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  “If you puke that up, the dog will die.”

  Her heart fluttered. Roo still lived? She swallowed the bile back and held on. Straps bit into her arms, cutting off circulation. She jerked up convulsing on the table. Her head lolled to the side, unable to move it, she stared at the wall helplessly.

  Her mind struggled to grasp at something that was falling away. She closed her eyes against the sensation, feeling like she’d just lost something very important but couldn’t remember what.

  She couldn’t see much in her surroundings. Someone stood over her, but she couldn’t focus on them. She heard a low growling from somewhere in the room. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

  “Is it supposed to work this quickly?”

  “I don’t know, sir. I’ve never used it before. I just followed the instructions for the potion.”

  “Fine. Get out of here. Your payment’s on the table. We’re done. Do you understand?”

  They were men, then. One of them retreated out of her field of vision. She turned her attention back to the one near her, straining to make out his features.

  “Kayla, I’ve got a nice place for you to stay. The woman who owns it owes me and I’ve called to collect. Do you understand?”

  She jerked, then stilled. “You’ve gotten yourself into some trouble with the Mage Hunters. Do you remember?”

  She shook her head no. She didn’t like where this conversation was headed.

  A memory nudged the edge of her mind, but she couldn’t seem to grasp it.

  “That’s fine. I don’t expect you to remember right away. What I do expect is that you do as you’re told and I will protect you from them. Is that understood?”

  Her stomach tightened. She was forgetting something important. The man’s face in front of her came into focus. She could remember that she didn’t like him, but she couldn’t remember why.

  “Who… Who are you?”

  “You’ve forgotten?”

  “I don’t know who you are.”

  “Keaton. You work for me. You got into a little trouble this evening, don’t you remember?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t recall. What did I do?”

  “You broke the law. You killed a pack of Hunters. You’ll not want to go into the Drifts. The Mage Hunters have a contract on you. You won’t last long if someone sees you in the Drifts. Do you understand?”

  The man was handsome she supposed, but his presence made her uneasy. Thick brown hair curled on the top of his head, falling a little into his eyes, which were black, and not just the pupil but the iris as well. His mouth was wide and the tips of his teeth pointed when he smiled at her.

  “Kayla, did you hear me?”

  “I was thinking. I don’t remember. Are you sure I work for you?”

  “Yes. Now I’m going to untie you. You weren’t coherent when they bought you in, and you were trying to hurt yourself.”

  The straps slipped away and she could hear the whimpering of a dog in the corner, he was caged. She remembered him. Roo… He was hers. “That’s my dog?”

  The man nodded. “Yes. We had to tranq him and lock him in the kennel because he wouldn’t let any of us near you. When you get ready to leave, Laylan will walk you and him to your new place.”

  She nodded and stood on wobbly legs, holding onto the edge of the table.

  A muscular blond stood just inside the door, absolutely still. He didn’t move even as she focused on him.

  “Who are you?”

  “Keaton already told you I’m Laylan.”

  “Right… I just can’t seem to place you or any of this.” She glanced around the room and realized nothing looked familiar.

  “It’s alright. I’m sure it will come to you in time.”

  She shuddered at the lack of emotion in his voice and turned to Keaton. “Can my dog come out now?”

  “If you can walk over and let him out. He’s not too fond of me and I would prefer not to deal with him again. In fact, I think I’ll leave and you can let him out once I’ve gone.”

  “Keaton…”

  “Yes?”

  “I might be your dog, but I won’t act like one.”

  “I’m sure we’ll come to some agreement that benefits us both.” He shrugged and walked out of the room.

  A door shut further down the hall. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the kennel. She almost fell, but kept moving. Leaning down, she released the door.

  “It’s not wise to speak to him like that. He may seem like it didn’t bother him, but he will make you regret it. It’s your own rope he’ll hang you with.”

  Kayla followed Laylan’s retreating back out the door and into the night. She couldn’t remember why she had a hollow ache in her gut, but she didn’t feel like herself. Maybe some sleep would help.

