Night Critters (Collection) (10 page)

Charm took a step back, frowned and looked back and forth between Kent and Lucky. “What the hell is a Faux Paws?"

Kent stepped up next to Charm and draped his arm over her shoulder. He ignored her wrinkled nose at his body odor. “A Faux Paws, my dear skanky angel, is a werewolf who can't shift. Lucky here might as well be human."

Lucky's blood boiled. If there was one thing he would not tolerate, it was being called human. Screw the bar. He jumped over it and leaped at Kent. His fist connected with the werewolf's infamous glass jaw. The punch knocked Kent back several steps.

Josh, with his finely honed sense of self-preservation, dove out of the way. Lucky didn't spare him a second thought.

Kent shook his head to clear his eyes and took a step toward Lucky. His brindle gray fur crawled from beneath his skin like a disease, and his body odor rose to an eye watering level. Never the cleanest wolf around, Kent's lack of hygiene had obviously gotten worse since school. No surprise there.

Charm gagged and sneezed. She stepped back a pace, and her gaze darted around the room frantically.

Lucky closed his eyes, not wanting to see the knuckles coming at his face. He'd thrown the first punch, and it seemed sporting to let Kent have a shot before Lucky beat his ass bloody. He heard a loud crack and splintering wood. He opened his eyes.

Charm stood over Kent's unconscious body with what was left of a bar stool in her hands. She planted her boot square in the middle of Kent's back and held him there.

Impressed with her quick thinking, Lucky bowed to the lady. “Thank you."

Charm dropped the splintered stool on top of Kent. “What kind of wolf are you? You were actually going to stand there and take the punch?” She went behind the bar to make her own drink. She stumbled and looked down at something Lucky couldn't see. “What the hell are you doing?"

Joshua, Kent's cowardly sidekick, stood up and leaped over the bartender's gate, never taking his eyes off of Charm, and ran for the door.

Lucky joined Charm at the bar. “Leave it to Kent to align himself with sludge.” He downed the shot Charm poured for him and slammed the glass down on the bar.

"Aren't you supposed to be the bartender?” She winked and refilled both glasses.

"You're doing a fine job. Enrique would probably hire you if you need a job.” Lucky couldn't quite put his finger on what was so attractive about her. Maybe it was her coloring, or perhaps her indomitable spirit, but whatever it was, she was sexy as hell.

Before Lucky could finish his thought Charm leaped over the bar, her wings fully extended, flaming and beautiful. A metal object flashed in her hand. She landed on the floor in front of Kent, who wielded a chair clearly aimed for Lucky's back.

Kent dropped the chair and fell to his knees, whining like a little girl.

Lucky cringed when he saw Charm had Kent by the balls with a pair of ice tongs. No matter how much he despised the werewolf, the male in him sympathized with the concept of a pair of ice-cold tongs biting into tender balls.

Charm hunched over and leaned in close to Kent's face. Her green eyes stared into his terrified brown ones. “You will leave me alone. I have no interest in you. If you do not leave me alone, I will claim these as mine and hang them from my rearview mirror."

"Drop the weapon, ma'am, and step away from him."

Lucky and Charm spun around. The voice that came out of nowhere belonged to the county sheriff. Charm dropped the ice tongs on the floor and casually moved away to lean against the bar.

The sheriff holstered his gun and walked toward them. “Lucky, what's going on here?"

Lucky put an innocent smile on his face. Enrique would kill him for the furniture as it was, but getting the bar closed down for a fight would be infinitely worse. “Nothing, Sheriff Jones. Just a misunderstanding."

The sheriff looked at the three of them with his hands on his hips. Kent lay whining on the floor, tears in his eyes. Charm picked dirt from underneath her nails, completely disinterested in the whole scene. Not one hair on her head was ruffled.

Lucky nodded to himself. No matter what the truth was, Kent was the only one injured. Oh, yeah, they were going downtown.

"Where is Enrique?” The sheriff looked around the bar.

"He's on vacation for a week. I'm taking care of the bar while he's gone.” Lucky bent over to pick up some of the scattered wood.

Sheriff Jones turned in a full circle and did a quick survey of the damage. “Looks like you're doing a damn fine job. Broken furniture, one man down on the floor, and a call in for disturbing the peace.” He turned his eyes back to Lucky. “This doesn't look like a misunderstanding. It looks to me like you were harassing a customer."

