Page 11 of Taking Jenny
“I need to go in here to talk to some people,” he said a bit hesitantly. “Do you want to—"
“Come with you? Yes.” I threw away my trash in a nearby receptacle.
He paused. “It’s not a nice place.”
I raised my brows. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
The bar was dark inside, so it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I didn’t like what I was seeing. Tiger tensed up beside me. The bar was full of men, all of whom looked tired of people’s shit. Tiger crowded himself around me, ushering me toward the back. He looked to have someone in mind for our target.
When we stood near an older man, Tiger gave a friendly, “Summer, hey.”
“Tiger Orne, good to see you. Jac around?” The older man’s voice was gruff, but he wasn’t rude.
“No. He’s on a job. How have you been?”
Summer looked me over, before he asked Tiger, “You making side money these days?”
Apparently, I looked like someone who should be on an auction block. I stiffened, my annoyance flaring, but Tiger stepped in.
“She’s a donor,” he replied without missing a beat. “I’m just keeping an eye on her for her buyer.”
“Ah. Well, I’ve been good. Yourself?”
“Same. I heard there was trouble on Halla. You know anything about that?”
Summer sighed. “There’s always trouble on Halla. But, yeah, I heard Rex Terian was reborn to the ether. Pretty crazy. Had to be a badass to get the drop on him.”
Jac’s crew doctor Ode had killed Rex Terian. It was the first time I had ever seen someone murdered, and the whole incident was still etched in my mind. I didn’t know why she had done it at the time, but I learned he had murdered her family when she was a little girl and almost murdered her, too, but Sarah’s second companion Deacon had saved Ode from Rex. I didn’t blame her for what she had done, but I wished I hadn’t witnessed his murder.
“I’m sure they had to be one hell of a fighter to get Rex,” Tiger went on, as if he didn’t know the truth of what happened. “Any word from the palace about it? I know he was tight with the Bateens, Justice in particular.”
“Haven’t heard much, Summer said. “But I don’t hear much from the palace anymore.”
“How come? I thought they kept their retired guards informed.”
The old man shrugged. “I’ve been out of the loop ever since Thyme left me.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that, Summer,” Tiger said. “What happened?”
Summer took a swig of whatever he was drinking. “You know how it is. Thyme was young and handsome. He wasn’t going to stay with this old bag of bones forever.”
Tiger patted his shoulder. “That sucks.”
“Yeah, well. It happens. Don’t let me keep you from anything, Tiger. I’m just gonna sit here and get drunk before I go home.”
“Can we help you get home?” I asked, feeling sorry for the old man. “Make sure you get there safe?”
Summer frowned at me. “I…No, thank you. But I appreciate your concern, human.”
Tiger cleared his throat. “We’ll leave you to it. Good seeing you.”
Summer raised the drink in his hand. “Tell Jac I send my greetings.”
Once we were outside, Tiger turned to me and said, “You may not want to talk to people here.”
I nodded. “Yeah, he almost looked offended that I spoke to him.”
“It’sunusualfor a human to address a Ladrian that way. But I think he was touched that you offered your help to him.”
