Free In the Air Tonight by Stephanie Tyler

himself for leaving the door propped open, because he could’ve used some warning. He didn’t like being caught off guard.
    “Yeah?” He didn’t turn around, continued stocking the bar the way he’d done every spring, summer, fall and winter when he was growing up after he’d been shipped here from the wilds of North Carolina, after his mother left him home alone once too often to take one of her trips to see a boyfriend.
    Six weeks. He’d made it six weeks before some goddamned teacher turned him in to CPS. And that was the end of his freedom.
    Sometimes, when the missions dragged, he thought about this, the bar, and he realized that no matter how much he sat on his ass in one of the Stans or Africa or where-the-hell-ever-else they sent him, it was a hell of a lot better than running a bar full-time.
    He shoved the Jack Daniel’s onto the shelf viciously, the bottles clanking, and no, he didn’t give ashit if they all broke. Was ready to chug a bottle and let it all hang out the way Caleb had a few nights earlier, dancing on the bar and practically fucking a local right then and there.
    He clenched his teeth and turned, since Paige hadn’t said anything else. “What do you want? I’m working.”
    She’d been waiting patiently, watching him. It made him uncomfortable to know how well she read him without actually putting her hands on him.
    She probably knew that too.
    “I wanted to ask—can I work tonight?”
    It was the last thing he’d expected to hear. Her face wore an earnest expression and he still wanted to tell her
No way
, that after last night’s disaster, he needed her to hide out upstairs in her room until all the customers went home.
    Paige
should be going home. The roads were okay for four-wheel drive, but her car had bald tires and was the biggest piece of crap he’d seen in a while. He had no idea how she’d made it here in the first place.
    “Not a good idea.” He tried not to look at her neck—she’d put on a long-sleeved shirt but with her hair pulled back from her face, the bruises were very visible.
    “I can’t sit around and do nothing. I’m not good at it,” she protested.
    Join the club, honey
. “You’ve bartended before? Because I can’t let you out into the crowd after what happened last night.”
    “Okay, yes, I agree—I wouldn’t feel right doing that. But I think I can handle it behind the bar.”
    He shook his head. “I’ll have Cael show you somebasics. It’ll be busy. People will be stir-crazy from being cooped up in their houses all day.”
    “That’s okay, I like busy. No time to think.”
    Yeah, well, she was a woman after his own heart. “I’ve got to finish up here.”
    But she was already moving behind him, pulling bottles from the cardboard box and holding them out to him impatiently.
    “Did you come here because of the assault?” he asked after a long moment.
    “No, it was what happened after.” She told him about the news report. “It’s all dredged up again, especially with the recent school shooting.”
    From his curt nod, she could tell he’d already heard about that—it had been widely reported two weeks earlier.
    “What about your job?” he asked.
    “I gave my notice,” she said bluntly. “I gave up my apartment too.”
    Shit, she really had no place to go. No place, and everyplace, and both were equally as dangerous for the headspace she was in now.
    Gray would never want her traveling around, aimlessly searching for some kind of peace and security she might never find. And he would kill Mace if he tried to send her back out now.
    “You’re sure that was a good idea?” Mace asked.
    “I couldn’t take it—they all know now. They’ll be looking at me, wanting to ask questions about what happened. Everyone wants to know what it’s like to live with evil.”
    They continued to stock for a few more moments insilence, until he asked bluntly, “Is there a problem with your brother?”
    They both knew which brother he