Maria and I gazed into a window at Crimson’s Nouveau, watching Dr. U sit at the bar with the pretty, pink-haired beauty. In the crowded restaurant, they laughed over drinks before a hostess ushered them to a booth.
I grinned and grabbed Maria’s hand, leading her to the alley behind the restaurant. My heart warmed, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. “I hope she has a good time tonight. Dr. U deserves it.”
Some flurries drifted down from the grey sky, and I nodded to Zial, one of the guards near The Lounge who always opened portals to Hell for me. After moving his hands in a pattern I hadn’t quite picked up on yet and tossing a lit match onto the ground, a black mist formed in the alleyway.
Maria stared at it with wide eyes, then walked up to it—thrusting out her fingers and watching t
