I turned only slightly to cover most of my face and noticed blue slacks and worn but polished dress shoes. Dick knows how many keys hung from the ring on his belt. Security.

- Yeah.

There's a problem in the men's room. I need you to check, and quickly.” He cleared his throat, and I thought that this dude must have created this problem.

- I'm already doing it.

He hesitated for a minute and then added:

- Don't take too long. We have important guests,” and left through the double doors.

Jerk. My uniform says "Water" and he couldn't read that either.

I glanced at my watch and noted that it was only twenty minutes before midnight, the time after which the guests could leave. Inside my pocket, I squeezed a small vial of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, which, as I was told on the dark web, would subdue any girl, knocking her out. Without delay, he immediately left, so as not to stare too much at Cloud, and not to attract too much unnecessary attention.

I left the hall, where there were too many things: people, smells, sounds, and found myself in a spacious, dimly lit hall. It was cool and quiet here, and the plants in the corners gave the room a cozy feel. There was no one here - the guests did not want to leave the bright, well-lit hall, apparently fearing that the servants in this hole could also be bribed by enemies in order to fulfill the “ticket order” - to remove an unnecessary person or werewolf.

Everyone knows that money and power rule in our city, and it is not known which is stronger. In my case, everything worked against it: I had neither one nor the other and paid for it, having lost the dearest person in the world ...

My head was buzzing again, a sure sign of an impending attack, and I promptly tossed a handful of pills down my throat.

The "wheels" acted immediately: it became easier to breathe, my head cleared up. The effect is short-lived, but effective. I opened the bathroom door and came face to face with her.

With Amalia.

She smelled noticeably of tears, she was clearly crying in the toilet, and neither perfume, nor lipstick, nothing saved the situation: the smell of despair wafted from her three miles away. I didn’t want to support her: it’s none of my business, but this smell seemed to punch a hole in my armor, made me take a closer look at her, and see something else behind the majestic facade of beauty ... perhaps a small frightened wolf cub, or perhaps a weightless girl, who got lost in the maze.

He shook his head, banishing unnecessary associations, and looking around, but so that it was not noticeable, for the presence of protection.

- Can I help you? asked her hoarsely. She cringed at my voice. It was not enough to scare the prey! At the same time, I looked to the side so that she would not focus her attention on my face.

- No thanks! that impossible Miss Snobbery twisted her lips.

- See you then! - He said to her back, when she, turning on high heels, moved forward along the corridor under the protection of spotlights.

Couldn't have done anything now: one of Cloud's muzzles followed closely behind her, which Amalia most likely didn't see: he kept to the leeward side and did not show his presence in any way.

She stood near the door to the common room and suddenly turned in the other direction - deeper down the corridor.

From surprise, both I and the muzzle froze, and then each of them went after her on their own, only at the same time he took out a cell phone and began to dial something in it. I think he informed the owner that his mouse was running somewhere in the wrong direction.

I suppressed my annoyance when I saw her. Because Mrs. Blackwood was like everyone else: she sold herself to Cloud for money, jewelry, cars. Nasty little rubbish. Because of people like her, I suffered, and my ... she-wolf suffered the most ...

Amalia

Instead of going back to the hall with those dressed-up clowns, I walked down the stairs, past the foyer, and down another hallway to Cloud's office. And then she thought frightened: what if he is there? I need to come up with an apology. Even a glance through the crack of his office door will already bring me punishment, especially since I went to the toilet just to get rid of the annoying society of this fool - the mayor's girlfriend.

I knocked on the door. Once. Two. I looked back, but the corridor, thank the Moon, was empty, there was no guard. The third time I looked inside. My heart was beating like it was about to burst out of my chest and smash against those oak doors. There was a lump in my throat.

- Claude? - for the sake of formality, I asked the emptiness of the office. Silence was my answer, and it was reassuring. Throwing off my sandals, the heels of which pounded as loudly as the heart of a hunted hare, I went into the office.

Bile accumulated in my stomach, and it seemed that I was about to vomit from excitement, so I hurried to start examining the premises.

I walked around his huge massive table and began to open the drawers. The work of almost two years should have been completed right now. Yesterday, I uploaded all the documents to one flash drive to use its contents against Cloud, but I couldn't take it with me because I was being followed relentlessly.

For a long, long time, bit by bit, I collected everything: a document or a piece of video, or photographs, or an invoice, or even a “ticket” for shooting on the Night of Justice to present it in court.

Of course, I understood that he could easily falsify any accusations against himself and do without an additional hearing, easily winning the case, but I hoped for justice in another city or state where there were no bribed jurors or judges.

His desk was similar to that of a person who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Everything was neatly in place. Nothing aroused suspicion.

Two hours ago, I inserted a flash drive into my computer to merge the last documents that Cloud worked on as soon as possible and did not have time to steal it away.

Taking advantage of the fact that now the house was full of guests that Cloud needed to keep an eye on, I decided to cover up the traces of my crime by all means.

I leaned over to the computer, removed the flash drive and accidentally touched the folder that was lying on the table. Ducked under the table to pick it up, I immediately stood up quickly, straightening up. And then she sharply breathed into her mouth in surprise - there was a shadow at the door.