Solicitors Not Welcome

Adrian and Rhys stepped out of the car into Gilt’s parking lot, gravel crunching under their feet. Trash was littered about the place, and the old building’s white, stucco walls were covered in graffiti. Large and centered was the image of a flaming machete, but dozens of other tags blanketed the building.

“This place is going to need a lot of work,” Rhys said.

“Mhm,” Adrian agreed, stepping over a broken beer bottle.

The front doors were covered in chipped black paint. Adrian tried them and found them locked. He knocked on the door, but there was no response. He tried again, louder. After a bit of pounding, a click sounded from the other side as the deadbolt slid home. The door opened only a crack.

“What do you want?” asked a man, peering through the barely opened door.

“Hi,” Adrian began. “We’re looking for the owner. Are they in?”

“Who’s asking?” the man responded in a gruff tone.

“My name’s Adrian, and this is Rhys. We’re looking to make an offer on the club.”

The man grunted. “Not for sale.”

“I think if you just heard us out-“ Rhys tried, but he was cut off.

“Not interested, sugar tits.”

Rhys slammed his mouth shut, looking stricken.

“It’s a generous offer,” Adrian pressed on. “You have something against cash in your pocket?”

“We’re done here,” the man said, face disappearing from the crack in the door.

Frustration surged through Adrian, and the knightly power he’d gained from his pact with Araqiel surged to meet it. Acting on instinct, Adrian tapped into that well of energy. He became aware of a subtle line of light connecting him to the man. Not understanding what he was doing exactly, Adrian tugged on the line, trying to reel the man back in. At first, Adrian thought the effect might have been physical, as the man stopped his retreat. That wasn’t the case, though. It was only that the man was no longer sure whether he wanted to disengage. He paused, clearly hoping to break off the conversation, but instead lingered.

Finally, he said, “You developers or something?”

Adrian marveled at what he’d just done.

“What was that?” he thought, consulting the voices in his head.

“A gift,” they answered.

“People will find it hard to stop talking to you, if you don’t want them to,” came the whispered explanation.

“You are free to pry,” they continued.

“Suspicion will grow only slowly,” was the final piece of advice.

That was certainly going to come in handy, Adrian figured. He maintained a mental connection with the man, keeping him engaged.

“No,” Adrian replied, answering the man’s question. “We’re just looking to buy.”

“Well, that’s good then,” the man said. “Hate developers.” He spat on the floor.

“Probably easier to talk inside,” Rhys suggested.

The man gave them a weary look, but stepped back and opened the door fully. “Fine, let’s get this over with. Come on in then.”

Adrian and Rhys entered the club. The house lights were on, since it was the middle of the day, fully illuminating its grimy interior. The black walls were faded, and the floor was sticky. The man led them along a railed walkway that circumscribed the dance floor, past the empty bar, to a beat-up wooden door that swung open to a back office. He plopped himself into a gray rolling office chair behind his desk and kicked his feet up.

“Name’s Rocco,” he told them. “I own the place. So spill. What’s the deal?”

Rocco looked to be in his mid-thirties. He had shaggy red hair that was a few days past needing to be washed and a face full of mismatched freckles. The undersides of his shoes were black, and they left dirt marks on the papers scattered across his desk.

Adrian slid a scrap of paper across the desk to Rocoo, who picked it up and gave it a look.

“That’s what we’re prepared to offer,” Adrian said.

“Lot of money,” Rocco replied.

Adrian shrugged. “We’d be looking to close as soon as possible. It seems like a fair number to me."

Rocco set the slip of paper back down. “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Problem is, I’m not looking to sell.”

“You’re saying there’s no number that gets our foot in the door,” Rhys asked sceptically.

Rocco snorted. “Course there is. But you’re not going to give it to me.”

“Try us,” Rhys said.

Rocco’s eyes roamed over Rhys’s body. Still tapping into his reserve of energy, Adrian became aware of a faint yellow glow surrounding Rocco’s skin.

“More than just a pretty face, huh?” Rocco leered. He turned to Adrian. “You know, I might be willing to make my number a little more reasonable if you threw in a few perks.” He licked his lips, giving Adrian a good look at his stained teeth. The yellow aura surrounding him deepened to a light orange.

