Valkyrie

Chapter 2

"Drinking on the job?" a familiar voice said to my left.

I had smelled him before he'd come sauntering up to the bar, the smell of the cedar that lines his gigantic closet reaching me before the spicy sweet scent of him sank into my nose. The bar was empty of customers. Last call had come and gone about forty minutes ago so the place had cleared out fast after that. The waitresses and bussers that hadn't already gone home were moving among the tables and games, picking up empty glasses and bottles, wiping everything down, and sweeping the floor. I'd mop when they were done. It was the last thing I had to do. That and balance the cash drawer while I tried not to slam my head into the desk too many times and give myself a concussion. I really didn't need the headache.

I closed my eyes for a moment, sighing through my nose before taking another sip of the amber liquid in the tumbler dangling from my fingers. The whiskey was a smooth burn all the way down my throat and then into my empty stomach. I had been in a hurry to get to work after the race so I hadn't stopped for food. I knew better but I didn't have the time. I scarfed down a few hotdogs and a couple of basketfuls of fries once I'd clocked in but they had burned off long ago. Adding alcohol to the lack of food was a disaster in the making but it was only one drink. I knew I'd be fine until I made it home and could eat and sleep for a bit.

Probably.

If I just kept telling myself that I'd eventually start to believe it.

I set the glass down on the bar with a muffled click. The stool next to me bumped across the wood floor as the pain in my ass pulled it out. I watched him sit out of the corner of my eye, glancing at him before looking away again. He was dressed in a tailored black suit that hugged his muscular frame like a lover and probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. He topped it off with a blood red tie and black silk shirt. He looked very goth gangster chic. His dark blonde hair was slicked back into a knot at the back of his head, leaving the sharp line of his jaw and his high cheekbones open and exposed. I liked his hair better when he didn't do anything to it and left it down and curly but I would never tell him that. He had a big enough head as it was. There was no way I was going to give him anything that even remotely resembled a compliment unless he'd earned it. He got plenty of them from the never-ending line of people that were always vying for his attention and kissing his ass. I don't compete. You either like me or you don't. Either way, it's not my problem. I know I'm not everyone's cup of tea and that is a-okay with me.

"We're closed," I grumbled. I actually wished my boss was still there. The pain in my ass never comes to visit when my boss is there. They don't exactly get along.

"The door was open." I could hear the smile in his smooth voice. I glanced over at him again and caught the flash of white teeth between his pale lips. No fangs, just nice, straight human looking teeth. Alexi Orlov would never flash fang needlessly or carelessly. At his considerable age, that would be considered a major faux pas. You only saw them if he wanted you to see them. If that time came, you were either in for a very good time or a very bad one, depending on what mood he was in and what your idea of a good time was.

"What do you want, Alexi?" I took another sip of the whiskey, rolling it around in my mouth before I swallowed it. I fought back a yawn. I really needed to rethink my sleep habits. Four hours or so a night, if I was lucky, was just not cutting it. I needed less lying awake and staring at the ceiling and more sleep. I could go for a while on the bare minimum but I was overdue for a nice, long shut down.

"The same thing I always want," he said, still smiling.

And no, that's not what he was talking about. We don't have and have never had and will never have that kind of relationship. Alexi and I were basically family. There was no blood between us but I considered him like another uncle. He knows my mother and he's known me my whole life. He was there when I was born way too many years ago. He was the one that actually delivered me and he was one of the reasons why I'd finally settled here in Arizona. I'd visited many times over the years, coming back around every six months or so before I traveled on to somewhere else but I always came back. Two years ago, I decided to stay. I still wasn't sure why but I had.