Shark 1

SHARK 1 CATHERINE BANKS Contents Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 About the Author Shark 1 by Catherine Banks. Copyright © 2022 Catherine Banks All rights reserved. Cover design and graphic art by JoY Author Design. Published by Turbo Kitten Industries. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher of the book. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or by any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized printed or electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. www.CatherineBanks.com Turbo Kitten Industries™, P.O. Box 5012, Galt, CA 95632 Thank you to my amazing husband who continues to support me. I love you and your amazing cuddles. Preface This was first published on Vella, so you may notice that these chapters are shorter than my normal ones. That is due to the episodic format. Don’t worry, this is the complete first book, but be warned you may zoom through it with chapters being shorter. Happy reading! :) 1 The cacophony of voices mixed with bass-filled music drew me like a siren luring a sailor into the water. The bar was busier than usual, even for a Friday night, thanks to the holiday on the upcoming Monday, but that was perfect. It meant lots of new, gullible idiots, which meant more money in my pocket. I stepped into the bar with my mouth closed to hide my teeth out of habit. “Welcome back, Kass,” Tonka, the bouncer manning the door greeted me with a smile. He had to stand to the side of the doorway, or no one would get in because of his formidable size. The half-troll, half-orc was huge and took no crap from anyone. “Hey, Tonka,” I replied, and gave him a small smile, careful not to show too much of my teeth, or he’d take it as a threat. Trolls were highly volatile and got into fights often for mistaking body language as a threat. “You let me know if anyone gives you trouble tonight, okay?” he insisted. I nodded. “You got it.” He nodded in return, and then focused on the people coming in behind me. Looking around at the customers, I noticed some delicious new eye candy. “Hello, sexies,” I whispered to myself. Maneuvering around the groups clogging the open spaces, I finally made it to the bar top, where one of my favorite people was. “Hey, Silver,” I called to get the bartender’s attention from where he was chatting with another frequent customer. Silver was a tall, muscular orc with a heart of gold. One of his two tusks was broken in half from a battle he refused to talk about. He’d put a piercing through the broken tusk and the piece of jewelry glittered in the lights as he turned to face me. The smile he’d had grew wider when he saw me, and he hurried down the bar to stand before me. “Kassidy, I had hoped to get to see you tonight.” He was the only one who used my full name, even after knowing me for several years. “You know I wouldn’t miss a Friday night,” I replied, smiling wide at him. The human man sitting on the barstool to my right flinched when he saw my triangular, serrated shark teeth. “Come to the office for a second,” Silver said, his smile slipping a bit as he said it. Uh oh. This was not good. He never pulled me off to the side to chat, except that one time I’d taken every dollar a guy had on him during a pool match, and the guy had gone to Silver crying about not being able to pay his drinking bill. “Sure,” I agreed, and headed around to the side of the long wooden bar. Once on the side, he stepped out to meet me, bent down so his head was beside mine, and whispered, “Hunters are in town and are supposed to come by tonight. Behave, so I don’t have to fix my bar.” My eyes widened and I let my mouth drop open. “I am offended! I would never destroy your bar.” He smirked. “I know you wouldn’t, but you wouldn’t hesitate to piss off someone and they’d trash my place trying to hurt you. I don’t feel like buying more furniture, and I’m getting old and tired of fighting.” “You’re not old,” I said and rolled my eyes. “And you have bouncers working here to do that for you.” “Did you know that my bouncers take your safety into consideration even before a human’s? I’ve tried telling them your skin is tougher than even mine, but they won’t listen. Let’s not test their loyalty to you over the humans who are visiting tonight,” he said, and gave me a stern glare. I patted his arm and smiled. “You got it, boss! Best behavior.” He snorted and shook his head. “I