“My brother,” Snod explained, “Athaliah.”
“Let me guess, doll. You need a job, too?” Rees snorted, leaning against the bar and crossing his
arms.
“Depends,” Athaliah replied sweetly, quirking his brows. “You got a job to give me?”
“Maybe,” Rees mused, pursing his lips together. “What can you do?”
“I was a waiter for two weeks before I was kidnapped almost twenty years ago?” Athaliah offered
with a quick shrug.
“Congratulations, you’re officially more qualified to work here than your fuckin’ brother,” Rees
cackled, shaking his head. “Lemme guess. The Order?”
“You know about the Order?” Athaliah glanced at Snod for confirmation, and he nodded.
“I know lots of things, doll,” Rees replied with a smirk. “I’m not just a pretty face, you know.”
“Beauty and brains,” Athaliah purred, easily charming him with a sweet smile.
“You sure you’re related to that boring ol’ asshat?” Rees laughed, jerking his head at Snod. “You, I
like. Your brother? Ha! Personality of a cardboard box soaked in piss.”
“He takes a little while to warm up,” Athaliah said, winking playfully, “but trust me, he’s amazing.”
Snod made a face at being the subject of conversation, grumbling, “I’m right here.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rees said, waving his hand dismissively. He looked over Athaliah again, finally
agreeing, “Fine, you wanna be a waiter, you got it. But keep all that vampire crazy turned real low.
Nobody else here knows except me, got it?”
Athaliah saluted, promising, “Got it.”
“Athaliah? Stock the bar. Just fill up the shit that’s empty with more of the same shit,” Rees ordered,
grunting at Snod. “You. Come with me. I got some trash that needs to be bounced.”
Snod got to work, letting Rees order him around for a few hours as they cleaned out the kitchen and
stockroom. Rees was showing Athaliah where everything was, and Snod wanted take a break and get
a drink of water. He came out to the bar to grab a glass, tensing when he heard the front door open.
“We’re closed,” Snod called out, filling his glass with ice and scowling when he saw who it was.
“Frankie told me you were working here,” Mark said, his eyes moving around with a faint hint of
revulsion as he stepped inside slowly. “It suits you.”
“What do you want?” Snod snapped, getting right to the point. He hadn’t seen Mark since that night at
the club, and he had hoped that would have been the last time.
