Free The Superiors by Lena Hillbrand Page A

the children wouldn’t tell him anything at all. Perhaps they wouldn’t even be there. Perhaps they had other little vermin to play with.
    “I look forward to that pleasure,” Draven answered. He wanted to excuse himself, but he couldn’t until Byron signaled the end of the encounter. Draven itched to get a bite of Cali before sleep.
    “You look anxious to be going,” Byron said. “Have you acquired an attachment?”
    “No, just a sapien I quite enjoy over at another restaurant.”
    “Why didn’t you say so?”
    “I did not wish to be rude, sir.”
    “Nonsense. We’re friends here. At ease, soldier.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “So does this restaurant have chess and games?”
    “No billiards. Only a bar and a restaurant. The bar has the usual table games.”
    “Then maybe we should meet there next time.”
    “I hadn’t thought of that. But it would be quite convenient. Do you know Estrella’s?”
    “Quite well. Their sapiens are always of the highest quality. Tomorrow night after work then, at Estrella’s.”
    “I’d be delighted.”
    Byron excused his underling, and Draven slid behind the wheel and started the car before he’d finished closing the door. While on assignment, he had craved the familiar scent of Cali, the warm nutty flavor of her.
    He went into the bar at Estrella’s and spotted the hostess with the long teeth. “Hello again,” he said to her.
    “Hi, stranger,” she said. “What can we do for you today? Something on tap as usual?”
    “I was wondering if I might procure employment at your establishment.”
    She looked him up and down. “You might. You look for work as bouncer?”
    “That is the position I’m inquiring about.”
    “You follow me to Estrella’s office, and she will look over your credentials.”
    “Of course.”
    “I wouldn’t mind having a look at your credentials for me,” the hostess added.
    “I’d be interested in your opinion of them,” Draven said, smiling at her. He liked her cute manners and accent. “Perhaps after we get everything settled and I’ve eaten, you’ll be off work.”
    “I didn’t think you’d agree so quick.”
    “You’re an attractive woman.”
    “Thank you. Here is Estrella’s office. See me on your way out?”
    “I will.” He went inside the impeccably clean office of Estrella, the establishment’s owner. She checked his file in the database and switched his employment, all of which took longer than he would have liked. Still, he’d wanted a new job for a while, and he had several hours before daylight. The familiar restlessness had set in after the raid on 28 Flavors, and even his assignment in Las Vegas hadn’t quieted his discontent. He wanted more excitement, better pay, less physical contact with sapiens—especially the distasteful kind of contact he’d had with the sapien prostitute.
    On top of that, as a bouncer he would have easy access to Cali when he grew hungry, and he could enjoy her scent while he worked, inhaling her aroma the whole night. And he could admonish the man who fed on her so carelessly. He would remind anyone drawing from a sapien in his section to close the marks properly. It was just plain laziness not to spend the two extra seconds closing up. Only someone lazy or callous would leave marks like Cali’s at every feeding.
    Draven passed from the bar section into the restaurant and glanced around in surprise, as if his eyes could tell him something his nose couldn’t. “Where is the sap I frequent?” he asked Cali’s bouncer.
    “It is no longer offered on our menu.”
    “Why not?”
    The bouncer offered Draven a small frown. “Because she’s been taken off the menu.”
    “Is she still residing here?”
    “Not that I’m aware of.”
    “Why?”
    “I’m sure I couldn’t tell you.”
    “And where could I find her? I have a taste for her.”
    “I’ve noticed.”
    “So where is she?”
    “I’m sure I don’t know that.”
    “Would you be so sure if I had ten anyas to offer