"Why are you so angry? We're divorced, remember?" she stared at him in shock.
"Damn right I'm angry," Harry spat back, his face reddening. "You think I've been working my ass off, trying to win you back, only to find out you've been screwing around with this guy the whole time?"
Deva looked at me, like she couldn’t find the words to tell this man how wrong he was. Luckily for her, I could, and I wasn’t afraid to do it.
"Harry, listen to yourself," I tried to keep my voice calm and reasonable despite the rage bubbling up inside me. "You can't seriously think that you have any right to control Deva's life, especially after how things ended between you two."
"Stay out of this," he snarled, turning his glare on me. "This is between me and her."
"Actually, it's between you and your bruised ego," I suppressed a smug satisfaction as his face turned an interesting shade ofpuce. "Deva doesn't owe you anything, least of all an explanation for who she's dating now. So why don't you just slink back to whatever hole you crawled out of and leave her alone?"
For a moment, it looked like Harry might actually take a swing at me, but then he thought better of it. Instead, he shot one last venomous look at Deva before storming off down the sidewalk, leaving us all standing there in stunned silence.
The moment Harry was far enough away, Beth whipped out her little black book faster than you could say avocado toast and scribbled his name down. I had to admit, she was dedicated to this whole sleuthing thing.
"Can't believe we're adding Deva's ex to the suspect list." Carol shook her head. "I mean, who knew he had it in him?"
I did. Yeah, he’d probably seemed more sloth-like than like an angry tiger when he’d been married to Deva, but it was amazing how having to take care of oneself can lead to bitterness and rage. Deva wasn’t my only friend over the years to be neglected by her partner until deciding to leave. Almost always, the ex-partner got really angry over losing the person “responsible” for running their lives.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," I said, my gaze still trained on Harry's retreating figure. He was walking away from us, but something told me he wasn't done stirring up trouble.
As I watched him go, I let my powers seep out of me, like wisps of smoke escaping through a cracked window. They wrapped around Harry, clinging to him like lint on a dark sweater. Their presence was comforting, somehow, a reminder that karma always has a way of balancing things out.
"Emma," Beth said, snapping me back to reality. "You in there? Looked like you were zoning out."
"Ah, yeah, sorry," I tried to focus on the present. "Just thinking about… stuff."
"Stuff" being the most eloquent word choice to describe my thoughts on the fact that I was literally the embodiment of karma. No biggie.
"Hey, it's okay," Carol said. "We all get lost in our thoughts sometimes."
"Especially when those thoughts involve ex-husbands with anger issues," Beth said, and I chuckled at her dry humor.
"True that," I said. "Anyway, I was just wondering what my powers might have planned for good ol' Harry. Because something tells me he's got a storm coming."
"Ooh, sounds ominous," Carol said, grinning. "I like it."
"Whatever he's got coming his way, he deserves it."
Deva sighed, her dark eyes staring after her ex. “Is it wrong that I was hoping that dating Marquis would mean he’d leave me alone?”
My heart ached for her. “You don’t deserve to be harassed.”
“He’s not harassing me. He just sends flowers, chocolates, and other gifts. And he leaves notes for me all over. None of it is… bad exactly.”
I stared at her. “It’s bad if you want him to stop. Have you told him to stop?”
Her gaze met mine. “I’ve made it clear I don’t like it, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing.”
Darn it. Why hadn’t she told us about all of this? Harry was most definitely harassing her.
“Deva, itisa big deal. We’ll handle things however you want, but I want you to know that you’re not making a big deal out of nothing. He’s harassing you.”
Her expression grew troubled. “I’ll think about it.”
Carol chimed in. “We’ll be here for you, no matter what you want.”
"Absolutely." Beth nodded her head vigorously. "Now let's get back to business. We've got a curse to break."
