“Don’t push me, Nolan. You know I can kick your ass five ways to—”
Fists fly, and before I can even track their movements, Nolanhits the ground. I’m fairly certain he swung first, but he’s the one with blood dripping from his nose.
“Asshole,” he says, holding his face.
“You’ll want to put some ice on that,” Benton says, totally nonchalant. Like punching people in the face makes for a completely average afternoon.
Nolan drags himself to his feet and brushes glass from his clothes. He still looks ready for a fight, but he doesn’t seem to like his odds. “This isn’t over,” he says, and turns to leave, shoving a second crystal ball to the floor on his way out.
I don’t release my sigh until the door slams shut behind him.
“Are you okay?” Benton turns to me and surveys the piles of shattered glass on the floor. “I can pay for the damage.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I hurry to the back room and grab a broom. Out of sight, I let out a shaky sigh. My hands are unsteady, and I press the heels of my palms against my eyes to keep tears from spilling out. I can’t keep doing this. I can’t stand this new reality, with Hunters lurking around every corner. I hate feeling so afraid all the damn time, hate not knowing whether Nolan’s a Hunter or if he’s just an asshole.
I force myself to take several deep breaths, letting the air’s calm soothe my anxious energy. I return to Benton, who I find directing an older woman away from the broken scrying tools. He takes the broom from me and sweeps up the glass. “Please let me cover the damages. At least one of those was my fault.”
I start to object, but the look on his face has me nodding instead. Besides, it’s not like the cost matters to him, not the way it would to anyone else our age. “Thank you,” I say, and he smiles. I kneel to hold the dustpan in place, and from this angle,I notice a bruise blooming along his jaw. “Did Nolan actually land a punch?”
“What?” Benton’s hand goes to his face when I point. “Oh, this? No, it... I had that tournament a couple days ago. Took second place because of this hit.”
“Second place is still pretty badass.” I stand and dump the glass into the trash. “And thank you again. For helping with Nolan. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Anytime, Walsh.” Benton nudges my shoulder with his, and I get the feeling things are finally back to normal, that he’s finally moved on from his crush. “So, are we ready to go to the police? Between the video you sent and Nolan turning up here, that has to be enough evidence, right?”
I make a noncommittal noise, piecing together a different puzzle from the one Benton’s working on. Nolan’s the right height to be Veronica’s attacker, and he’s certainly athletic enough to be a Hunter. I need to update the detective about Nolan’s visit and see if he’s made any other progress in his investigation.
“Hannah?”
“Yeah?”
Benton tilts his head, considering me. “Is everything okay? I thought you’d be thrilled to catch Nolan.”
“I am. It’s just... I don’t know. It’s good to know who did it, but it still sucks that it happened at all, you know?” We take care of the last of the glass, and I lead Benton to the front of the store. “And you saw the SUV. That could be the same car that ran me and Gem off the road.”
“How is Gemma?” Benton asks, his cheeks flushing a bit pink.
I catalog his reaction to share with her later. “Better. She got out of the hospital yesterday, but she’s going to miss months of dance.”
“She must be crushed. I’m glad she’s okay, though. That both of you are.” We squeeze by a tourist examining the shop’s rune collection. “We should try to link the crash to his car, then the police won’t have any reason not to believe us. We could drive by his place tomorrow and check for damage.”
“Morgan and I are going out tomorrow, but if you want to go without me, we can meet up the day after to review?”
Benton smiles. “That’d be great. I think I’ll stop by the police station tomorrow, too. I can hold off on telling them about Nolan, but I want to know if they’ve made any progress on the fire,” he says, sounding more nonchalant than I’m sure he feels about his near-death experience. He reaches into his pocket. “But first, let me pay for this.” He holds up the tags from each of the broken crystal balls.
I smile. True to his word to the very end. “Sure thing.”
When we clear the shelves and the register comes into view, the line is three people deep. I slip behind the counter to help ring up purchases. Benton waits patiently at the back of the line, handing over the tags with a self-conscious smile once he gets to the front.
“I’ve got this.” I send Cal to greet the new customers coming through the door and take the tags from Benton. “One ten twenty-eight,” I say, and Benton swipes his card like he’s buying a five-dollar coffee and slips it back into his wallet.
Lauren appears in my periphery, in deep blue robes today, leading her latest tarot client to the exit. She swings by the register on her way back through the shop. “How is everything goingover here?” she asks, her eyes lingering on Benton, who’s loitering at the counter without any obvious purchases.
“Great.” I pump a proper customer-service level of enthusiasm into my voice. It’s clearly artificial, but it’ll have to do. “Benton was kind enough to pay for the crystal balls I broke.” I shoot him a look, hoping he reads my request to hide the fight from my boss.
“She didn’t break them. At least not on purpose.” Benton turns and flashes Lauren a smile. “I startled her.” He covers so seamlessly I could hug him.
Lauren returns the bright expression. “Well then, for your good deed, how about a complimentary tarot reading?”
