The Moon Rises (4 page)

Anton laughed and Gigi’s smile widened.

“You could probably get a fulltime job cooking somewhere
else,” Anton said, wondering about his restaurants and if he should offer her a
job.

“I’m supposed to work at The Moon Rises.”

“Why?”

Shrugging, Gigi glanced back at the windows. “The
cats are gone. Do I need to leave?”

“Do you want to leave?”

“No, I don’t like sitting alone in my apartment.
Maybe I should get a cat as a pet?”

Anton smiled. “They do seem fond of you. Do other
animals act that way?”

Gigi shrugged again. “I haven’t met many animals.”

Anton found this answer strange, but didn’t
follow up.

“You know you don’t need to keep filling the
envelopes,” Anton said when she started working again.

“But I want to be able to stay here.”

Anton smiled. “You can stay without doing
Melanie’s job.”

“She doesn’t feel well.”

“She was lazy before she got pregnant.”

“Then why does she work here?”

“Because she’s Garrison’s cousin.”

Gigi smiled. “It’s nice that you let her work
here even though she’s lazy. Silas said if we slack off, he’ll fire us.”

“Well I’m a nicer boss, I guess.”

Gigi glanced at him with a smile. “What’s it like
to be a dog?”

Laughing quietly, Anton rubbed the back of his
neck. “It’s hard to explain.”

“How come you never look like a dog when I see
you? Do you not like being one?”

“I like looking this way better.”

“You do look beautiful.”

Anton used every ounce of restraint not to close
the distance between them and kiss her. Being Alpha had taught him how to remain
in control and good thing too because she was tempting the crap out of him.

The other Weres returned and the sudden commotion
startled Gigi. Even though she glanced at them with a calm expression, Anton
sensed she was bothered by the noise. He wished to be alone with her, but also
knew his control was slipping. She was beautiful and available and he wanted
her. His inability to be with her was going to make him crazy, but Anton was accustomed
to doing without.

When Gigi finished with the envelopes, she seemed
ready to leave the suddenly loud office. Worried about her safety after Katia’s
disappearance, he sent Chad to walk her home. When Gigi smiled and thanked him
for saving her from the cats, Anton wanted desperately to follow after her. Yet
he kept his ass in check until she was long gone.

“Uh-huh,” Melanie said, watching him.

“Shut up,” Anton told her with a grin as he went
to hide in his office.

“If she ever wants to volunteer to do my job
again, please feel free to use the opportunity to flirt with her. Hell, she did
more work in an hour than I do in a week.”

“Ha ha,” Anton said, slamming the door when she
began to laugh.

Gigi hummed
You Are My Sunshine
as she
changed into her uniform. Next to her, Sara was also changing, but she wasn’t
humming. She was frowning darkly with her bright blue eyes focused on the wall.

Gigi didn’t know much about how people behaved.
Her “fake it until you make it” policy was working so far, but Sara didn’t like
her. She knew this fact, not because Gigi was perceptive, but because Ella
announced it to Dahlia in front of her.

“I’m sorry,” Sara said and Gigi realized she was
talking to her.

“Why?”

“I shouldn’t have made fun of you in front of the
Weres. Now they’ll think they can mess with you. I shouldn’t have been rude
like that to you.”

Sara stopped staring at the wall and turned to
look at Gigi.

“You’re replacing Katia. She was my friend, but
no one cares that she’s gone. They all just want to talk about you like she
never existed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t even know her. I
just get upset by how everyone acts like we girls are interchangeable. Like who
cares that Katia’s missing because Silas hired a new blonde. The girls only
care about tips and floor assignments. The customers only care about how you’re
hotter than Katia. It’s not fair. She’s a person and she matters, but no one except
me cares how she’s just gone.”

“Isn’t anyone looking for her?”

“The police don’t care because she lived and
worked in the Circle. The packs handle crime in the Circle and they don’t care
because she’s human.”

“A lady on TV hired a person called a private
investigator to find her missing sister. Do they have those in real life too?”

Sara frowned at her and Gigi knew she said
something wrong. TV wasn’t real, she told herself.

“The only guy like that around here who has the
power to talk to anyone in the Circle is Michael, but he costs money and all my
money goes to rent and school.”

“I have money. I could give him the money and he
could find Katia.”

“She’s probably dead.”

Confused, Gigi sat next to Sara. “But you said
you wanted someone to care.”

“I do.”

“Can I care?”

“Yes, but Michael won’t help us. He’s a Were and
he doesn’t care about humans.”

“Can I ask him? The lady on TV said she just
wanted to know the truth. Maybe if I give Michael enough money, he’ll help you
find out the truth about Katia?”

Sara stared at her again. “Why would you do that
though?”

“Isn’t that the right thing to do?”

Sara’s eyes searched Gigi’s face for something.
“There’s something wrong with you, isn’t there?”

Nodding, Gigi sighed. “I’m not sure what it is though.”

“Do you really have money to do this? I don’t
want you to get in trouble by spending what you can’t afford.”

“I have lots of money in my checkbook, but I
don’t know how to get it out.”

Sara nodded. “I could show you, but I don’t think
two humans going to see Michael will lead to anything. Maybe you could get Ella
to go with you?  Declan treats her like a kid sister and I’d think Michael
would want to make nice with Declan.”

“I’ll ask her.”

“Where are you working tonight?”

“The witch floor.”

“They’ll screw with you,” Sara said immediately.
“They screw with everyone, so it’s not personal. Even if they hurt you or
embarrass you or do something mean, don’t get mad. They like to get girls into
trouble that way. Don’t cry either. Just smile and act like it doesn’t bother
you. They only mess with the girls who react to their crap, but you’re new so
they’ll test you.”

