She held the bottle of spray and examined the writing. “What about you?”

“I just keep it for show. You need it more than I do. Knock ’em dead tonight.”

I kissed her on the cheek and glanced back as I walked out the door. Skye waved at me with a cautious smile that left me uneasy.

Young girls like her always had admirers, and they were too inexperienced to know how to handle men. In the past year, Dean had gradually been working her in, but she didn’t get as much stage time as the rest of us. Skye needed a mentor to help her toughen up so the customers didn’t walk all over her. Now that I knew about her baby girl, I wanted to help her even more. Maybe the mother-hen syndrome happens to women like me who’ve been working in clubs for decades, but I’d never met anyone as naïve as Skye and so wrong for a place like this. Most dancers didn’t have a family, pack, or someone to look out for us. We were nomads in a savage world.

And those who are alone are always the ones who need the most protection.

***

After leaving Club Sin, I headed back to my apartment on the human side of town. In most big cities, Breeds lived apart from humans and purchased land to secure that division. But sometimes living too close to other Breeds only stirred up trouble, so years ago, I’d rented an apartment around humans. They came with their own set of drama, but it didn’t compare to waking up in the middle of the night to a Chitah fight. It’s not as if we could just call the police, so those kinds of outbursts had to resolve on their own.

I slowed my car in front of an animal shelter and put my white Trans Am in park. It wasn’t one of the muscle-car models, but sporty with a sunroof. I stuffed several large bills into a white envelope and approached the front door, placing it in my usual spot. Once a month, I donated my daily earnings to the shelter—something I’m sure plenty of Shifters would have scoffed at. I didn’t like watching images on the news of those poor little creatures caged and sentenced to be euthanized. How could a Shifter in good conscience look away when we ourselves had once been kept under the oppressive thumb of immortals in a similar manner? Caging animals was offensive, and sometimes I’d fantasize about setting them all free.

But no one can save the world. Instead, I supported the no-kill shelters to keep them in business. Maybe my money would make room for one more animal to find a family who would show it unconditional love.

A chill ran up my spine and I whirled around, narrowing my eyes at the shadows on the dark street as I hurried back to the car. My heels clicked on the concrete, echoing in the quietness. Some people foolishly brushed off chills, unaware that on a warm night it could only mean one thing: a Mage was in the area. Sometimes they were flaring their energy, and other times they didn’t bother concealing it. I didn’t trust those immortals. Many were ancients, and a whole lot of them walking around had once committed unspeakable crimes against my kind—my family—and even kept them as pets, although what that really translated to was slavery.