“He has a point, Boss Man,” I smirk at Wes, who shakes his head.
“Not happening. Everybody, out.”
We walk—or in Leith’s case fly, then trot—to Jewels Cafe. But at least the walk cools him down, so by the time we’re inside, he’s back to his normal self. Amber’s guys turn on the lights and fire up the equipment, while I send all our coats flying to the rack. I pull off my favorite trick, where our coats peek back out and wave for our hats, gloves, and scarves to follow, and earn some chuckles from my guys. Amber’s, too.
“Have I told you how amazing you are, baby?” Leith leads me toward one of the tables and pulls me into his lap.
“She is, isn’t she?” Ghost winks and sits down across from us. And sends his magic swirling into my bra.
I barely contain a gasp. Wouldn’t even try if we didn’t have an audience—and Leith wasn’t at risk of crazy shifting at the mere mention of breasts.
The smell of caffeine starts to permeate the room, and we all have our drinks and are sipping away and chatting happily by the time the door chimes.
“Look who we got,” Amber calls out, pushing in a stroller. And Mini follows her in, looking a hundred percent alive.
“You didn’t kill her,” I tell Amber. “I’m impressed.”
“Can’t say I didn’t come close a time or two.” Amber snorts.
“Very funny.” Mini rolls her eyes and then starts to coo at baby Nathaniel as she and Amber get him out of his snowsuit. “Who’s an adorable Nate? Yes, he is! Yes, he is!”
“Wow, that was unexpected,” I tell Amber, who shakes her head.
“You’re telling me.”
We all take turns playing with the baby until Xavi arrives.
“I got my job back!” he calls out, and we all cheer. Except the baby, who gets startled by all the noise, and starts to cry.
Mini soothes Nathaniel while Xavi plants a happy kiss on my lips and pulls up a chair.
“Congratulations,” I tell him softly. “I’m so glad you didn’t have to come up with a backup plan.”
“Ghost told you about that?” Xavi’s cheeks flush.
I shake my head. “He mentioned you had one, but not what it is.”
“Oh.” Xavi suddenly looks even more flustered. “It’s probably stupid.”
“Just tell me. Please?”
“I was thinking of writing a book about Shifter Bay. Maybe even starting a blog.” He rubs the back of his neck. “To normalize the sort of shifting I do.”
“I think it’s a great idea, Xavi,” I tell him.
“So do I,” Leith agrees. “People really seem to freak out every time I ice block.”
“Tell me about it,” Amber chimes in. “I shifted during the morning rush and made an old lady faint.”
“Was it your sister?” I tease, since she tends to shift into a grandmother.
We all laugh, and then go back to chatting and playing with the baby. Mostly Mini, who doesn’t seem to have eyes for anyone else in the room.
“I didn’t realize you were this into babies,” I tell her. “Maybe you could open a daycare? Or—”
“That is so not happening.” Mini rolls her eyes. “I don’t like babies. I just like this baby. How could his mother just leave him like that? I’m never going to leave you. Isn’t that right, Natey-Nate?”
I can’t help but smile. “You know you can’t keep him, right? Liam said someone from the system will be by to pick him up in the morning.”
“But he’ll go to Lupine’s orphanage until his dad’s out of jail, so I’ll be able to come visit. Maybe even foster him.”
“You’ll need a job first,” I remind her.
“And a place to live.” She lets out a dejected sigh.
“You can stay at my place till the end of the month, when the rent runs out,” I suggest.
“Really?” Mini perks up.
I nod. “I actually haven’t really thought about where we’ll all live,” I add with a look at my guys.
“Way ahead of you, baby.” Leith tightens his arms around my waist. “I got us upgraded to a suite at the inn.”
“And we were thinking we could start looking at houses?” Ghost adds. “Something big enough for all four of us.”
“That way we’re not paying rent on multiple apartments, and we don’t have to be apart,” Xavi adds, his cheeks flushing at the last bit.
“You don’t need to convince me.” I grin. “So Mini, until my rent runs out, my place is yours.”
“Did you hear that, Natey-Nate?” She ruffles the baby’s hair. “I have a surprise for you.”
“If it’s keeping him, that’s still a no go,” I tell her.
Mini snorts and reaches into her pocket. “This is Agent Tiptoe, Nate.” She holds the mouse up in front of the baby. “He helped us catch a thief.”
“You shouldn’t bring him near the baby,” Amber quickly steps in to intervene. “He needs to go to a vet and get all his shots.”
“Right.” Mini pulls her pet back, and her cheeks turn a blotchy red.
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush,” Amber says.
“Spell,” Mini mutters, her cheeks turning even more blotchy.
“You’d have to use one every day for that to work. How did you even afford that?”
“My mother.” The blotchiness hits epic levels. “She started buying them for me when I turned nine. She used to ship them to the academy, and then here, until…”
“I still can’t believe she disowned you because you couldn’t steal away my mate,” Amber snaps, and I realize Mini must have told her.
Mini reaches into her pocket, comes up empty-handed, and her eyes fill with panic. “I’m out of gum. Does anyone have gum?”
No one does.
“I need gum,” Mini whimpers, and her breathing accelerates. “It’s the only thing that helps.”
“With what?” I ask, but Xavi grabs my hand.
“She’s having a panic attack,” he says, and then he races into the middle of the room and turns into an ice block.
I glance at Mini, who whimpers as Agent Tiptoe scurries out of her hand. He races up her arm, settles on her shoulder, and nuzzles her cheek in a mousy kiss.
“What about a bubblegum-flavored drink? Maybe we could—” Amber starts to say, but then shifts into an ice block, too.
Mini gapes at the two ice blocks in the middle of the cafe, her breathing rapid and eyes wide.
“We learned a sweetening spell at the academy once,” Julian says thoughtfully. “I could probably make a unicorn hot chocolate taste like bubblegum.”
Which would give anyone a panic attack, but somehow makes Mini’s rapid breathing start to slow.
“Maybe I’ll just head to the apartment and pick up some gum.” I wiggle off Leith’s lap. “Or drive to the convenience store.”
“Puck,” Leith shouts, moving me out of the way before he ice blocks next to Xavi and Amber.
“Did they—are they—” Mini asks between rapid intakes of breath.