Page 34 of Rev

There’s only one place I know Rev will be, and I don’t know if I have the stomach to go there. But, I can’t get him out of my head, so I make for the bathrooms, and then spy the opening over people’s heads.

Down the wide, shallow stairs, angling in a wedge toward the huge door. Kane is there again, and a man I don’t recognize. He’s shorter than Kane, under six feet. His skin is a rich, dark brown, his hair black and long, bound in a thick, low ponytail, the tip dangling at mid-back. His beard is long as well, coming to a neat point on his chest, with a mustache that curves up on his cheeks. In addition to the black slacks and T-shirt uniform, he has a bright yellow sash around his waist through the belt loops, tied on one side with the ends hanging to his knee; it should look goofy, but on him, somehow, it just looks cool and debonair and exotic and downright sexy. He’s as much a beefcake as all the others I’ve met—his shoulders are nearly as broad as Kane’s and Chance’s, and his chest and arms rival theirs as well, but on a much shorter frame, which has an effect of making him look almost as broad as he is tall. Trim wedge of a waist. His eyes are dark, and dance with humor as he sees me descending.

“Ah, you are the one!” he says, in a lilting, accented voice. “I hear of you, lady. You are Myka.”

Kane’s eyebrow twitches upward and stays up.

“I am,” I confirm. “I haven’t met you.”

“Alas, I was absent when you graced our lair with your beauty.” Man’s got a way with words. He reaches a huge, scarred, callused palm out to me. “I am Lash.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Lash.” I shake his hand, and point at the sash at his waist. “I love your…belt? Sash?”

He grins at Kane. “You see, my friend? She likes mysash.” He flips the sash as he emphasizes the word.

Kane rolls his eyes. “Looks fuckin’ dumber than fuck.”

“You are a smart man. Why do you insist on littering your speech with so much profanity? It seems unnecessary.” He turns to me. “It pains to me to deny one so lovely as you anything, Mistress Myka, but I fear I cannot allow you entry.”

“Oh.” It shouldn’t be so crushing. I don’t even want to go in there. But…I just have to see Rev.

I’ve never been addicted to anything except Candy Crush for about a month, but I wonder if this is what addiction feels like. One hit, and I’m hooked.

Kane frowns at me. “Why the hell would you want to go in there, anyway? Not a place for innocent young things like you.”

“How do you know I’m so innocent, Kane?” I lean toward him. “Maybe I have a secret dark side.”

Kane guffaws at this. “Yeah, and I’m the fuckin’ Pope.” He shakes his head, chucking me under the chin. “Babe, you’re sweetness and light in a hell of a sinful-lookin’ package, but still sweetness and light for all that.”

I frown at him.

Hechuckedmy chin.

He said I’m a sinful-looking package.

And the very thought that I might have a dark side made him laugh.

I don’t know what to think about all this.

“I’m looking for Rev.” I plant my hands on my hips.

“He’s all over the place,” Kane answers. “He’s our roamer.”

“Roamer?”

Kane nods. Gestures at the door. “Me, Lash, Silas, Saxon, and Solomon, we’re door security. Chance is the coordinator. Watches everything, everyone, and keeps shit running smooth. Toro, Fonz, and Taj, they’re stationed up top, main floor, and down in Hel. Rev is everywhere, responding to situations. He’s the roamer.”

Lash shakes his head. “You give away our secrets, Kane.”

Kane just snorts. “How we run security ain’t a secret, Lash.”

“Well, how do I find him?” I ask.

“You need somethin’ in particular?” Kane asks.

“I…” What in the world do I say? I end up shrugging. “I just want to talk to him.”

Kane chuckles again. “You just wanna talk.”