Something Wild (Child of the Winter Moon Book 1)

9: Drinking on the Job

Juray examined the corpse on the table, glad that the medic hadn't cremated the victims yet. She'd been able to travel to Oxenfort after obtaining a pass through the blockade over the Pontar River as a reward for helping get to the bottom of the raids on some supply wagons. The soldier had believed her when she brought back the squirrel tails as proof of killing the Scoia'tal attacking the wagons. The first thing she did was find a notice board. In her experience, cities paid well for the monsters in their underworld. Most of the time it was drowners living in the sewers. Sometimes she was lucky to find something more dangerous. This seemed to be one of her lucky Contracts. Both of the bodies still in the morgue bore bites on their necks and not a drop of blood in their bodies. Both also reeked of cheap alcohol. Juray examined the area where the only surviving witness said she'd been attacked and where the medic said the bodies had been found, finding a bracelet that was much too big for a human. She turned the gold bracelet over in her hand.

"Fondness of jewelry, wounds on the victims. Has to be a katakan." She tossed the bracelet back to the ground and stood from her crouch. "Only this one like drunk blood. Only one way to lure him out." She turned and headed back to the tavern she'd spoken to the witness at and made her way to the bar.

"Greetings, Mistress Witcher. What can I do you for?"

"Wanna get drunk off my ass. And it's gotta be cheap wine."

"Trouble with a beau? Beautiful woman like you I'm sure you get all sorts of men trouble."

Juray snorted. A difficult fight with an elder vampire had left her with three long claw scars on her left jaw and neck. She had been lucky that the claws had missed her jugular, but the blood had been too much for him to resist and would have drained her had the Black Blood potion not poisoned him. "I would have said yes thirty years ago, but tonight, it's part of the job."

"I'll need you to pay in advance."

Juray dropped the crowns on the bar. "Just pour and keep it coming."

"What's the occasion?" a male voice asked as the bartender started pouring.

Juray turned her head to see a man with tanned skin, dark hair, and eyes as yellow as hers.

He slid a few crowns towards the bartender. "I'll have what she's having."

"Storm? What are you doing here?"

Stormrider, a Witcher from the Bear School who had earned the name fighting a wyvern during a storm, regarded her with a grin. "I was in town, just finished a Contract."

"Well, I'm on a Contract."

"And you're drinking on the job?"

Juray downed her drink. "Only job on the Continent where I can."

"What are you hunting?"

"Pretty sure it's a katakan that prefers the blood of drunks. All the bodies reeked of cheap wine. And the only survivor said she'd had a drink or five prior to running into the thing."

"How did she survive?"

"Said she ran."

"You know how dangerous these things can be."

"Yeah, I know." She motioned to her scars. "Got my ass handed to me by one."

"And taking one on drunk..."

"It's the only way to lure it out." She turned to Storm. "But if you're that concerned, then stay in the shadows and watch my ass. I'll split the reward with you if you end up having to jump in."