Thanks to Liter Knight for her careful editing!
Chapter 4
Abby looked around a little uncertainly. The bar Will had brought her to after work wasn't really that rough. She had been in the city for long enough to know this place was cheap and there might be a fight every few nights between dumb guys who were blowing off steam, but no one was going to bother her, especially with Will at her table. But she and Will preferred quieter places. Will had picked her up from work and announced he had another member of the family who had agreed to let her tag along on his nightly hunt. Abby had followed him eagerly to the meeting spot. But after sitting in this noisy, overcrowded bar for ten minutes her mood had soured a little.
"Sorry," said Will, "Enzo picked this place. I hadn't been here before so I didn't realize."
"That's alright."
"I should have asked to meet at Tommy's."
"It's fine. We won't be here that long."
"I should have known. This is totally a dusk bar. They tend to be a little rough around the edges."
"Dusk? Is that another party?"
Will nodded, "Its smaller than the others. It's the Savons that hunt monsters and try to stop crimes."
"They hunt monsters?"
Will gave a little half smile, "Other monsters."
Will glanced off to the right where a guy was laughing in that fake, too loud way guys do when they're trying to convince themselves they're having a good time. He was with a group of guys and one of his friends had just fallen on the floor. The guy on the floor was also laughing hysterically while the beer on the floor soaked into his pants.
"Enzo's young," said Will, then looked back to her. "But that's good too. You'll be a fledgling for the next few decades so it'll be good for you to get to know some of the younger members of the family. With all the changes of the last few years, the latest generation of the family is very different from the old timers like me."
Abby glanced at the grey in Will's hair. She never really thought about his age. Back home, plenty of girls her age were married to men twenty or even thirty years older than them, if they were rich or if their first wives died in childbirth. But even though Will looked like he was in his late thirties, that was just a trick. He was far, far older.
"Just how old are you?" asked Abby.
Will laughed, "It's a funny time for you to ask me that."
"Sorry."
"It's fine, I'm..."
"Will!" Came a shout from behind Abby, loud enough that she heard it over the din of the bar.
Will stood, breaking into a grin.
"Enzo."
Abby turned to see a young man standing behind their table. He was short, only a few inches taller than her, but very broad, with big shoulders, powerfully muscled arms, and a square head that all made him seem bigger than his height. He had a big mouth and brown hair that he kept slicked to the side.
"Fuckin' A," said Enzo, and crushed Will in a hug; they held it for a minute before breaking off.
"How long's it been?" asked Enzo.
"Just a few months. Before I left on that little campaign," said Will. Abby was amused to hear Will was pitching his voice a little deeper and rougher when he was talking to Enzo.
"Fuck, you get to have all the fun."
"Eh, you shouldn't be jealous. Enjoy your bunk time while it lasts."
"Yeah, you're right. How was it?"
"It was..." Will gave Abby a nervous glance, and she realized they were talking about putting down her town's rebellion.
Abby had a sudden memory of the aftermath of the battle. She had emerged from her basement and wandered through the town, passing her shocked and broken neighbors. She had a sudden vision of Brendan, a farmer who owned good land a few miles from town, who her mom had cleaned for. She had seen him sitting on the ground, tearing at his arms and weeping, broken under the power of the Millstone. He had torn huge rents in his arms, clawing at bugs that had never been real but he insisted were crawling just under his skin.
Will shrugged. "It went fine," he said. "Spent most of the time walking there."
"Yeah that's how it is," said Enzo.
Abby had stayed seated, she wasn't sure if she was supposed to get up or not, and now Enzo glanced down at her.
"So this is your girl?"
"You could say that. Abby, this is Enzo."
Abby figured she should probably stand, so she got up and put out a hand.
"Nice to meet you."
Enzi grabbed her hand and jerked her forward a little too hard, her arm complained and she barely kept her balance. Then Enzo crushed her in a hug.
"Welcome to the family," said Enzo.
"I haven't decided anything yet," said Will.
"Ha. Will, you gotta get the stick outta your ass."
Will rolled his eyes, "You want a beer?"
"Sure, I'll have a quick one."
Will wandered toward the bar, leaving Abby at the table with Enzo. There was an awkward silence for a minute. Abby silently cursed Will for putting her in this situation, but then again she was going to be following this guy around all night. If she couldn't talk to him at a bar she didn't know how the rest of the night was going to go.
"So, how did you meet Will?"asked Abby.
"Oh, on the campaign. I'm from down south but I came up when word came down the family was joining up with the Dragon's latest shit storm. Will's sort of a relative, my uncle knew his ma', so he took me under his wing. We'd both done a little company work over the years so we hit it off."
