“One more mess up,ji’tas, and you’re done. No more work. And maybe I call my friends and see if they have use for you,” Yorgaz said.
Fire blazed in her belly, and the words burst like lava fromher mouth. “You’renotgoing to fucking stand here and threaten me.”
Yorgaz recoiled slightly. “What did you say to me, terran?”
Shay glared at him. “You heard me. You barely pay me as it is, and I definitely don’t get paid enough to listen to this shit.” She stepped forward, tilted her head back, and jabbed her finger at him, poking his chest. “I don’t respond well to threats. You deduct your damned lost flyers from my pay if you want—not like you would’ve known the difference if I tossed them in the trash and told you I passed them all out—but you’re not going to intimidate me. I’ve dealt with bigger, badder men than you, you fucking goat, and my patience is just about worn out.”
As she continued her advance, Yorgaz backed away, his dark eyes going wide. The fine scales on his face paled; clearly for all his bluster, he hadn’t been prepared for Shay to stand up for herself.
“Now are you going to give me my flyers for the day so I can get to work, or are we going to have trouble?” she demanded.
He swallowed thickly and, without taking his gaze off her, slapped his hand on the counter beside him to grope around until he found the stack of paper-thin holographic flyers. He grabbed them and very nearly spilled them all on the floor as he thrust them toward her.
“G-get to work, terran.”
Shay took the flyers and smiled wide. “Thank you.”
Without another word, she left his office and made her way back out onto the streets toward her assigned location. She wove easily through the crowds, and was unable but to contemplate again how, despite being of different races, sizes, shapes, and appearances, despite coming from countless different worlds and cultures, everyone here shared thatcommon, unifying trait. They didn’t give a shit about anyone or anything apart from getting to wherever they were going.
Once she reached her corner, she got to work, offering flyers and calling out to passersby. Time drudged on at a sluggish pace. Several times, the hairs on the back of her neck rose, and she could have sworn she was being watched. But every time she swept her gaze over the crowd, she didn’t see any faces that stood out, couldn’t find the eyes that were fixated upon her. Everyone else seemed to be going about their business, so she continued to go about hers.
As was the norm, most everyone ignored her. Some cast her curious glances, a couple actually took the damned flyers, and one or two of those who took them did so only to throw the flyers back at her.
Why am I doing this?
She dropped her arm and stood there, mouth pursed and turned to one side as she seriously considered that question. She’d been offered something that sounded so much better—a safe place to live, a good wage…a future for her and her baby. Why the hell was she still out here? Why hadn’t she jumped on Drakkal’s offer?
Because I need to be sure. I need to know the azhera and his offer were legit. That my baby will want for nothing, that it’ll be safe.
His offer has to be real though, right? If he wanted to hurt me or take me, he could have done that at any time.
That wasn’t really how things worked, though. People were patient. Sometimes, they took their time in hurting you. Sometimes they wanted to soften you up before sinking in that knife. But what was her alternative? Hit the streets and find something else, knowing that almost no one wanted to hire a terran for anything but sex work, or get arrested for shooting her boss in the face?
Shay lifted her wrist and looked down at her holocom. A single call was all it’d take. She’d be off this street, living somewhere nice, somewhere safe and secure, eating food that wasn’t unidentifiable slop, and?—
A hand squeezing her ass brought her thoughts to a sudden, screeching halt.
“What a delicious little morsel,” a rumbling voice said from behind her.
Shay whipped around, baring her teeth.Threeeyes—blue against black—stared down at her.
The tall, horned, sedhi grinned, flashing his fangs as he stepped closer. His tail eased forward to stroke her leg. “Forget the flyers,ji’tas. How much for you?”
NINE
Though he’d never been a fan of crowds—a city like Arthos was the last place he would’ve chosen to live, had things gone differently for him—Drakkal was grateful for the mass of pedestrians today. In a less crowded setting, he would’ve stood out like a tralix at a volturian dinner party, but here they provided him some cover.
Some small part of him said this was wrong—or at least that Shaymight see it as such—but his instincts were insistent enough to drown out that little voice of doubt. He needed to know his terran was safe. This was the only way he knew how to accomplish that—watching her. It didn’t matter if she wanted him to or not, it was what he had to do. It wasn’t much different than what he’d done for Arcanthus for years, was it?
Apart from Arcanthus havingaskedme to do it and being fully aware of my presence and my methods…
Though Arcdidhave the cren brothers keep an eye on Samantha without her knowledge.
He sighed and muttered, “Not sure that makes it right, Drak…”
He stood against the outside of a building, only fifteen or twenty meters away from Shay. He’d donned a long, dull gray coat, hoping it would obscure his frame a little better than the more form-fitting leather jackets he preferred. The hood was a bonus, even if he hated the feel of it over his mane and ears. Shay was dressed in a green hooded jacket, form-fitting black leggings, and boots. More than once, Drakkal found himself hoping she’d move in such a way that the hem of her jacket would rise to afford him the sight of those leggings hugging her ass and thighs—not that the thick flow of pedestrians would’ve afforded him a clear view.
So I’m not just a stalker, I’m an aroused stalker. Nothing at all wrong with that…