Page 6 of Fangs and Fudge

“We should call animal control,” she said. “If it’s not fixed, you’re going to have a whole lot more cats.”

“I’ll tell Shepard,” Buzz said, holding the door open for us. “The thing smells like vampire, though. Probably some feeder’s pet, considering last night. We’re hoping someone will come to claim it.”

“Ah,” Vena said.

That was it. Just “ah.”

Meanwhile, my insides were doing an “ew” squeal and flail. The feeders who’d been at Juicy and the people who’d attacked Blur last night hadn’t exactly been in their right minds.

“I really hope no one comes,” I said as we headed to our lockers to store our things.

“Even if someone does, we have nothing to worry about, Ev. Not here. Not with this staff.”

We left the employee area, and I spotted Shepard leaning against the sink with his arms crossed.

“Vena’s right,” he said. “What happened last night won’t happen again. You have my word. We’ll have extra security around the bar by nine.” He pushed away from the sink and clasped my arms, his thumbs brushing over the sleeves of my white button-up.

“But if anything feels off, tell me. I’m here for you.” He glanced at Vena. “Both of you.”

She nodded and waited until he walked out of the kitchen to give me an exaggerated wink and the sign for a blow job.

Griz, the head chef, caught Vena in mid-stroke and smirked. Normally a stoic man in his kitchen domain, his brown eyes twinkled with amusement.

“What is wrong with you?” I said, smacking her arm. “You need treatment.”

“Spa treatment? I wouldn’t mind a happy-ending massage from a certain someone.”

“More like electrotherapy treatment. Take it down a notch.”

She grinned unrepentantly as we made our way through the main bar and upstairs to the employee meeting room. Pam gave us a nervous smile when she entered.

“Next time, I’m hiding like you two did. Buzz said it took Shepard an hour of mopping to get the soda off the floor.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Shepard’s not mad. Buzz just likes teasing.”

Thomas proved me right when he came in with a serving tray and a grin.

“Check it out. Buzz got my serving tray engraved.”

He flipped it over to show us the words, “Would you like another round?”

“Get it?” he asked.

“Buzz isn’t as funny as he thinks he is,” Vena said.

Adrian was the last one to join us before Shepard entered.

“Thank you all for keeping level heads last night. Because of you, all the customers got out without any injuries, and there was no major damage to Blur. I appreciate everyone agreeing to come in tonight for a fast re-opening.”

“What about Sierra?” Thomas asked. “Did she no-show again?”

While Vena, the werewolves, and I knew Sierra had been mind-controlled by a vampire into kidnapping Miles, no one else did.

Shepard shook his head. “She’s a little rattled and needs some time off. She should be back in a month, hopefully.”

“Drama queen sympathy move,” Thomas muttered under his breath.

Shepard ignored him and swung his gaze to Vena. “That means you’re on your own tonight if you’re up for it.”

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