The taxi pulled up at the bar. I'd decided that flying with Stella was going to be too much. Plus, I didn't want to show her any more of my power.
"Ben, Kate, Mary, and Rachel," she repeated. "I got it."
"Just please don't cause a problem." I really didn't want to have to babysit her all night. She needed help, but if she let slip about my powers, everything I'd worked to keep hidden would be in the open. I could only hope they wouldn't believe her if she said anything.
"Zayn!" Ben's exuberant voice shouted out my name as soon as I stepped out of the car.
Ben waved at me from inside a line of red velvet ropes. The office ladies were right beside him. I pretended not to notice how their eyes lit up as I stepped out of the taxi.
I moved to the side, making room for Stella, and saw their faces fall a bit as Stella stepped out beside me. Their expressions made me look over at Stella again.
I'd been so distracted with her power and helping her that I hadn't really taken a good look since she'd healed.
But as I did, I realized why the women's eyes held sparks of jealousy. Stella was drop dead gorgeous.
The same gene that triggered people's superpower also caused physical mutations in about twenty percent of supers. It could be something simple like the pair of fox ears on Rachel's head, or as drastic as the sharkman I'd met in the alley.
The whole group was watching Stella with surprised eyes, but she didn't seem to notice.
Stella was just taking in the city, looking at all the people walking by and smiling, pleased that they weren't collapsing and dying in front of her.
I hooked her arm through mine, trying to keep her from wandering off as we made our way to the group.
"Join us." Ben pulled the rope barrier away and gestured us in. There were more than a few disgruntled looks from those waiting behind him.
"And who is this?" Kate asked, seeming to put as much excited energy into her voice as she could.
I took my time in replying, scooting Stella fully past the rope so Ben could put it back.
"Stella, meet Ben, Kate, Mary, and Rachel." I went over them again.
"I've heard so much about you guys!" Stella gave them a winning smile and then pressed herself up against me in a possessive way.
I didn't love that Stella was staking her claim, or that she seemed so obsessed with me, but I knew that her hanging on me may help keep barriers with my direct reports intact.
In weighing my options, I decided that her getting closer to me was the lesser of two evils. That would have to be close enough to good.
"I love your horns." Rachel tentatively raised a hand. Stella bent her head down, offering them to Rachel. "So hard! I bet those could do some damage."
Ben leaned on my other side and whispered as quietly as a mosquito. "Handlebars, nice." He covered it up by speaking louder. "Oh, I see that's your type, Zayn."
Rachel blushed furiously, and her ears did this cute little twitch. "Some guys have a thing for mutations," she said quickly.
"Definitely," Stella agreed, letting her little tail come out to play. She twitched it in the middle of the group for all to see.
"Now all you need is wings," I joked.
She looked up at me with big eyes. "Do you want me to?" She backed up a little, and I realized she was serious.
"No, no, it's fine Stella. But you have wings?"
Stella nodded enthusiastically. "I can materialize wings. I just don't most of the time because they get in the way."
Ben whistled appreciatively. "Full succubus package. That's pretty darn cool. So, how long have you and Zayn been together?"
"Not long." She pressed my arm between her cleavage. "But I think it might last awhile."
I couldn't help but straighten at the statement, my body telling me to run away. But we were with my coworkers, and I once again reminded myself that she needed me.
"Nice. Maybe you can get Zayn to start a harem. After all, he is pushing the world hard enough to start one." Ben nudged me with a wink.
I frowned at Ben. That would not happen. I didn't even want one permanent girlfriend, let alone more.
"Next." The bouncer waved our group forward, looking us over. The bouncer was a large woman. A slight mutation seemed to turn her skin green; she looked like an orc.
I could practically see her count the number of girls with me and Ben. She waffled her head slightly, clearly deciding if we'd throw off the ratios too much before shrugging and opening the rope.
"Guys get in free, girls are a twenty-dollar cover."
The girls all paid up, but Stella had a scared look on her face.
Discreetly using my power, I palmed a twenty out of my wallet and slid it into Stella's hand. She smiled and handed the bouncer the bill before hurrying in after our group.
As we moved inside, there were stairs right there that went down two flights, and a big logo for the club illuminated the stairs from the side wall.
We headed down; most people were going down, but a few were coming back up to leave.
It wasn't until we got towards the bottom of the stairs that the music thumped, and the club opened up before us.
The club was split right down the middle. The left was a quieter area, separated by a wall. And the right area had a large dance floor with a live DJ bobbing his head. He was rocking out to his beats, headphones only covering one of his ears.
"Let's get a drink," Ben yelled over the music and motioned for our group to go to the left.
Surprisingly, the wall actually cut the music down to a level where we could hear each other when we talked.
"Isn't this place really cool?" Kate turned to me, trying to make conversation.
"Super." Stella beat me to a response, but she sounded completely shell-shocked.
Taking a quick glance, I noticed her eyes were a little wide; she didn't seem as sure of herself. I had a feeling this was a bit like being thrown into the deep end after her years of isolation.
She was pressed up against me, but I had a feeling it helped make her feel safer, so I let her.
I'd felt her ki. Compared to most of the superpowers I sensed in the bar, Stella was very super. She was probably the peak of A class if not the rare S grade superpower.
It was hard to know because there were so few S grade supers. I hadn't interacted with enough to have a sense of their power levels.
Even the rest of the group combined didn't have a fraction of her power, and half of my direct reports were C class and eligible to be hired by the BSH.
"What do you want to drink, Ben? It's on me." Mary grabbed his arm.
I smiled, glad that he was becoming their target.
Stella looked at me, and I realized she was unsure again. She could tell that women were buying men the drinks, but she didn't have any money.
Social norms had flipped on their head as the imbalance had precipitated over the last few decades.
I slipped her three more bills. "Put them in your pocket and use them to pay tonight," I told her while the girls were discussing drinks.
"What do you want to drink, Zayn?" Stella asked loud enough to play her part.
I tried not to laugh at her immediately using my money to buy me a drink. Luckily, it only came out as a small smirk. But as I caught Rachel's eyes, I could tell that she'd wanted to buy me that drink, and after seeing my smirk, it seemed to only reinforce that desire.
"I'll do a bourbon, neat." I checked the back wall of the bar, looking at what was available. "Dunnington." I pointed at the familiar emerald-green bottle.
Stella pushed her way up to the bar, following Mary as the rest of the women pushed forward for their own drinks.
While they were away, it left Ben and me together in an open booth in the corner.
"Damn, dude." Ben made gestures, referring to Stella's chest. "I didn't know you were dating."
I rolled my eyes. "Dating is an overstatement."
Ben nodded to me suggestively as he slowly put his hands like he was holding a set of handlebars and slowly brought them below the table.
"Stop. They are going to see you."
"Who cares? They are all thinking about it. I didn't know you liked the mutas. You haven't gone after Rachel with her cute ears or Becky in finance with her cat girl package."
"Ben," I stopped him before he went too far. "I can find my own women. I don't need you pimping me out to the entire office."
He shrugged, looking completely innocent as he scoped the room. "So far your love life has seemed pretty dry." He dragged out the word as if I needed a reminder.
"I actually have had a few dates. But I keep my love life and work separate. They might be on the opposite sides of the world. It's better that way."
Ben stared at me as if he was waiting for the punchline. "Dude, office sex is amazing."