two offer.”
The pair turned to leave, but the larger of them slowed as he neared me. “You the witch who survived the grouslie attack last night?”
“Keep it moving,” Musso yelled, getting up from his seat. I’d never seen Musso mad before. It transformed his older face into something less gruff and friendly to more of a hard edge. I suddenly realized Musso wasn’t someone you’d want to mess with.
The guy who’d questioned me raised his hands. “Sorry! No harm. We’ll be going.”
They made sure to get a long look at me as they did.
“How does everyone know already?” I asked Zab the second they were out the door.
He was watching them pass by the window as he sighed. “There were the clients here when you came in. Then people saw me and Musso out hunting last night, plus there was a hell of a mess outside the Sweet Shop. We were asking people if they saw anything weird. We had to give some details. Word must’ve spread.”
Three more people walked past the windows and went to open the door. Again, none of them were recognizable as the usuals that got work here, not that I knew all of them. Still, they had a different look about them, almost as if they walked a different path, a darker, shadier one. Proving my gut right, they scanned the office until they found me.
I had a few options: A. I could sit here and let them all have their stare. B. Go hide in my room or the back room, afraid to ever walk out of this place again. Or C. I could toughen up, go get some air, and let the entirety of Xest see I’d survived—the ones who knew who I was, anyway. I was starting to think that number was growing quite large these days.
“I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back in a few.” I grabbed my jacket from the hook it always hung on, realizing it wasn’t going to be that much of a walk with the stiffness.
Musso nodded. Even Belinda gave a little shrug.
Zab got to his feet. “You sure?”
“Yes. It’s not like I’m never going to go outside again.”
“But maybe you should wait until Hawk is around,” he said, as if I’d be attacked by another herd of grouslies the minute I walked out the door.
That got Belinda’s head up with a good healthy jerk.
“I can’t stay inside unless I have Hawk to hold my hand. You said they were gone. It’s broad daylight, with a lot of people around. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll go with her,” Rabbit said, rushing to grab her jacket from the hook.
I wasn’t sure I necessarily wanted company, but I didn’t exactly mind it either. It would be nice to have someone to run for help if those grouslies came for me again. Rabbit might not be able to do much for me, being a Whimsy witch but she could sure scream loud enough.
“See? I have an escort,” I said, smiling at Rabbit and then Zab.
“Hang on,” Zab said. He dug into the petty cash box and flipped me a few coins. “If you’re going out, you might as well have that cocoa you didn’t get last night.”
“Thanks. See you in a bit.”
29
The shop window had an array of teacups and saucers, but I couldn’t really see any of it. The only thing my brain would process was the need to get out of this place. How could anyone live in a place where monsters appeared out of snowdrifts to eat you alive? What if the next time it wasn’t a warning?
And why was it that Rabbit was moving even slower than me when I was the one who’d gotten mauled?
“They’re all getting their fill checking you out,” Rabbit said, also not paying any attention to the teacups displayed in the window.
“I need to get back to Salem.” If Salem wasn’t an option any longer, I’d find somewhere else that was safe. Anywhere but here. The second I got comfortable, bad things happened.
“You will,” she said, but she didn’t look as positive as the words she’d uttered.
There was a pause as we both pretended to study the china display while everyone looked at me.
Rabbit put a shoulder to the window frame, a little less color in her cheeks than this morning.
This was a better time than any I’d had yet. I needed to know if something was wrong. Weren’t we close enough for me to ask? To push a little?
“You know, Rabbit,