Demon's Vengeance The Complete - Jocelynn Drake Page 0,62
. . an incident,” I hedged.
The werewolf laughed, his head tipping back so that his long canines flashed in the dim light. “An incident? Word is that you burned down their house outside the city.”
“Oh, that’s bullshit! They attacked us first. We went there to talk. The fire was an accident if anything. I didn’t start shit with them!”
Jack snorted, covering up the last of his chuckles at my plight. “Yeah, well . . . it seems they talked to a couple ogres that are still in my employ who remember you very well. They didn’t come out and say what you are, but they apparently hinted around enough to imply that you’re a dangerous man to fuck with. They might have also hinted that you had something to do with Reave’s disappearance, so the goblins are at least taking you more seriously now.”
My eyebrows jumped at this unexpected development. “You think this will make them willing to talk?” I asked, hoping to use this shift to my advantage.
The werewolf shrugged as he pulled on his leather jacket. “Don’t know. Goblins are a pain in the ass on a good day. If you managed to put the fear of God in them, they might answer your questions. But that’s assuming you can corner them again.”
“Thanks.” I sighed. That sounded to be about my luck with things anymore.
Jack waved at me and called back to my companions before slipping out into the night to rule his little empire. All in all, the werewolf was proving to be a good guy, even though he specialized in needling me. Most of his activities might be illegal, but then I couldn’t throw stones. I’d completed plenty of tattoos in my years that were off the record and then there was the whole warlock thing. Sure, it wasn’t illegal, but admitting it to the wrong people would definitely see me lynched for it.
Ambling back into the main tattooing room, I started to sit down in my chair again when the front door chimed. Customers poured in for the next few hours, keeping my mind away from my latest worries and focused on the job at hand. I welcomed the distraction while I had it. When I was tattooing, I felt like I was actually accomplishing something good with my skills. That feeling didn’t happen often when I was faced with problems that involved the Towers.
After tattooing two sirens and a leprechaun, I finally hit a lull. Standing up, I stretched my arms above my head and yawned. The clock said that it was nearly eleven, which explained why I was starting to drag so badly. I was usually out of the shop before ten, even on my busiest of days. But I didn’t want to leave. The atmosphere was good, reminding me of the days before my companions knew about my past and trouble was pounding on our door. The jokes and teasing flowed freely through the air, keeping my mind off of darker matters.
But there was no more putting it off. It was late and I needed to get a few hours of sleep if I was going to be of any use to anyone during the next several days.
“You heading out?” Bronx asked as he turned back from the lobby after showing out our last customer.
“Yeah. I’m beat,” I said around another yawn. Reaching up, I rubbed my hands over my face, trying to clear my thoughts. A slow and steady snowfall had started to coat the city during the past hour and I needed to be clear for the drive home so I didn’t end up with my SUV wrapped around a telephone pole.
“Gage, I think we need to discuss how we’re going to divide up my schedule,” Trixie said softly.
I dropped my hands back to my sides, my brain finally coming back online with her words. She was still intending to leave.
“Can you give me more time?”
“Gage—”
“No, wait. Hear me out,” I said firmly, holding up my hands as if they could stop her words. Closing my eyes, I drew in a deep breath, while packing down the initial wave of panic that threatened to consume me. Losing my shit wasn’t going to convince her to stay. When I opened my eyes, I forced a smile on my face in an attempt to at least look reassuring. “You’ve known about this for a while now, had plenty of time to make up your mind, and line up your arguments. I haven’t