings out once more. It would be a tight squeeze trying to get in through the doorway and around the bouncer without bumping into him with his wings out, but he’d have to give it a shot…so the big guy didn’t take a shot.

   As soon as he knew he was undetectable he took off at a sprint for the bar once again. But the big guy was gone. Well that did make things a little easier…but seeing Twitchy make a hasty exit with two other men had Gage’s ‘shit ain’t right’ radar screaming.

   Sera, he thought and ran into the bar, every bad scenario of what could have happened to her running through his mind. Had they hurt her? Did she refuse their advances and hurt her for such? Had they hit her, touched her in some sexual way, groped her, assaulted her?

   He heard someone complain about the chill in the air but nothing more when he couldn’t find Sera in that room anywhere. There was broken glass on the floor and liquid dripping off the table top and wall where she had been sitting.

   He spun around and looked back out into the night, had they taken her with them?

   No, he was sure he would have noticed that much. And he would hope as enthralled in their game as they were the other occupants wouldn’t let them kidnap someone before their eyes.

   Then where was she?  

   There was another crash from the back room and voices that carried over the too loud game.

   “Let go of me,” he heard Sera shout, “I didn’t do anything.”

   “Bull shit, I saw you swing your glass at that guy.”

   So that’s where the big guy went…and why Twitchy and his friends had taken off.

   He’d really like revenge on them, really, really like to rip their throats out for trying anything with Sera, but she came first. He could’ve probably navigated the tight space of the back room well enough if he hadn’t had his wings out, but because of that and the bartender now standing guard in front of the door Gage had to take an alternate route. Seemed he was going to find the back door anyway.