“Fuckin’ A,” the other man snarled. “I’ll beat your ass, Stevens!”
They both got up and I got out of the way fast—I didn’t want to be in the middle if they decided to start pounding each other before they got to the parking lot.
“But before you go,” Lachlan continued. “You will both give Emma every bit of money you have in your pockets and wallets.”
“What?” I turned to stared at him with wide eyes. Lachlan only winked at me, one corner of his mouth turning up in his familiar sarcastic grin.
“You heard me,” he said to the bikers, who seemed to be hesitating. “You want to give your waitress all your money. Think of it as a tip to pay for your rudeness.”
“Yeah. Yeah, we gotta give her everything,” the first man muttered.
“You’re right—and then go beat each other up,” the second man agreed.
I watched with wide eyes as the two of them emptied their wallets and pockets, leaving a pile of bills and change on the table in front of me.
Then they went out into the parking lot and began pounding each other, landing heavy blows that could be heard even through the plate-glass windows.
Naturally, this fight got the other bikers out of the I Scream and onto the pavement. Some of them screamed for more, while others tried to separate the two combatants. Either way, everyone was finally out, leaving nothing but dirty dishes in their wake.
“Oh, thank God you guys came when you did!” I threw my arms around both Lachlan and Bran at once, pulling them into a three-way hug.
They hugged me back and for a moment I let myself feel safe between them.
“Are you all right, Emma?” Bran asked gently. “We had the feeling something wasn’t right, so we came before you called.”
“I’m so glad you did!” I pulled back and looked up at Lachlan. “How did you do that?”
“They were already fascinated with you,” he replied, shrugging. “All I had to do was work a bit of suggestion into the spell you’d already laid.” He nodded at the pile of money on the abandoned table. “Take that—I’m pretty sure you earned it.”
I picked up the wad of cash—debated giving it back—and thought better of it. Lachlan was right—I had earned it. Those guys had been creeps—grabbing me like that! As far as I was concerned, they both deserved to lose their money.
I put the wad in the front of my apron without counting it just as Joey came out from the back where he had been flipping burgers and making fries all night.
“Hey, what’s going on? Where did everybody go?” he asked, frowning.
“Joey, maybe we’d better shut down now,” I said as my boss squinted through the window to see the fight. “They’re getting kind of out of control out there.”
“Think maybe you’re right,” Joey nodded. “Did most everybody pay?”
“Uh, yeah.” I thought of the wad of cash in my apron pocket and felt kind of guilty again. Some of them had definitely paid more than others. But then I looked down at the red finger marks that still hadn’t faded from my wrist and felt less guilty. What exactly might those two have done to me if Bran and Lachlan hadn’t come along when they did? I might have been in real trouble!
For the first time, I began to understand that being Fae-level gorgeous in the human world wasn’t exactly safe.
“Okay, we’re closing down,” Joey said, interrupting my thoughts as he locked the door and turned the sign in the front window around to “Closed.”
“You want me to stay and help with the dishes?” I asked, looking at the tables still stacked with dirty plates and silverware.
“Nah, I got it.” Joey shrugged. “You go have fun with your friends. I’ll see you later.”
“Thanks.” I wasn’t sure if he was letting me go because he was fascinated with me or if he was just being nice but either way, I was taking it. The I Scream diner used to feel like a safe space to me but at the moment, I felt like I might literally start screaming if I had to stay there one minute more.
Giving a hand to each of my guys, I nodded at Joey and we left, going out the back to avoid the knock-down-drag-out that was still going on between the two bikers and their shouting, jeering friends.
49
“That could have been bad, you guys. Really bad,” I said, as we sat on one of the overstuffed couches of the Norm Dorm later.
It was late and everyone else had gone to bed. But after taking a warm shower to calm me down and putting on my “jammy-britch” as Kaitlyn and Megan and I called our long, soft nightgowns, I found I still couldn’t sleep. I had put on my warm pink fuzzy robe and slippers and come back out into the common room, intending to make some tea or hot chocolate.
There I had found Lachlan and Bran sitting on one of the faded blue sofas in front of the fire and talking in low voices. They had both looked up and seen me at the same time. Without speaking, they had moved apart, making room for me between them.
I had taken their silent invitation to sit and then, somehow, the words came pouring out.
“I mean, those guys were talking about…about taking me away with them,” I said, feeling sick. “And who knows what they…” I swallowed, having a hard time forcing the words out. “What they would have done to me after they got me out of the diner? I mean, it’s not like Joey could have stopped them and nobody else would have either. If you two hadn’t come along when you did…”
“Hey, Emma, it’s all right,” Bran soothed. He reached out to cup my face and brushed something away from my cheek—which made me realize I was crying.
“I…I’m sorry,” I told them both, sniffing. “I’m just so…so tired of this! It used to be my dream, being noticed by guys and having everyone think I was pretty. But now it’s turned into some kind of a nightmare. I wish I could just go back to being plain old Emma who was invisible to everyone!”
“You can never go back, little one,” Lachlan said gently. “I’m sorry—but once the geas was stripped away, it took every bit of your anonymity with it. You shine—even amongst the Fae—and people cannot help noticing it.”
“Can’t you put it back somehow?” I begged him. “Can’t you make me look dull and uninteresting again?”
He shook his head.
“It’s hard to explain but since you’ve had such a powerful spell removed, another spell in the same category won’t stick to you anymore. I’m afraid I can’t hide your beauty, Emma.”
“But this is dangerous!” I protested, pointing at my face. “It could get me killed!”
“Not as long as Lachlan and I are around,” Bran growled with a menacing frown. “I would have killed both those mortals tonight just for touching you but Lachlan stopped me.”
“I thought it might be better to try magic before violence—though the two do sometimes coincide,” Lachlan said dryly.
“But that’s the thing—I don’t want to have to depend on the two of you always being around,” I said. “Not that I don’t want to have you near me—actually I do—I really, really do.” I cleared me throat, feeling my cheeks get red with the admission. “But it’s just not always going to be possible. I mean, not out in the regular world—the human world—anyway.”