Patrick takes a swing, but it never lands. Instead, his fist comes to a screeching halt as it’s caught in Jamie’s strong hand.
Where the fuck did he come from?
Aidan is preternaturally fast, but how the hell did Jamie get here so quickly? He’s standing just over Aidan’s right shoulder, and together they look like the stars of a superhero crossover special.
Aidan hasn’t even flinched, but Patrick’s eyes are now bulging from their sockets. A harried, wild expression takes overhis features, and I see the fist trapped in Jamie’s grip start to shake.
If I weren’t so shaken by almost being strangled, I’d be incredibly impressed. Aidan must have heard me shout and come straight here. But how did Jamie know something was wrong? There’s no way he could have heard me from down the street and inside his shop.
Jamie shifts his gaze over to me, assumingly to make sure I’m alright, but when his eyes drop to my throat, his pupils burst with fury. There must already be a visible mark there, because suddenly, Jamie is yanking Patrick by the back of his sweaty collar, and I swear I see the guy’s toes barely touch the ground. I knew Jamie was strong, but not superhuman strong. Yet somehow he’s holding Patrick’s entire body weight, with one arm, without straining a muscle.
“What did I tell you about contacting her ever again?” Jamie rebukes.
I would expect the question to be rhetorical, but Jamie is clearly waiting for an answer. He clutches Patrick’s shirt even tighter, slowly choking him just as Patrick had choked me.
He asks again, this time clenching his teeth. “Whatdid I tell you?”
Patrick wheezes. “We’d have—ah-–we’d have a…one on one.”
“Why don’t we go do that now?”
Jamie finally lets Patrick touch the ground, but then he starts shuffling him out of the alleyway and back onto the street.
“Oh, no,” I groan. Like hell are they going to handle this in front of my place of business. “Jamie, wait!”
But it’s Aidan’s hand on Jamie’s shoulder that halts him in place. “Think about what you’re doing,” Aidan suggests in a low tone. “You know the consequences. People are already curious.”
Both he and Jamie glance across the street at the handful of townspeople watching the public disruption in their morningroutines. Even worse, when I step back onto the sidewalk, Claudia is standing outside the bakery, watching our every move.
I definitely don’t want this confrontation to spill out onto the street, but Aidan looks particularly concerned about Jamie’s hand still clutching the back of Patrick’s collar.
Is Aidan worried he’ll be blamed for this? Back when the laws of Shadow Hills were established, the appointed sheriff at the time knew it would be inevitable for some paranormals to fight others. Over the years, we’ve let the confrontations settle themselves, as long as they’ve been fair. But if a paranormal uses a biological advantage over a human,thatis cause for punishment.
Even if someone does try to say Aidan started the fight, I’m a witness, and I’ll tell the truth about the whole incident.
So why does Jamie look afraid?
He lets go of Patrick just as someone points to Kiki’s Cafe where Mayor Musthaven is now exiting and crossing the street. One glance at the small crowd that’s formed in front of the bookstore, and the mayor is floating over to inspect the scene.
He’s a portly ghost, having gained more weight in the afterlife than his human life somehow, though I’m pretty sure it’s those sugary pancakes he eats every morning at Kiki’s. He floats through the group of people blocking his way before they have a chance to move, each person gasping from the sudden chill from feeling a ghost pass through them uninvited.
“What’s going on here?” the mayor asks with a bellowing voice. Everyone stops what they’re doing as if they’re the ones in trouble, but no one answers his question. Aidan and Jamie are still standing awkwardly on either side of a terrified Patrick who’s crumbled to his knees on the sidewalk.
Mayor Musthaven sucks in imaginary air in a dramatic gasp. “Oh my.”
The timing is comical, but I have no desire to laugh about any of this. Everyone else is still taking in the scene while I try to find the right words to explain the situation, but Aidan speaks up first.
“August,” Aidan addresses the mayor in a personal but stately manner. “You’ve arrived just in time. We were just assisting Miss Baker with a rather unfortunate incident.”
He speaks as if he is above the situation, but not the people. It’s a fine line to balance, but being over a century old, I would imagine speaking to people in the proper way becomes second nature.
“What is this human man doing on the ground?” Musthaven asks.
Jamie opens his mouth to say something, but Aidan places a steady hand on his shoulder. It’s clear Jamie is still fuming, and there’s no doubt whatever comment he planned on making would only make the situation worse.
“Well, you see,” Aidan begins, “I came upon Miss Baker here,” he gestures to me, still gaping like a floundering fish, “and she appeared to be in distress. It was clear this man was invading her personal boundaries. So, I asked if she needed help, and she informed me that this man has been stalking her for some time. Before I could confront him about this, he attacked her. You can see the bruise already starting to form on her throat.”
I’m pretty sure most of the people here know I’ve been on a few dates with Patrick. They’ve seen us together at Bones, and Mavis definitely saw me entering his apartment multiple times. I can only imagine what they’re thinking now.
