Riley the klutz strikes again!
“Sorry,” I muttered, feeling my cheeks warm with embarrassment. The waitress just smiled again and nodded, pushing my hands out of the way as she gathered up the spilled ice in the rag. Since my help was obviously neither wanted nor needed, I straightened and took a step back.
“You ready to order?” the man at the register asked again, though the stiffness of his voice clearly stated that he’d be much happier if I just stopped making a mess and got the hell out of his restaurant.
“Ah, no. I think I lost my appetite,” I said, backing away towards the rear entrance. His scowl deepened as I backed away slowly, watching me closely as I wove my way through the tables to make sure I didn’t cause anymore destruction.
Once I was halfway to the back hallway I turned and fled, rounding the corner so fast that I slid across the floor, careening into the wall with an “Oomph!” The guard standing at the bottom of the stairs smirked at my less than graceful arrival; I had no doubt his buddy in the restaurant had already filled him in on my little panic attack. Slowing to a walk, I lifted my chin high and carried on towards the stairs, refusing to let him see just how embarrassed I was.
“…has a right to know, Darius. You have to tell her,” Alyssa was saying as I came up the stairs, slightly out of breath and still red-faced.
“No, I don’t,” Holbrook replied, his icy tone leaving no room for argument.
“Tell who what?” I asked breathlessly, resting a hand on the doorframe.
They froze for an instant and then sprang apart like a pair of teenagers caught making out.
“No one. Nothing,” he answered, avoiding my gaze.
Alyssa frowned, pursing her kissable lips disapprovingly, but didn’t say anything else about whatever they had been arguing over.
“So, what happened?” she asked instead, pressing a gauze pad over the oozing mess of his palm.
“Glamour charm exploded.”
“Must’ve been pretty powerful.”
“Where would you even find something with that much juice?” I asked, keeping my distance.
“Are you asking me? Darius would know more about that than I would,” she replied with what looked like a spiteful twitch of her lips.
He frowned, audibly grinding his teeth. “No. I wouldn’t,” he said, glaring at her.
“Well…” Alyssa said slowly, wrapping a bandage around his hand. “There are several practitioners around town putting out glamour charms, but I can only think of a couple who have the ability to make one as strong as this one must’ve been. You’re looking for one of the Grave sisters. They sell their charms out of The Sage Brush over on Colfax.”
“Sage Brush. Colfax. Got it,” I said, still puzzling over the mounting animosity between them.
“Am I good to go?” Holbrook asked stiffly once Alyssa had secured the bandage with a couple of butterfly clips.
“Yes, you should be fine,” she answered with a sigh.
Turning away from him under the guise of clearing up the pile of soiled gauze, she tried to hide her face behind the fall of her hair, but I caught a clear glimpse of the hurt and disappointment on her face, and once again wondered what the hell had passed between them. Holbrook’s earlier spitefulness hinted at some of what might have happened, but I had a feeling there was more to their story than what met the eye.
Turning towards me, still refusing to look me in the eye, Holbrook collected his jacket from the bed I had occupied just the day before, and shrugged it on over stiff shoulders. “Let’s go.”
Dazed by his brusque manner, I fell into step behind him, and was already on the threshold of the door when Alyssa rushed across the room towards me, enveloping me in her arms.
“Be careful, Riley,” she said earnestly, squeezing me hard.
“Er, sure,” I replied, wondering at the tearful edge to her voice.
Hugging her awkwardly, I waited several moments before easing myself out of her grip. Offering her a halfhearted wave, I traipsed down the stairs after Holbrook who was already halfway out the door that led to the tiny parking lot behind the building.
“What happened to the take-out?” he asked as we settled into the SUV.
“Oh, ah…you know, I think I saw a rat in the kitchen,” I replied, feigning disgust as a shudder of fear ran through me at the memory of Samson’s face superimposed over my reflection.
Chapter 26