I rolled my eyes.Hunter flirted with anything that breathed—and sometimes eventhatwasn’t a requirement.He didn’t have a type and wasn’t shy about who he invited into his bed.If someone turned him down, he simply moved on to the next in his long,longline of admirers.I couldn’t recall a single night when he’d left the bar unaccompanied.Normally, my complete lack of interest kept his advances at bay, but I guess pickings were slim tonight if he was turning his attention to me.
The night continued with its usual rhythm of drink orders and supernatural banter.Everyone was calm and happy, not a single hint of trouble in sight.Compared to my shift at the coffee shop, it was almost…boring.Not that I relished chaos, but I definitely had an appreciation for it, one I was sure I was born with.
I briefly wondered if something might happen when Veronica, the local vampire leader, stepped into the bar with her usual grace.Alas, she merely took a seat in the back with a few of her people and had a couple of drinks.All in all, the night was proving to be a bit of a snooze fest.
Around midnight, I took a break.I poured myself a whiskey and leaned against the counter, savoring my drink.The night was far from over, but business had already begun to die down, much to my dismay.Fewer patrons meant fewer tips, which meant less moola in my bank account.I’d done decently tonight, cleared about a hundred dollars, but I was the selfish sort who always wanted more.More meant I could run the air conditioning this summer when the temperatures spiked into the thirties.
I was mid-sip and lamenting my boredom when a loud crash erupted from the back of the bar.I lowered my glass and whirled around, only to find a fight had broken out between two half-shifted werewolves.One had the other by the throat and shook him like a rag doll.
Grinning, I downed my drink in one swallow, the burn fueling me, and stormed toward the chaos.
As I passed a table, I snagged a chair and marched over to the two werewolves, locked in a ferocious brawl as they shoved each other through broken glass and spilled drinks.I caught sight of Hank moving in my periphery, ready to do his job.But where was the fun in that?I loved a good bar brawl—it kept things interesting and gave me a chance to get my hands dirty without revealing who I was.Helping Hank break up fights was practically a hobby of mine.Besides, I enjoyed the rush of using my fists now and then.
Without any warning, I lifted the chair and slammed it down on top of the nearest werewolf’s head.He crumpled at my feet with a satisfying thud, now unconscious, and the second werewolf screeched to a stop, his wide eyes fixed on me.I perched my empty hands on my hips and stared the beast down, feeling the familiar thrill of chaos course through my veins.
“Oh, don’t stop on my account,” I taunted with a wicked grin.“Things were just getting entertaining.”
The werewolf hesitated, clearly torn between continuing the fight and backing down.
“Come on, now,” I urged.“Don’t punk out.”
He bared his teeth and growled, then lunged at me.My instincts took control, and I reacted, swinging a clenched fist right at his face.My knuckles connected with his contorted jaw and the impact sent him flying backwards through the air until he crashed into a table a good five feet away.
Oops.Maybe I’d hit him a bittoohard.
The werewolf slowly climbed to his feet and shook his head, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.He staggered left, then right, then finally plunked his ass down with a whine.Guess I’d smacked the sense back into him.
Hank’s massive form stepped between us, and he sighed.“Take it outside, Devin.”
The werewolf pushed to his feet, tail tucked between his legs, and shifted back into human form.With a quick, sheepish glance in my direction, he slipped out into the night.Luckily, Devin hadn’t lost his clothes during the shift.I’d seen that happen before—much to my enjoyment—but I highly doubted the humans beyond our doors would appreciate a naked man wandering the streets.
Shaking his head, Hank turned and glared at me.“Really, Lily?A chair?”
I shrugged, unrepentant.“It worked, didn’t it?”
Grumbling under his breath, Hank crouched and scooped up the other werewolf, carrying him to the staffroom until he woke up and could shift back.Until then, the werewolf couldn’t leave the building.As for me, I started cleaning up the mess, shunting bits of broken furniture aside until I could carry it out to the trash later.
“Damn, Lily,” a voice came from behind me.
I turned and laughed at the expression on Eliza’s face, her sea-green eyes sparkling with amusement.Her lithe form practically floated toward me, turning the heads of more than a few customers.As a siren, Eliza had that effect on people—effortlessly drawing them in with her ethereal beauty.
Her people, known for their enchanting voices and mesmerizing presences, were legendary for luring sailors to their doom with a single song.But Eliza had repurposed her talents for a more practical use in modern times.Now a member of the Mercenary Guild—a group dedicated to policing the paranormal and enforcing its rules—she used her talents to charm information out of tight-lipped informants and eliminate targets with chilling efficiency.Her gifts were just tools of the trade for her, ones she wielded with deadly precision.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” she commented.“Nice use of the chair, by the way.”
“Gotta make use of whatever’s on hand, right?”
She contemplated me with a serious air, while casually weaving her shimmering hair into a side braid.“You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you kick a little ass.You have some serious skills.”She contemplated me a second longer before finally saying, “I’ve been looking for someone to help me with a job.And I think you might be perfect for it.”
A job?Eliza wasn’t the only merc who liked to drink here, but no one had ever asked me to help them out before.To them, I was just a bartender.Granted, this wasn’t the first bar fight I’d stopped, but a brawl wasn’t the same thing as a professional job.
“You want me to tag along on one of your hunts?I’m flattered.”
“Well, you do seem to have a certain…flair,” she said, chuckling.“This particularly troublesome vampire has been causing a lot of trouble—more than your average kind.There’s a hefty bounty on her head, one I wouldn’t mind splitting with the right person.I could use an extra pair of hands, especially ones as talented as yours.”
I snorted.She didn’t know the half of my talents.But I wasn’t yet sure I wanted to reveal that.“You do realize bartending and bounty hunting are slightly different skill sets, right?”
She smiled, her face transforming into something breathtakingly gorgeous.Phew, even I felt the pull.“I’m aware.But clearly you can handle yourself.And I saw that grin of yours when you dove into the fight.A little bored, are we?Maybe you need to introduce a little excitement into your life—werewolf wrestling notwithstanding.”
