Gem hooked her arm in mine as Viktor inclined his head and hastily made his exit. “I normally don’t like these outings, but Niko’s been giving me advice lately.”
“He’s good at that.” I strolled toward the stairs. “I heard my father came by.”
“I just adore him,” Gem said with a squeeze of my arm. “He loves you so much. What does unconditional love feel like?”
“A pain in the ass sometimes.” I chuckled softly. “He’s getting older, and I want him to relax and stop leaping into danger.”
“Maybe that’s how he feels about you. He worries.”
“Now I understand why immortals break contact with their family. My job puts him in danger, and he’s too stubborn to keep out of my business.”
“He seems like a tough guy. No one lives forever, so why not let him do what he wants?” She rolled slowly beside me. “I know how he feels. Viktor’s always trying to protect me, but I’m also a Mage. Even though I’m small and don’t know how to fight, I can help. That’s how your father feels. He knows he’s mortal, but he just wants to help. Oh!” She gasped and spun in front of me. “He promised to bring over barbecue from that place we went to. Isn’t that divine? We hardly ever have guests, but now that he’s a trusted human, we can have him over all the time!”
Perish the thought.
The mere idea of Crush popping in unannounced while I was busy having sex with Christian made me shudder.
“Gem, don’t invite him over here without asking me first. I love him, but we need boundaries. I’m also afraid that he might volunteer himself too much in our business, and Viktor’s already recruited him once. You don’t know that man like I do. He doesn’t just look for trouble, he runs to it headfirst.”
She gave me an elfin grin and skated backward. “Sounds like a certain someone I know.”
After checking my internal clock, I decided it was time to go. “I need to call a cab before it gets too late.” I blew past her toward the end of the hall. “Have you gone swimming lately?”
“No,” she said tersely, rolling alongside me. “I’ve been too busy.”
That sounded like a lie.
“Raven?”
I stopped at the stairs and turned. “Yeah?”
“Thanks for believing in me. With Viktor, I mean. I won’t let everyone down.” She made a motion of crossing her heart.
“You never have.”
Chapter 25
Sad to leave Keystone, I called a cab and headed back to the hotel. Viktor wanted me to go straight to work, but Chitahs frequented the club, and wearing sex-on-a-roof-scented perfume would attract the wrong sort of customers to my station. After showering, I decided that following club rules wasn’t a priority. Now that we’d found our culprits, I just wanted to be comfortable. I took a pair of scissors to a threadbare T-shirt and cut it in half. It wasn’t a favorite, just an old concert T-shirt that Crush had bought me a while ago when I was staying with him. After getting ready for work, I headed out.
It was a crisp May night, and the smell of Chinese food hung in the air from a nearby buffet. When I heard a screech from a falcon, I glanced up and was struck in the face by a falling object. A silver chain slid down my nose and into the palm of my hand. At least Viktor hadn’t sent Crush this time. While walking, I switched out my onyx pendant to the new chain, which was shorter and much thicker.
Once I reached the White Owl, the bouncer let me through. Most of the outside crowd had dispersed, but inside the club was a different story. I’d put on perfume, something most Chitahs despised. They wrinkled their noses when I passed them to put my coat in the locker room. Now that the pressure was off on sniffing out the ringleader, I decided to enjoy myself and pretend to be like everyone else with a normal job.
“Didn’t think you would show,” Simone said over the music.
I joined her side at the bar. “Something came up.”
“Does he pay you well?” She tossed an empty bottle into a trash bin.
“Who?”
“The boss. For doing these special errands.” Simone reached around me for a stack of napkins. “I heard all about it from the manager. What’s he got you doing?”
I huffed out a sigh and handed a customer a bottle of Breed beer. “Personal stuff, and it’s not sex. Trust me, you wouldn’t