“Um.” They’re being honest with me and the truth will out sooner or later, so what’s the harm in telling them at this point? I don’t think they’ll turn me in. “So the guy who’s after me is Donovan O’Shae.”
“The vampire?” Cain’s eyes go wide.
North chokes on his pancakes and Raven has to thump him on the back.
“Shit.” Cain shakes his head. “Of all the people you could get on the bad side of…”
“Trust me, I know.” I rub my forehead. “I didn’t know who he was. I mean, I knew who he was, who doesn’t? But I didn’t know that it washim. That he was the person I was stealing from. I was desperate, I’ve got student loans, and I thought—doesn’t matter. I stole from him and now I have to replace it. It’s the only thing I can think of to get him off my back.”
“I’m not sure that’ll be enough,” Cain admits.
“It will be,” Raven says with staunch loyalty.
“Stealing from someone like that and getting away with it?” Cain shakes his head. “Even if she returns it, he might want to kill her just to teach everyone else a lesson. With guys like that—their power comes from their reputation. They can’t be seen as soft.”
“It’s not soft,” I snap as worry claws at my throat. “It’s fair. I’m returning what I stole and so there’s no harm done. I’ll even throw in a favor for him or something, but I can’t do that until I actually return the thing or he’ll never listen to me. I had a concealment charm to keep myself safe, but I’ve lost it and now it’s only a matter of time until his goons or some other bounty hunters come after me.”
I finish off the rest of my food and wait for the other shoe to drop. Now they know it’s not some regular, human mob boss after me—it’s one of the most dangerous and criminal vampires in the city. Far too much trouble for these men or anyone to deal with. They won’t want to get caught in the crosshairs. They’ll tell me they’re sorry, maybe hook me up with a new concealment charm if they know someone, and then they’ll send me on my way.
“Sounds like we need to get on it, then,” North says.
I can’t help but stare at him. “What?”
“I said, sounds like we need to get on it.” North finishes up his food and pushes his plate away. “What did you steal?”
“An Aurora Gem,” I admit, wincing.
“We’ll get you a new concealment charm,” Cain says. “That’ll buy us some time. Then we can help you find the gem.”
“Are—are you sure? You know what you’re up against. Or, um, who you’re up against.”
“You’re our mate,” Raven says, as if that explains everything.
And, well, to them, maybe it does.
CHAPTER8
After breakfast, we head out to the underground market hidden under the Tin Cat. The Tin Cat is one of those places that’s a front for something else, but they actually do make a mean cocktail. There are a lot of these places all over the city, supernatural stores or bars that actually serve as doorways to keep the larger parts of our world hidden from humans who could stumble upon it. Unless you know which bathroom stall to go into at the Tin Cat, and how to use it, you’re not going to get into the market.
We nod at the bartender. It’s daytime, so there’s only a couple people seated in the actual bar part, day drinkers, retirees. We all have to cram into the stall in the men’s room, and I can feel their bodies pressing up against me. Heat flashes through me, and I swallow.
Thing is, I don’t know if it’s just lust, or something more.
Cain puts his hands on my hips to steady me as the door opens and North steps through. Even though Raven’s bigger than he is, and Cain’s the charming talker, North is clearly the leader.
I step up behind North, peering over his shoulder, and holy shit, this place is huge. I’ve never been to this market before. I’m… well. I’m a college student at a human university. I try to stay away from too much of the supernatural world. Otherwise shit gets blurry. It’s easier just to go cold turkey.
But this is amazing. There’s rows and rows of stalls, and the smells and sounds almost overwhelm me. I can’t tell where to look next. I want to take it all in. There’s a stall piled high with colorful spices, and another with strange animals hanging from the ceiling and a large grill for roasting them.
“Your eyes are going to fall out of your head,” Cain notes with a chuckle, his voice low and warm, his mouth right by my ear. “You never been here before?”
I shake my head. “I kind of distanced myself from the supernatural community.”
Cain clucks his tongue. “Now that’s a damn shame. No wonder we hadn’t seen you around before.”
He sounds like he’s teasing, but also a little sad, like he’s genuinely disappointed that they hadn’t met me earlier.
North looks around, inhaling deeply, like he’s taking in all the scents. He can probably identify all the smells, and know them better than I do. “This way.”