Chapter 22
22
romance gold
“Are you sure about this?” Chris glanced up from his laptop, where lines of code scrolled faster than my caffeine-addled brain could process. “This plan seems...”
“Perfect?” I suggested, precariously balancing on a stepstool. I reached up, hanging another string of paper hearts across Wilde Brew’s front window. “Brilliant? The best plan ever planned? The most amazing trap to ever trap?”
“Uh, yeah… No. I was going to say risky . Also, maybe get down from there before you fall and ruin the whole mission by breaking something important. Like your neck.”
“Everything worth doing is risky.”
I stepped back—carefully, because Chris wasn’t entirely wrong about my tendency to break a bone or two—to admire my handiwork.
If Wednesday thought it was bad before, the shop now looked like Cupid’s Pinterest board had exploded after a glitter factory accident. Pink and red decorations covered every surface, twinkling in the afternoon light like tiny beacons of love.
It was equal parts delightful and horrifying.
Once again… the perfect trap.
“Besides,” I went on, “The Valentine Villain targets couples in love. What better bait than the vigilante’s girlfriend throwing a Love Day party? I’m extra in love. Over the top full of love.”
“You’re full of something, all right,” Chris muttered under his breath.
I cupped my hand around my ear. “Sorry, what was that?”
“I said you’re a little too giddy about being serial killer bait,” he blatantly lied, but I caught the worry underneath his snark.
I tossed him a reassuring smile as I added an extra sparkly heart to the display just because I could. “That’s my superpower. Inappropriate cheerfulness in the face of certain doom.”
From his usual corner nearby, Jax made a sound that might have been a laugh—though he’d probably deny it if asked. “You’ve got a lot of superpowers, Menace. Making danger look like fun is just one of them.”
“Aww.” I bounced over to him, planting a smacking kiss on his cheek. “That was almost sweet.”
His eyebrow lifted in that piratical way that never failed to make my heart skip three beats. “Almost?”
“Well, you’re still speaking fluent Grumpy Cat and looking like that while you say it, so...” I gestured at his general... everything. The black hoodie, the way he’d positioned himself to see all entrances and exits, the barely-concealed weapons I knew were hidden on his person.
He caught my hand mid-gesture, pulling me closer with the slightest hint of inhuman speed. “I don’t brood.”
“I didn’t even say it that time!”
But, yep. Yes, he did.
“You would have if you’d kept talking.”
Also, probably true.
But, since that reckless display of superpowers made my knees weak and my mouth too dry for a comeback, I decided to let it slide.
Sighing contentedly, I settled against him, enjoying the way his arm automatically wrapped around my waist.
Chris cleared his throat loudly. “As fascinating as this rom-com moment is, can we focus? The trap is set for tonight, and we need to go over the details one more time. We’re going to have a ton of couples showing up, and unless you want someone other than you guys to be tonight’s main event, maybe you can get it together and stop flirting?”
I shared a look with Jax, and he released me. Then, I dropped into the chair across from Chris. “Are you okay?”
He shrugged, then he turned to Jax. “How do you deal with this all the time?”
Jax blinked at Chris like he’d just asked the world’s most confusing math question. “What?”
Chris sighed, rubbing a hand over his face before looking at Jax again. “All of this… how do you deal?”
Jax still looked thrown, so Chris elaborated, his usual snark taking a backseat for once. “It’s a lot. Taking down a truly bad guy like The Villain. Knowing people’s lives are at risk, and not just random civilians, but people you actually care about.” He exhaled, shaking his head. “You’re used to going after guys who don’t have a reason to come after you personally. But The Villain? He’s probably been stewing since you and Luna got away. And now we’re just... offering you both up on a silver platter?”
I frowned at that—not because he was wrong, but because I didn’t love having it phrased like that. “We’re not helpless, Chris,” I pointed out, glancing at Jax for backup. “Right?”
But Jax wasn’t looking at me. He was still watching Chris, his expression unreadable. Then, finally, he spoke. “This isn’t something I’ve ever had to do before.”
That stopped me short. “Wait, what?”
Jax shifted his gaze to me for a brief moment before turning back to Chris, hesitating, almost like he was choosing his next words carefully. “Yes, I’ve taken down some truly bad guys before. Even a couple of killers.” His voice was calm—matter-of-fact—but there was something behind his eyes, something deeper that I couldn’t quite place. “But I’ve never had people I cared about in a killer’s crosshairs.”
My stomach clenched, but I kept my mouth shut.
Chris didn’t. “So, how do you deal with it?”
Jax exhaled, rolling his shoulders like he was settling something in place. “Same way I deal with everything else. I make a plan, and then I make sure I’m faster, smarter, and better than the guy trying to commit a crime. Or, in this case,” he said, pausing to lock eyes with me, “trying to take what’s mine.”
The weight of that last word settled over the table like a silent vow, and I barely stopped myself from launching across it to kiss him senseless.