Startled, Lucky looked up from his armful of broken furniture. “I don't consider Kent a customer—just a nuisance.” Why did this always happen to him? “Sir, Kent was harassing this woman, who
is
a customer.” Lucky gestured toward Charm, who hadn't even looked up from her nails.

The law officer glared at Lucky in disbelief. “Right. I can tell she fought real hard. I'm going to take you all downtown for questioning till I can figure this out. Everybody outside."

Lucky rolled his eyes and stomped behind the bar. He dumped the shattered remains of the stool in the corner for later repair. “Let me lock up first."

Charm shrugged. She shot Kent a nasty look full of promise of further pain. “Yippee. I'm going to jail. Are we all three going to be in the same cell?"

Sheriff Jones shook his head, and his lips twitched as if he were trying not to smile. He cuffed the whining Kent and brandished a pair of wrap ties for both Lucky and Charm. “No, ma'am. I want this fellow in one piece to face the judge."

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Charm sat across from Lucky in the holding cell with silence wrapped around them. She didn't want to talk to the person who was the reason she'd been arrested for—of all things—disturbing the peace. She hadn't disturbed the peace. She had been fighting, no matter how literally, to keep the peace. If Lucky had stayed out of her way, none of this would have happened.

She felt naked without her body jewelry. They'd even made her remove her clit ring. How embarrassing and annoying! At least the body cavity search was now done with a scope instead of prying fingers. Yech!

Lucky wanted to say something to her. His mouth kept opening and closing, but no sound emerged. He resembled a stranded fish, except for the occasional glowers in her direction. Surely he didn't blame her for what those two useless louts had done. She hadn't invited the twits in.

She wasn't going to force the issue to make him speak. Speak? She would really have to stop thinking of the handsome werewolf—er, were-uh-critter—as a trained dog she could give biscuits to after a trick. Her mind skittered briefly to some horizontal tricks she wished he'd do, and she slapped herself mentally. This was no place to get horny. Maybe after they got out...

They both looked up when the guard came to the iron barred door. He eyed them both with a smile on his face. “Thornburn, you made bail.” The guard unlocked the cell.

Lucky stood up and glanced back at her. Amusement, or perhaps sympathy, flickered in his ice-blue eyes. Why did he have to be such a hot-bodied sex crime? The standard prison jumpsuit, which made her look like a sack of potatoes, was like runway gold on him. So not fair.

Recognition had her tired brain cells on full alert. Thornburn? She knew the name. Her mother always talked about a were-dog named Roni Thornburn. Her best friend in the world. Lucky was Roni's son—the one who was born in human form. Her father and his father, Corbin Thornburn, had been really close before they'd moved. Charm had never met them, but with the way her parents talked about them, she had plans to look the whole pack up and introduce herself. What a great first impression she had made. That was her—all full of grace and charm. Literally.

Her face heated to scorching. Now she was very glad she hadn't called Mommy and Daddy to come bail her out like the whiny dough-faced mouth-breathers she'd gone to school with.

Lucky turned back to the guard. “What about Charm? Didn't she make bail? I'm not leaving her here."

What was it with this guy? Wasn't chivalry dead and the day of independent women upon them? Charm stood up and stomped over to Lucky. “Don't worry about me. I'm a big girl.” She growled through clenched teeth to let him know she was serious. “I can pay my own way."

Lucky grinned at her. The cocky smirk seemed like it didn't happen often from what she'd seen of the dour bartender, but there was a first time for everything. “How are you going to do that from in here?"

Was that a challenge? How'd he known her weakness for dares and puzzles? Charm jutted out her chin and took the dare, hook, line, and sinker. “I'll post my own damn bail."

Lucky's blue eyes twinkled in the fluorescent lighting. “You left your purse at the bar."

Touche. Charm crossed her arms across her chest. Stymied again. She'd wiggle out of this yet, somehow. “Then I'll wait here for you to fetch my purse.” She slapped herself internally for the “fetch” part.

Lucky mimicked her by crossing his arms across his muscular chest. “I don't fetch. If you want to sit in here, that's fine. I'll see you during visiting hours.” Lucky turned and walked out of the cell.

Kicking herself the entire time, Charm took two steps forward. “Lucky, wait."

He turned around with victory dancing in his eyes.

