“Bad luck,” Jax snorted. “It’s a damn curse.”
Michael didn’t even turn in her direction, just puffed out his chest. “If this curse tries any more garbage, I’ll handle it.”
How? I shook my head. Oh, to be young and cocky again.
“Have you asked the witches about it?” Penelope asked, tugging on the ends of her short, blonde hair. “They should know how to deal with something like this.”
They might, but I had a feeling our way would be faster, and that there would be less naked dancing. With our list, and thespell Beth had concocted, we should be right on the heels of the curser. If not, we’d certainly go to the witches again.
“We’ll get things figured out,” Deva reassured them, using her calmest voice.
“What are we supposed to do until then?” Jax asked, glaring. “My food is my work. If I can’t make it… do I just sit around and wait to be struck down by magic?”
“Or just be tough enough to handle the curse,” Michael said with a shrug, all arrogant wolf shifter.
“Real helpful,” Penelope scolded him, rolling her eyes. “Deva and her friends are witches. Emma is Karma. They’re going to figure it out.”
“And if they don’t, the rest of you might just die,” Michael said with a smirk.
“Or you will!” Jax snarled.
"Guys, guys, come on…" Deva tried to soothe her distraught team, waving her hands in a placating manner. "We'll figure this out, okay? Just stay calm."
"Easy for you to say," said Jax. "You're not the one who's been getting the butt end of this curse." Deva was, in fact, the one who was cursed. And her restaurant burned down. What a turd.
Michael took a deep breath. I could practically see him reigning in his wolf. "Technically, we don't even know if our coworkers have been getting hurt because of the curse.” His voice was smooth, like melted chocolate, but there was an edge of annoyance to it.
I was glad to see him calming down. Michael was a great kid, but I think having Jax so riled up beside him wasn’t helping to keep his temper in check. Wolves were passionate creatures. They just needed their passions steered in the right direction.
"Okay, so our coworkers have been getting hurt, and you're splitting hairs over semantics?" said Evelyn. The woman was a gorgeous deer shifter with long legs and big eyes, so even though she was nervous, she commanded the room with her words.
Lucas’ gaze shot to her, and he spoke up for the first time. “There are just a lot of emotions right now…”
"Guys, please." I tried to inject some reason into the charged atmosphere. "Let's all take a moment and sort this out." I closed my eyes and exaggeratedly filled my lungs with the comforting scent of brewing coffee, hoping they'd follow suit as I raised my arms.
Deva shot me an appreciative look. "Emma's right. We're not getting anywhere by arguing. We need to focus on checking in with all our friends and making sure they're safe."
"Fine." Jax crossed his arms over his broad chest, a tuft of his overgrown blond hair falling into his eyes as he did so. "How are we supposed to do that when we're stuck here?"
"Who says we're stuck?" Deva asked. "We're a team, and we'll figure this out as a team. Right?"
Evelyn sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Right."
“I could do a spell to encourage safe energy around us,” Penelope offered.
"That would be wonderful." Deva gave Evelyn a small smile. "But, first things first," she said, her eyes sweeping over each ofus in turn. "I want to commend all of you for being here today. I know it's been tough with the curse and everything, but your dedication to this place and each other is truly heartwarming." A chorus of agreement rang out among the employees, myself included. It felt good to be part of something so positive, even in the face of adversity.
"Secondly, we need to figure out who's responsible for cursing the shop," Deva continued, her tone more serious now. "We can't have our employees suffering any longer, especially the human ones who aren’t aware of the curse."
"Agreed," Lucas said, combing back his white-blonde hair from his face.
“That could work,” Jax admitted, seeming to settle down now that a plan was being discussed.
“I’ll certainly feel safer when we catch the person,” Evelyn said softly.
Lucas’ gaze darted toward Evelyn again, clearly worried about her well-being. "I don't like the idea that someone out there wants to hurt us, or the people we care about." Oh, was Lucas into Evelyn? Interesting.
"Thank you, Lucas," Deva said before turning her attention back to the rest of us. "So, let's put our heads together and think about anyone who might have a reason to target the cafe. Any thoughts?"