  The diner was at the bottom of an old style brick building. It felt homelike just looking at it. Laylan pushed open the door. The tinkling bells brought an unwilling smile to Kayla’s face.

  2

  April 26, 2009

  The rickety stairs leading up to her place had long since passed the point of being safe; she didn't dare stand on them too long. She would ask Mable to fix them eventually, but didn't feel up to making waves with the closest person she had to a friend, her landlord-hence the not-completely-a-friend thing. She knew Mable meant well, but there wouldn't be a thing she could do to protect her from the dangers her life brought. Kayla couldn't risk letting Mable close enough to hurt her.

  “Alright, Roo, do your thing. I don’t want to be out here all night.”

  Roo grunted and moved away, his reddish-gold coat shining under the street lamps.

  “I need coffee,” she muttered, running her hands through her shower-damp hair framing her face in dark waves. The dog looked at her, whimpering. “Nothing, Roo. Just thinking out loud. Hurry up. I want to get inside.” She thought of Nyx, her cat, as she watched Roo go about his business. She missed him terribly, still imagined she could feel his warm imprint beside her on her pillow when she woke each morning. Sighing, she went inside to get ready for her day.

  Kayla sat down on a stool, dropping her bag to the floor. Roo flopped down next to it, making himself comfortable. She waved to a few of the regulars before she nodded to Mable.

  The thin woman wore low slung jeans and a small black apron around her hips. She had a tight fitting blue shirt on with the café logo over the right breast. Her deep purple, curly hair cut in a pixie tapered to ends around her cheeks.

  Kayla never thought to ask how a woman like her had ended up owning a café, but she wasn’t complaining. It gave her a friend and a pleasant place to stay, even if the back stairs needed work. Kayla watched as Mable finished taking the order of a man near the end of the counter. Kayla felt something familiar about him, but shrugged when she couldn’t place it.

  Mable came at her own pace. “You sure look like hell this evening, girl.” She snapped her gum between her teeth. “What ya having, then?”

  Kayla pretended to think about it. “Just the regular.” She smiled faintly as she rubbed Roo’s ears. She didn’t want to deal with anything until after she’d had her first cup, and she’d come to rely on Roo’s calming presence to get her through until then.

  “Sure thing, sugar.” She clunked down a mug and poured thick black coffee into it. Then reached under the counter for a small silver flask she kept for her favorite customers. She uncapped it and poured a shot into Kayla’s coffee. “There ya go, hon. Don’t drink it too fast now.” She leaned over the counter in front of Kayla and grasped her hand. “If there’s ever anything you feel like talking about, I’ll be here.”

  Mable froze at the sound of tinkling bells and snatched her hand away, looking beyond Kayla at who’d just walked in the door. She turned away, distancing herself from Kayla by wiping down the counter and refilling coffee cups of people nearby.

  By the stop in the customers’ chatter and tension filling the room, Kayla recognized the newcomer without looking a
t him. She took a slow sip of coffee, letting the Irish warmth spread through her chest, not detracting from the cold hatred deep within her for the man who stood behind her.

  “What can I do for you, Keaton?”

  “Now, now, Kayla, how is it that you always know when I’m around?” Keaton ran his hand down her hair, then settled it on her shoulder.

  Kayla shrugged, trying to dislodge the unwanted hand. “Just lucky I guess.” She didn’t show her revulsion.

  “Is that any way to treat me? The man who took you in when you had no one to protect you, who gave you the job you support yourself with?”

  Turning, she glared at him and wished once again she could give him a piece of her mind. All the money she made at the supposed job went straight to lining his pockets so that she couldn’t get out of the mess her life had become.

  “Just what is it you want?” Anger tightened her mouth.

  “Kayla, will you ever learn?” He backhanded her across the face. “I’ll get to things in my own time, not yours.” He slid onto the stool next to hers.

