Chapter 3 – Asher

There were a few moments of confusion in the bar then a loud explosion that rattled the glass bottles on the shelves behind the bar. The old lady rushes for the door at the back of the bar and shouts through it,

“GIRL, are you okay?” it must lead downstairs,

“I’m all good, Moll. Just don’t come down here yet. You’ll just get sad; I promise I’ll fix it. Just never let Jack near this thing again.” The old lady sags, and sighs, then whispers,

“My distillery…” She sounds so sad; it nearly breaks Ash’s heart. She wipes a tear from her eye, then turns back to the bar to continue serving, sniffing gently. Two patrons come over to offer condolences to the lady, who Ash now knows is called Molly. A few minutes later the redhead came up to the back of the bar. She looked as if she’d been soaked,

“Molly.” She sighs, “I’m sorry, I know I smell awful, the barrel of cleaning liquor got hit by a large chunk of copper that flew off the boiler and I got drenched in the stuff. I’m going to go change, but I’ll probably be smelling of the stuff for days.” Molly nods, and wrings her hands,

“And the distillery?” The woman sighs, and nods,

“Most of it is salvageable, but I’ll need some parts for the bits that blew up and the gauge he messed with. I have no idea how he messed it up but it wasn’t registering the pressure, I’m lucky I noticed the copper bending before it blew.” Molly nods,

“Let me look you over before you change, girl.” Molly turns the woman around, then grimaces. “There’s some shrapnel in your shoulder, I can’t reach it.” She scanned the room and called to Mal, “You, Mr Vampire Prince. You’re tall, could you help us out here?” Mal looks stunned but nods and walks over. The redhead looks unimpressed but stands still.

“Molly, is this really necessary? I could kneel so you can reach.” Molly huffs,

“Nonsense, I know your back’s playing you up, and standing is better than kneeling.” The redhead sighs and nods, dropping her head a touch to show deference,

“Yes, Molly.” She turns to Mal, “Hi, thanks for taking time out of your evening to help me, your Royal Highness.” She gives him a small curtsey then turns holding her hair out of the way for him to reach the bit of metal. He carefully inspects it,

“I’m sorry if this hurts, I’m not trying to make it worse.” She chuckles softly,

“Pain is an old friend, and it reminds me just how much of an arse it is daily, this is nothing new. But I appreciate the concern for my well-being. I would however appreciate it if my blood could remain outside of your person though. Personal preference, you understand, Sir.” He smirks,

“I would never take your blood without explicit consent. But I understand the caution.” She nods and stills while he slowly and carefully removes the small jagged piece of copper from her shoulder. She holds herself perfectly still but grunts softly as it moves, Mall mutters softly, “I’m sorry.” He hands the copper off to Molly who chucks it into a bin under the bar. She sighs,

“Tolerance for pain isn’t numbness to it. But thank you, it feels much better without the metal in my shoulder.” He nods,

“Should I do anything else?” She hums,

“If you could just hold the edges of the wound together for about five seconds. I heal very quickly, but it’ll make it less itchy while it does, thank you.” Mal nods and carefully does so while Ash remains seated in the booth with their drinks. Ash takes another small sip of his drink, wondering if Molly distils her own whisky in the basement and if that’s why it’s like nothing he’d ever tasted before.

“There, I think it’s stopped bleeding. If there’s a cloth or something I can wipe it clean for you.” Molly holds out a damp napkin and Mal carefully wipes the area clean. “All clean and the bleeding has stopped.” She nods,

“Thank you.” The redhead says, “I’m going to go change, I think I still have some clothes in the back room somewhere.” Molly nods, going back to her customers and gestures through the door,

“Your duffle is in the back corner, but I don’t know what you’ve got in it.” The redhead nods,

“Anything would be better than this, thanks Molly. I’ll be out soon and help on the bar.” Molly nods, seemingly satisfied and makes her way back down the bar to continue serving people. Mal makes his way back over to Ash and sits down with a thump, whooshing his breath out as he does.

“Well, she’s incredible up close too.” Mal mutters and runs his hands through his hair. “And her skin feels wonderful. So smooth and warm.” Ash chuckles again,

“Of course she feels warm to you, idiot, we’re cold. Vampires, so-called living dead.” He gestures to himself and Mal laughs and takes another sip of his drink. Ash wants it to last, but knowing he wants an excuse to go to the bar once she comes back out from the back again, he makes a more concerted effort to finish his drink.

He didn’t want it to look too obvious what he was doing, so he took a minute or two by which time she’d reappeared. She’s now wearing a dark grey long-sleeved top, with some of the top buttons undone, showing off her impressive cleavage and making Ash have to catch himself before he starts drooling. She rolls up the sleeves as she approaches the bar, showing tattoos that swirl around her arms. He can’t tell from here what they’re supposed to be, but they look interesting from here.