Sinner's and Saint's

Chapter Two

I gasp and fight my reaction as it pulls me out of my trance. It was a shock since I had only met one other vampire before. They tend to be super secretive, which is stupid with supes living out in the open now. I drop the ring on the table. Looking up, I find all three of the men staring at me. Even Gabe who has been trying to avoid it at all costs. They all have expectant looks on their faces, but I don't give them anything; just place the contract on the table in front of me, pushing it across to Calix. He looks down at the paper with a furrow in his already scowling eyebrows. "A thousand dollars?" He looked up at me, outraged.

I shrugged, "I know. It's a lot of money, but this is a dangerous job, and I get a lot of enemies from the people I take jobs for. Which can be fun, but sometimes it's not. Payment isn't due until retrieval or my death. Payment options are listed here if you can't afford to pay outright." I point out the section that outlines the payment clauses.

Five years ago, someone could have made a thousand dollars in a month, but now after everything, it would take an average person eight months to make that. Calix started reading more before looking up again, "We could work here to pay it off?"

"Yeah, you'd get room and board, but you wouldn't make any money. I can offer you two rooms to share, and with four of you, it'd be paid off in two months. It's like indentured servitude. We can do that again now that the government crashed." I respond.

That caught Harley's attention. "Four?"

"You three and Milo." I nod.

All eyes snap to me again, "We never told you his name." Calix growls.

I roll my eyes at him. "Calm it grumpy. He told me his name and all of yours."

"He did?" Gabe asks.

I turn to look at him, and he stares at my chin, "You're Gabe. He said you're socially awkward, but that's not completely true, is it?" I ask him with my own suspicion.

Gabe looks down at the table, his shoulders curling in on themselves even more, "I have autism."

I didn't like how he tried to make himself look smaller while he admitted that. I want to know who had reacted so poorly to that news that he now felt the need to cower while admitting it. I'll ask him subtly about it later. Then maybe I can shoot their kneecaps out if I ever get the opportunity. "It's going to get louder in here in about five minutes. Is that a problem for you? We can go upstairs if it is."

He glances back up at me, his eyes meeting mine briefly before focusing on my chin again, and a smile spread across his face. "I can just wear my headphones." He reaches up to fiddle with the chunky headphones.

"You're going to leave me to talk to Calix and Harley alone?" I pout at him for a second before getting serious. "I need you to listen to the conversation too. I'm not letting you sign a contract you don't know all the conditions for." I say firmly.

He nods, "Okay, I guess we can go upstairs, then."

I nod and look at the other two, who are watching me closely. Calix pushes the ring back into the box before standing from the table and following me as I lead them all toward the bar. Saint watches as I lead the guys through the lift gate and to the door behind the bar. He waves me down, and I turn to Calix, "Go on up. The living room is right through the door at the top of the stairs."

He eyes me warily before leading the others through the door. I wait for Saint to finish the order he's working on. "What's going on?" He asked, eyeing where the trio had disappeared.

I shrug, "We need to talk somewhere quiet. One of them can't do any louder than this, and Candy is about to go on."

Saint frowns, but he doesn't try to stop me, "Fine, but I'll be up there to check on you. I'll be damned if anything happens to you right over my head."