His eyes flashed. I was pushing my luck. But I would handle a lashing if I could squeeze more information from him. “I’m in need of laborers. Why do you care where I acquire them?” My hands shook and I tugged a cigarette free, lighting the end and taking a long drag. Mordecai scowled. “You’re not to smoke in my office. You know this.”
“I do,” I agreed, eyeing him. The best way to get Mordecai off me was to send him after his son. My brow lifted as I said, “I’ve had extra Enforcer duties all day. On Alec’s watch. I think I’m entitled to a little leniency.”
“What do you mean on Alec’s watch?” Mordecai’s scowl deepened, but his shoulders relaxed. “That boy is as useless as wet bread.”
“There was a shifter in Fae territory. A coyote. Don’t worry, I handled him.”
“I’ll have a word with Alec,” he growled. “Go home, rest. I need you in top shape tonight. I hear there’s a Fae making trouble at The Pit.”
“I’ve handled him,” I said casually, standing. “That’s all this new job is? Mining positions?”
Mordecai shrugged, his expression a touch too innocent to be believed. “That’s all, sweetheart.”
I strode out onto the balcony, smashing my cigarette onto the banister before I shifted. Part of me suspected he knew what I did for the Fae, but I had to believe he would have punished me if he did. He never seemed to miss the opportunity, and I wasn’t always the one to pay the price. Then again, his hatred for the Fae was the reason Alec and I had been trained as Enforcers.
To do whatever is necessary to teach them their place.
I growled at the thought. Whatever these mining jobs were, they were almost certainly not going to benefit the Fae. If Mordecai was even being honest about the positions in the first place. I had my doubts. I guess I’d have to be a little more nosy.
When my fur finally settled into place, I took flight, my aim the soft bed that called my name.
The last twenty-four hours had royally sucked. Getting beat up sucked. Losing my job sucked. Getting carried away by the Night Enforcer who happened to be a foot shorter than me—and probably a hundred pounds lighter—
Sucked.
Carried . . . Yeah, I still didn’t know how I’d gotten into her apartment. The bouncer’s warning about her lion form resurfaced. I snorted and tossed the notion aside. She was too small. There was no way.
As I took a swig of whiskey, I stewed over the mystery, but my brain was buzzing too hard to help me solve the case. I knew fighting at The Pit so soon after my win would only land me in a ditch, so I was playing nice. For now. No one bothered me as I sat in a corner booth of the warehouse’s underground, slowly getting drunk and pretending to watch the fights.
I saw nothing.
My head was too full of what-ifs and booze. Earlier in the evening, a few shifters had approached me—tried to bait me into entering the cages. But no, as much as I wanted to numb the pain, I couldn’t risk another beating. Alcohol would have to do. So, after staring at my unblinking face for a few minutes, they called me a piece of Fae trash and left me to my vices. Deep down, somewhere in the far recesses of my being, I was relieved. I doubted the Night Enforcer had any desire to rescue me a second time—not after the way I had treated her.
I really was a prick sometimes. The thought made me want to laugh. I gnawed on my lip instead. If everyone just left me alone, my word choices wouldn’t be an issue. It had taken years of social suicide on my part, but not many noticed me anymore. Except Benji, and now this Enforcer. What was her deal?
My mood was especially sour tonight—didn’t help that I’d been stuck in a downpour on my way over. This city was the worst: wet, dirty, and smelling of shifter musk. If I had more money, I’d leave this craphole behind for good and find a small corner of the world that accepted Fae as equals.
But that was the problem. I didn’t know if such a corner existed, and finding a shifter knowledgeable enough and willing to escort me past the minefields so I didn’t get blown to bits was probably impossible—especially with my bad rep. More likely, they’d laugh, shoot me in the face, then pocket my money.
Humans had been smart enough to clear out of this city around the time of The Shift—I hadn’t seen one since before my days spent locked in that sad excuse for an orphanage. The humans had been treated fairly and were allowed jobs with decent wages, but they’d still left en masse after witnessing so many executions.
They were lucky. Mordecai had allowed them to leave, and other cities would accept them. But here I was, stuck, fresh out of a job, and money wasn’t coming anytime soon. That was why I chose not to fight tonight, despite my body’s cravings.
Money. A necessary evil.
I had stashed away the roll I’d won last night, but the cash wasn’t enough to solve my problems—unless drowning my problems in whiskey counted. I laid a hand over my right pants pocket where the wanted flyer now rested. Open interviews started at noon tomorrow and I was determined to be first in line. My blood heated when I realized who I would no doubt face. Who I would directly work for. For the first time that I knew of, the devil dragon himself was offering a position to Fae. The pay would undoubtedly be better than any I’d had previously.
But the thought of Mordecai peering over my shoulder while I worked, correcting my every stupid Fae move, made my blood boil. I slammed my empty mug down on the sticky,