“What am I looking at here?” Adrian asked the spirits.

“His arousal,” a whisper answered.

“Not as useful as the last power,” Adrian complained.

“You’d be surprised,” chuckled one of the spirits.

Adrian put his hand on Rhys’s shoulder, who was looking sick. In a warning tone, he said, “I don’t think he’s interested.”

“He?” Rocco asked, surprised. His aura shifted from orange to a deep purple. “Fucking kids these days. Hittin' you with the bait and switch. Can’t catch a break with all these trannies running around.”

Adrian took a step forward. “Watch yourself.”

“What?” Rocco said. “I’m just saying, you shouldn’t have a cock between your legs if you have to wear a bra. Although...” he gave Rhys a once-over, “I guess that’s not a problem for you, huh?”

Rhys’s face flushed red. Adrian spoke darkly. “You’ll want to stay on topic.”

“Sensitive, aren’t you?” Rocco said. “Whatever. You want to do some business? Here it is. Triple that number and we can talk.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Rhys sputtered.

Rocco shrugged. “You want to buy? That’s where I’ll sell.”

Adrian looked around the rundown office, his eyebrows furrowed. “You can’t be doing well here. Why not take an easy payday?”

“I like my job,” Rocco answered glibly, with a sleazy smile.

Adrian didn’t think that was it. Rocco didn’t strike him as the kind of man to walk away from a pile of money. Something wasn’t adding up.

“You get a lot of full houses?” he asked.

“Enough to keep the lights on,” Rocco said.

“Not a lot of big names coming through, though,” Adrian countered.

“We like to promote local talent,” Rocco replied. “Support the community and all that.”

Adrian stared at the man, but Rocco’s easy grin didn’t waver.

“Final offer,” Adrian said. “We’ll give you an extra forty-grand on top.”

“No deal,” Rocco said back, quickly. “Triple or bust.”

“You’re throwing away enough money to retire,” Rhys said, surprised. “You’d be set.”

“I already am,” Rocco told him.

Adrian could tell he wasn’t going to budge. “This is a waste of our time,” he muttered. “Come on, Rhys, let’s go.”

He released his hold on the strand of light connecting him to Rocco. A small wave of exhaustion settled in as he stopped using the infernal energy that powered his newfound abilities. He’d have to be careful about that, Adrian realized. The powers didn’t come for free, and he didn’t want to find out what happened if he overexerted himself.

Rhys stood up to leave, the tiniest smile playing on the corners of his mouth. Adrian found that odd, but it wasn’t worth commenting on.

Without the compulsion to keep talking to them, Rocco’s mood soured. “Waste of my time, too,” he grumbled. “I told you at the door I wasn’t interested. Now get out of here. I don’t want to have to call the bouncers in early.”

Adrian didn’t bother to respond. He left the man behind in his dilapidated office and led Rhys back out to the parking lot.

“Well, that didn’t go well,” Rhys said as they got into the car.

“No,” Adrian agreed, annoyed. “We’ll need to figure something out. Listen, about what happened in there…”

“It’s alright,” Rhys said, eyes to the side. “I get it. I know how I look.”

“You can be honest with me,” Adrian said gently, knowing that Rhys was holding back.

Rhys tugged at the bottom of his shirt. “It’s…a little confusing,” he admitted. “I’m not used to being…looked at like that.”

“That guy's lucky he stopped when he did,” Adrian told him. “If you have any more problems like that, you tell me.”

“Sure,” Rhys agreed weakly.

“I’m serious,” Adrian said. “Tell me, and I’ll make sure it stops.”

A strange expression came across Rhys’s face. “Earlier, when a delivery guy stopped by to drop off a package. When I went out to get it, he was checking me out.” The words came out quickly, and Rhys watched Adrian with an expectant look.

“Not much I can do about that one, I guess,” Adrian said. “But thanks for letting me know.”

Rhys smiled. “Sure thing.”

Something was up with him, Adrian thought. He’d need to keep an eye on it. First things first, though, they had to figure out what was going on with the club. With their offer shot down, they were back to square one, but something about Rocco wasn’t sitting right with him. Maybe Christine would have some insights, she’d done most of the work getting their offer together. Adrian started the car and pulled out, a lot on his mind.