Page 124 of A Shade of Myself
A jaywalker caught my eye, but it was just a woman with her dog.
I nodded at the receptionist inside. “I didn’t count on civilians. Prioritize their safety. If you have to leave me to get them out of harm’s way, then do it. That includes keeping the twins safe.”
“That’s not much of a plan,” Emmett groused.
“No shit, but it’s the best I’ve got. I have one shot at Edvin and if I blow it, then it turns into a fight that we’re not equipped to have.” I paused. “Are you going to be all right?”
“I can handle myself,” he said testily.
“I mean… Jude spoke with you, didn’t she? Can you control going into prophecy mode?”
He shook his head. “If it happens here, you’re on your own.”
I hadn’t thought about that, but I nodded. “I doubt that’ll be the case, but if it does, just take care of yourself.”
“Okay, Mom.” He scuffed his foot against the ground, but a small smile played on his lips.
I waited until the receptionist disappeared behind the curtain before quietly letting us inside.
With its low light and light blue walls, the space felt more like a spa, complete with soft music involving wind chimes. I wrinkled my nose.
The woman returned holding a stack of charts, but not seeing us, she sat down at the reception desk.
Tugging Emmett with me, and grateful that we’d trained to walk silently together while hidden, we tiptoed closer in time for me to see her fire off a text. Two minutes to go time.
She was one of the Carpe Demon people. Whatever plan they had was already in motion and we were walking straight into it. Fuck.
This was about to get a lot more complicated.
The door opened and Gigi and Edvin entered. He shook out an umbrella.
Gigi looked even worse than the last time I’d seen her. Her sunken eyes stood out against her white yoga clothing and runners. “I’m Lotta Krause. I have an appointment with Steve.”
The fake receptionist stood up. “He’ll be with you in a moment. Why don’t you start your warm-up on the exercise bike?”
Edvin helped Gigi take off her coat, hanging it on the coatrack while she headed for the bike. He checked his heavy gold watch. “I have errands to run, my love, so I’ll be back in forty-five minutes.”
Gigi gave him an absent smile.
The fake receptionist coughed, facing the window.
I summoned my scythe, dropped the cloaking, and swung at the demon’s head.
Something knocked hard into my back, and I stumbled sideways, my swing wild.
Gigi screamed and scrambled off the bike.
Another operative charged through the door, joining the psionic receptionist who’d chucked a chair at me and was now closing the blinds.
I was grabbed from behind and lifted off my feet. “Emmett! Put me down!”
“It’s not me.” He was restraining Gigi from rushing to Edvin.
I kicked backward into the person’s shins.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Clea hissed in my ear. “Please pick the hard way.”
Her grip was unbreakable, and I swear she weighed less than me. “Let me go, She-Hulk.”
