AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. Actually, I wouldn’t,” Lucinda snarled, advancing toward El.
Rose was stepping forward to go shoulder to shoulder with El when Emma joined them from the ladies room. “What’s going on, girls?” she asked as she rounded the corner. Then she saw Lucinda and the protective positions of El and Rose.
“Nothing we can’t handle,” El answered bitingly.
Emma glared pointedly at Lucinda. “Are you causing problems again?”
Lucinda gave Emma a scathing look. “I never cause problems.”
“Of course you do. You thrive on it,” Emma stated matter-of-factly.
Lucinda bared her fangs at Emma. “At least I don’t advertise the fact that I have filthy humans in my family.”
“ENOUGH!” Emma barked. “You and I are taking this outside. NOW.”
“Screw you, filthy human.”
Emma’s glare snapped to Lucinda. With a flick of her finger, Lucinda slowly began to kneel. By the strain on her face, it was obvious Lucinda was fighting Emma’s magic.
“We can do this here or outside; your choice,” Emma snarled into Lucinda’s ear.
“Out – side,” Lucinda forced through pinched lips.
Emma gracefully left the spa with a snarling, red-faced Lucinda in tow. Once out of sight of the humans and earshot of anyone on the sidewalk, Emma spun around. She put her hands on her hips and sighed. “Why do we need to have a conflict each time we see each other?”
“Because, you’re human and below all shifters,” Lucinda spat.
“Really? The last time I checked, I was a full shifter and had the ear of the Goddess. How does that make me below you?”
“Natural born shifters have always been the superior species. Humans are nothing but a filthy disease upon the earth,” Lucinda snarled, her eyes beginning to look a bit wild.
“I suggest you curb those opinions in public and leash that nasty tongue of yours before I cut it out.”
Lucinda threw her head back and laughed. “Try it.”
“You don’t want to test me, sister-in-law.” Emma’s warning glowed in her eyes.
“NEVER call me that!” Lucinda screeched as she leapt at Emma.
Emma was ready for her attack and held her palm out flat toward Lucinda. Instantly, the woman slammed into an invisible wall. Then she twitched a finger at her assailant, forcing her to her knees.
Lucinda’s eyes were rolling like a mad dog. Drool running from the edge of her lips. “Let me go, bitch.”
“Oh, you did not just call me that,” Emma growled and lifted her flattened palm toward Lucinda again, doing a hard pushing motion that threw Lucinda into the brick wall behind her. Lucinda slumped, out cold. With a sigh, Emma pulled out her phone and called Isaac to come and get his sister-in-law. She watched over her until Isaac arrived and, after explaining to him what had happened, she kissed him and returned to the spa.
*****
The sun was getting low in the sky and the men were still trying to piece together the changing table. It was standing upright again, but Cade was positive pieces from the crib had ended up being used by mistake. It didn’t look right and didn’t sit level.
“Are you ready to give up?” Stefan asked hopefully.
Thomas squinted at the instructions and then at the table and back again. “Not yet. Simon, could you remove the last three pieces we attached? I think that’s where we went wrong.”
“Stefan, while they try to figure that out, let’s pull the dresser pieces together over here in this open space.” Cade indicated an area along the wall.
Stefan heaved a sigh and joined Cade at the mangled pile of wood and hardware in the center of the room.
“Isn’t Anna due home soon? I’m pretty sure El said she would be back at the ranch for dinner. Maybe we should clean this up and hide it until tomorrow?” Stefan whispered to his older brother.
Cade looked at his watch and cursed under his breath; Anna was going to walk through the door any minute. “Thomas, we need to call it a day and clean this up before your mother gets home. We’ve done all we can today.”
Thomas frowned at the changing table once more before glancing at Cade. “All right. I hate to leave a job half done, though. How about we meet for coffee in the morning and finish this?”
