will stop coming. It might scare away the person hiring your girls, and we’ll never catch him. So unless you want to obstruct our search, I’d suggest you keep the rules as they are.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Good point. I sometimes forget how clever you are. Clever, clever.” His eyes skated down, and he looked displeased with my attire. “Hurry back, Butterfly. Trouble is brewing.”
I put my hands on my hips. “What do you mean?”
Houdini gestured up at a brawl happening on one of the screens. “Another asinine display. You better take care of that before it gets out of control.”
“Why don’t you hire bouncers so the bartenders can do their job?”
“I have enough employees as it is. The whole point of a business is to profit. If I hire competent bartenders, who needs bouncers? We’ve had more of these fights lately, and I can’t seem to find a Mage who will stay.”
“Yeah, maybe you should do something about that.”
Houdini swaggered around the desk and kept his eyes locked on mine. “Your pupils are slow to dilate.”
I gave him an indignant sigh. “It’s past my shift, and I’m tired.”
“You’re here to track a recruiter, but just remember to follow my rules. I won’t have you influencing my people. If anyone asks, you were in here getting a verbal warning for drinking on the job.”
I subtly shook my head. “Since when does Chaos like rules?”
Amusement played on his features as he tugged on his ear stud. “I do miss our chats. Most immortals aren’t as candid and take offense to everything. I hope someday we can be as close as we were the night we met. Perhaps the fates want us together after all.”
I strutted toward the door. As I gripped the knob, I looked over my shoulder. I didn’t like keeping secrets from Christian. He didn’t hold Houdini in high regard to begin with, but after my maker had kidnapped and sold me back to my Creator, all bets were off. Christian had never made any specific threats, but I knew if given the chance, he’d end Houdini. And frankly, I didn’t know how to feel about that.
Houdini turned away to watch the commotion on three cameras. “See you when I see you.”
Chapter 11
My adrenaline spiked as I tunneled through the crowd. A ring of onlookers had formed around the lounge area, some standing on their tiptoes to see.
“We should leave,” one man said to his companion. “I can’t get involved in this.” They quickly turned away and fought against the rising tide of spectators.
I elbowed my way to the front and saw the group who’d ordered the Red Apple drinks. Only five were causing a scene.
Flynn and his men pushed the crowd back, trying to get them to leave. One of the Red Apple boys waved a broken beer bottle at a pissed-off shirtless man. After slashing the man’s chest, the Lone Musketeer slashed his own chest and laughed maniacally. The shirtless guy looked unfazed, and I couldn’t even tell if he was bleeding since his chest was so hairy that a small mouse could have nested in there. His eyes were locked on the brunette pinned beneath another Red Apple boy. By the possessive look on his face, that was his woman. Or at least that was the impression she had given him at some point. Had she been screaming or beating her fists against the buffoon on top of her, the furry boyfriend might have exploded into action. It was unclear whether she was drunk on magic, but as the man pounded his hips into hers on the red sofa, she moaned. They weren’t simulating sex, and they were both into it. That titillated the onlookers.
Rena crept up behind the Lone Musketeer, who was still wielding the broken bottle, and put her hands on his back. His eyes rounded as the red glow on her palms swelled. He pivoted, but instead of slicing her throat with the shard, he blasted her with Mage energy using his free hand. Rena hurtled backward as if pulled by invisible rope.
Simone fought her way through the crowd until she reached me.
“What the hell happened?” I asked her. “I’ve only been gone a few minutes.”
“There were only five at the table. They lied about how many were in their group. That means each one of them had two Red Apples. Flynn! Get everyone out.”
Flynn pushed at the bevy of onlookers. “Stand back, the lot of you! There’s nothing to