Page 85 of Bitten

Kane wrote that down. “They make you sign a contract?”

“I did. I gave my copy to Theis.”

Kane lifted his head. “I didn’t see it in the file.”

Caelian winced. “Well… I gave it to Cannon… to give to Theis.” Cannon had likely lost it, he’d bet on it.

“You don’t remember the rest of the name?”

Caelian shook his head. “A number maybe?”

“Midnight Five?”

Caelian frowned, nodding. “Yeah, that might’ve been it.”

“This place was on Mulgrew?”

“Yeah,” Caelian answered. “Right beside the goblin lending place.”

“I went by there on the way here. Nothing. I lucked out and the owner of that building lives on the top floor. He says the spot’s been empty for a few years now. And he wasn’t familiar with anything close by that fit the description you gave Theis.”

Caelian frowned. “I was there. I know it was there.”

Kane met his stare. “And you got no names?”

“I mean,” Caelian shrugged. “Maybe they told me their names. At this point, I don’t remember them. It was over two years ago, and I’m terrible at remembering names. Little bits of trivia that are of no importance? Those I remember.”

Kane didn’t respond, a frown on his face. “What were the terms of the loan?”

“I had two years to pay it back.”

“How did you make payments?”

Caelian sighed. “A guy swung into the store once a month to collect the payment in cash.”

“Cash. Which I’m assuming is how you got the original loan.”

“Yep,” Caelian said. “I knew it wasn’t on the up and up—but I also knew my store would make it and I could keep up. Only I hadn’t read the fine print.”

“Which was?”

“A balloon payment at the end. I hadn’t bothered to calculate all those payments to see the number they told me didn’t add up. The store did well, just as I thought it would. I made every single payment on time. That last one? I didn’t have enough. They gave me twenty-four hours to come up with it, and I couldn’t. I lost it all because of that one payment. They took my store. My books. My everything. They made me bring those bags in to pay off a debt—a debt I shouldn’t have had. And then they threatened my life and my freedom.” Caelian looked down. “And I can’t get away from one shitty choice. It’s still following me around, making my life hell.”

Kane eyed him, the amulet shining from the vee in his shirt collar. “We all make mistakes, Caelian. You won’t keep paying for it, I promise.”

Caelian looked away, his stomach in knots.

The gem. Steal it or you both die. It’s as simple as that, Caelian.

“I really don’t want to talk about this,” Caelian said.

Kane closed the notebook. “I know it’s not something you want to linger on. It was painful to lose your shop. But we need to help find these guys so they don’t prey on others like you.”

Caelian nodded. They’re still preying on me.

He opened his mouth, ready to spill it all. The vamp. Cannon. The amulet.

Steal it or you both die.

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