Ethan had decided the moment he saw the young man that he should stay away from him.
Another human inside that casino was suspicious enough, especially after everything Ethan had learned about Trevor's group. What made it worse was how casually the young man behaved. He sat at a gambling table, laughed loudly, and drank as if he were in an ordinary bar rather than a casino filled with supernatural creatures.
Ethan had already assumed he was one of Trevor's people.
When the young man bumped into him, that suspicion only grew stronger.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to!"
The young man immediately began wiping the drink from Ethan's clothes.
Unfortunately, every attempt only made the stain worse.
"Stop."
Ethan caught his hand and pulled it away.
"You’re making it worse."
"Really?"
"Yes."
The young man looked down at Ethan's clothes, then raised his eyes to his face.
He stared for a few seconds.
Then he smiled.
"You're human."
Ethan froze for a moment.
Before he could respond, the young man continued.
"So you're the new guy!"
Ethan's guard immediately went up.
"Who are you?"
The young man held out his hand.
"Adrian. Adrian Riley."
Ethan didn't shake it immediately.
"How do you know me?"
Adrian laughed, though he was having trouble standing straight.
"Clark told me about you."
That was enough to confirm Ethan's suspicion.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
*One of them.*
He didn't know much about Trevor's other members, but knowing Clark was enough to convince him that this man wasn't ordinary.
Adrian continued,
"He said you're a detective... and that you're new to the group."
Ethan looked him up and down.
Messy clothes.
The smell of alcohol.
Unsteady speech.
Reckless behavior.
*Great.*
*Clark wasn't the exception.*
Ethan was about to ask him about the group when several voices suddenly rose behind them.
"Catch the cheater!"
"Don't let the thief escape!"
Ethan slowly turned around.
Several guards and angry customers were rushing toward them.
He looked at Adrian.
"What did you do?"
Adrian smiled.
"Nothing serious."
"Then why are they chasing you?"
"Maybe they misunderstood what I did."
Ethan closed his eyes.
*I knew it.*
Before he could move away, one of the guards charged toward them.
Something strange happened.
A pair of small wings suddenly appeared on the sides of Adrian's shoes.
Ethan's eyes widened.
"What the hell is that?"
Adrian grabbed his hand.
"We're leaving."
"I don't want—"
Adrian took off.
Ethan didn't even finish his sentence.
His feet left the ground.
They moved at an absurd speed.
Adrian wasn't simply running.
He was practically flying across the streets, dragging Ethan along with him.
"Stop!"
Adrian ignored him.
"Adrian!"
Still nothing.
Buildings rushed past Ethan so quickly that he could barely recognize them.
Then Adrian suddenly turned into a narrow alley and stopped.
Ethan hit the ground.
For several seconds, he couldn't move.
Then he grabbed his stomach and started throwing up.
Adrian stared at him.
"Oh..."
A few seconds later, Adrian started throwing up too.
Ethan slowly raised his head.
"Why are you throwing up?"
"Because I saw you throwing up."
"That is the stupidest reason I've ever heard."
Adrian wiped his mouth.
"I'm drunk."
"I noticed."
Ethan used the wall to pull himself to his feet.
He was furious.
"Now tell me. Why were they chasing you?"
Adrian shrugged.
"I borrowed some things."
Ethan stared at him.
"Borrowed?"
"Yeah."
"Without permission?"
"Almost."
"And you call that borrowing?"
"Maybe I'll return them."
"When?"
Adrian thought about it seriously.
"Maybe."
Ethan's temper finally snapped.
"You bastard! You're no different from Clark!"
Adrian immediately raised his voice.
"Don't bring Clark into this!"
"You're exactly like him! You both do whatever you feel like and leave everyone else to deal with the consequences!"
"And what did I do to you? I saved you!"
"Saved me?! You made me fly halfway across the city!"
"I was going to leave you there?"
"That would've been better!"
"You would've been caught!"
"I would've preferred that!"
They kept arguing, each raising his voice louder than the other, until neither of them even remembered what the original argument was about.
Then they suddenly fell silent.
Ethan looked at Adrian.
Adrian looked back at him.
They both burst out laughing.
Ethan sat down against the wall.
"You're a disaster."
Adrian sat beside him.
"And you're way too serious."
"That's because I keep meeting people like you."
"Then we're friends."
"Don't make assumptions."
Adrian laughed again.
After they finally calmed down, Ethan remembered something.
"Wait."
He looked at Adrian.
"What did you steal?"
Adrian smiled and reached into his coat.
He pulled out Ethan's book, along with some money and jewelry.
Ethan's eyes widened.
"How did you get that?"
"It was with you."
Adrian tossed the book toward him.
"Here."
Ethan caught it.
He stared at Adrian for a long moment.
His expression said only one thing:
*Seriously?*
Adrian smiled.
"I told you I'd probably return it."
"You stole it!"
"But now it's back."
Ethan couldn't think of a response.
He tucked the book under his arm and looked around.
The night had grown colder.
"Now..."
He sighed.
"How am I supposed to get home?"
Adrian raised a hand confidently.
"I'll take you."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I've learned enough about you during the last hour."
Ethan turned to leave.
Adrian moved faster.
"Come on."
"I said no."
Adrian grabbed his arm.
"I won't lose the way."
Ethan stared at him.
"That isn't reassuring."
The small wings appeared on Adrian's shoes again.
"Wait!"
Adrian took off.
Ethan wasn't fast enough to stop him.
And so, against his will, Ethan found himself spending the rest of the night with a man he had distrusted from the moment they met.
A drunk.
A reckless thief.
A friend of Clark.
And apparently someone who thought flying across the city was a perfectly reasonable way to give someone a ride home.
As Adrian rushed through streets Ethan didn't recognize, one thought kept running through his mind:
*How am I supposed to survive this group of lunatics?*