Page 25 of Throwing Shade
“Alex had attacked me once already,” I said, “and if he did something to my friend—”
The shifter pulled out a beaten-up brown leather jacket and shrugged into it, his shoulders bunching. “Then she’s gone. Sorry for your loss.”
My eyebrows shot up. Yes, this guy was an ass, but surely he was connected to an infrastructure that could help me find Jude. “Sorry for your loss? How about you help me find her? Aren’t you a Lonestar?”
He laughed without an ounce of humor. “Hardly.”
Then what was he? He’d already killed one person, and yes, that dybbuk thing seemed to justify Alex’s death, but I was alone out here. If he was working on his own vigilante moral code, how safe was I?
I eyed the stairs. How many were there? Thirty? Then perhaps another fifty feet to lose myself in the crowds in Terence Poole Plaza? He’d be faster than me, even as a human. I bit my lip. If I screamed for help, would anyone come?
Screw that. I had magic and could cloak and get away at any point, but his rudeness was grating. I threw my hands up. “That’s all you have to say?”
“No.” The man raked a shrewd glance over me. “Should we ever have the misfortune to meet again, get out of my way.”
“Or what? You’ll huff and you’ll puff and you’ll blow my house down?”
He bared his lips, briefly shifting his canines to wolf form. My, what big teeth you have. A strangled laugh burbled out of me. My epistemological crisis involved a hell of a Freudian undertone.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck is necessary,” he said.
“Is that your action hero catchphrase or something? Because it’s a little on the nose.”
He zipped up the duffel bag. “My reputation doesn’t precede me? Shocking.” His voice was laced with bitterness.
“Wow. Someone is full of themselves. I’ve got no idea who you are.”
He peered at me suspiciously. “Are you new in town?”
“No.”
He shrugged. “Then you know who I am.”
“Hate to disappoint you, but you’re just some rando who crashed my party and ruined my plan—”
“To get answers from someone who wouldn’t tell you anything you actually wanted to know. Brilliant strategy. You’ve the mind of a tactician. Even if you did get something out of him, did you think he’d let you walk away after?” His accent thickened when he got annoyed.
“I had my shadow.”
“I wouldn’t brag about that if I were you.”
“For your information, I’m doing an admirable job. Before yesterday, the only monsters I had to worry about were of the human variety.” I shot him a pointed look.
“There’s no way you didn’t know about dybbuks. You’re too—” He snapped his mouth shut.
Delilah puffed up behind me. “Oh, no,” I said. “Finish that sentence.”
The man crossed his arms, rustling the leather. “Old,” he said levelly.
My shadow bopped Wolfman in the nose with a swift jab. Ha!
The man pinched his nostrils together to staunch the bleeding, his emerald eyes glinting dangerously.
My amusement drained away, my magic swirling around my feet, ready to cloak me, but I’d hit the wall and I was out of fucks to give.
“Should we ever have the misfortune to meet again, get out of my way,” I said.
“Vraiment? Why?”
“I’m a woman in my forties who’s remembered how powerful she can be. Don’t fuck with me, Huff ’n’ Puff.” Head held high, Delilah and I sailed past him into the night.
