nice,” I muttered as I glanced at the electronics store just as the teenagers fled. They were laden down with looted items. One of the employees grabbed a fleeing looter by his collar and pulled him to the ground, punching him hard in the ribs.
Someone stepped in front of me, blocking my view. The man who attacked me was back, his bloodshot, crazed eyes informing me he was ready for round two. Was he nuts? I’d just burned his forehead with my hand, and he’d decided to come back for more?
Something seriously wasn’t right here.
He advanced on me, and I dodged out of the way, dropping the shopping bag I’d been carrying. I turned on my heel and dashed through the mêlée of combating shoppers. The man gave chase. I could hear him grunting behind me, so I ran faster, my lungs burning.
I ran for at least ten minutes and the bastard was still chasing me. This was getting ridiculous. I abruptly stopped and turned around to face him.
“Back the fuck off,” I warned, voice hard. My tone seemed to shock him out of his anger.
He blinked and shook his head, as though trying to rid himself of a daydream. He peered at me, at my face that was likely sporting a bruise thanks to his fist, and his expression clouded with confusion.
“I—I’m so sorry,” he mumbled. “I don’t understand ...” Then he trailed off, shaking his head and running his hands over his face.
“Sorry for what? For beating on a woman you don’t even know, or for the man back there who you almost killed?” My indignation consumed me as I took a step forward to confront him.
“I don’t know why I did that, why I hit you … I just felt so … angry.”
Something definitely wasn’t right about all this. Something was rotten in the state of Tribane, and I’d be hard pushed to believe it didn’t have something to do with the Sorcerer Theodore being back on the scene.
“You’re lucky I haven’t decided to call the police. Go home and say a prayer for the man you beat up. Oh, and perhaps call an ambulance for him while you’re at it.”
As I spoke, I could already hear sirens approaching in the distance.
The man continued staring at me, bug-eyed. I shook my head, turned, and limped away. He’d kicked me in the skin and ankle, and I was hurt, but I could get Rita to whip up one of her healing remedies.
Lately, I’d been hanging out at Nicki’s a lot, but she and her girlfriend just left for a six-week trip to Europe, so now my only option for avoiding everyone was to sit in cafés people watching or mindlessly browse through bookstores. There were way too many people around Finn’s place these days, one of whom happened to despise me. I wagered it would be a long time before Ethan forgave me for what I did. If ever.
Every time I thought about him my heart clenched painfully.
He was hard to avoid, too, since he started renting a house across the street from Finn’s place. Ethan, Delilah, Dru, and Lucas were living there while we maintained our strange alliance. Cosy, right? Well, it would be if they all didn’t think I was the biggest bitch to ever grace the planet. Delilah was the only one who tolerated me.
Ethan hadn’t spoken a single word to me since he showed up at Finn’s house. Hell, he’d barely even spared me a glance, and it cut like a knife. I just wanted to go back to the way things were, but that wasn’t to be. Delilah said that when it came to betrayal, Ethan didn’t let things go, and boy, was she telling the truth.
It was dark out when I finally got home. I slotted my key into Finn’s front door, hearing chattering coming from the kitchen. When I stepped into the hallway, shrugging out of my coat and hanging it on the banister at the end of the stairs, I picked out two voices.
Rita and Ethan.
It was all I could do not to roll my eyes.
Ethan had been doing his utmost to get close to Rita lately. The bastard knew she was powerful. I think he also knew how much I liked her and that’s why he was laying on the charm. He was trying to lure her away. Just one part of what was sure to be a thorough and complicated revenge sequence. I didn’t even have it in