“It’s just me,” Niko said. “I recognized your energy.”
My shoulders sagged, and I turned on my heel. “I almost stabbed you.”
He smiled with his crystalline eyes. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Niko drew back his hood, his long black hair falling past his shoulders. He was a good five inches taller than I was, and while his physique appeared lean, that man was pure muscle. I’d seen him balance his entire body on one hand… parallel with the floor.
“Do you think that’s a Shifter?” I asked, pointing at the coyote.
Niko reached out and ran his slender fingers around the ears and head. “There’s no telling in a place like this, but it’s illegal to sell a Shifter’s animal remains in this form, so my guess is no.”
“I feel pretty useless in here,” I admitted.
He led me down the aisle and around a corner. “How do you think I feel?”
“What does Viktor expect you to do when you’re here?”
“I observe customers. Sometimes Viktor uses me to see if the owner is lying, but Claude can usually scent a lie. Between the two of us, we take turns acting as lookout. I offer protection in case something goes wrong. Usually they cooperate unless they’re hiding something big.”
“You might want to keep your voice down,” I whispered.
Niko smirked. “I already checked for Vampires.”
Though blind, Niko possessed an incredible gift. He detected energy in a way that no other Mage could. Vampires didn’t give off energy—at least, none that I could detect—but Niko could somehow see the energy of every living thing around him.
“Do you guys ever run into trouble?” I asked, admiring a piece of pottery. I didn’t want to admit to him that I was itching for some action. Viktor wanted me to learn how to be an integral member of a team and conduct investigations, but that wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
Niko’s pace quickened. “Let’s find out. Someone’s temper is flaring up ahead.”
As we neared the glass counter, Niko drew his hood over his head and veered to the empty counter on the left, running his hand across the glass and pretending to admire something within. I mirrored him but kept my distance.
Behind us, Viktor quietly argued with one of the employees. I kept my back to them and watched through a mirror.
“I’m not going to ask you again,” Viktor growled. “Show me the inventory room.”
“I already told you Ilostthe key,” the man replied. He looked more like a guy who should be living on a beach somewhere and running his own surfboard shop. His sandy-blond hair had dark roots, leaving me to wonder if it came from a bottle. It looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks—strands clumping together as if they were trying to form dreadlocks. “Get lost, or I’ll call the Regulators.”
Viktor placed his palms on the counter and leaned in. “I call your bluff, Cosmo. What are you waiting for? Be sure to tell them that Viktor Kazan gives his regards. Unfortunately, Regulators do not take kindly to being pulled away from important cases to handle frivolous complaints. They might search the premises. Would you rathertheyfind what you’re hiding?”
Cosmo lifted his scruffy chin. “Fuck you, Viktor. You don’t intimidate me.”
Had his finger not twitched, I would have remained calm. But on the streets, men who hesitated were dead men, and Cosmo looked like a guy who carried a concealed weapon.
I spun on my heel and leapt over the counter before the two men could blink. I gripped Cosmo by the waistband of his pants and laid my push dagger against his lower back, letting him feel the tip. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced. I’m Raven Black. Do you always talk to your customers that way? On second thought, don’t answer that. You look like a man who cares about his reputation, and I’m sure the last thing you want is a violent outburst in your shop. People might not feel safe here anymore and will quit coming around. The more you resist, the more we’ll think you’re hiding something. Cooperate and answer a few simple questions, and we might go easy on you if we stumble upon anything incriminating. So what’s it going to be, Cosmo?”
When a large man rushed toward us, Niko appeared and drew his swords—one angled just below the man’s oversized belly and the other against the lower half of his spine. Niko sandwiched him in, and the security guard didn’t look like he wanted a slice of trouble as he slowly raised his hands.
Cosmo glared down at me. “Big Dog, get me the key to the inventory room.”
“But boss—”
“Do as I say.”
The man hesitated and looked at Niko, who seemed to be appraising Big Dog’s light. After a few beats, Niko withdrew his swords and placed them back in the scabbards hidden beneath his long coat.
I glanced down and saw a switchblade handle poking out of Cosmo’s back pocket.
The customers within proximity appeared oblivious as to what was going on. Either that, or they just didn’t care.
