My neck ached. I was sitting in a chair with my hands and feet tied. My neck hung in front of me. My face felt swollen and sore. I opened my eyes slowly. I lifted my head carefully on my aching neck. The bar around me looked familiar but better than the last time I left it. A few men stood around, drinking and whispering. An orc noticed me and stood. He approached me with heavy footsteps like he was made of two tons of rock. He stopped in front of me, towering over me as he looked down."Where is he?""I. Don't. Know," I spat each word at him, breaking it down since his simple little mind couldn't seem to understand.He gripped my chair and rocked me back to see him better. His tusked teeth were so close to my face, I feared they would scrape my cheek. His breath smelled like meat. "You know something? You were the last one to see him alive.""I told you: I don't know."His golden eyes stared down at me. "Walk me through it. You summoned a demon, destroyed our bar, riled up one

I bumped into one of the other actors with my fake grocery store bag. I pretended to drop my invisible groceries all over the floor and bent to pick them up. The other actor tripped over me backward, causing me to flatten against the grass. It was a typical improv show and had the audience laughing. Mr. Kline seemed to be enjoying himself. I wondered if he'd be laughing when I was done with him.I drew on my inner power. I could feel the three demons' powers under my skin easily, but the pink god power was like a short-circuiting battery. It would come in powerful surges but not a steady stream. It made it very hard to control. I brought what power I could to my fingertips. I couldn't direct it without speaking a command. I wasn't that good a sorceress yet. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it either, but I would be ready when the opportunity arose.I picked up my pretend receipt that was under the other actor's foot. A pink spark hit his shoe. He picked up his foot quickly l

His smile was dazzling. I stared at him in complete astonishment. After months of just trying to catch a glimpse of him, here he was standing right in front of me. My fingers spread over the hard muscles on his chest. He was solid. He really was here. He even still smelled like sunshine.His fingers squeezed my shoulders, drawing my attention to his face."Angandriel," I said, but the noise in the club drowned my words.He didn't respond. He just looked down at me amidst the dancing bodies. My eyes darted around, looking at the biker jackets closing in on me. I pointed to them. His eyes followed my directions. We were surrounded, but they weren't closing in. He nodded. He grabbed up my hands and pulled me against him. I reveled in the feeling of his arms around me and his warm body pressing against mine. It felt so safe, so familiar. I missed it.We swayed together on the dancefloor, surrounded by the dancing crowd. I folded into him like I was meant to be there, even though I was

The leader orc sat down next to me. A drink appeared in front of me. It seemed like one of the red fruity cocktails. I didn't really have a preference, so that was fine. A glass of something dark and tall showed up in front of him."What just happened?" I asked.He gave me a sideways look. "What do you think just happened?""I think everyone in this room just got high off of me."He chuckled, well probably. It sounded like a rolling growl. He took a long drink, then set it down purposefully and turned to me. "It's a little bit more than that. You just succeeded Matei.""Succeeded? No, wait, no, no, no. I'm not in charge of anyone. I'm not a leader." I waved my hands in front of him as if warding off the responsibility."Kira...""I'm not Kira."He frowned. "The sister then? The one that propositioned me?"I shook my head. My face turned a little red at the memory of Lanie fighting with the orc. I hadn't realized it was the same guy. I didn't want to say they all looked alike,

I rolled into Grocer Outlet then shifted the hornet into park. I sat staring at the broken sign for a long time. I really didn't want to go in. Mr. Kline was a mob boss like Matei was. That meant he had a crew or something. And what did Liam mean by contracts? Was it hits for hire? My lack of knowledge about this world was frustrating. I didn't actually know what to expect today.I gathered up my leather purse and opened the squeaky door. The seatbelt stuck. I stabbed it with the butt end of the flashlight on my keys until it popped open. Maybe I should have asked for that ride out here, but then perhaps a full out battle would happen for crossing turf or something. I really didn't know how this stuff worked. I finally escaped my car. I walked across the parking lot with the sun high in the sky. The warmth of it on my skin made me miss the fall back home. I didn't miss the work, though. I took one last whiff of the fall breeze then pushed the door open to the breakroom.Mr. Kline w