Her body burned. Kari’s cat wanted out. And she was pretty sure that over the next few days, if not tonight, those two men she’d tossed out—or he’d tossed out—were going to come for her. Would nothing ever fucking go right for her? Her entire life had been a series of one fuck up after another, and she was fucking sick of it.
Looking at the desk in the far corner, she could see the bills piled there. Overdue was printed on nearly all of them. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the fucking paycheck she’d gotten this morning couldn’t be cashed either. The guy she worked for was going to be surprised if she just locked up and left shit the way it was when or if he ever decided to return. In the next month she was going to be out of a job, a place to live, and any kind of security she had, according to the letter from the bank she’d signed for earlier today. She was so fucked right now that she just wanted to crawl into a corner and cry. After splashing cold water on her face, she went back out. The man at the bar had been joined by two of the other men, but she ignored them all. Instead, she started going over the inventory that she was going to have to bring up tomorrow.
The driver who had come by today to give her what she’d ordered had told her that was it. Until the bill was paid, she was going to be shit out of luck as far as liquor was concerned. She had news for him; she’d been that for a while now. Lucky for her—or not, depending on how you looked at it—she lived above this place and didn’t have to worry about her rent being cut off too…at least for the time being. Thirty days was all she had left to stay there.
She poured three more beers, all of them on tap, and one bottle as the patrons came and went. She noticed the lone man who only stared off into space, but she didn’t care enough to see what he was drinking. By the time the men stood up to leave, she was armed with her list and now only had to wait until closing time. The guy who had saved her—because the more she thought about it, the more she realized he had—stood at the bar until she went to him.
“Will they return?” She told him she had no idea. “I would say they’ll be back. And pissy too. Want one of us to stay and make sure you get to your car okay? It won’t be a bit of problem for them to do so.”
Shaking her head, she told him she’d be fine. “I live upstairs anyway. And once I get the bar back together, I’ll be fine.”
He laid a folded up bill on the bar and nodded to her before speaking again. “What cat are you? I know you are, but I can’t get a handle on which one. It’s not like I see a great many of your kind in my type of business.”
“Panther.” He nodded and smiled at her. “And what are you? You’re not human. And not a shifter. What are you?”
“Necromancer. We all are.” As soon as he said it, she took a big step back. His kind scared the shit out of her. But his laughter made her raise her chin and he only laughed harder. “You should see your face right now. You’ve no idea whether to be terrified or pissed. Which is it, little cat? Fear or anger?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But she did. “I think I’d like for you to leave. I appreciate what you did for me, but I’m…I just…all right, I’m terrified of you.”
He nodded and smiled. “I’d never hurt you. None of us would. But you should know that you have a guy here that is trying his best to get your attention. I think he might know you.”
Kari felt her cat snarl at her, and when she was this pissed, she had a hard time controlling her. When the man leapt over the bar at her, she felt her cat pulling her hard and trying to take her. But as soon as the man touched her again, Kari felt her calm.
“That’s it. Breathe through it.” She nodded but had to use all her energy to keep from shifting. “Keep breathing and you’ll be fine. Christ, do you have any control over her?”
“No, I fucking don’t. And as soon as I find the bastard that did this to me, I’m going to tear him up.” Kari jerked from the man and moved out of his reach. “I’m fine now. So if you’d be so kind as to get on the other side, I’d appreciate it.”
She watched him go to the bar split and lift the counter. As he stepped through the opening, two of the other men with him moved to sit at the bar. She felt closed in, her cat snarling at her. When one of the men asked for another beer, she nodded but made no move to pour it. She’d rather they just left. But when big guy sat down, she knew that they were in no hurry. She poured the beer and sat it in front of the other man. As he nodded, she looked at the big guy.