Free Infinite Risk by Ann Aguirre

I balanced on the balls of my feet, ready for Raoul to come at me, but he was frowning.
    â€œYou’re human,” he said, puzzled.
    â€œAnd you’re high as hell, apparently.” That was the only reasonable response; I had to make him believe my arrival was a coincidence.
    Go tell Wedderburn I’m a normal girl. They might still try to kill me because there were no rules protecting random mortals, but they wouldn’t be prepared for the strength of my resistance. If Wedderburn learned I’d wreaked havoc on his headquarters and killed four gods in the game, he would never stop until I was a smoking stain on the concrete.
    â€œWhatever,” Raoul muttered.
    He whirled and retreated into the alley. I didn’t chase him, hardly daring to breathe until a full minute had passed. Then I turned and went to the corner store in case he was still watching. Nothing unusual to see here. My food budget was down to a few crumpled singles and change.
    â€œYou’re here a lot,” José said, ringing me up.
    I knew that was the owner’s name because he had it embroidered on the bowling shirts he wore. At first I only nodded, waiting for the total, because that seemed like a rhetorical question. I paid the requested $3.52, and was about to leave when he added:
    â€œI can’t pay, but if you want to clean and stock shelves for a couple hours, I could give you some groceries.” By his expression, he wasn’t too sure about the offer.
    So I said quickly, “That sounds good. I don’t know if I can come every day, though.”
    â€œIt’s not like I’m making a work schedule.”
    A woman called from upstairs, “Did you talk to her?”
    He yelled back, “I’m doing it right now.”
    Something about the exchange reminded me of my mom and dad. It was always my mother nudging him in the right direction. So I was smiling when José made an apologetic face. “Sorry, Luisa gets impatient. She noticed you’re new in the neighborhood and thought maybe…” He trailed off, only to start again. “It’s hard to be sure if you should offer help, you know?”
    I nodded. “People might get mad or take advantage or you could be inviting their troubles into your home. I get it.”
    â€œAnyway, I said what I was supposed to. Have a good day.”
    Though I had been cagey, I intended to work on Monday. Before that, I had a number of other things to do. Back in my room, I dug up a clean sponge under the kitchen sink and a can of cleanser. It wasn’t meant for bathrooms, but I couldn’t stand the grunge a second longer. It took me two hours of nonstop scrubbing, but by the time I finished, the room even smelled clean. For the first time, I took a shower without worrying about contact infections.
    Wish I’d known Kian was coming over; I’d have done this sooner.
    As I dried my hair with a stiff, scratchy towel, I wondered what Raoul was telling Wedderburn. As long as I act normal, they can’t prove anything. But if they saw the Harbinger sniffing around, it would definitely raise the alarm. Probably I should tell him to get lost, but I’d promised he could watch the show, so I hesitated.
    Why is it so hard to cut him off?
    No ready answer sprang to mind, and my phone pinged, distracting me. Unsurprisingly, it was from Kian, the one person who had my number. I have way more fugly clothes than I can fit in my backpack. This may take two trips.
    Sweet, plenty of store credit for you, I sent back.
    That night, I wore my hair down, not because I was trying to look pretty, but because it was significantly warmer. The usual suspects sat on the bus: women in uniforms coming off cleaning shifts, a couple of homeless men, three teenagers who took turns staring at me and shoving one another. I wished I had some headphones but staring out the window did almost as well in sending the UNAVAILABLE message.
    At 3:56, I got off at