Page 29 of Moonlight Hearts

“Can’t you—fine.”

Thaeros slid off his chair, and we made our way to the writer’s table, leaving a pouting Ant behind.

“Sorry about that,” Thaeros said when they slid into the booth with altogether more elegance than most of our patrons, even those who came here every night.I saw quite a few heads turn in our direction.

“Are you doing something?”I kept my voice low.There were still non-supernatural people here.Probably.

Thaeros tapped his bottom lip with a finger.Much like Soyer, they were wearing nail polish, only theirs was a pearly white, a diamond-like glitter.

“I suppose I am.Not intentionally.He should get over it soon enough.”He nodded in Ant’s direction.“It lessens with exposure.”

I nodded.“Okay.”

Thaeros leaned forward on the table.“Your Mr.Shuck told me there was a uniform.”He pointedly looked at mine, his eyes lingering on the bow tie.“It’s not too bad, but is there any chance we could come to a different arrangement?”He ended his question with a smile, looking deep into my eyes with his ocean-colored ones.I wondered where Soyer had found them.

“Everyone wears a uniform.Except Dwayne, Lynne, and Kasey.Well, Kasey does, kind of.His kitchen outfit, you know.”

Thaeros’s face fell.“Oh.Hard rule, that?”

“It is.There’s a girls’ version—I shouldn’t say it like that.A version that comes with a skirt.Anyone can choose which they prefer.”

They nodded.“Better, I suppose.Hmm.Your bow tie is very straight.”He groaned and sagged back in his seat.“I had a feeling it would be.I despise straightness, you see, so much.May I continue to address you as Amory?”

His hair was fanned against the backrest of the bench, bringing out a curl he had going on, as well as lots of layers.Jenn had talked about getting layers a lot, and the reminder stung.

“Of course.Thaeros is fine with you, right?”

“Yes, yes, certainly.”He leaned on the table again and beckoned me closer.Then he whispered, “I owed a favor.I loathe that kind of thing.Echo bade me to send you his regards and offer you his friendship.Please don’t set your vampire on me.Or your Shuck, for that matter.It’s the only favor I owed, so there’s nothing to worry over anyway.”

I didn’t really understand any of that, but the first question that came out of my mouth was “Who is Echo?”

Chapter Ten

Thaerosconsideredthatfora while before saying, “He’s not too bad.I think.Takes an hourly rate most people can only dream of, even those with Shamhat.Which is more or less what I know about him.”He indicated the rest of the diner.“Do you work too?Generally speaking, as a manager.Or do you just randomly make milkshakes?”

“Of course I work.Oh, you mean if waiting tables is in the job description?”

“Basically.”

“In that case, yes.”

Thaeros sighed.“Such a shame.I’ll adjust my nail polish accordingly.”

And that, finally, triggered my manager responsibilities.“Have you ever waited tables before?”

He put his finger to his bottom lip again.“Hmm.Yes.But manager sounded so glamorous that I thought perhaps I’d simply supervise, maybe give a few orders here and there.”

“Sorry, but no.Didn’t Soyer tell you anything about this job?”

That had me slightly worried.I didn’t think Soyer would intentionally recruit someone who maybe wasn’t going to work out—after all, Rae was the best—but so far, Thaeros was a lot different than Rae had been.

“He’s not a man of many words, that one.Are you worried?You look very worried.How about I promise not to burn this place down?”

He definitely wasn’t anything like Rae, even if he added a friendly wink to the last bit.I was going to have to ask Soyer what their deal was.

“You’re going to…make the schedule, I guess.It’s pretty easy though.Actually, it’s just when someone asks for an adjustment.Mostly we stick to regular shifts.Then there’s placing orders for everything we need in the kitchen, although…I could probably do that during my shifts.I haven’t had a chance to ask Dwayne about that.”And, in my position as the manager with seniority, I also wasn’t going to let Thaeros order straight away, not before talking that over with Dwayne, Soyer, or both.“You also make sure we have napkins out front, and anything else we need, and make sure everything runs smoothly.And I should tell you, there’s this secret chat, and they’re always planning something on there.”

He looked as surprised as he had when we’d greeted him.“Who’s planning what?Excuse me, this is a normal diner, yeah?Just food and boredom on a plate?”