I couldn’t hold back anymore. I at least made sure we were seated.
“Well, we already established Angels, but there are demons, fairies, vamps, weres, and witches. Everything that’s good and evil, you name it, and it’s real. Some of your friends, too.”
“Wait, what about my friends? Shay?”
“No, Shay is very much human, but Dale and Mindy are both supernatural beings.”
“Supernatural beings?”
“Mindy is a succubus and Dale is the male equivalent called an incubus.”
This was just mind-blowing. I owned one of the most prominent nightclubs in town and two of my employees weren’t even human. I guess it was something I was going to have to start adding to the application.
“Is there anyone else I need to know about?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, your friend Jared is in line for an Imp position.”
“A what position?”
“An Imp. He’d be like a recruiter for souls. He’s in the right job field to do that.”
“To hell with that. He’s gone!”
The look on Viktor’s face scared me a little. It was a cross between shock and who the hell do you think you are? There was no way that there were going to be any recruiting going on at my place.
“Are you going to fire Dale and Mindy too?”
“No, because they aren’t taking a person’s soul.”
“Maybe not their souls, but they take years off of people’s lives.”
“What? You know what, I’m leaving. This is too much.”
Our food hadn’t arrived yet, but I needed to get Shay the hell out of that club. I called her cell and her phone went straight to voicemail. I left a message and made sure I told her not to come into work tonight, that I would explain later. As soon as I stepped out onto the sidewalk, it was like the world stood still. I turned to see if I was the only one seeing this, but all I saw was Viktor walking towards me.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing, they aren’t hurt.”
“Then stop it. Unfreeze them or whatever it is that you did.”
“The only way you can stop someone from making decisions is to freeze time itself.”
“This isn’t right. How can you see logic in watching people sign their souls away for something worthless?”
“It is not for you to decide.”
“Then what is your job, Viktor? You aren’t exactly walking the straight and narrow, so what’s in it for you?”
“My job? You know what my job is. I’m a consultant.”
“Yeah, but a consultant of what though, exactly?” I cautiously took a step back.
“Please, don’t fear me, Sloane. I would never hurt you.”
“Why me, Viktor? Why are you here with me? What’s in it for you?”
“Sloane, you’re overreacting. Please come here, because I’m about to unfreeze everything and you are standing in the middle of the road.”
Looking around, I noticed I was standing between two cars. At the end of the road I could see everything slowly starting to move and something was wrong with my legs at the moment. They wouldn’t move and Viktor must have sensed the panic because just as soon as the cars came to life, like a flash, Viktor had me in his arms and we were standing on the other side of the street from the restaurant. My arm clung to his neck and my face buried into his chest.
“I told you, I will never harm you, Sloane. I’m damned only because I didn’t choose a side.”
Glancing up, I couldn’t hold back the tears. Everything just became too real and I didn’t want to be anywhere but there in Viktor’s arms. For some odd reason I felt safer there than I did in a long time.
“What do I do now? I can’t just allow this to continue in my club.”
“Sloane, it’ll happen no matter what. Here or at another place, it’s going happen.”
“Does anyone get hurt?”
“You have your mishaps, but regardless of what’s to come in the end, these people are happy because they get what they want. They bargain for what will make them happy.”
At that moment I couldn’t talk anymore about what just happened, or everything else. I needed a shot of something fast. I started to gather my footing and righted myself. At the same time, I needed to see for myself.
“I better get in there and figure out how I’m going to get through tonight. Will you be here all night just in case?”
“You know I will. Even when you think I’m not there, I am.”
“What do you mean by that?” Viktor stepped back and disappeared, and then reappeared.
I searched the