"Trust me." It was all I said, but it was enough. He slowly sank back into his seat, watching me with a frown creasing his forehead.
I turned to Jamur's table, focusing my energy. The air tingled, an electric charge beneath my skin as I summoned the threads of my power, weaving them, invisible and silent, toward the man who had caused such distress.
"Please calm down, sir," the waitress implored again, trembling like a leaf in the wind.
Just as Jamar moved to step around his chair and get closer to the waitress, a waiter with a tray full of food walked in Jamar’s path. It was entirely Jamar’s fault, but the tray clattered to the floor, a symphony of disaster in ceramic and silver. Soup splashed onto Jamur's lap, rolls tumbled like clumsy acrobats, and a steak landed with a slap against his chest.
"Are you blind?" Jamur roared, face beet-red and eyes bulging.
The waiter, a mountain of inked muscle, simply stared down at him, a picture of unflappable calm. Jamur's mouth snapped shut, his anger hitting a wall of tattooed stoicism.
"Sorry, sir," the waiter said, tone flat. "Accident."
"Accident my?—"
But Jamur's curses dissolved into a string of mumbles as his date threw her napkin down, shot Jamar a furious look, and rushed outside. He shoved his chair back and stomped toward the exit, flinging insults over his shoulder as if they were grenades. The restaurant held its breath, patrons' eyes wide and glued to the unfolding scene.
"Let's see what he's up to," Beth whispered to me, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Sure." I wiped my palms on my dress. I didn't like the idea of trailing a human storm cloud, but curiosity gnawed at me. We pushed back our chairs and followed him out into the cool night air.
I leaned against the brick wall outside Bon Appétit, Beth beside me. The chill air bit at my skin.
Jamur caught up to his blonde companion under the dim glow of a streetlamp.
"Who even are you?" she spat, her voice sharp enough to cut through the cool night. "You're nothing like the man I thought I knew."
Jamur sputtered, trying to grab her arm, but she jerked away, fire in her eyes. "And to think I left Broth for you. He may beboring, but at least he's not a complete jerk. My God, compared to you, he's practically a saint?—"
"Come on, babe, don’t say that," Jamur pleaded, desperation edging into his voice. "Let's just go home and forget about this mess."
But she was already striding off, her heels clicking angrily against the pavement. "Take me home? In your dreams, jerk. I'm calling a cab."
"Wait—" Jamur called after her retreating form, hurrying to keep pace. "Just give me a chance to explain."
Beth shook her head, a smirk playing on her lips. "Well, that went south fast."
"Yup." They disappeared around the corner. "South and sprinting."
Now, my debt to Broth was repaid. I’d used Karma on the shrimp of a man, causing him embarrassment, and to lose the blonde. But, somehow, I didn’t think Karma was done with him yet.
SEVENTEEN
Emma
Daniel joined us outside, and we all stared as Jamur continued to hurry after the blonde. But then, he rushed forward and grabbed her by the arm. We couldn’t hear their exchange of words, but he started dragging her off the sidewalk and into the parking lot, heading for, no doubt, his car.
Uh oh. This is not going to end well.
Beside me, Daniel tensed. I knew what was coming. He would never let a man put his hands on a woman. If I didn’t step in, things were going to get violent really fast.
"What’s going on?” Henry asked, as the rest of our group piled out of the door.
"Just stay here,” I told them.
"Like hell,” Daniel growled.
I ignored all of them. This needed to be handled.Now. I could deal with all of them later.
