“What he means to say is that it’s better if someone who is trained handles him,” Flora says.
“I can shift, and my bear can deal with him,” I try to reason, but it doesn’t stick in anyone’s brain but mine.
“And be banned from Eleanor’s Diner for the rest of your shifter life? I think not,” Luxe says. She’s right, and I’m being emotional, but Ghost isright there. He’s now sitting a few booths down, eating. Like he is a regular civilian enjoying lunch. That should be me or Layla. Not him, sitting there eating freely, without a care or having to watch over his shoulder. He doesn’t deserve to sit there after trying to kill me.
My eyes switch from Flora to Luxe to Felix. Unease fills my chest and racks my mind. How can I eat? How can I sit here and pretend everything is normal when a killer that was after me is behind me?
My breathing becomes labored, and I try to calm down. My eyes find Flora’s, who’s offering a comforting smile, and it reminds me I’m not alone. I have them and Felix, and Ghost can’t hurt us all publicly in a diner full of paranormals. Inside the diner is a neutral space; it’s the rule of public business. No shifting and no fighting. Save all that for the parking lot and beyond. I know this, yet my skin itches. I see my bear’s fur pop out on my arms through my skin, and I have to push her down.Inhaling, I wait four seconds, then exhale. They are right. I can’t do this now.
“He’s getting up,” Luxe whispers. She doesn’t even pretend that she isn’t staring him down now. Her glare sharpens as the sound of his footfalls gets louder.
“Order me a cheeseburger to-go, please,” Felix asks while slowly getting up from the booth.
“Can I fucking help you?” Felix snarls at Ghost as he stops at our table. My arms shake as I see the man of my torment.
“Yeah, you can.” His dead voice registers like a fire alarm in my ears. It makes me jump out of my skin even though I was awaiting his response. He doesn’t waste much more time pulling a white cloth from his pocket and tossing it onto our table.
A white flag. Surrender? Why?
I stare back at Ghost, who gives us a half shrug before turning to Felix.
“Not here,” Felix says, looking the man up and down as if weighing if he could take him in a fight. I’m honestly not sure who would win. I think Felix was a cage fighter, and Ghost appears he’s been in as many fights as Felix probably has.
“Okay, then,” Ghost says. Felix nods his head. I can’t see his face, but I’m sure it’s as intimidating as looking at Ghost is.
Felix follows Ghost out of the diner. He’s leaving.Leaving. The man who’s haunted me for the last couple of weeks is now leaving the diner.
I turn my head to watch Felix go. I hadn’treallyseen Ghost’s face till now. He is a handsome man, like Ms. Humming, my old neighbor, said, with deep brown eyes and dark brown floppy hair. He has thick waves at the ends of his hair and light facial hair above his lip. He has tattoos decorating his hands and is slightly shorter than Felix, but not by much.
They don’t exchange many more words as Felix strides up to him, bringing his hand around Ghost’s neck as Felix comes up from behind him. I watch as Felix shoves Ghost into his car.
“I guess he was planning on taking care of it,” Luxe mutters. I hear a gasp somewhere in the diner and a hushing from someone else.
“Is someone going to do something?” I hear one woman ask, but this isn’t the human side of Rainfall Avenue; this is the paranormal side, and if you aren’t ready to fight, you mind your business.
A waitress comes up to our table, and my friends order food, including some for me and the cheeseburger for Felix. I take a deep breath, my eyebrows scrunching. “Did he just solve all my problems with a neck snap?” I say so low I almost don’t hear myself.
“Maybe not all of them, but a lot of them.”
“We still have to find Milo,” Luxe says, a grimace from her destroying the joy that was building up in my gut.
“Umm.” I stop to take a deep breath as the waitress leaves to put in our order. “Should we go after them?”
“No, Dylan says to stay put until they can get chains around Ghost. Once they get him tied up, we’ll go. Let’s enjoy our lunch, darling,” Flora says, sliding her phone back into her purse. As much as I want to fight that, Dylan has much more experience, being an assassin and all, than I do. So it feels stupid to fight his instructions.
“Okay, so, well... I’m visiting my family soon,” I murmur as normalcy settles into my bones.
“Family? Why now?” Luxe asks, eating her fries then peeking into Felix’s box once hers runs out.
“A wedding. My sister invited me to her mating ceremony at the last minute. Wasn’t sure I’d be up for it.” More like shethought I would cause a scene at her ceremony, but I don’t want to talk badly about my sister.
“Are you?” Flora asks. I tilt my head in question, my loose bun of curls tilting with me. Am I ready? Yeah. Admittedly, the thought of her having a mate and having a ceremony doesn’t bother me, but what if it’s different when I get there? Will the bubbling bitterness of jealousy fill my every pore like every one of my family members thought it would when I see the ceremony?
“I’m 90 percent sure I’m ready. I won’t know till I get there.”
“Is Eddie going to be there?” Luxe asks, waggling her eyebrows.
I blush, but I can’t help but answer, “He is.”
