Page 18 of Nexus
“In that case, let me see what you’ve got,” I agreed.
“Right this way, pretty lady,” the rodent said, stepping over to the door to the second room. Ruen surprised me by accompanying me behind the counter. He preceded me into the room, then stepped aside to let me enter.
The back room was almost as large as the front one. Stairs led to the upper floor and a doorway led to a bathroom. Rows of metal shelves were neatly lined up, marching to the back of the room. Most items were in boxes rather than being out in the open. I sensed a spell on the door that would repel humans. Clearly, this merchandise was strictly for non-humans.
Pierre crossed to a shelf that held safes in varying sizes. “Does anything catch your eye?”
I examined them to find they were all pretty much the same. Made of dense metal, some had electronic locks and others had dials. None had price tags. “I’ll take that one,” I said, choosing a small silver one that was about twelve inches square. It had an electronic lock.
“It’s heavy,” he warned me when I reached for it.
“Not to me,” I said with a shrug when I picked it up. One of Ruen’s eyebrows lifted in surprise before he could control it. Pierre gaped at me, no doubt wondering exactly what I was. “How much does it cost?” I asked.
“A grand,” the wereweasel replied, then smirked when my eyes bulged. “I’ll knock a couple of hundred bucks off the price, since you’re a newbie.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“I’ll deduct it from your payment the next time you come in,” he said magnanimously.
This was apparently the only place where I could exchange my bounties for money, so I didn’t have much choice. He escorted us from the room and pulled the door shut. “I’ll see you next time,” I said as Ruen slouched towards the exit.
“You know where I am if you’re ever looking for a hookup,” the rodent said with a lecherous wink.
I found his slim, almost boneless looking body to be slightly repellant and had to suppress a shudder. Ruen opened the trunk for me to deposit my new safe into it. “I’ll take you home now,” he said.
“Is that it?” I asked. “Aren’t you going to show me the ropes and teach me the usual process of bounty hunting?” I didn’t know what Lord Gilden’s rules were and he was going to have to train me.
“The process is so simple, even a newbie like you should be able to grasp it,” he told me when we were seated in his car. “A job comes up, a team is chosen to undertake the task, then they visit Lord Gilden for payment once they’ve accomplished their mission. That’s it.”
“Who chooses a team for each job?” I asked.
“Lord Gilden has a small team who makes those decisions. Jobs are handed out according to skill levels and abilities.”
“So, I just sit around, waiting to be called in to kill something?”
“Exactly,” he confirmed, pleased that I understood. “You should spend your free time searching for suitable furnishings for your new apartment,” he suggested.
“What if a job comes up while I’m in the middle of shopping for a new bed?”
He heaved another silent sigh at my persistence. “I highly doubt anything will come up that will require your skills immediately, Ms. Sterling.”
Clearly, the team who handed out the jobs weren’t even going to consider me if anything came up. If I hadn’t needed to furnish my new place and transfer my belongings to it, I would have taken offense. “Fine. Drop me off at home so I can move my stuff to my apartment,” I said grudgingly.
He was already heading back to my mother’s house anyway and didn’t need to alter his route. “I’ll need your phone number,” Ruen said when he glided to a stop at the bungalow. We exchanged numbers and I climbed out. I took my safe out of his trunk, then he drove off without even bothering to wave.
“What a fanghole,” I muttered, then transferred the safe to my own car.
Mom hadn’t expected me back so soon. She leaned sideways to turn and look at me when I opened the door. She was in the middle of gaming and had hit the pause button. “What happened? You didn’t get fired already, did you?”
“Of course not,” I said in amusement, trudging down the hall to sit on my recliner. I told her about my night so far. “I’ll leave most of my furniture here, but I’ll take whatever will fit into my car,” I finished up.
“We can put some of your stuff in my car and I’ll follow you over there,” mom offered. “We might as well get started now. It’ll go a lot faster if we work together.”
I’d hoped she would help me and I made coffee while she ended her gaming session. Fortified with caffeine, we trudged down to the basement to pack my stuff.
We used every suitcase we owned to pack my clothes into, then shoved them into our cars. I managed to squeeze my TV, gaming console and collection of videogames into my ride. Mom was able to fit my trunk full of weapons in her yellow sedan. None of my furniture would fit into our vehicles, so I decided to leave them all behind, just in case I ever needed to return.
Mom followed me to my building and helped me haul some suitcases up to my apartment. “It’s not bad,” she said, assessing the empty room. “Your bed can go there,” she added, pointing at a spot directly across from the door beneath the only window. “If you put a screen up, you’ll feel like you’ve got a bedroom rather than a studio apartment.”