  She resisted the urge to rub her cheek, and waited for him to explain his presence.

  Kayla glanced towards the door before turning back to gaze into her cup. It had lost its appeal. She knew she’d made a mistake with Keaton, letting him know he’d gotten under her skin. She wondered what he was about.

  He never sought her out, always waited for her to check in at the club before giving her, her assignments for the evening. Looking at him sideways through her lashes, her skin crawled. She leaned as far away from him as possible. Unable to get up and leave, still trapped by her obligations to him, she stayed on her stool. People who pissed him off disappeared.

  Kayla watched him scan the room, feeling a tingle as his cold black eyes passed over her. Kayla assumed everyone in the room felt the same. Kayla wondered for the millionth time how she’d gotten mixed up with the creep.

  She’d once been the best at what she did — a highly paid bounty hunter and runner. She’d had the best jobs, whatever she’d asked for, until that night, in a lick of flame, when everything changed, and she’d supposedly killed a pack of Hunters…Even the best ran across hard times, she thought, gulping down the last of her coffee. The bitter warmth spread through her frozen limbs. She shook off her morbid thoughts and focused on Keaton.

  Sometimes dealing with the devil could be the only way out. Except it hadn’t been a way out for her. He’d sucked her further and further in until she sunk so deep she couldn’t even hold her head up.

  “Can I have another, please?” she called out to the waitress, pointing at her mug. She didn’t say Mable’s name, not wanting Keaton to think Mable meant anything to her. Mable nodded, splattering hot liquid around the mug in her hurry to go.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. Here, let me get that for you,” Mable said, near as she mopped up the mess. She smeared it around with a dirty rag before she turned and disappeared into the kitchen. The spill still glistened, dripping across the edge of the counter towards Kayla.

  “Thanks,” Kayla muttered as she wiped the last of the hot liquid with her hand, rubbing the moisture onto her soiled jeans.

  She turned her attention back to Keaton, thinking of anything he could be displeased with to explain his visit.

  “I’ve an important run for you tonight, Kayla. If you pull it off, it just might pay off your obligations.” He spoke under his breath. The whisper of his words sent a chill up her spine.

  Her stomach rolled. Pay off my contract? She thought in a daze.

  A sip of coffee covered her reaction. “What’s the run?”

  “You’re to deliver a small pouch to an apartment in the Drifts.”

  “What’s the catch?”

  “No catch. The contact said he’d pay off your contract if you took the object to him without opening it.” Keaton spread his hands.

  Her eyes hardened. “Get someone else to go. I can’t go to the Drifts.” Frost sliced the air with her words. Her heart thrashed tightly against the walls of her chest.

  He cackled. “Well, I could… I suppose, though I thought you wanted out.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “You do this last run, you have your freedom. I’ve worked it out with the Hunters. If not, you know what’ll happen.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Either way, you’ll be free of me.”

  “When’s the run?” she whispered, knowing she would do it, even though there was no chance. He would never let her go.

  “Pick up the package at ten tonight; deliver it by midnight.”

  “Alright.” The liquor and coffee turned to acid in her stomach.

  Roo whimpered, setting his head in her lap. His tail thumped against the floor. She knew he tried to give her what comfort he could, but it would never be enough as long as she worked for Keaton. She rubbed her hand against his silken head, taking some small comfort in his closeness.

  “I thought as much,” Keaton said, sliding his hand down her arm.

  Her skin crawled where he’d touched it. She needed a bath, but knew she would never be clean again. His filth stained her soul. The gentle jingle of bells was the only sound as he left.

  Kayla looked around the diner, noting the oddly familiar man was gone from the end of the counter. Strange, she hadn’t heard the bells when he’d left.

  Kayla watched Mable cross the diner at a hurried clip, looking towards the windows with every step. She parked herself next to Kayla, leaning against the counter, her thin arms blue in the light. She reached out and rubbed Kayla’s arm with cold hands.

