Prophecy (22 page)

“I hate today.” She shoved trash into a bag. “I think Buddy makes special arrangements to pocket our tips before the tour busses come.”

I knelt beside my dustpan, collecting lost fries. “I bet people don’t think about it. They pay up front with the order and assume they’re done paying.”

“I’ll give you guys a tip.” Buddy’s loafers came into view.

I wiped sweaty hair from my cheek and stood. Allison opened her bag for my pan of dirt and fries. The hour spent straightening my hair had been wasted. These days, the slightest amount of humidity set my natural frizz in motion, curling random pieces at the ends and near my temples. I had a tip for myself: stop ironing your hair. It didn’t make a difference.

“Oh, yeah? Share your wisdom, wise leader.” Allison taunted Buddy enough to make me wonder if she liked him. Except, he was Buddy.

“Don’t walk alone.” His eyes widened. He tipped his chin toward the ceiling and did a maniacal laugh. “Something wicked is out there girls.” He pointed at the window.

“Are you sure it’s not in here?” She waved her hands in front of her face like Oliver had earlier. “Boom.”

Buddy was unfazed. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The electromagnetic energy in this town is off the hizzle. Something’s going on around here. Have you seen the size of the crows?” He walked outside and shoved his hands into his pockets. Buddy was so weird.

“Electromagnetic energy,” Allison scoffed. “Crows?”

“He’s a ghost buster, remember.”

“Pft.” Allison tied the bag of trash. “Hey. Did you hear about Kristy Hines?”

“My mom told me this morning. She said there were two others this month and the other two went to Wells.”

Allison’s mouth fell open. “No.”

“Yeah. You need to be careful. I hate to say it, but I agree with Buddy about not walking alone.”

Allison smiled and averted her eyes. “Fine with me. I plan to walk with Ollie. He’s my new buddy system.”

“Really?” Oliver had looked irritated when I said the other victims went to Wells. “Okay. Details. What happened after I left Justin’s party?”

“I’d like to ask you the same question.”

“You first.” I cleaned faster, desperate to hold back everything I knew until I heard what she knew. My hands moved overtime, pushing the broom across the tile floor.

“Well, Ollie showed up after you left. He said you made it home safe. With Liam.” She stopped to make a shocked face. “He told me he came to keep me company.”

“And?”

“He made very good company.” Her cheeks turned scarlet beneath the dusting of freckles I rarely noticed until she blushed.

“Really?” I giggled. “How good is very good? What about all the cowboys who were falling at your feet when I went home?”

“Pft. What cowboys?”

Allison leaned against the counter and I joined her. Buddy sat on a bench out front with his back to the store. He looked at ease. I envied him. My insides were in knots.

She lowered her voice in conspiracy. “We walked through the field around the barn and looked at the stars and talked about the future. He’s wiser than he looks. I know he’s only a junior, but he’s an old soul, you know?”

Oh, I knew.

“He said he wants to be a warrior. Isn’t that a cool way to say it? In America, we call them soldiers. I guess it’s an Icelandic expression or something. His accent is so amazing. I could listen to him talk all night. I almost did. We ended up in the hay loft of Justin’s barn.”

Oh dear.

“I swear, when we were kissing, like really getting into it, he seemed to get bigger.”

I laughed.

“Shut up. I don’t mean like that. Well, that too.” She laughed with me. “It was dark, but kissing him was intoxicating. I felt like we were floating. I was so tiny beneath him. It was the best experience of my life.”

“I think
you
were intoxicated.” Oliver had gone all Norse demigod on her. I wasn’t sure how to deal with that. If he came out to her, I wouldn’t be alone in the world of light saber deaths and warring Viking clans. On the other side, knowing put her in danger like Liam and his family. For that reason, I hoped the barn scene was a one-time thing.

She curled the end of her ponytail around one finger. “Whatever. Your turn. What did you really do when you left? Ollie didn’t think you went to sleep. Neither did Justin. I practically had to restrain him so he wouldn’t follow you guys. I pretended you texted a couple times and were ready for bed. Alone.”

“Oh, jeez. I should’ve called Justin when I woke up.” I flopped into a chair. “I’m such a loser friend.”

“Please. He’ll survive. At least six girls fawned all over him the rest of the night. Your boy’s a big deal on the rodeo circuit, remember?”

