Page 37 of Feral

Thorn grins, gripping my shoulder. “There’s my guy. Don’t hold back. You’ll be surprised how well it can go.”

“Thanks for the pep talk.”

“Anytime.” He leans over the bar. “Ti! Hook me up.”

I laugh as I leave him to walk the club again, my eyes finding Yannis easily. He’s chatting with a table of demons. He probably has no idea as all three women are wearing glamour. I’d be jealous, but I happen to know that group is exclusively into mortal women.

As the hours pass, my desire to be alone with Yannis grows to the point where I’m agitated. The club will be open until sunrise, and there’s no way I’m waiting that long. When he’s back at the bar, I approach him.

“How have you been doing tonight?”

He turns to me, smiling warmly, but I do see the tiredness in his eyes. “Amazing, actually. I really like it.”

“I’m happy to hear that. Does that mean you’ll continue working here?”

“Absolutely. As long as I’m wanted.”

“You’re very wanted.” I push his tray away slightly, stepping toward him to close the distance between us. His breath hitches and he swallows hard. “Since it’s your first night, I thought you could finish early. It’s a lot to take in all at once.”

“I can handle it.”

“I know you can. You’ve proved that, but it’s not special treatment, I promise. It’s typical to have shorter shifts at first.”

“Oh.” His shoulders drop and his face relaxes as he gives in to his obvious exhaustion. “Okay then.”

“Did you do well on tips?”

He pats a bulge in his pocket. “I haven’t counted, but it’s pretty exciting.”

“Excellent. Why don’t you finish your table and then hand off your station to one of the others? I’ll escort you home when you’re done.”

“Okay.”

I watch him deliver drinks and hand off service to Ripley, one of our other mortal employees.

“Taking off?” Tiago asks with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

“Just to ensure he gets home safely. I’ll be back.”

“You don’t have to be, Hale. We can handle it here if you happen to find something else to do.”

Shaking my head, I grin at his innuendo. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“He did good tonight. Didn’t miss a beat and only got confused on one custom order, but I think that could’ve happened to anyone.”

“He fits well here.”

“He does. The patrons like him. He’s pretty and personable. He was asked several times about donating though.”

“I didn’t hear that. How did you?”

“He told Jade and asked how to politely get out of it.”

“I knew he’d attract attention.”

“Yep, but it seems like he handled it. Even when Henri got out of hand.”

“Yes, but it wasn’t wise what he did. He reacted in a mortal way with someone far from that.”