  “You ok, sugar? I can’t bear it when that monster’s around.” She looked down at her shoes. “Sorry I ran out on you like that. I just can’t lose this,” she said, gesturing around the diner.

  Kayla hopped off the stool and picked up her bag, then leaned over and gave Mable a grateful hug. “Don’t worry about it. Take care of yourself. I might be gone for a while. Look after my place?”

  Mable nodded silently.

  Kayla patted the counter as she set money on it to cover the coffee. She walked out, feeling everyone’s eyes on the back of her neck. Even so, she’d miss the comfort of this old place. The door slammed behind her with a resounding thud and she left without a backwards glance.

  * * *

  Roo walked beside Kayla as she moved through the night. He hated what had happened inside the diner. Rage burned within him because he’d been powerless to stop that filthy bastard from touching her, from doing whatever he wanted to her.

  He despised that he had to maintain the canine form rather than change and kill Keaton for hurting her. He barely paused when he felt Nyx weaving between his legs. The blasted cat was always trying to trip him.

  You hear what that bastard said?

  I did indeed. The cat’s tail gave an indignant twitch.

  What are we going to do about it?

  The same as we always do. Watch and wait

  Roo growled. I’m tired of watching.

  Roo, there are some things one cannot fix…no matter how one wants to. I’ll stick close this night. The wind doesn’t smell right, Nyx said, moving off.

  Roo grumbled under his breath. Just like a cat to have the last word. Huffing, he lifted his head and sniffed the air. Something followed them and he didn’t like the smell of it, either.

  3

  Kayla walked past the block-long line like she owned the place, not even slowing for the rope that barred her path. If the thick hand of the thug at the door hadn’t come down on her shoulder, she would have walked in and dealt with the nightly drama without a pause in stride. She reached behind her, grasping him under his arm and spinning him around with a swift kick in the stomach. He stumbled back.

  “Never put your hands on me,” she hissed.

  Roo hunched in a snarling pose, pinning the crowd back. The throbbing music in the background heated Kayla’s blood. She slammed a left hook into the new bouncer’s jaw. He slid down the wall, g
laring at her.

  “No dogs allowed.”

  She had to hand it to him, he had spunk. She snapped a kick at his throat, pulling it just to give him a taste of what she could do when pushed.

  “Take it up with Keaton, jackass. I’m sure he’d be glad to know, you were the reason I was late picking up the package.” She knew Keaton would take it out of both their hides, but saw no reason for him to know that. “I’m not going in without Roo. I’ll wait if you need to talk with someone.”

  He got up and kept an eye on her as he crossed the room to where Laylan tended bar. They spoke for a few moments before bouncer boy turned ashen and returned.

  He walked past Kayla without saying anything and took his position beside the door again. She nodded to Laylan and went towards the back of the bar. People moved out of her way, and she was glad of it. Roo didn’t like being in tight spaces. As it was, he was a constant vibrating rumble beside her. She almost felt sorry for Laylan — almost. They were in the same boat, only he had to be in closer contact with Keaton and she didn’t like to think of what that must mean for him.

  Kayla pushed open the door to Keaton’s office, startling the men inside. Keaton’s eyes flashed with anger and something more.

  “Keaton, I thought I was supposed to pick something up at ten? It’s just turning ten now.”

  He glanced at his watch and some of his annoyance faded. “So it is. Just give me a moment while I finish up here.”

  “Sure, sure. Whatever you want.” She backed out of the door, letting it shut lightly behind her so she could hear what was going on within the room.

  “You just do as I said,” Kayla heard muffled on the other side of the door. In a louder voice, he called, “Come in, Kayla. Hidalgo’s just leaving.”

  Kayla pushed open the door and moved into the room.

  The man brushed past her, nodding to Keaton on the way out. She never heard him say a word. He seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Kayla pushed it from her mind as she turned to Keaton.

  “Where’s the package?” She tapped Roo as his rumble increased. She didn’t like the way he was acting. The sooner they got out of there, the better.