“You know what? Forget it.”
I hung up, ignoring my phone as he rang back. Samael would loathe being hung up on. Served him right.
I couldn’t find a parking spot, so I flicked my hazard lights on and double parked like an asshole.
Then I skedaddled to the other side of the street and crouched behind a car.
“What are you doing?” Vas asked.
“Shh, get down. I want to see how many of them turn up, and if they see me, they’ll run.”
Vas sighed but crouched next to me. Then he sniffed. “You know, you’re starting to smell like Samael,” he said.
“Not the time, bro.”
A quick grin, and then he leaned forward. We both peered around the side of the car.
“I can barely see anything,” I complained. “Holy shit, I know that guy.”
“What?”
“You do too. That’s Gas Station Bob!” Vas looked at me blankly. “I knew there was something familiar about the guy in the picture Steve sent through. He’s the manager of the gas station in Brightleaf— the one where–”
“Tarel’s body was left. The humans were spelled.”
“Yeah. The witches used a mass spell of forgetting, and Bob waspissed. Pissed and terrified, which, as we can see, is a terrible combination.”
We both watched silently, but it didn’t seem as if anyone else was coming.
“Not gonna lie, I wish we’d had a chance to visit Hannah. A look-away spell would be real handy right now.”
Vas sneered at me, and we both got to our feet.
“They’ve put Bob on the door. Makes sense, since he’s wearing that fucking belt.” That meant there was a pretty high chance either Bob, or someone he was close with was the one shooting at me in Merrill’s store.
“I’ll take him out,” Vas said.
“I don’t think so.”
Vas glanced at me and I narrowed my eyes at him. “I owe Bobby a punch in the face. Don’t get in my way with this.”
“Fine. But if he kicks your ass, I’m going to spread your humiliation far and wide.”
“That’s just mean.”
After a few minutes, it was obvious everyone else had arrived. Vas elbowed me gently. “Don’t let him kill you. I’ll take the back exit.”
“I won’t. Thanks.”
I crossed the street, and Bob took a step toward me warningly. Then he froze.
“Oh hey, Bob. You fucked up when you targeted the people I care about.”
Bob cast a glance over his shoulder and I let out a chuckle. “Gonna get your little friends to back you up? Can’t even take me with the belt of Thor holding your pants up?”
His face flushed but he turned back to me. “I don’t need their help,” he said, his eyes wild.
I took one step closer to him, taking him in. Bob was taller than me, much wider than me, and if he hit me while he was wearing that belt, I was screwed.
