A Shifter's Curse, Raven Steele [the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT] 📗

Lynx whirled around and helped me to my feet. “I am so sorry. My mother is insane.”

I brushed myself off. “I can't believe you came out of her vagina. I wouldn’t think it possible with that thick tree up her ass.”

"You okay?"

"Are you kidding? You saw me the other night. This was nothing."

She cracked a smile. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I had to fill out some employee paperwork, but the bar is closed. I thought maybe I'd do some shopping while I waited for it to open.”

She squealed and threw her arms around me. "I thought you’d never ask!"

My body stiffened at her touch. Hugging did not come naturally.

She let me go but pulled on my arm instead, leading me out of the office. "This is going to be so much fun."

I groaned, already regretting it.

Fun was not the word I would use for what we did. For the next few hours, she dressed me as if I was a doll. I had to admit though, I sort of liked the attention. It was not something I was used to.

By the time she was finished, three hours had passed and my wallet was several hundred dollars lighter. It was the most money I had spent in years on clothes. Every extra penny I ever earned went into my revenge fund. I liked watching it grow.

When I was finished shopping, I headed back to the club, my arms full of bags. A familiar motorcycle was parked out front. Oh, hell no. A mixture of desire and anger thrummed through my body. For a second, an image of his naked and sexy body wrapped around mine filled my mind. I gritted my teeth, forcing the image into my brain gutter. Maybe I needed to screw him, just once. That might get him out of my system.

I huffed and walked inside, dumping my bags in the front. The lights were on, but I couldn't see anyone. Voices echoed from the upstairs office. Why was Luke talking to Eddie?

I crept quietly up the stairs, hoping to catch part of their conversation but their voices lowered. Luke probably heard me come in. However, I did manage to catch the words “money” and “deadline.”

As I approached the closed door, their voices stopped altogether. Disappointed, I knocked on it.

"Come in,” Eddie’s voice called.

I opened it and looked straight at Luke. "What are you doing here?"

"I could say the same for you.” His eyes dropped to my wrists, and he studied them for a moment too long. Then he gave me a smug look. “Are you following me?”

I snorted. “I would shoot myself first.”

Eddie cleared his throat. "Briar is my new bartender. Customers love her."

Luke picked at an invisible speck of dust on his jacket. "Have they heard her speak?"

I pointed at my mouth. “The crowd lines up to hear what comes out of this hole."

"Only because they've never heard so much bullshit before. Or should I say horse shit?"

“Your face is shit."

"Can I help you with something, Briar?" Eddie said quickly.

I flashed Luke one more cold stare before I turned to Eddie. "I need to fill out the employee paperwork. I keep forgetting."

He huffed and searched through a stack of papers on his desk. "I told you it was important to get that done. There are certain people," his eyes flashed to Luke, "who get very upset if my records aren't in order. We don't need the IRS sniffing around."

I looked from him to Luke, frowning. "What the hell does this loser have to do with your records? You're the owner, right?"

Eddie handed me a stack of papers. “There was a time when being an owner meant something, but not anymore."

Luke sighed as if he'd heard Eddie say this before. "I'm gonna go, but I'll be back later. Have it ready." He walked by me, eyeing me as he went. My body betrayed itself and shivered at his musky scent. To make up for my body’s betrayal, I reached my leg out to trip him, but he jumped over it.

"Nice try.” I saw him smile before he left the room.

I waited until I heard him descend the steps before I turned to Eddie. "I hate that guy. What was he really doing here?"

He shook his head. "It's best to stay out of it. He's part of a group that pretty much runs this city. They’re backed by a lot of muscle."

"Someone needs to chase them out of town."

“Don't think for one second you are going to be the one to do it. Their group is extremely dangerous. Besides, you’re the best bartender I've ever seen. I've made more money with you in the last two days than all last week. I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

“Don't you worry. I'll stay out of trouble. When do you want this paperwork back by?"

“Before your shift at eleven.”

“You got it, boss.”

“Please, call me Eddie.”

“Thanks, Eddie.” I moved to leave but turned around to ask one more question. “Do you give out Christmas bonuses?”

"I'm Jewish."

"Damn." I left the office and walked down the stairs. Not like I was planning on staying until Christmas but, so far, I kind of liked having roommates, Lynx at least. And Eddie seemed all right. The jury was still out on Samira.

I walked outside, surprised I was even considering staying in a place longer than a few months. A lot could happen before Christmas. Because I had all my bags to carry, I called another Uber and rode home. I was going to have to buy a car at some point. These Uber rides were starting to add up.

Samira was in the living room when I walked in the front door of our house. She hissed at the sunlight spilling in through the open door.

"Oops." I hurried to close it.

She scooted to the other end of the sofa, scowling at me.

I set my bags down on a table. "So, you really can't go out into the sun at all?"

"It takes approximately ten seconds for my flesh to begin burning. Another twenty, and I will be dead."

"That sucks balls." I dropped onto the couch and propped my legs up on the coffee table.

"What's in the bags?"

"I went to that boutique shop where Lynx works. It was a pretty cool place but pricey. I wouldn't have bought anything without using Lynx’s discount.” I eyed her sideways. “You should check it out. The all black thing you’ve got going on is depressing.” She didn’t respond except to give me her biggest deadpan, eat shit look, so I continued. “Have you ever met her mother? I don't think I've met a bigger bitch."

She sat up. "Please tell me you did not have an altercation with her."

"Well if you don’t call her throwing me into a wall an altercation, then no. We had a lovely time."

She sucked in air through her teeth and shook her head. "You are going to ruin everything. Why are you even here?"

I faced her, turning to cross my legs on the couch. "What could I possibly ruin? This city doesn’t need my help with that."

She came to her feet. "So far, all you've done is get in a fight with everyone in your path. There are things you don't understand, politics you can’t fathom. You need to stay out of the way or bad things are going to happen."

I stood up to face her, my hands clenched at my side. “Yeah, well, maybe I'm trying to stop some of those bad things. Personally, I think what I’m working on is far more important than what you’ve got going on. Why don't you show me your bad thing, and I'll show you mine?"

There was a chance whatever she was planning might seriously affect my plans for Dominic. I couldn't let anyone or anything stop me from killing him. The motion had been put in place the moment he killed my parents and no amount of force could stop it. Anyone who tried to stop me would only end up hurt. By the determined expression on Samira's face, her goal was just as fierce.

So it was going to be like that.

Samira spoke slowly, as if I were her idiot little sister. “You must stay away. It’s taken me years to get where I’m at, and all will go according to my plan as long as you leave the Silver Claws alone. This is your final warning."

"I’d like to see you try and stop me.” I took a step toward her, my eyes glowing yellow. There was no way I was going to let goth girl stop me, powerful vampire or not. I let my wolf