odd, inhuman hunger, in the weird, not-quite-there look to her eyes.
The fear was the worst, though. It was gutting me. She looked like a girl who’d lived her whole life afraid. I knew what that was like.
Don’t, I told myself. I was going to remain detached. This was just a quick and easy job because I was going out of my mind—I wasn’t getting sucked back in.
It was already too late.
I found myself reaching out before I could stop myself. My hand on hers. “Why are you afraid?”
“I’m not!” It was a high-pitched, strident whisper. And a lie.
Her eyes wheeled around and I saw as her gaze landed on the man behind the counter. The blood slowly drained out of her face. “You have to leave,” she said. “Please.” She scrawled a name on the back of the piece of paper. “His name is Kent. Call me when you know something.”
Lies... lies...lies ...
The air was thick with them, but her fear was growing hotter and thicker, clinging to me. “Are you okay?”
She gave me a desperate look. “Just please, leave now.”
I left.
Chapter Six
The rec club on Bart Street had an official name, but nobody used it. It was just the rec club. If you needed clarification, it was the rec club on Bart Street. The official name was used in legal documentation or on Chang’s credit cards, the bills, that kind of stuff.
Today was the first time I’d been here in almost five months.
I didn’t let myself count the exact days, although I could.
I could count them to the hour. My heart slammed away inside my chest as I climbed out of my car and stood there, staring at the unassuming pile of cinderblocks. I didn’t want to go inside, because if I did, they were likely to make me surrender my weapons and I didn’t think I could do my job without them.
Not since my sword—
Stop it, I told myself.
I couldn’t think about that without the fear raging out of control and if that happened, I’d start smelling like dinner. It didn’t mean they’d want to attack. Shifters had serious control and they had to, but that didn’t mean I wanted to walk around smelling like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
I locked the car and headed across the street. The men at the gates were watching me. Like all Assembly territories, the grounds were marked. Ideally, the signs should warn humans: ANH turf, people. Enter at your own risk . But us non-humans had only been out of the closet for five decades and we were still struggling to be accepted as rational, thinking creatures capable of more than mayhem and murder.
It didn’t matter that we’d all been sharing the same world for more centuries than any of us could count. Humans had only known about us for a few years and they were still struggling to accept it. It didn’t always go well.
If a human got hurt inside those gates, even if he was trying to kill somebody else and the non-human—the NH—was acting in his or her own defense, it wouldn’t matter.
The NHs would suffer the consequences. That was why the NH population worked to keep all but a few humans on the outside. Why they built up the reputation for being homicidal and bloodthirsty. If they kept the humans away through fear, they had fewer idiots to deal with. Safer, in the long run.
But I wasn’t human.
“Ms. Colbana.” That came from the one nearest my left. He had one meaty hand gripping his left wrist and his gaze was locked somewhere around the vicinity of my toes. “Chang has said you’re welcome to go straight to his office.”
“I’d rather speak to him out here,” I said. Resting my hand on the butt of the Desert Eagle, I glanced past him to his cohort and saw that he was standing in about the same fashion. Hands in front, eyes on my feet.
What the hell was so intriguing about my boots?
“Of course, Ms. Colbana,” the older one said. Dude in the back. He didn’t look up as he gestured toward the guardhouse, just past the entry. “If you’d wait inside, I’ll call Chang.”
“I’ll
The fear was the worst, though. It was gutting me. She looked like a girl who’d lived her whole life afraid. I knew what that was like.
Don’t, I told myself. I was going to remain detached. This was just a quick and easy job because I was going out of my mind—I wasn’t getting sucked back in.
It was already too late.
I found myself reaching out before I could stop myself. My hand on hers. “Why are you afraid?”
“I’m not!” It was a high-pitched, strident whisper. And a lie.
Her eyes wheeled around and I saw as her gaze landed on the man behind the counter. The blood slowly drained out of her face. “You have to leave,” she said. “Please.” She scrawled a name on the back of the piece of paper. “His name is Kent. Call me when you know something.”
Lies... lies...lies ...
The air was thick with them, but her fear was growing hotter and thicker, clinging to me. “Are you okay?”
She gave me a desperate look. “Just please, leave now.”
I left.
Chapter Six
The rec club on Bart Street had an official name, but nobody used it. It was just the rec club. If you needed clarification, it was the rec club on Bart Street. The official name was used in legal documentation or on Chang’s credit cards, the bills, that kind of stuff.
Today was the first time I’d been here in almost five months.
I didn’t let myself count the exact days, although I could.
I could count them to the hour. My heart slammed away inside my chest as I climbed out of my car and stood there, staring at the unassuming pile of cinderblocks. I didn’t want to go inside, because if I did, they were likely to make me surrender my weapons and I didn’t think I could do my job without them.
Not since my sword—
Stop it, I told myself.
I couldn’t think about that without the fear raging out of control and if that happened, I’d start smelling like dinner. It didn’t mean they’d want to attack. Shifters had serious control and they had to, but that didn’t mean I wanted to walk around smelling like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
I locked the car and headed across the street. The men at the gates were watching me. Like all Assembly territories, the grounds were marked. Ideally, the signs should warn humans: ANH turf, people. Enter at your own risk . But us non-humans had only been out of the closet for five decades and we were still struggling to be accepted as rational, thinking creatures capable of more than mayhem and murder.
It didn’t matter that we’d all been sharing the same world for more centuries than any of us could count. Humans had only known about us for a few years and they were still struggling to accept it. It didn’t always go well.
If a human got hurt inside those gates, even if he was trying to kill somebody else and the non-human—the NH—was acting in his or her own defense, it wouldn’t matter.
The NHs would suffer the consequences. That was why the NH population worked to keep all but a few humans on the outside. Why they built up the reputation for being homicidal and bloodthirsty. If they kept the humans away through fear, they had fewer idiots to deal with. Safer, in the long run.
But I wasn’t human.
“Ms. Colbana.” That came from the one nearest my left. He had one meaty hand gripping his left wrist and his gaze was locked somewhere around the vicinity of my toes. “Chang has said you’re welcome to go straight to his office.”
“I’d rather speak to him out here,” I said. Resting my hand on the butt of the Desert Eagle, I glanced past him to his cohort and saw that he was standing in about the same fashion. Hands in front, eyes on my feet.
What the hell was so intriguing about my boots?
“Of course, Ms. Colbana,” the older one said. Dude in the back. He didn’t look up as he gestured toward the guardhouse, just past the entry. “If you’d wait inside, I’ll call Chang.”
“I’ll
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