Chapter One

"Just taking my break!"

"When you get back, there's a guy asking for you by the bar."

"What's he look like?"

"I dunno. Lucy just told me to tell you."

I closed the metal door behind me, blocking out most of the loud music from the club. A steady thumping bass could still be felt through the ground, oddly in sync with my own heartbeat, and I was strangely reassured by its presence. I brought the cigarette up to my lips before using my battered old lighter to spark the tip. I took a deep breath of the smoke before blowing it out through my nose.

"Jeez, Kali, it was only an hour ago you said you were quitting for good." I muttered to myself. "Mind you, I've been saying the same thing every day for the past four years."

There was a clattering noise to my right. I quickly checked the alleyway for signs of life. It was probably just a cat or fox, but you could never be too careful these days – the news seemed to pinpoint a different hotspot for perverts every week. Apart from the couple getting freaky with it behind a couple of bins at the end of the alley though, I couldn't spot anything. But then again, I was sure the sound had come from the side of me away from the horny teenagers. I scanned the ground for any trace of small mammals. A slight chill grew up my spine, setting the hairs on the back of my neck on end.

"Woah, you're tetchy tonight. Just relax. It was probably a rat or something. Nothing more." And yet I couldn't help noticing that I was whispering as if trying not to be noticed. Stupid, really, when the red flare from my cigarette was like a beacon for my location. I pulled my knee length coat tighter around me, the October breeze suddenly taking on a new chill.

A wrapper from some sort of fast food item caught my attention as it jumped in the wind about fifteen feet from where I was standing. My imagination must have kicked in at this point because the shadows suddenly appeared a lot darker than they had ten seconds ago, as if they were creeping slowly towards me. I pressed my back against the cold metal of the door.

"Who's there?" I said as bravely as I could, not really thinking about what I was saying. There was no way the shadows were really moving like that. And if they were then it must have been something to do with the lights down the main road. Asking who was there was as redundant as asking a poodle if it knew the time.

But the voice in the back of my head was still screaming at me to run, no matter how hard my common sense was trying to squash it. I jumped a mile into the air when something knocked over a trashcan.

"Meow."

I clutched my hand to my heart and sighed in relief.

"Christ alive, you scared me there." I stubbed my cigarette out before leaning down and lifting the skinny tabby cat that was purring around my feet into my arms. "What are you doing, creeping around at this time of night, eh? Don't you have a home to go to? Mind you, from the state of your fur I'd say that was a no."

The tabby continued purring while licking my chin affectionately. I glanced back at where the unearthly darkness had previously haunted. There was nothing there. It was just an ordinary alleyway. I cursed myself for letting my imagination take control of me so easily, and then started laughing as the cat batted the silver bell on my thong choker about happily.

"Alright, alright, I get it, you like me." As if in answer the cat looked straight into my eyes and cocked its head to the side.

"Meow."

"Look, I've got to get back to work. If you're still here later I'll bring some tuna or something, ok?" I placed the cat back on the ground where it sat, staring expectantly up at me.

I hadn't even shut the door behind me before Beth started without looking up from her magazine, "Kali, Lucy said the man's still there waiting for you."

"Did you tell her I was on my break?"

"Yep, but apparently the man is quite insistent. Refused the other girls and all, said it was a matter of some urgency or something like that. Lucy don't think he's a normal customer."

I frowned as I shrugged away my coat and hung it on the rack. "Really? Then who is it?"

Beth turned a page absent-mindedly. "Well, I don't know, do I?"

I marched across the small lounge-slash-kitchen area the employees used when not working, briefly checking my makeup in the mirror on the way, and strolled out into the main floor. Poppy's was one of the smaller clubs in this section of north London, but it still managed to pack a crowd on Friday nights. I glanced briefly at the small stage in the centre of the room. One of the more risqué dancers I had only spoken to three times was busy shaking her thing for the eyes of the men sitting at the tables. I spotted Lucy chatting with one of the younger customers nearby and made a beeline for their table.

Her kitty ears bobbed when I tapped her on the shoulder, smiling sweetly at the man opposite.

"Oh, Kali, hi!" she said in that cherry Liverpudlian accent of hers. She indicated the boy. "This is Steve. He was just telling me about his yacht."

"Really?" I managed to sound impressed. I doubted Steve even owned a dog, yet alone a yacht. His grin broadened as his eyes swept my frame, finally resting on an area several inches south of my face. I let him look, knowing that if I slapped one more customer then I would be fired for sure. After all, the whole job description of a bunny girl was to let gross men ogle your body, while pretending you liked them. "Sorry to interrupt that conversation then, but Beth said there was a man waiting for me?"

"Oh, yes!" Lucy turned and peered around the swarming clientele to get a look at the bar. She finally pointed. "That's him – the one in the weird shirt with the frills. Like a gay pirate or something."

I laughed, kissed Lucy on the cheek and made my way back to the bar, knowing that Steve would most likely be staring at the cottontail on my rump. I swept a strand of long bright red hair out of my face as I perched on the stool next to the so-called 'gay pirate'.

"Hi there." The pirate looked up from his drink, which I noted looked rather like a straight whiskey. I don't know how he managed to drink it like that. It always tasted so much better when on the rocks. "I heard you were looking for me."

The face looking back at me was surprising. From the fact that he had asked for me specifically, I thought he must have been here before. But I doubt I would have forgotten him. His features were flawless, his wavy blonde hair falling loosely around perfect blue eyes. He looked like a thirty-something year old choir boy, much less a 'gay pirate'. He smiled and for some reason I felt myself shivering. No matter how gorgeous this man might be, there was just something about him that had me recoiling internally.

"Kalila Naihovic?" His voice rolled off his tongue like silk. There was a clash as Philippa, the barmaid, dropped a glass several feet away. She mumbled an apology and began to clear it away. The choir boy hadn't even flinched at the sound. I nodded in reply. "I believe I have everything I need now."

"Wha-" I didn't even finish my sentence. The man had stood, swept on his jacket and was already half way across the room towards the door. I stared after him. "Well, that was weird."

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