Justin was a big deal to me, too. I checked my phone for texts. Nothing from Justin. I sent him a quick message.
Rain check on the sleep over?

Allison pulled up a chair beside me. “Did he kiss you good night?”

“Who?”

“Liam, duh. What happened after you left the party?”

The little bell over the door tinkled. Justin walked in looking at his phone screen. Buddy followed.

“I just got your text.” He stopped in front of me. “Wow. This place is dead.” Justin’s slow drawl warmed my heart. He wasn’t mad. He was patient, tolerant and exactly what the Hale family needed on their side.

“You should’ve been here an hour ago,” Buddy called from the kitchen. “It was madness. Glorious madness.”

Justin chuckled. “He’s a weird dude.”

“Let me recap the day we had until now.” Allison cleared her throat. “Welcome to Roll With It,” she chirped with cheerleader grade perk and a dorky smile.

I pointed at her. “Are you imitating me? I don’t sound like that.”

She kept going. “Can I get you a steak dinner or fish and chips without a roll because you can’t understand we only serve rolls
with it
?”

I laughed.

Justin pulled out his wallet. “I’ll take some chili, chips, and a soda. I don’t want a roll with it.”

“You know how she adores crowds.” Understatement of the century. “The tour bus came for dinner.”

“Ah.” Justin shoved a ten in the tip jar. “Does that help?”

Allison nodded with a more sincere smile. “Sorry. I feel edgy for some reason.”

So did I. Strange. Things were normal before Justin walked in. Allison accepted his additional cash as payment and moved in slow motion to the kettle for his chili. A gentle tremor played over her hand when she lifted the ladle.

“Allison?” I frowned at Justin and hoisted my tired body off the chair. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Mmm hmm.” She filled a bowl with chili and placed it on a tray. “Exhausted, I think.”

Justin led her to a table. “Here. Sit.”

I placed a bottle of water in front of her and looked at Justin. He shrugged.

“How much did you drink last night?” Mom’s endless nursing kicked in. “You might be dehydrated. Drink some water.”

Justin flipped a chair around and straddled it. “I hope Hale was a gentleman. I’d hate to make an enemy.”

If he only knew they’d soon be family.

I rubbed his back before taking the seat between them. “I hear you had plenty of friends last night.” Images of cowgirls vying for his attention made me happy. He needed a girl like that. One who liked mudding more than swimming and horses more than cemeteries.

“Those guys were pretty cool. I invited them to meet me here. I saw them when I pulled up. I’m not sure what’s taking them so long.”

“Wait. Who?” We clearly had two different groups in mind.

The bell clanked hard against the door. Adam walked inside and headed straight for Justin.

“Hey, man.” They did a complicated handshake. “This is a popular place to eat.” Adam looked pointedly at Allison.

I looked at Justin. “You know each other?” I stood and angled myself between Adam and Allison on instinct.

Justin raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. I met him last night. You two invited him to my place, remember?” If I’d grown a second head, Justin couldn’t have looked more confused.

The door sucked open again, sending the bell into a clanking battle with the glass. Four big guys in button-downs and tight jeans ambled in. They dressed the part of regular guys, right down to their selection of Converse and work boots, but I saw what my friends couldn’t.

My throat thickened with panic.

Allison leaned on the table, gaining a view around me. “I didn’t see you at Justin’s, Adam.”

“Well, we saw you.” One of the new guys cocked an eyebrow. An ugly sneer marred his otherwise handsome face. “All of you.” He dragged the word all out for three long beats. Runes peeked from beneath the collar of his shirt, climbing his neck to his jawline.

I bit my lip and slid my eyes to Allison. Her cheeks grew darker than the chili in Justin’s bowl. Justin gawked at her and then me. How far had things gone between her and Oliver?

Adam clucked his tongue at Allison. He turned to his friend. “What do you mean when you say you saw all of her?”

The sneering guy made a rude gesture with his fingers on both hands. An “okay” sign and a pointer finger answered my question about how far things had gone with Oliver.

“All right.” Justin bristled. “That’s enough.” He crossed broad arms over his chest. “What are you guys having?”

Adam laughed at Allison and faced the menu board without another word. This was happening. The Stians had found Justin and they planned to claim him before Liam, Oliver, and Mason could.

