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“He will die either way.” Misha wasn’t getting it, but I could see where he was coming from. Now was our chance, and we had ourselves to worry about first.
“She’s getting up,” Gilles said. If we want to do it now, we should do it while she’s away.
Noah looked visibly torn. I knew he wanted to protect me, but it was likely he was thinking of his own trauma right now. I knew he didn’t want to inflict that on anyone else either.
“You guys can do what you want, just do it soon,” Leroi said. “There’ll be more people on this street the later it gets, and you guys know how much I hate damage control.”
Thoughts were spinning around in my mind as I took one last look at Samuel Kline, sitting there alone, waiting for his daughter to come back.
“Want me to do it now?” Misha asked, as serious as ever.
“No,” I said, knowing my answer would surprise all of them. I was a fan of getting things done quick and tidy-like, but in this situation, I knew that there was another way, a better way in fact.
“We’re not doing anything yet,” I said. “But don’t worry, I’m not going to let Kline get the better of me. I have an idea, one that will stop him from killing me without any bloodshed.”
“And how do you intend to do that?” Gilles asked.
“You’ll see, in time,” I said, watching as Aurora took her place back at the table with her father. “You’ll see.”
Aurora
“And then, this asshole thinks it’s perfectly alright to ask if I’ll blow him, can you believe that?”
“No, not at all.”
I was sitting in the front room of my workplace—The Humane Society—while my best friend graced me with tales of her man-scapades from the weekend.
I loved Hailey, with her short blonde bob that was currently styled into two spiky pigtails. She knew how to fill the silence when I didn’t want to talk. And even though we were supposed to be talking about both of our adventures with men, she knew I didn’t have much to add.
I was perpetually single, and I liked it that way. I didn’t exactly trust men at the moment, couldn’t after my boyfriend of six years cheated on me. We had started dating in high school, and I had thought he was the one until I walked in on him and another chick.
Then it was over, and I hadn’t exactly recovered enough to want to get back into the dating sphere anytime soon.
But I enjoyed hearing Hailey’s stories, especially on slow days like this. It was the middle of the workday, in the middle of t
he workweek, so we didn’t exactly have anyone coming in at the moment.
She was working at the front desk, and she would always complain of boredom until I agreed to join her for a bit. I would do my morning tasks, and then I would take out some of the younger animals to help socialize them.
Kittens were my absolute favorite, and I would let several of them roam around at a time, keeping a close eye on them and picking them up and playing with their paws every so often so they got used to being handled.
Sometimes I would bring out a puppy. A lot of the puppies at our shelter needed to be trained to walk on a leash so that they would be more adoptable, and playtime was always good for them too.
At the moment my animal of choice was a little sheepdog mix named Trixie. She was fluffy and so affectionate, but right now she was stumbling over herself as she tried to adjust to the harness. I righted her and continued to listen as Hailey told more tales.
“So obviously that was a no-go, but I was drunk and needed a ride home, so he offered to drive me. But of course, he takes me back to his apartment instead of mine. And guess who’s this asshole’s roommate?”
“Who?” I asked, attention on Trixie as she tugged at her leash with her mouth. I gently corrected her with a soft, “No Trixie,” and she stopped immediately.
“Aurora, I swear, you have such a way with these animals. You know she wouldn’t listen if I tried to tell her no.”
I smiled. “That’s why you work at the front desk.”
“Isn’t that the truth. Now, where were we? Ah yes, his roommate. It’s that hot guy I matched with who just never responded to me. And we just kind of have an awkward staring contest until he steps forward, glares at that asshole, and is like ‘I guess I should give you a ride home.’ And then guess what happens next?”
“What?”
“We totally hooked up, and honestly, he wasn’t bad.” She gives me a sidelong grin and a wink. “We’ve been texting too.”
