His tone was polite but also somewhat condescending, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Pass,” I said, turning away to tidy up some wrapping paper off the counter.
Suddenly, he was gripping my arm and spinning me back to face him.
“Hey!” Luna snarled, and my mouth fell open at the fuckingaudacity.
I leveled him with one of the most intense glares I had given anyone in mylife.
“Get your hand off me,” I said quietly, but he didn’t move. We stood there, staring at each other for a beat, when the door opened, and my two older brothers chose that moment to walk into the shop. They wereidentical in every sense of the word; the only difference was how they chose to dress.
Romulus looked like he’d walked out of a spread for a 90’s punk band, his black jeans and T-shirt covered in studs and safety pins. Remus was more of a Levi’s and a white T kind of a guy, though they were both wearing black Doc Martens laced at the ankles. Their dark brown hair looked almost black in Luna’s bright shop, and their mahogany eyes were tinted red with rage as they glared at the asshole that had touched me without my consent.
Axel turned, frowning at my brothers, both of whom took one look at his hand on my arm and bristled.
“Perfect timing.” I grinned, and Axel’s frown deepened.
“Douchebag, meet my brothers, Romulus and Remus. Rom and Rem, meet douchebag.”
Rom’s brown eyes flashed, and Rem gave Axel a smile that was more of a baring of teeth than anything.
“Nice to meet you, douchebag. Now, why don’t you take yourfuckinghand off my sister before I do it for you?” Rom snarled, and my grin widened as Axel jerked his hand away from me.
Luna glared at him, placing her hands on her hips.
“And while you’re at it, why don’t you get the fuck out of my shop?”
“Iwas just introducing myself,” Axel said smoothly, trying to placate my furious brothers.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself to the door?” Rem suggested with a cavalier grin. Remus was normally pretty easygoing, and he gave serious golden retriever vibes when it was just us. But he wasn’t harmless. The dangerous glint in his eyes betrayed his tendency to throw himself into the thick of things, and it complemented the cold steel of Romulus’ glare.
Rom, in contrast, was quieter but much more unpredictable. Smiles didn’t come as easily to him, and he was currently looking at Axel as if he were wondering what his insides looked like.
“Alright, alright.” Axel sighed, holding up his hands. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and dropped a business card on the counter. He glanced at me, and I glared back at him, my arm still tingling from where he had touched me.
I was gonna need to cleanse the shit out of this shirt, fuck me.
“Here’s my card. If you change your mind, give me a call.”
“She won’t. Now get the fuck out,” Rom snarled, taking a menacing step forward. Axel and Rom stared at each other for a long moment, and I got a weird feeling that they knew each other. The moment was broken, however, as Axel blinked and reclaimed that polished, easy smile.
“Until next time,” he said softly and stepped past my brothers, slipping out the door and striding away.
As he passed, the cat hissed at him, and the raven puffed up its feathers in irritation.
Knew that guy was bad news.
Animals had a sense about stuff like that.
Once the douchebag was gone, we collectively sighed a breath of relief.
“Well. That was fucked,” I muttered, and Luna nodded, looking concerned.
“What did he want?” Rem asked, wrapping his arm around Luna’s shoulder and rubbing his fist into her hair in greeting. She made an annoyed sound and squirmed out of his grip.
“Watch the buns!” she chirped, though she was laughing. My brother shot her a flirty smirk and winked, which was wasted on Luna. She was as gay as the day was long. She was probably the only witch in Salem that didn’t moon after my brothers like a love-sick puppy. Well, her and me, obviously. Even Willow tended to stare at them longingly from time to time, and I guess I understood it. They were devastatingly attractive, though neither of them seemed interested in any of the women who propositioned them.
All they cared about was soccer and sticking their noses into my personal life, which—if I was being honest—was welcome right at this moment.
