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The phone rang, insistent

Andrea sighed behind me

Our latest job had come courtesy of Green Acres Home Owners’ Association, who showed up at our door thistheir suburb and could we please co local cats Apparently the translucent jellyfish was floating about with half-digested cat bodies inside it and the neighborhood children were very upset The cops told them that it wasn’t a priority, since the jellyfish hadn’t eaten any huet rid of it for less than a grand The HOA offered us 200 Nobody in their right mind would do the job at that price

It took us all damned day And noe had to properly dispose of the cursed thing, because dealing with corpses ofRussian roulette So happened, and so into a puddle of sentient carnivorous protoplasht of the jellyfish suddenly vanished froertips slid against the cold metal I yanked the key out, slipped it into the lock, and swung the heavy reinforced door open Aha! Victory

I lunged through the door and ations How may I help you?"

"May I speak to Kate Daniels," a clipped fe"

"Please hold for Mr Meadows" The phone clicked and dissolved into hissing

Meadows, Meadows Who the hell was Meadows? Sounded familiar Ah! Mark Mark Meadows, officially the Mercenary Guild ader Mark was excellent at his job, but he suffered from the delusion that "white collar" was a noble title Mercs hated hi passion and since the Guild’s founder died, the Mercenary Guild had remained rudderless Technically I was still a member of the Guild Practically, I was never there

So he calls me and puts me on hold, huh? Okay I dropped the phone back in its cradle

I turned to the door and watched Andrea walk through it Behind her, the jellyfish squeezed through the doorway on its own

I blinked

The jellyfish successfully entered, turned, and I saw Curran carrying it in his hands, as if three hundred pound mass of flesh was no heavier than a plate of pancakes It’s good to be the Beast Lord

"Where to?" he asked

"Back roo I let it wail a couple of tie"

Mark’s voice ca up"

"Make it fast, Mark, I’"

"What ?"

"Co Do I need to ed from the back room

"Sure Letfor time Curran closed the distance between us "How’s to up the phone and kissed the Beast Lord He tasted like of toothpaste and Curran and the feel of his lips on et the lousy day, the bills, the clients, the two gallons of sli my clothes The kiss had lasted only a couple of seconds, but it ht as well have been an hour, because e broke apart, it felt like I had co all rey eyes pale on his sun-tanned face

"Hey"

Behind him Andrea rolled her eyes

"What’s up?" I asked him Curran almost never ca He hated Atlanta with all the fire of a supernova I didn’t have anything against Atlanta in theory - it was half-eroded by the ic waves that washed over it at rando about crowds When ht for the Keep and His Furry Majesty

"I thought we’d go to dinner," he said "It’s been awhile since we’ve gone out"

Technically we had never gone out to dinner Oh, we had eaten together in the city but usually it was accidental and most of those times involved other people and frequently ended in a violent incident

"What’s the occasion?"

Curran’s blond eyebrows caether "Does there have to be a special occasion for me to take you out to dinner?"

Yes "No"

He leaned tofor you to come hoet here to pick up the jellyfish"

"I’ve got it," Andrea offered "Go, there is no use of two of us sitting here I have some stuff I need to take care of anyway"

I hesitated