a second and knocked again.
No one came to the door.
Had I driven all the way here and come to the wrong place?
But this was the club. I could see the name clearly. And Becca’s cousin had said this was the only twenty-four-hour club, even though it didn’t have a phone number listed anywhere.
Maybe it was out of business. Or maybe it operated only at night. I wouldn’t work at night since I needed to guard my siblings, who were all I had now.
I raised my fist and pounded on the door, giving it one last try for the sake of my gas money.
The heavy door flung open, and I jerked half a pace back. Then I rested my palm on the statue’s head and tried to look cool and relaxed.
No one wanted an uptight bartender.
A head poked out of the door and a pair of dark eyes swept over me before the towering figure stepped out and shut the door behind him, his massive arms folding before his chest.
It was the same mean bouncer who had pounds of muscles and great height. He dressed all in leather with a dagger strapped to his massive thigh. And this time, to my shock, he had two short, black horns sticking out of each temple.
I didn’t mean to be rude, but I was staring at them. Then they faded. When I blinked, they formed again.
I threw the hand that wasn’t on the head of the beast to my mouth to stop a curse from spitting out. I coughed into my fist.
The bouncer regarded me coldly.
“Sorry, I’m allergic to pollen,” I said.
His eyes narrowed as if he spotted my lie. “Pollen season was gone months ago.”
I tried hard not to look at his horns again.
“Not for me, man,” I said. “I’m the sensitive type.”
“Don’t put your hand on that statue,” he snapped. “You’re lucky it didn’t—” He stopped and stared at me as if I had just sprouted horns.
“Sure,” I said, dropping my hand from the statue. It was just a statue, dude! Although my palm had started to tingle. “Is it a gargoyle? Why is it so hot?”
I glanced at my palm and gasped at the faint glowing rune on my skin. I gave the statue one more look. It didn’t appear any more strange than I’d first spotted it. But had its fangs grown larger?
I shook my head as if to get rid of a sudden haze of fog inside.
The bouncer was still staring.
I shouldn’t get sidetracked. I flashed him a smile. “I remember you, man. Last time you were really friendly toward my friends and me.”
“I don’t remember seeing you, girl,” he said. “And no one has ever said I’m friendly.”
My smile toward him grew more encouraging. Mom taught me how to treat the meanest bastard. Show him a huge smile first, and when that failed, punch the dipshit as hard as you could. The courtesy was more of an act to disarm him.
“There’s always a first, isn’t there?” I said.
“What do you want?” he asked, not buying my act at making friends.
This one wasn’t up for a small talk, which was fine. I didn’t come here to chitchat either. I schooled my features into a getting-down-to-business expression. “I need to see your boss.”
“What about?” he asked impatiently.
“Sorry, but I can’t tell you about the true nature of the business. I was referred here.”
“Referred by who?”A trace of a Russian accent rolled off his voice.
“Can’t tell you that, either.” I managed to give him a condescending glance despite his height.
He narrowed his eyes, but I kept a bland, steely mask in place. If this was the demeanor he’d accept, then I’d give it to him.
“Your boss is expecting me,” I added haughtily, “as I was told by my contact. You don’t want to be fired from the job if you mess this up.”
My plan was to get in the door first. When he went to check with his boss, whoever he was, I could follow him in. If his boss said the meeting wasn’t in his schedule, I could always blame Tony, my phantom contact.
I’d learned early on that sometimes you had to bluff your way through life.
The bouncer stared at me hard, and I stared back harder, a fist pressing against my hip to add the effect. He suddenly grinned fiendishly, revealing a row of fangs, and opened the door wider.
“Be my guest,” he said.
I’d been acting super cool a moment ago, and now my heart started pumping erratically again.