“Why do you say it like that?”
“They come. They go. Sensors are better for a job like this. We don’t just serve beer. You have to be on your toes, and if you’re scared to get physical, this isn’t the job for you.”
“What did you do to that guy? I didn’t think Sensors could make someone shift.”
She set our glasses beneath the bar. “It’s a little trick I learned. Gave him a taste of his own medicine. We have a rule around here: you don’t touchanyoneon a leash. Only their handlers are allowed to touch them. He broke that rule. I saw him pat the man’s ass when he walked by, and that gets him a swift kick out the door. He’ll be lucky if the owner lets him return.”
The man who had thrown out the wolf leaned over the bar, tattoos all up and down his arms. “Simone, do you really have to put a fright in them? He pissed all over my leg.” The man’s British accent caught my attention.
Simone threw back her head and laughed as she made her way down the bar to fill orders.
“Women are wicked little creatures.” He scooted onto the stool. “I should have never broken her heart.”
“You didn’t break my heart, Flynn,” she said loudly. “Just my bank account.”
Flynn nonchalantly turned toward me. “A bit of advice, love? Never shag someone you have to work with. When a relationship ends, there should be a law that you never see them again.”
I shifted my stance to face him. “Maybe you shouldn’t have been a dickhead.”
Flynn had crazy brown hair, like a man who had never seen a hairbrush. He stroked his short beard and looked me over. He seemed more interested in my legs than anything else. “Did you come to play? I’m suddenly feeling a bit randy.”
“Leave her alone, Flynn. That’s Robin.”
“The new girl?” Flynn gave a mischievous smile. “You don’t say?”
Without warning, he grabbed my wrist and smacked my arm with his other palm.
I reflexively punched him in the throat, put his head in a lock, and then threw him to the ground.
Simone leaned over the bar to look at him and then gave me a nod. “You’ll do.”
A glow caught my attention, and I looked down. The light on my upper arm was in the distinct shape of an owl.
“It’s your stamp,” Simone said matter-of-factly as she popped the lid off a beer bottle and handed it to a topless woman. “It only lasts a week, so you’ll need him to give you a new one every seven days. If you’re still here, that is.”
I rubbed at the mark. Instead of ink, it was as if someone had tattooed electricity onto my arm. “What’s wrong with using a stamp?”
“Regular ink doesn’t show up well in these dim rooms. On a white girl like you, maybe. But we need our crew to stand out at all times. These glow, so there’s no confusion as to who works here. Nobody can sneak in as a worker because they can’t replicate our stamp. Just be sure you cover it up when you leave the club.”
We continued ignoring Flynn, who was still gasping for breath on the floor.
“How the hell did he do it?” I asked.
She wiped off the bar with a clean rag. “Flynn is a Mage of many unique talents. He uses a special ink with liquid fire.”
My eyes widened in horror. “Wait a minute. You said this comes off in a week.”
“It does.”
“Liquid fire is permanent.”
Flynn pulled himself to his feet while rubbing his throat.
“I warned you to stop doing that.” Simone clucked her tongue at him. “You think every woman is graced by your touch.”
He coughed while taking a seat on the stool, not irritated at all by my throat punch. “Liquid fire seals injuries to your skin. When you get a tattoo, the needle penetrates. I don’t.”
Simone chuckled but said nothing.