“I’d like to have a taste of what Hale had,” a meathead in the back of their group mumbled. He fist bumped the guy beside him. Bright runes curled over their wrists.

Allison ran down the hallway past the kitchen. A door slammed. The ladies’ room, I presumed.

I went to the register and glared at the motley crew. Something about the meathead’s posture changed my impression of him. He was calm and focused. While the others joked and generally acted like cavemen, this one watched, unmoving. His attention wholly focused on me. Heat crawled over my chest and back. How dare they humiliate my best friend? They’d spied on her and Oliver and bragged about it. What kind of creepy freaks did that?

Vikings.

Men who embraced carnal behavior, lust, arrogance, and power. They probably felt entitled to watch. My spine stiffened. They’d said Hale. They knew she was with a Hale. The hallway was silent behind me. I counted the heads before me, making sure no one somehow followed her when she ran. Oliver needed to tell Allison she was in danger. Making her forget wouldn’t keep them from coming for her now. She was marked.

“We’ll all have what our man Justin’s having.” Adam held a hundred dollar bill in my direction.

I made change and returned it to his palm, careful not to touch him.

“You haven’t seen Tony, have you?” He leaned over the counter and looked down my shirt.

I shook my head and pressed a palm to my collar. His eyes raked over me and his tongue swept over his bottom lip. “I wonder if he’d mind,” Adam whispered, almost to himself. His gaze climbed back to mine. “You’re magnificent aren’t you?”

“What are you doing?” Justin clamped a hand over Adam’s shoulder. “That’s my best girl right there.”

“She’s yours?” Adam didn’t bother hiding his shock. If he announced he’d watched me with Liam in the pool house, I’d knock him sideways with the chili kettle.

Justin squared his shoulder. “Yeah. She’s mine.”

Adam nodded. “Nice job.” He extended a fist to Justin.

“Make their orders to go.” Justin kept his eyes on Adam, his hand at his side. “We can eat back at my place. These ladies want to close up.”

We didn’t close for another two hours, but I could’ve kissed Justin for making them go away. I feared for him being alone with Adam’s group, but he had a better chance than Allison and me. We needed to stay out of their sights.

The bell on the door rang normally as I filled the to-go containers with chili.

“What’s up, Callie.” Kirk’s cocky voice stabbed through my heart. “You’re looking tight and tempting with a side of ‘I’m not ready.’”

His imitation of my voice boiled my blood. I kept filling soup containers. Kirk couldn’t even afford a ticket on the freight train of tragedy quickly becoming my life.

“Hey, Justin.” His highness turned the charm on the crowd behind me. “How you enjoyin’ my leftovers?”

Oh, crap. This wasn’t the time for Kirk’s tired lines. Justin had just told Adam I was his girl. I turned but didn’t see Kirk.

“The fuck!” he screamed from the floor on the opposite side of my counter.

Adam and Justin stared at one another. Neither paid any attention to Kirk.

“Oh my goodness.” I raced to Kirk’s side and hauled him off the floor. “Hang on.” I yanked a wad of napkins from the pocket of my apron and smashed them against his face to stop the bleeding.

“What The Fuck!” he screamed again.

“Sorry!” Could this day get worse? Five angry Vikings surrounded my worst love-life-slash-high-school-nightmare and poor Justin looked like someone had slapped him. What had happened while I ladled soup?

The Vikings mobilized, flanking Adam in attack formation.

Crap! I bit the insides of both cheeks and forced my mouth to do the unthinkable. “This is my giant ass of an ex-boyfriend, who promises never to bother me again.” I turned him for the door and shoved. Hard. By the look on his face, it took every ounce of what little self-control Kirk had not to fight the whole group of Vikings on principle.

His expression wavered. Blood soaked the napkins in his hand. I needed rid of Adam and his clan. Fast. Kirk walked to his truck, phone in hand. He’d text his posse of dicks to come for a brawl and my school would lose a few more students. He could rally the troops in minutes. I needed to clear the deli.

I ran to the counter and stacked containers into handled bags. “Here you go. Thanks for stopping by. See you soon, honey.” I kissed Justin’s cheek. “Text me.”

He nodded and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. I’ll take care of Allison and get rid of Kirk when he comes back with the guys.”

The group moved outside toting drinks, bags of rolls, and bowls of soup. Justin lingered behind.