Jean winked at Hatter, and kept winking. “No. Totally no. We aren’t allowed to commandeer demon weapons for private use.” She strolled over to him. “I totally wouldn’t bribe it off of Bathin and pass it around.”
Hatter gave her a low five.
I pointed at her. “You know better.” I pointed at Hatter next. “You should know better.”
He grinned. “Never hurts to ask. You okay? I mean besides the attempted fratricide.”
“Yeah, I’ll write the report. Basically Goap wanted to get Bathin’s attention so he swung Bunny Kisses at him, which didn’t leave a scratch because he’s not a king.”
“You hit your head, boss?” Shoe asked.
My hand went to the back of my head, and I winced. “Once, why?”
“That sounded like a concussion talking.”
“Ha-ha. Would you like a cup of fresh coffee?”
“Yes?” he asked with a frown, sensing a trap.
“Good. Get me one too.”
Hatter laughed. Shoe might have grumbled about it, but he strolled to the coffee station and poured two cups.
“Shouldn’t you go home?” Jean asked. “Your head? Your shoulder?”
I couldn’t bring myself to dealing with Vivian again. Not yet. “First I’m going to write up my report.”
“In that case,” Shoe said from the coffee station, “I’ll brew a new pot.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The report took some time,as I had to write one that didn’t have any of the supernatural or magic in it, and then write the other with all the supernatural happenings that had gone down today, which would be stored in the library.
I’d sipped my way through the mug of coffee Shoe gave me, and kept drinking it when it got cold. Shoe had some kind of magic touch when it came to making a pot of drip coffee. I had asked if he put vanilla in it or cinnamon or something and he’d looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
I’d watched him make it. Several times. Nothing fancy, just water, filter, grounds. But when I did the exact same thing in the exact same order with the exact same measurements, it didn’t turn out nearly as smooth as his brews.
By the time the coffee was gone, and both reports were done, all the adrenalin of the day had worn off. I wanted to go home and face-plant in my bed. But Vivian would be there. Well, maybe not in my bed. Hopefully not in my bed.
But she’d probably be on our deck, curled up on our couch, maybe even drinking a glass of our wine.
I was exhausted just gathering my stuff, but I put on my game face. Ryder had had to deal with her a lot longer than I had. I could do my part to try to bore her too.
I dug around in my desk drawer looking for my keys, patted my jeans, then remembered Ryder had my Jeep.
I sighed. “Shoe, could you give me a lift home?”
He looked up from one of the cold cases we were still working—someone had been walking through the grocery store and crunching all the cookies in the bags and leaving them there for people to buy. It was only the one brand, but we still hadn’t caught them in the act.
“Thank gods, yes,” he said. “Anything’s better than this.”
I smiled. “You know how to make a girl feel special.”
He chuckled as he pulled keys from his pocket. “I am one smooth-talking bastard. All the ladies say so.”
Hatter laughed so much he choked, and was still laughing when Shoe slammed the door hard enough to test the strength of hinges.
Shoe was in such a crappy mood for the short drive to our house on the lake, that I just let him grumble and grouse.
