Page 89 of Death and Donuts

“I don’t mind at all.”

As I suspected, as soon as we sat in the car, Shepard’s phone went off every few minutes with some kind of issue or request. I wasn’t sure how he was going to manage Blur and deal with everything else going on.

Pulling into the lot, I saw Boulder guarding the back door. I said hello before following Shepard inside. Shepard headed toward the main bar while I went to the lockers to store my things. Gunther was there, putting on his apron.

“How are you doing?” I asked him. “I heard you were out looking in tunnels earlier.”

“I’ll look in every tunnel and sewer if I have to. I’ll find Adriel even if it kills me.”

Gunther was probably the smallest and leanest of the wolves. He’d had a drinking problem in the past, which might have been the reason Adriel had kidnapped him instead of trying a stronger, sober wolf. But since then, Gunther had changed while I wasn’t paying attention. The beaten-down guy was still present, but he looked determined. Possibly stronger.

“You haven’t been drinking,” I said.

“Not a drop. Not until Adriel is dead.”

I studied him momentarily, wondering what he’d do once Adriel died. Would he go back to his old ways? Before I pondered too long, Gunther went to the dish station, and Vena popped up beside me.

“What are we daydreaming about? How hot your men are or how stewed cat tastes?”

“Ew!”

“I’ve been telling her we’re not cooking cat,” Anchor said.

Vena looked as if she was about to say something, but Anchor hugged her to him, smothering her face into his chest. She didn’t seem to mind that he cut off her words or air supply.

“She found a pamphlet about troll stew in her parent’s research pile. One of the main ingredients is cats. She hasn’t been able to think about anything else since then.”

“Not true,” she said, her voice muffled. “I’ve been thinking of plenty of other things, and if you don’t let go of me, I’ll give all of Blur a first-hand view of those things.”

He let go and smiled down at her, running a soothing hand down her back. “I’ll be at the bar.”

“Get the latest intel while you’re there.”

Once he was gone, Vena turned to me. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“You saw me earlier today.”

“For-eh-ver!!”

“Miss you, too.”

We stowed our things in the locker and headed out to get our assignments for the night. Shepard once again put me in VIP. If Sierra had been working, she would have likely complained, but everyone else took it in stride.

The shift started out as usual—well, the new usual anyway. There were more dwarves and more grumbles toward the wolves but the same drink orders and appetites from the servers' standpoint. Not that I had to deal with any of that. It’s what I saw when I passed close enough to the glass wall to see downstairs.

The VIP section was once again a mix of influential humans and fae. The humans were low maintenance. As long as I watched the level of the drinks they were sipping and approached whenever they were low, they didn’t need me, which meant I could focus on the fae.

Usually, I kept my distance. Tonight, I had other plans.

I struck up conversations and, under the guise of gossip, tried to gain any nugget of information that might be helpful to the search for Adriel and vampires. Hearing their points of view regarding the increase in vampires and missing persons was interesting. They weren’t as unconcerned as their queen.

“My great-grandfather mentioned a time like this in his memoirs. He wrote that he encountered a lovely human woman with tempting curves and bright hair—much like yourself—who was so struck by grief from losing her husband that he couldn’t coax a single orgasm from her.”

“A travesty, for sure,” I said.

The fae’s gaze intensified. “You have no idea how tempting you are. Come home with me, and allow me a chance to spank the mockery from you.”

“It wouldn’t work,” I said lightly. “My roommate has tried on multiple occasions. Spankings aren’t my thing. And it would take a lot more effort than a polite request to get me to come home with you.”

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