Page 33 of Throwing Shade
“Neat, right?” the bald man said, in a mild voice. “Light refraction. I practiced for years to nail it. What’s your speciality?”
I floundered. What, was this like zodiac signs to Ohrists, comparing magic abilities? “I—uh—well—”
Laurent shook his head. “Why are you here, Rupert? Is there a problem with my tax return?”
“I—” Rupert blinked, his brows drawn together. “Is there a problem with your tax return?”
Laurent sighed and thrust the kitten at me. “Hold her.”
The cat hissed at me and I wagged a finger at her. “Stop it,” I said sternly. “Listen,” I said to Laurent, “if I could just have a minute—”
Laurent shifted one hand into wolf claws and slashed Rupert’s arm.
“Are you insane?” I said, and tried to muscle between them.
But instead of freaking out or yelling or doing literally anything that a normal person would do when some rando sliced them like Kobe beef on Top Chef, Rupert smiled slyly. “I’m going to kill you.”
Two balls of light appeared in his palm.
“Never mind,” I said, backing up with the kitten still in hand. Was this some kind of feud? What had I even walked in on?
Rupert flung the light orbs like a pitcher on steroids, his focus scarily intent.
Laurent flipped sideways, his knit cap falling into the grass, and messy chocolate brown curls flopping into the shifter’s face.
The light magic crashed into the side of the hotel, sizzling into the stone.
I flinched and shielded the kitten, so she wouldn’t be hit by a stray shard.
Rupert’s shadow looked normal, but he whipped off his glasses with a cackle worthy of a villain tying some helpless victim to the railroad tracks, and screamed in a deep rumble, “I shall destroy you!” before renewing his magic attack.
A little surprising, given my first impression of him.
Come to think of it, Alex had switched into a different personality that first night. I’d chalked it up to him dispensing with the game of seducing me into doing his bidding, but what if there was more to it than that? Focusing in on Rupert’s shadow, I felt that same abomination that I had inside Alex. While it was fainter in this man, I still itched to destroy it.
I could sense dybbuks.
I paced to the sidewalk and back, rubbing my cheek against the kitten’s silky fur. It was fine. This new skill set changed nothing about my plan and Laurent had this under control. It was his job. He’d dealt with the dybbuk inside Alex efficiently and this would all be over momentarily.
The shifter swept his hair out of his eyes and tsked Rupert. “That all you got?”
Huh?
Rupert pitched balls of light at him like the World Series was at stake, but Laurent danced backward on the balls of his feet, elegantly dodging the attacks. It would have been breathtaking if the dumbass hadn’t had a sneer on his face.
“Come on, do it,” he crowed at Rupert, then smacked his own chest. “Center mass, baby. Can’t miss.”
Why was Laurent baiting him?
This was ridiculous. I had laundry to get to, plus Jude was missing, and I had to hire him already, so I picked up a twig and lobbed it between them. It hit one of the flying orbs of light and disintegrated into a pile of ash and I placed my hand protectively over the kitten. “Could you shift and finish the dybbuk off already? I really need to speak with you and time is of the essence.”
Laurent shot me a “what the fuck” look.
Rupert toed at the ash. “I’m not a dybbuk.” There was a plaintive note in his voice, almost like he was hoping to be told otherwise.
Sorry, dude. Facts were facts.
I waved a hand at him. “Specter inhabited. Phantomly challenged. Plasma blaster. Your pick.”
