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I snorted softly. "No. It really isn't. I would have to suggest he knows we're onto him now." Dagen must have realised we would go looking in the database once we heard about him buying the Lair. That, or someone told him we were coming.
"This is bullshit," Jake growled.
“It is,” I agreed. "But at least we got out alive."
“Thank the gods for that but…” He waved a hand back toward the mangled newsstand. "We were supposed to do that. We're supposed to blow uphisshit. He’s not supposed to blow up his own shit to kill us. Who does that? It's fucked up."
I stopped and looked up at him. "You’re pissed because he blew up his own property, and you missed out on doing it?"
He looked like he was struggling to deny it. "A little bit," he admitted. "But mostly it's because he could have killed us. He could have killedyou."
"Pfft, I'm not that easy to kill," I said lightly. "He's tried twice now in two days and I'm still standing."
"It's the first bit I'm worried about." Jake ran a hand over his head. "He's tried to kill you. He's not going to go to all this effort and then just give up because he didn't succeed the first two times. He’ll keep coming until he succeeds. Or we get to him first.”
"At least he stopped me from eating those jelly beans," I pointed out.
Jake looked like he didn't know if he should be angry, or laugh in response to that. "I would prefer you to eat crap food than get blown up." He exhaled hard out his nose like an angry, fire breathing dragon. It was kinda sexy, seeing him like this. Furious, but alive. Especially the alive part. I’m fucked up, but I’m not that fucked up.
"Does that mean you're going to lay off on what I eat?" I asked.
"Nope," he said lightly, but immediately. "You might need to outrun him someday. Eating jelly beans would make it that much harder to do."
"Spoilsport," I teased.
“I still have mine.” Cooper’s hand trembled, but he held out a bag of jelly beans and one of chips.
“Shit gets blown up, but you hold on to the food?” Jake asked, disbelieving.
Cooper shrugged. “I guess I had them in my fist.” They were both somewhat crushed, but more or less intact. “I’m not hungry anymore.” He held them out to me, but Jake grabbed them first and dropped them in a bin as we walked past.
“We need a proper meal after this,” he said firmly. “All of us. Maybe steak.”
“I could eat steak,” I agreed. Like Cooper, I wasn’t actually hungry either.
“Me too,” Ben agreed. He touched his head again, but the blood seemed to have dried already. That was fortunate. I would have insisted he see a witch otherwise. I might anyway. We couldn’t risk losing him just because of the way he felt about them.
“I guess I could try one,” Cooper agreed.
“Good.” Jake patted him on the shoulder. "Besides, Ivory is going to need another shower and change of clothes."
I looked at myself and grimaced. My nice white blouse was now streaked with dirt and the gods knew what else. My skirt had a tear in it from where I'd fallen to my knees. My hair was probably a mess. On the up side, my shoes looked undamaged.
That was a win.
They wouldn't stay that way very long if I saw Alistair Dagen in the next five minutes. I would probably stab my heels into his skull. Why not? My blouse was already messy, it might as well have blood and brains on it too.
"I feel like I spend half my life in this shower these days," I said. "And the other half ordering new clothes."
"What part about that are you objecting to?" Jake asked.
"Neither of them," I replied. "I was just saying, that's all."
"The shower seems like a good place for you." He gave me a steady look. "You might be safer in there."
"And a lot more naked," Cooper said. Apparently he recovered from his shock. There was nothing like talking about, or thinking about sex to make someone recover quickly. Especially a guy. Okay, and especially me. And all the other women in those delicious groups on social media. And…
Okay, it's pretty universal.
