In the blink of an eye, I’m on my feet, ripping my sweater off. The animalistic roar that comes out of me echoes down the street. Hunter windmills his arms, gathering his power, readying another attack.
He thinks he can take me down? The little prick has another thing coming. I’ve got a trick he’s never seen before.
I charge toward him at a blurring speed. Before I get close enough, he slams me with his power and I’m knocked into a brick wall like a rag doll. My ribs bruise on impact.
Instead of letting me down, he holds me up. With this much distance between us, he’s got the upper hand. I can’t get close enough to slash him or show him my special trick. What I need is for him to come closer. Then I’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.
“Why don’t you come say that to my face?” I taunt.
Hunter draws near.
“Hunter, stop it,” Red hisses. Her arms still wrapped around herself, she’s smart enough not to physically get in the middle of this.
“No, no, let him,” I insist. “He’s clearly pissed your grandma trusted me over him. He’s only been training to take care of your legacy since, what, childhood? And he was passed over because he couldn’t cut it.” I may have done some digging after Goldie tipped me off about this wet blanket. While Red worked behind the bar, I got on the web and found more than enough.
Hunter’s cool demeanor has a crack in it, and I intend to wrench it all the way open.
“You shut your filthy mouth,” he warns, barely restrained rage flashing in his eyes. Perspiration breaks out on his forehead and neck in little beads.
“I bet they charge you with shit like watching the flour and sugar, rather than give you any real responsibility.”
“I said, shut your filthy mouth,” he repeats.
That’s it, little boy. Come closer.
That’s when Red steps between us. “Hunter, stop.”
Dammit Red, get out of the way. I just need him half a foot closer.
Hunter continues to stare at me hatefully over her shoulder, but he’s stopped moving.
“I’m better than him, Red,” he says, voice tight. “I can do this job better than him. He shouldn’t be here.”
“The glamor mage got away,” she points out.
I search the streets and realize he’s had plenty of time to get away. Well, chain me up and call me Fido. This has been a massive fuck up.
“That’s not my fault, it’s his,” Hunter insists, and I can tell he would be on me if she wasn’t standing in the way.
“You’re the reason I was almost taken,” she says quietly, calmly.
Hunter's brown eyes jerk to her. His face pales, and his arm shakes as he works to keep me restrained.
“I thought that was you.” Red points in the direction the glamor mage split. “I thought you wanted me. I was ready to follow you wherever you wanted to go. You, or the fake you, said we should try to work things out.”
And she was ready to go with Hunter. I feel something sharp under my ribs. For a minute, I think Hunter is still using his power against me. But that’s not what it is. Red’s words are having that effect on me.
He’s instantly flustered. “Red, you’re . . . we can’t . . . you’re human and I’m . . . ”
What the fuck did he just say? Did he just imply he can’t be with her because she doesn’t have magic? If I wasn’t restrained, I’d tear out his jugular right now.
“I know,” Reds says, her voice even quieter than before. “But you’re a weak spot for me, and that’s why you need to go. Unless . . . ”
“Unless?”
“Unless you were following me here because there is something you want to tell me?” She sounds hopeful. “Unless you mean it this time, and we can be together for real.”
Hunter takes a step back from her. The fucking idiot.