“Are witches evil?”

“Yes. All of the monsters here are evil,” Sara
whispered. “One of them probably killed Katia.”

Gigi frowned at this idea. “Why do you work
here?”

“Because I can make enough money for school by
working here, but this place drives me crazy. The Weres were so nasty with all
their staring as if they’d never seen boobs before. The witches are mean. The Vamps
are stuck up and the ghouls are foul. Every one of them sucks, but I need the
money. I’m not sure why you’re here though.”

“I want to be a cook and Silas said if I
waitressed I could also be a chef. Eventually I could just be a chef.”

Sara’s eyes changed and her face grew softer.
“He’ll never let you be a chef here, Gigi. He’s a Were and they’re dicks. He
only sees tits and ass with you, nothing more. The only females he lets be in
the kitchen are ugly. Unless you throw acid on your face, you’ll never be a
full time chef here.”

Gigi felt her chest hurt at Sara’s words. She
really wanted to be a chef and Silas said she could. If he was lying, what was
she supposed to do now? Maybe sensing her unhappiness, Sara patted her hand.

“Just be careful with the witches. Oh, and don’t
tell them I said they’re evil. They won’t like that.”

“Okay.”

Sara nodded and stood up. “Thank you for trying
to help with Katia.”

“I’m sorry no one cares.”

Sara smiled, happy again as she walked away. Once
she was alone, Gigi pulled her boots on and looked at herself in the mirror.
She was so close to being naked, it seemed silly to wear clothes at all.

The elevator brought her to the witch floor and
she walked out to a room full of rich blues, reds, and purples. The music
sounded like what her neighbor Bethany listened to. The singer wasn’t speaking
English and Gigi didn’t know what she was saying. The music was pretty though
and not as loud as on the pack floor. Gigi didn’t like it loud.

“Hi, I’m Holly!” said a loud brunette.

“I’m Gigi.”

“Uh, you can use your real name here.”

“Okay.”

Holly studied her like Sara studied her. It
wasn’t pleasant to be studied, Gigi decided.

“Okay, so it’s just like on the pack floor. You
take orders and you bring them what they want. Flirting is fine, but be
careful. Unlike on the pack floor, there are female customers here and they
don’t like having you slobber over their family members. If you want to flirt,
get the guy to come to the bar and do it. Never flirt at the tables where their
witch mommies and sisters and aunties and grannies can watch.  If you make them
mad, they’ll curse you. Oh, and someone is going to play a trick on you
tonight. When they do, don’t cry. They really hate that. Don’t get mad either because
they really, really hate that.”

“Okay.”

Again Holly stared at Gigi who stared back and
finally Holly’s eyes looked at something else.

“I’m going to leave you on your own for a few
minutes because we’re not too busy yet and I need to pee. Just walk around and
ask if anyone needs anything. If they do, get it for them.”

Gigi glanced around the floor and headed to the
nearest table. The male witches were deep in conversation and waved her off.
The next table was no better and Gigi was hissed at. The third table led to another
female hissing at her. Finally she stopped at a table where the females didn’t
hiss.

“A new girl,” said an older, yet ravishing brunette.

“Can I get you anything?”

“Tell me your name, darling,” the witch asked
with an accent which made her words sound pretty.

“Gigi.”

The witches at the table all stared at her like
she was messing with them. She knew that look because it was the same look
Silas gave her when she told him her name.

“Well, Gigi, aren’t you precious?” a younger
female witch said.

Unsure if precious was a compliment or not, Gigi
said nothing, but pulled out her pad and paper. She liked writing things down.

“Do you need anything?”

“Did you know you have a ghost bound to you,” said
the older witch.

“Yes.”

The witches looked at one another seeming pleased.
They were a dark haired, light eyed bunch and their skin coloring was soft like
honey. Honey colored skin just like Anton who Gigi thought was very beautiful.
Gigi thought these witches were beautiful too, but she knew witches were evil.

“Come sit with us, Gigi,” the first witch said.
“I am Mira. This is my daughter Verica and my beautiful boys Nolan and Spencer.
Don’t you think my boys are handsome, Gigi?”

Gigi nodded and it wasn’t a lie. Nolan was
especially beautiful as he watched her with soft eyes unlike his brother who
looked as if maybe he wanted to eat her.
Did witches eat people?
Unsure,
Gigi felt nervous sitting there with the four of them watching her.

“You are Katia’s replacement,” Verica said,
looking bored.

“Sad, sad news about Katia,” Mira sighed. “So
pretty and I think her grandparents were Ukrainian.”

Gigi said nothing because there was nothing to
say. If there was, she wasn’t going to figure out what it was. Nolan smiled at
her and the smile was soft like his eyes.

“Tell us about your ghost,” he said quietly as
his fair blue eyes studied her in a nicer way than Sara or Holly studied her.

Gigi knew almost nothing about her ghost, like
she knew almost nothing about anything. Yet they seemed interested in the white
haired ghost who followed her around.

“It’s a girl ghost and she likes flowers, but
when she touched them at the park today, they died. I think that made her sad.”

“They died because she is death,” Verica said.
“Aren’t you scared to have death following you around?”

“No. She seems nice. She dances when I put on
music, but I think watching me eat makes her sad. A lot of things make her sad.
I guess that’s because she’s dead.”

“How long has the ghost been bound to you?” Mira
asked, looking over Gigi’s shoulder at the ghost who was swaying to the music
with her eyes closed.