“She searches for you.”
“Shhhit,” she drawled out. “I tried to stop that, just so you know. I had her fight me as she was Turned so there wouldn’t be a Maker Bond.”
“Doesn’t work like that,” the werewolf said.
She snorted and tossed him a look. “It works exactly like that. I’ve Turned dozens of wolves. I kill the bonds before theybegin.” She thought about Destiny and her ex, Cian. “Well, I kill the bonds most of the time.”
The man’s eyebrows arched up. “Why would you Turn people?” he sounded horrified.
“Because that’s my job. I’m the Turner. It’s what the Elders call me. Or it was my job. It’s what I was Turned for.” She hated the judgement in his face, so she pushed back and grabbed her purse. “It’s been real. Enjoy your piss in a glass.”
“My name is Vic.”
She paused, confused. “You’re the gray and tan wolf. You helped clean up the bodies of my people.”
He took another sip. “And tonight we aren’t enemies.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not interested in a war with you. Tonight, we are just the only werewolves in this place. Only I’m hiding it better.”
He gestured to her eyes, and she ducked her gaze. Her green eye would be blazing bright right now. She fumbled in her purse for a pair of sunglasses, but he brushed her off. “You’re good.”
“Says you, who got lucky with dark eyes.”
Vic snorted. “Nothing lucky about it. I wear colored contacts when I want to fit in. My co-workers haven’t even caught on that I’m a werewolf.”
She stared at him in bafflement. “Wh-what?”
“I wear contacts,” he repeated. “They don’t have any magnification. They’re just for color.”
And now it made sense. She could barely see the glow of his gold eyes around the dark color of the contact lenses. Huh.
“And where would one get these contacts?” she asked, relaxing into the barstool again.
He shrugged. “I can give you a couple pairs. I buy them in bulk.”
“Wait, does that mean you hang out with humans?” she asked, suspicious of him.
“I hang out around whatever calls to me. Human world or werewolf world, doesn’t matter to me anymore. I have a set number of days on this earth. I’m going to have fun. Yolo and all.”
“Yolo?” she asked.
“You only live once.” He gestured to her drink again. “Why are you at a bar with humans, judging me for spending time in the human world, while you drink an iced tea? Are you here picking up dudes?”
Lyric crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe. What’s it to you?”
“Nothing. I’m here picking up women. No judgement from me.”
“Oh.” Well, this guy—Vic—he was honest. She liked that.
“Is Vic short for Victor?” she asked.
“It’s short for Vicious,” he said absently as he looked around. “That guy over there isn’t half-bad.” He twitched his chin toward a trio of men at a table near the pool table.
“For me? They’re human.”
“Well, it’s a human bar. You picked a strange hunting ground if you don’t like humans.”
