“I’m Guild,” I said. “This is my bounty and there was no order for me to call in backup.”
“You’re the half wolf, aren’t you?” the enforcer said.
I narrowed my eyes. I hated the looks I got and the false sympathy for being a hybrid. I might not have the ability to shift or half the magical shit these other supernaturals had but I could stand on my own.
“I don’t see how my heritage is any of your fucking business,” I said.
“You shouldn’t be here,” the enforcer said. “This is a dangerous job for a half human.”
“I knew you smelled delicious,” the vampire said.
I glared at him as I gripped my stake tighter. The new guy probably wasn’t as much of a threat as this vampire I was sent to kill. “What I am has nothing to do with my confirmed kills.”
“You can go, miss…”
“Miss?” I asked. “I’m sorry, no. I’m not going anywhere. I have a job to finish and you’re in the way.”
“I can’t let you kill him,” he said.
Vincent started laughing. “Alright, officer, you see that she’s trying to kill me. Not even giving me a chance to go quietly. Shouldn’t you be locking her up?”
“If she’s active within the Guild, she’s not doing anything illegal.” He glanced at me. “You are active?”
“Of course, I am,” I said. “But I have no idea why you’re here.”
“That’s classified. Royal enforcer business on special assignment for Queen Marcella.”
A shiver ran down my spine. I’d never heard of aroyalenforcer but I’d sure as shit heard of Queen Marcella. Just because I hunted these creatures for a living didn’t mean I knew everything about their world. I was only half supernatural and didn’t belong to any pack. I picked up hunting from my dad. It was a family tradition. What can I say? Some of us had fucked up families. But that was another story for another time.
“Look, bro, I don’t know what kind of hustle you’re trying to pull, but this man is scum who was sentenced fair and square. The bounty is mine,” I said.
The enforcer shook his head and reached inside his black jacket. I grabbed for the knife strapped to my thigh and pulled it out quickly.
“Gear down.” He moved slowly, pulling out an envelope and holding it up. “I’m not your enemy.”
“You’re coming between me and my rent so yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re not on the same side,” I said.
“Can I go put on some pants?” naked vampire asked.
“No,” both the enforcer and I said at the same time.
“I think I might rather let her have a shot at me,” he said.
“You say that like you think you’d have come out of it alive,” I said.
I was half watching the vampire and half watching as enforcer guy dug a whole bunch of bills out of the envelope. My eyes widened at the sight of all that cash. He had to have thousands of dollars just stashed in an envelope.
How the hell did an enforcer have so much cash? That wasn’t exactly a profession you went into for the money. A good hunter typically far out-earned the enforcers. Shit, I’d make more from this job than he’d make all month.
“Are you trying to bribe me?” I asked.
“I’m covering your fee,” he said. “What was it? Standard rate, I’m guessing.”
“Yeah,” I said, wishing I wasn’t so damn honest. I should have told him it was more.
“I was only standard rate?” Vincent asked. “That hurts.”
“Like I said, you’d be dead right now if it weren’t for our uninvited guest,” I said.