Page 37 of A Shade Too Far
8
The men collided,sending them sprawling onto the floor. Laurent’s shoulder clipped the edge of the toolbox and though I winced, his only reaction was to pinch his lips tight and knock the thing out of the way.
It flew into the fridge, rattling bottles inside.
“That’s enough,” Daya snapped.
Naveen straddled Laurent and slammed a punch into his jaw.
The shifter didn’t retaliate. He didn’t even defend himself, keeping his body loose and open to injury.
Naveen stood up. “Fight me,” he growled.
Laurent pulled himself into a seated position, his knees drawn into his chest, and touched a finger to his bloody lip. His eyes were clouded with hurt and betrayal, which made no sense.
Delilah hovered behind me, her vibrations echoing my anxiety. Naveen hadn’t known about Laurent’s magic and instead of waiting for a time when tempers were cool, Laurent had dropped it now at the worst possible time? We needed Naveen’s help. Tatiana’s life was in danger.
And why wasn’t Laurent defending himself?
“He doesn’t owe you answers,” Daya said,
“His silence is answer enough.”
Daya winged her brother in the shoulder with a plum from the fruit bowl.
“Back off.” The ferocious glower Naveen turned on her was probably nightmare fuel for more than one demon, but his sister merely winged another piece of fruit at him.
Naveen grabbed a fistful of Laurent’s shirt and hauled him to his feet. “You’re a B—”
I swung my chair into Naveen’s back, knocking him off Laurent, but the Brit roughly shoved me away and I hit the counter with my tailbone, the chair clattering sideways to the floor.
Laurent swung his head my way, his eyes darkening and his fingers turning to claws.
“No,” I whispered. If he shifted to defend me, this would get so much worse.
But I didn’t have to worry, because when he looked at Naveen, he morphed his fingers back, his eyes dull.
His refusal to fight caused an angry flush to dot Naveen’s cheeks. With a roar, the Brit snatched the wrench out of the toolbox and raised it over his head.
Daya got to her brother before either me or Delilah could, jumping in front of him and forcing her brother to pull his swing with a sharp twist away.
He lowered the wrench, and a long, hard, wordless look passed between them.
Naveen’s shoulders slumped and Daya closed her eyes with an expression of relief, but it was a fake out. Her brother sidestepped her and punched Laurent, snapping the shifter’s head sideways under the force of the blow.
I gasped and Delilah puffed up, grabbing the discarded fridge panel. It was one thing for Naveen to be an ass to me, but to turn on Laurent?
Anger bladed through me. I was so done with this.
But then Laurent groaned, rubbing his head, and Naveen froze. His eyes were wide and horrified, looking down at his hands and back at his bruised best friend.
My shadow dropped the panel though we both watched warily for any hostile move.
“You told me you’d been trained by a Banim Shovavim to detect and kill dybbuks,” Naveen said, not caring that he’d split the skin on his knuckles with that last punch. “Not that you’d—” His voice cracked, and he sounded as battered as Laurent looked, but although he still held the wrench, the fight had seeped out of him. “What are you?”
“He’s the same man he’s always been,” I said. With the fight over, my adrenaline had worn off, leaving me with the pain from when Naveen shoved me into the counter. I rubbed my lower back against the sting.
Laurent glanced at me, almost wistful, then his chin notched up in challenge and he advanced on Naveen. “How do you think I can kill dybbuks when no other Ohrist can? I took on Banim Shovavim magic in addition to my Ohrist powers.”
