I pulled down on my sleeves a bit and corrected my collar. Just another night, I told myself. Nothing new or extraordinary would happen. Everything was going to be nice and easy and quiet.

I looked at myself in the mirror and corrected my hair a little. Company had a policy that we had to look nice. Even the guards.

I tapped my phone. Five minutes until my shift started. I might as well go down, I thought to myself and checked myself in the mirror one last time. I looked okay. My hair was messy, but it was okay. The shirt was maybe a little small. It stretched over my shoulders a little uncomfortably, but it would have to do.

I slipped my phone back in my pocket and left the locker room. The music became louder the further down the stairs I got, until it reached an almost unbearable volume. I opened the door to the club and was drenched in everything that was… Euphoria. Whoever thought of the name for the club, had either been mad or a genius. It never closed, it provided everything you could ever think of needing for a euphoric rush.

Music played loudly, prostitutes danced on the tables, businesspeople were scattered around the oval room, gambling, doing drugs, drinking or doing the prostitutes in the small closed off sections.

I smiled at Strawberry, dancing on top of a table and she motioned me to come over. She grabbed my shoulder and sighed.

“I want to take these shoes off so badly, Arlo, I can’t even start to explain.”

I held her hand as she fixed the straps on one massively tall platform shoe, securing it better to her foot.

“Just find me if you need help later,” I said and stepped back.

“Actually, one of the new ones needs help. He’s over there.” She pointed towards the bar where a slim guy was sitting with a guy in a suit. I recognised the long-time patron in the suit, but not the other guy. He must’ve been the new one.

I made my way towards the bar and stopped besides the guy. “Everything alright here?”

He glanced up at me, his dark brown eyes narrowing a little. “Come on.” He grabbed my arm and hauled me away from the patron. “This guy won’t pay. He says he has a right to talk to me without paying.”

“I’ll talk to him.” I tried to smile a little and walked around the guy. “Listen, you know the rules,” I said to the patron. He grunted and didn’t even bother taking his eyes off the new guy.

I sighed deeply and stepped in front of him, blocking his view. “Pay or leave.”

“Why? It’s a club. I come here to talk.”

“You can talk with the other patrons for free. Not the workers. You know this. I explained that to you last week.”

“Ugh.” He rose to his feet and swayed. “I’ll leave.”

“You still need to pay. You’ve taken up this worker’s time. He needs to be compensated.”

“I didn’t do shit to that whore.”

I counted back from ten and clenched my fists. “Pay. Or you get banned. Permanently.” My voice took on a deeper pitch and I couldn’t suppress a growl. My teeth burned and I knew that meant they were growing already.

The patron’s eyes widened, and he immediately dug through his pockets for his wallet. He handed me the cash and I dug my nails into the palms of my hands. To stop this.

He scurried away and I took a deep breath, grabbing the bar to support myself. I felt hands on the small of my back and the newbie looked up at me, his round eyes so big it made him look very innocent. He was going to be popular. His horns curled at his spiky ears and his hair was dark. His skin was so fair, only made paler with the blueish undertones.

“You alright there, big guy?”

I nodded and took another deep breath. The bartender, an old friend slid a glass of whisky towards me. I took it in one gulp and nodded at my friend.

“Another?” Oliver asked and got ready to pour me another.

“Yeah.” I handed him the glass back. He filled it to the rim and then went to the other end to service another patron.

“It gets a little overwhelming, huh?” the newbie asked.

I looked down at him and nodded. “Sorry. I usually have a better hold on it.”

“It’s okay. I know people have off days. And that guy was a creep. Thanks for helping out.”

He didn’t wait for me to reply. He turned on the heel of his shoe and walked further into the club.

“He’s the newest addition,” Oliver noted.

I looked back at him over my shoulder and sat down on one of the stools. “What can you tell me about him?”

“Nothing really. Used to be a street kid. Grew old enough to get off the streets and work here. You know how it is with these people.”

He tapped his horns and pointed to the newbie, who had already found another patron to engage with.

“The fauns are always so fickle.”

“Says the satyr,” I murmured under my breath.

“Hey, we can’t all be kids of Cerberus.” He smirked at me and took my empty glass from me. “Anyways, go out and work for that pay cheque you cash in every week.”

He shooed me away and I rolled my eyes a little. I didn’t need to be told how to do my job. I had been working here for a while. And at other places as a guard. Not a whole lot of other things to do when you’re a literal guard dog and your sire is a three-headed hound.

“Hey Arlo,” another guard, Nicosh, said and motioned me over. My brother, really. But we weren’t from the same litter. He was older than me. “We’re getting in some higher ups today. Ares is coming.”

“Okay, what can I do?”

“Make sure you keep all of the male workers away from him. He was about to tear the place apart the last time he came here. And all because a male worker had dared to walk into his quarter. You know how he gets.”

I nodded. “So, we’ll send all the male workers to Apollo then. He’ll be arriving at nine.”

“Fantastic. You’re a life-saver, man.”

“One other thing.” I shouldn’t be asking this. “What’s the new guy’s name? The faun.”

My brother arched a brow. “Dion. His name is Dion.”

“Cool, thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” I hurried to get away before I made a complete fool of myself.