Night Critters (Collection) by Lena Austin Page B

wants the same property for a shopping mall, so Lucky joins in Charm's renovation project in defiance of his brother.
    Once Lucky experiences Charm's, well, charms, they become a team anyone would be a fool to mess with. But JR isn't going to give up so easily. And Charm? Well, Charm's not going to give up at all. And Lucky's coming right along with her, because he's discovered something with the sexy Nephylum he never thought he'd find—which just might be enough to sway his nemesis of a brother.
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Chapter One
    The door of Enrique's bar slammed open, and the icy blast of winter heralded the entrance of the only customer Lucky had seen that afternoon. He gave her a friendly welcoming smile and continued to polish the glass in his hand. He was insanely glad someone had braved the icy chill to warm themselves at the bar.
    From the top of her deep purple hair to the bottom of her laced platform boots the girl was all old-fashioned Goth Revival from the early twenty-first century. She unfolded the weird red and orange cloak she wore to reveal it was her wings. She had to be one of the oddest looking Nephylum Lucky had ever seen. Normally Nephylum were airy creatures with white wings, but hers were the color of fire. Peridot green eyes scanned the room and fell on Lucky. The Nephylum folded her wings back with a snap and marched over. She dropped a huge tote bag at her feet, slammed her fist on the bar and winced. “Give me a whiskey neat and a bag of ice for my hand."
    Lucky studied her frowning face for a long moment. This had to be one of the less common Michael Nephylum, so named for the famous Archangel. Rumor Control had it Michael Nephs were much feistier than the gentle Gabriel Nephylum he was used to. Still, rules were rules, and he had to check to see if she was legal. “ID, please. You don't look old enough to drink."
    She put her wrist ident badge into the reader. Impatiently, she waited while Lucky looked over her profile on the screen. “Satisfied?"
    He looked up and smiled. Lucky hit the button to wipe the screen and nodded his head. “Yes, Charmaine. Thank you."
    The girl scowled and straightened her shoulders. “It's Charm. Only my parents call me Charmaine."
    Lucky slid the whiskey in front of her and leaned on the dark mahogany top. “My apologies, Charm. Is there anything else I can get for you?"
    Charm picked up the glass and downed the Kentucky whiskey in one shot. Impressively, she didn't even cough like most Nephs when they drank alcohol. She slammed the glass back on the bar. “Another whiskey and the ice for my hand."
    Lucky looked down and winced in sympathy at the petite hand with its swollen, red knuckles. She'd have bruises by morning. “May I ask what happened?” He put some ice in a bar towel and handed it to her.
    She put the towel on her knuckles and winced. “Just some testosterone junkie outside who wouldn't take a repeated ‘no’ for an answer. So I gave him an answer he would understand."
    The door to the bar slammed open, and the town bully stomped in. His whiny scum of a sidekick slunk in behind him.
    Lucky rolled his eyes to the ceiling, but smiled affably. To keep his hands busy, he returned to polishing glasses with a clean towel. “Hello, Kent.” He could tell by the red spot on the side of Kent's face that he was the “testosterone junkie” who'd accosted Charm. Just like the big jerk, hitting on anything with tits and a pulse.
    Kent and Lucky had known each other since they were pups in preschool, and Kent always made it a point to remind Lucky of his inability to shift. Needless to say, they'd never gotten along.
    Kent's brown eyes screamed anger—fists balled up, jaw muscles twitching while he clenched his teeth. Kent's sidekick, Josh, tagged along after him. “You Nephylum bitch. You will regret ever laying your hands on me."
    Charm lazily looked up. Her wings had been fading to a soft black, but fire colors licked at the edges as if