world.
But now They had found her.
Ileana gathered up her skirts and ran. By the time she left the alley, six warning hoots echoed in her ears.
Chapter 2: Ablaze
~Citlalli~
It was 8:30 PM on a Friday night, and I, Citlalli Alvarez, newly appointed Alpha of the Seoul werewolf pack and restorer of the White Tiger to the throne of Eve, had two more tables of campers to get through.
Campers are restaurant customers who decide that they have nowhere else better to be and will take up your section for hours, rarely leaving enough to compensate. Not that tipping was expected in Seoul, but I sure as hell didn’t dissuade them. One table was full of elderly tourists who’d practically cried at being able to pronounce the names of things again. They’d stumbled upon the rare Alvarez Family Mexican Restaurant amidst the bustle of the immigrant district of Itaewon two hours earlier. Awe had enveloped their faces, and their fingers had seized the Western-style silverware with fierce familiarity.
My other table was a rowdier party of college boys from Seoul National University, who thought they were the shit. They had been taking full advantage of our 10,000 won beer pitcher deal all night.
Spiro was front-of-house manager tonight. He stood in the back and glared down his nasty long nose at me. I returned the look with equal affection. You’d never catch him in anything less than long sleeves. My brother Miguel and I were convinced that it was because he was a fully decorated veteran of a gang or something equally as bad. He was also an immigrant who spoke spooky-good Korean, so Mami had hired him as the night shift manager.
My cellphone tweeted like a bird, and my heart leaped to my throat. That was Hyeon Bin’s ringtone. Hyeon Bin was my kidnapped friend Una’s uncle, a fighting monk who was part of the dwindling spirit-walking Won family. I double-booked it to the kitchen and checked the message.
Disappointment flooded my chest. Peomeosa Temple had been a letdown. No one had seen Fred, the devious nine-tailed fox who had captured Una, since the Lady of Eve’s return to the spirit world. Hyeon Bin’s message said he was following a lead south to Jeju Island, but he would meet me a week from now in Eve.
I put away the phone and headed briskly for the expo window. This only confirmed it for me. If a nine-hundred-year-old fox didn’t want to be found, then he wouldn’t. Hyeon Bin would not approve, but I needed to lure Fred out…and then bargain whatever I needed to in order to make him return Una safe and sound.
“Citlalli!” Without fail, Spiro’s nasally voice made me shudder in revulsion. “ Citlalli Alvarez!”
I paused in the middle of hoisting a fully-loaded tray and fixed a polite smile on my face. Albeit, showing a lot of bared teeth.
“I’m trying to run some food, Spiro.” The tray rattled on my shoulder, and I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my ear. The kitchen door swung open, blowing the scent of grilled chicken and zesty cilantro over my face.
“Which should have been out five minutes ago. You weren’t texting on the clock, were you?”
I had gnawed through the throats of undead horrors and picked fights with hungry ghosts. Now the most dangerous thing I could do was sneak in a level of Candy Crush during work. I gave a mock gasp. “There are servers here who do that?”
Spiro examined me idly. “I need you to close back-of-house tonight for Jung Yeon.”
I nearly dropped the tray in shock. “What? I closed last night!”
“She does not feel well,” he stated.
I glared at Jung Yeon’s head bobbing across the restaurant. Liar. Probably had to study for one of the gazillion tests she was always taking.
“Here at the Alvarez Family Restaurant, we step up to support one another because we are a family.” Spiro smiled with slightly sharpened teeth. “All of us are equal teammates. Just because one little girl happens to be the daughter of the owner does not mean she
But now They had found her.
Ileana gathered up her skirts and ran. By the time she left the alley, six warning hoots echoed in her ears.
Chapter 2: Ablaze
~Citlalli~
It was 8:30 PM on a Friday night, and I, Citlalli Alvarez, newly appointed Alpha of the Seoul werewolf pack and restorer of the White Tiger to the throne of Eve, had two more tables of campers to get through.
Campers are restaurant customers who decide that they have nowhere else better to be and will take up your section for hours, rarely leaving enough to compensate. Not that tipping was expected in Seoul, but I sure as hell didn’t dissuade them. One table was full of elderly tourists who’d practically cried at being able to pronounce the names of things again. They’d stumbled upon the rare Alvarez Family Mexican Restaurant amidst the bustle of the immigrant district of Itaewon two hours earlier. Awe had enveloped their faces, and their fingers had seized the Western-style silverware with fierce familiarity.
My other table was a rowdier party of college boys from Seoul National University, who thought they were the shit. They had been taking full advantage of our 10,000 won beer pitcher deal all night.
Spiro was front-of-house manager tonight. He stood in the back and glared down his nasty long nose at me. I returned the look with equal affection. You’d never catch him in anything less than long sleeves. My brother Miguel and I were convinced that it was because he was a fully decorated veteran of a gang or something equally as bad. He was also an immigrant who spoke spooky-good Korean, so Mami had hired him as the night shift manager.
My cellphone tweeted like a bird, and my heart leaped to my throat. That was Hyeon Bin’s ringtone. Hyeon Bin was my kidnapped friend Una’s uncle, a fighting monk who was part of the dwindling spirit-walking Won family. I double-booked it to the kitchen and checked the message.
Disappointment flooded my chest. Peomeosa Temple had been a letdown. No one had seen Fred, the devious nine-tailed fox who had captured Una, since the Lady of Eve’s return to the spirit world. Hyeon Bin’s message said he was following a lead south to Jeju Island, but he would meet me a week from now in Eve.
I put away the phone and headed briskly for the expo window. This only confirmed it for me. If a nine-hundred-year-old fox didn’t want to be found, then he wouldn’t. Hyeon Bin would not approve, but I needed to lure Fred out…and then bargain whatever I needed to in order to make him return Una safe and sound.
“Citlalli!” Without fail, Spiro’s nasally voice made me shudder in revulsion. “ Citlalli Alvarez!”
I paused in the middle of hoisting a fully-loaded tray and fixed a polite smile on my face. Albeit, showing a lot of bared teeth.
“I’m trying to run some food, Spiro.” The tray rattled on my shoulder, and I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my ear. The kitchen door swung open, blowing the scent of grilled chicken and zesty cilantro over my face.
“Which should have been out five minutes ago. You weren’t texting on the clock, were you?”
I had gnawed through the throats of undead horrors and picked fights with hungry ghosts. Now the most dangerous thing I could do was sneak in a level of Candy Crush during work. I gave a mock gasp. “There are servers here who do that?”
Spiro examined me idly. “I need you to close back-of-house tonight for Jung Yeon.”
I nearly dropped the tray in shock. “What? I closed last night!”
“She does not feel well,” he stated.
I glared at Jung Yeon’s head bobbing across the restaurant. Liar. Probably had to study for one of the gazillion tests she was always taking.
“Here at the Alvarez Family Restaurant, we step up to support one another because we are a family.” Spiro smiled with slightly sharpened teeth. “All of us are equal teammates. Just because one little girl happens to be the daughter of the owner does not mean she
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