Free Sacrifice Me by Sarra Cannon Page B

you guys put a sign out front, I'm
sure you'd get a lot more business.”
    “More business isn't something we're looking
for,” she said. “And to be honest, I’m not sure the
boss would want me to explain it even if I could. At least, not until
you understand more about what it is we do here.”
    Great. More cryptic answers.
    “Okay, so how do I find out what it is you
do here?”
    I had obviously already figured out this wasn’t
a typical bar or nightclub, but I still didn’t understand what
it was that made it so different. Surely everyone who was here last
night wasn’t some kind of demon, right?
    “I think it’s safer if I just wait and
let the boss man tell you when he thinks you’re ready,”
she said with a laugh. “In the meantime, he asked me show you
around the place and get you started on some of the basic morning
tasks.”
    I slid off my stool and followed her back toward
the other side of the room. “So, when will I get to meet him?”
I asked.
    “Who?”
    “This mysterious boss man,” I said.
“Rend didn't say anything about him.”
    She stopped, a huge grin spreading across her
face. “You are so adorably clueless,” she said. “You
really don't know?”
    “Know what?” My cheeks flushed.
    Azure laughed and opened a black metal door just
off the dance-floor.
    “Rend is the boss.”
Don't Get Used To It

    I felt like an idiot.
    “Oh, god, I thought he was just a
bartender,” I said. “No offense. I mean, I have nothing
against bartenders, it’s just that, crap. I had no idea he
owned the place.”
    “It’s his baby,” she said. She
led me down a narrow hallway painted in all black, then opened a door
and motioned for me to go inside.
    The storage room was huge. Metal racks lined the
walls from floor to ceiling, stacked with boxes.
    “I’m not surprised he didn’t
mention it,” she said. “He’s a real hands-on kind
of boss, always working behind the bar and making sure things are
running smoothly. Still, did you really think a guy behind the bar
could just hire you on the spot and demand that you show up the next
morning?”
    I shrugged, feeling stupid. “After the night
I had last night, I didn’t even think to question it.”
    She frowned. “Did something happen? I mean,
besides your friend getting sick? I saw Rend go out on the floor to
dance with you and at first, I figured maybe he knew you from
somewhere else.”
    She climbed up on a step-ladder and pulled down a
box, handing it to me before grabbing another and climbing down.
    I didn’t know where to start. Was I supposed
to keep what happened in the alley a secret? I wasn’t about to
tell her about my mom, but I didn’t really want to tell her I’d
almost been eaten by vampires, either. “I’d never met him
until last night,” I said, deciding to leave it at that and let
her push for more if she wanted to.
    She made a face. “You guys got pretty cozy
with each other there for a while,” she said. “I’ve
never seen Rend do that with a customer before. Don’t get used
to it.”
    Was that a hint of jealousy in her tone?
    “I’m sure it won’t happen
again,” I said. “I think he’s pretty pissed at me.”
    “Pissed enough to hire you?” she said,
laughing again. “Set that down over here and open it up. I want
to show you something.”
    I brought the box over to the middle of the room
and pulled the tape off the top. She set hers beside mine and opened
hers, too. Inside both boxes were plastic shot glasses in various
neon colors. Stacks of them were wrapped in brown tissue paper. Each
glass had the Venom logo on it. A serpent with its fangs
outstretched. I shuddered at the image, wondering if snake fangs had
anything to do with human fangs.
    “This, obviously, is one of the main storage
rooms,” she said. I was grateful to be talking about the job
and out of the line of fire for a minute. “We keep all our
merchandise-type items in here. Shot glasses, t-shirts, novelty type
stuff. On this other