章 5: Chapter 5

Someone must be listening to me tonight, because one of the regulators at the other table calls out to Coby and suddenly I’m not there anymore, I don’t exist for them.

Without another word, I hurry around the counter to the back. I push through the door, let it swing shut behind me, and refuse to glance over my shoulder when I swear I can feel him watching me again.

* * * *

Delia doesn’t come back down—I don’t blame her. She knows the routine.

When we have regulators in the main room, I don’t want her near them, and she’s more than happy to stay in the kitchen. Thing is, these men sniff her out like dogs. They howl for want of a soft body beneath them, someone they can force their way into and now Maeve’s of an age where they’re starting to notice her, too.

I’d rather the both of them stay out of sight when men like this ride in, scaring off our usual customers and looking for trouble. Can’t they stick to the Outlands and leave those of us left in the cities to die in peace?