The demon girl weaved through the crowd toward the cute ghost boy she’d seen from across the club. He looked lonely, which is what made ghosts so alluring in the first place, but not pathetic, like a lot of them could be, which killed the attraction for her. He looked like he was there to enjoy the music, not to get wasted or see or be seen.

“Hey.” That was her big opening line.

“What’s up?” he said, not entirely looking away from the stage.

“Who’s this playing?” She knew the answer.

“Reaver Reef.”

“You seen them before?”

“Yeah, they’re from here.”

“Oh, are you a local? I flew in from nowheresville to see the next band.”

He finally looked at her, fully. The eternity she’d heard so much about felt like it filled this moment where he made her feel like she was the transparent one. She was released by his nod. “Cool,” he said.

“Hey, it’s really loud right here. I was gonna head to the bar for a sec. You wanna come? You’ve already seen these guys a bunch.” If this final gamble didn’t succeed, she’d take her defeat gracefully.

The slightest of grins floated across his face. “Yeah, alright.”

She tried not to make how thrilled she was too obvious. They got in line for drinks, and she pressed her advantage. “So what do you do?”

“I’m a shade,” he said.

“This is gonna sound rude, but I can’t ever keep you guys straight. What’s a shade do?”

He shrugged. He’d gotten that before. “Mostly the same stuff we did before. I still work in a record shop.”

“That’s so cool!” She ordered two drinks. Handing him one, she said, “Does an intoxicant buy me your name?”

“Eli.”

She shook his hand. “I’m Umbracathis. But I go by Cath.”

“Like the song,” he said. “From before.”

“Is it any good?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“You’ll have to play it for me sometime.” Cath sipped her drink, feigning innocence.

He smiled a second time. “Yeah, alright.”

They wandered back into the crowd. When the final act took the stage, Cath felt a cold hand touch her waist. She wove her fingers into his.