“Guys, a minute,” Jude said, pointing to Ten and Ronan.
“I’ll go learn how to run the cash register. What could possibly go wrong?” Fitz grinned.
“All you need to do is flirt, Fitz!” Jude laughed. “You’re tall and handsome, use your assets to your benefit. Smile and charm them. Before you know it, the store’s stock will be totally sold out.”
“Smile and flirt,” Fitz muttered under his breath as he left the room.
“What’s up, Jude?” Ronan asked, looking concerned.
“Everything happened so fast last night and we all went home in separate cars. I wanted to know if Everly was okay?” Jude’s attention was on Cope as he spoke.
“Is Everly hurt?” Cope asked. He’d been so busy showing off his gift that he’d somehow missed there was something wrong with his niece.
“Right before everything happened with the air horns and the militant-looking protesters, Everly grabbed Aurora and pulled her down to the floor. She shielded Aurora with her body and both girls had their hands over their ears,” Ronan said.
“She told me something bad was going to happen.” Jude shook his head. “Fitz managed to run into the row behind us, bent over the seat, and grabbed Aurora. I did the same with Everly and told Ronan to get out of the theater with Wolf, while I came to rescue you.”
“Rescue me?” Cope asked, sounding as stunned as he felt. “I was killing it last night. How dare that asshole come to our town with his fake psychic schtick? I put Alistair Hooke in his damn place. Maybe now no other desperate people will get conned by him.” Cope had gone from feeling euphoric to angry within seconds. He most certainly had not needed saving last night. “What the hell did I need rescuing from?”
Jude sighed, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but in this room. “From yourself.”
“What?” Cope stared at his husband. He couldn’t have been more surprised by what Jude was saying if he’d broken into a rousing chorus from “Send in the Clowns.”
“Babe, what you did was overkill. The protesters had been able to prove Hooke was a conman with the Facebook page they’d created to trap him. You banged the final nail into his coffin, but then you went overboard, talking about his mother and carny aunt. I’m afraid that once Hooke gets over his humiliation, he’s going to come for you.”
“Same with Debunked,” Ten said. “The last thing we need is them shining an unfavorable light on any of us.”
“What kind ofTwilight Zoneis this?” Cope couldn’t believe what was happening. “All we have in this business is our reputation. A fake like Hooke brings us all down. I was expecting Carson to say that our bookings were down today because people were questioning if we could be trusted.”
“I agree,” Ronan said. “Same goes for us in our line of work.” Ronan pointed between himself and Jude. “I just don’t want you to get hurt or targeted. I love you like a brother Cope and would do anything for you. I hope you know that.”
Cope listened closely to what Ronan was saying. He’d always been Jude’s best friend and had done so much to take care of their family after Jude’s accident. Cope knew he was coming from a place of love, which brought him back around to where the conversation started. “What happened with Everly? Did she see something coming for me or was she just alerted to what happened last night?”
“I talked to her after we got home last night. Everly was tired and still a little freaked out. She said something was coming, but she wasn’t able to see exactly what that was.” Ten wore a worried look. Obviously he wasn’t able to see what Everly had with his gift.
“I’m so sorry,” Cope said, feeling like shit. “I promise my days of playing psychic avenger are over.”
“Good enough. Now, let’s get to work. It’s going to be one hell of a day.” Ten took Cope’s hand and walked out of the room.
As they headed for their reading rooms, Cope tried to read Ten and came up blank. What the hell was up with that?
5
Jude
Jude was exhausted. He’d never worked so hard in his life. West Side Magick had been slammed all day with shoppers, clients, and looky-loos hoping to get a glimpse of Cope. Speaking of his husband, he hadn’t seen him since the meeting ended almost seven hours ago. Cassie had sent lunch over for everyone around noon and then coffee at three, but Cope had readings scheduled every half an hour. He’d even managed to find some time to work with a couple of walk-in customers, who were delighted with what he’d told them and had booked appointments for full readings.
An equally tired-looking Cope walked into the store. “Is my 5PM appointment here?”
Jude looked through the bookings for the day. “Not yet,” Jude said. To be honest, he hoped the appointment didn’t show up. All he wanted to do was go home, take a hot shower, kiss his kids and fall into bed for the next twelve hours. Jude had worked twenty-four hour stakeouts before, but all he’d done was sit inthe car and try to stay awake. Working in the store was an entirely different ball game.
“You want to grab burgers tonight?” Cope asked.
“Definitely. I’ll place the order when you’re wrapping up with your last client.”
“Sounds amazing. Don’t forget extra pickles for Wolfie.” Cope headed for the restroom.
Jude heard the sound of pounding footsteps on the stairs, which stopped Cope in his tracks.