Charm picked at the sleeve hem of her sturdy jumpsuit. The ball of humiliation twisted like a nest of snakes in her belly. She would not use her one call to beg for help from her parents. Dammit, she had enough cash in the bank to buy his fucking bar if necessary. All she needed was her magno-cards. “I'll pay you back in full when I get my purse."

Lucky nodded. He'd won, and, graciously, didn't even have a glint in his eye. “No need to kill yourself financially. We can make payment arrangements. I'll dial up a cab while you change.” He walked away before she could tell him to kiss her ass.

Once she'd changed out of the high-fashion blazing orange jumpsuit, Charm met Lucky in front of the precinct clerk. He didn't look very happy, but that almost seemed a normal thing for him. The guy was wrapped in a permanent gloom. Wordlessly, he handed her a piece of paper.

Charm studied the receipt for her bail and nearly fainted. For a simple disturbing the peace charge? “Fifty thousand dollars? Why the hell was it so high?"

The not-so gregarious bartender took the receipt back and folded the yellow paper into his wallet. He shrugged his shoulders and slipped his wallet into his black pants. “Maybe they charged a fee for your mouth. It seems to never shut up."

"Listen here, you arrogant ass. Who are you to say anything?” Charm couldn't believe he had just said that. “Just because you don't have the balls to stand up for yourself when people call you Faux —"

"You finish that sentence, and I'll ask for a refund and leave your cute ass here.” He walked out the front doors.

Charm trotted to keep up with him. He had the keys to the damn bar, and she needed to get her purse.

A tall man stepped out of the shadows of the columns decorating the exterior of the courthouse, effectively blocking their way to the waiting cab. Lucky stopped short, then staggered forward when Charm plowed right into his back.

The elegantly dressed stranger was taller than Lucky, but he didn't have the same build. He resembled a paper pusher who visited the gym multiple times a week instead of one who did true physical labor. His lip curled into a polite sneer. “Hello, Lucky."

Lucky frowned, obviously not pleased to see this man. “What's up, JR?” The casual nature of the acknowledgment seemed forced. JR was probably another guy who tortured Lucky about not being able to change.

"Not much. Just stopping by to see how some permits are coming along.” JR slid past Lucky and eyed Charm with curiosity. “Who is your Nephylum friend?"

Lucky spun around and crouched, ready to spring into another fight. Did the guy want to end up back in the slammer again over needlessly protecting her? How much chivalry and chauvinism could one guy have in his testosterone-poisoned brain, anyway? “None of your concern. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do at Enrique's bar."

JR smiled. “Break something else? Just like a Faux Paws. They never do learn grace."

Stepping in between Lucky and JR, Charm shot JR a killing look and slapped a hand on Lucky's muscled chest. For a few seconds, she felt his heartbeat. “Not here. I don't want to go back to jail. Let's get back to the bar, and I'll help you clean up."

"I don't need your sympathy or help. I'm a Faux Paws, it's true, but I'm an honest, hardworking guy. That's more than I can say for some people.” Lucky snarled and kept his fists clenched. He never took his eyes off of JR. “Watch your mouth in front of ladies, JR."

JR shrugged. “Let me know when you find a lady, and I will.” He skimmed a contemptuous glance up and down Charm's body, taking note of every tattoo and piercing. “You sure can pick ‘em, Lucky."

Charm snorted. “You probably date mealy-mouthed over-bred parasites with all the spine of wet cardboard. Come on, Lucky. Let's go.” She pushed Lucky into the taxi waiting patiently at the curb before arranging herself and her wings carefully in what was left of the cab's back seat.

Charm snuck a glance at Lucky. He looked like he was calming down, so she figured it was safe to speak. At least his fists were no longer clenched and white-knuckled. “I think I figured out why my bail was higher than yours."

Lucky sighed. He suddenly looked tired to his very soul. Maybe he was. She had no idea why, but her Nephylum powers were more suited to fighting than empathy. She'd have killed to be able to read people the way the Gabriel Nephylum did.

Lucky seemed resigned to conversation. “Why is that?"

She drew a deep breath to fortify herself to reveal even this tiny sliver of her secret dream. Like it or not, her face heated up, and she begged her eyes not to well up with tears. It was her goal, dammit. No one wanted to share her aspirations of philanthropy, so she hugged the wish to her like the blanket she'd been given the day she walked into her adoptive parents’ lives. “Well, that JR guy is the son of a bitch who keeps hounding me to sell the house I'm renovating. I think he pulled some strings to make my bail higher to get me out of the way."