Chris wouldn’t like that, I was sure of it.
But, holy mic-drop.
My cousin let out a slow breath, nodding like that was enough for him. “Okay. Good talk. Now, while I have your attention because I feel like I’m about to lose it again?—”
I whipped my head in his direction, throwing up my hands. “Really? You’re still throwing shade after hearing that? That was romance gold, Christopher , and we’re about to use all that mushiness as bait for a serial killer. Give us a break for not wanting to die before we have a chance to fully express ourselves.”
I sighed as Chris ignored me, telling myself it was time to tone it down.
But my obnoxiousness couldn’t be helped. This was some serious stuff, and if I wanted to live in a metaphorical love boat for a bit longer?
That really shouldn’t be a crime.
“I’m gonna get a few hours of sleep before tonight,” Jax said as he stood, packing up his stuff.
“Your sleep schedule shouldn’t be physically possible,” Chris muttered.
“I think it’s another power,” I said, winking at Jax. “He only needs a few hours at random times throughout the day.”
“Oh, kinda like your phone’s relationship with its charger?” Chris teased, ducking when I scooped up some stray heart confetti and tossed it his way.
“Menace,” Jax said, low in my ear as he leaned over me.
I looked up. One of his hands was on the back of my chair, and the other was on the table, and I swore there was something about his artful looming that made prepping for a killer party seem way less fun than being wherever he was.
“You should do that, too,” he said. “Go upstairs and rest for a bit before it’s time for your appearance. It might be a long night, and the plan is locked down.”
I started to tell him I would, but then I started thinking about our plan—and the timing of my appearance. I zoned out, staring at nothing. We had it all worked out, and the blocking would need to be perfect so that The Villain could?—
“Luna?” he prompted, dipping his head into my line of sight. “Did you hear me?”
“Yep. I should get a few hours in. In a bed. Long night ahead,” I said, wincing as the instant replay rolled through my mind. “And, for the record, none of that was meant to sound like it probably did.”
Jax’s lips twitched as he kissed the top of my head, and then he left the shop so I could let my paranoid cousin run through the plan again.
Okay, to be fair? That little space-out moment with Jax was the reason Chris wasn’t the only one who wanted to keep going over things until we were sure it was on lock.
And by the time the sun began to set, I’d lost my opportunity to take a nap. In two hours’ time, people would be arriving for my late-night coffee shop event, and now it was time to get pretty.
But on the bright side, we knew the plan front-to-back. Or was it back-to-front?
Whatever, it would work out perfectly, and I couldn’t wait to take this sucker down.
But then, Chris’s rhythmic typing suddenly stopped, and I looked over to find him blankly staring at his screen.
“What is it?” I asked.
“This isn’t good. Really not good.”
“Chris?”
“I just found something in an encrypted folder that I thought was damaged beyond repair… Wait. You know what? It doesn’t matter. Just look.” He turned the laptop with a rough jerk, pointing at what he wanted me to see. “The Villain... he’s been watching us. All of us. ”
Ice slid down my back as I stared at the surveillance photos. There were dozens of them—me at the coffee shop, Jax coming and going, the two of us together.
But the worst ones?
They showed Jax in his Blade gear, entering his building through the roof access.
“He knows,” I whispered. “He knows who Jax is.”
Chris clicked a new image—one that had bile rising in my throat. It was of Jax on the street outside my building. And judging from his suit, it was the night of our fancy date. His suit jacket was open, and he was looking down… as if counting the glinting knives that were sheathed on the inside.
“And I think this means he knows we’ve been trying to trap him for a while now.” Chris ran a hand through his hair. “Luna, this changes everything. We need to?—”
I fumbled for my phone. “Yep, calling Jax.”
But there was no answer.
Of course not—he was probably still asleep.
“I’ll head over and wake him up,” I said, standing. I shot him a text with a warning just in case he saw it before I made it across the street. “You stay here and?—”
“Luna, wait.” Chris grabbed my arm. “We should stick together.”
“His building is literally across the street. I’ll be fine. Just keep digging into… I don’t know, computer stuff.”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Text me the second you get there.”
“Will do.”
I headed for the door, mind racing. If The Villain knew who Jax was, and if he knew about our trap... we needed to regroup.
We needed a new plan—and fast, before someone else got hurt.
The street was eerily quiet as I jogged toward Jax’s building, and even the air felt different—heavier somehow, like it was intentionally trying to slow me down.
I was halfway there when I saw it—a shadow moving too fast, too purposefully, and in my direction.
Jax.
But something about it was different, and brief as it was, my training kicked in. I turned, ready to fight—or even to run. Only before I could even blink, something sharp pricked my neck.
I hadn’t even stood a chance.
The world tilted sideways, and my last coherent thought was that Jax was going to kill me for not staying with Chris.
And then, everything went black.