Chapter 13
BECOMING AN HONORARY SUPE
PARKER
Van narrowed his eyes at me.
And let me tell you, his eyes were scary as fuck.
What had happened to his eyeballs? Were they literally on fire? And if they were, why was he so calm? I was sure a flaming eyeball or two should hurt like a mother. But he was acting like nothing was wrong. If this was a normal, uh, situation for him, how had I never seen it before?
I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. It was like I was in a horror movie. If I took my eyes off his, God only knew what would happen next. Would his face melt off? Would his jaw open unnaturally wide as he tried to swallow my head?
“Are you finished panicking now?” Van asked.
I winced. Yeah. Laughing in Levi’s face hadn’t been my best moment. I needed to make that up to him later. But if I explained about the gnomes who’d been dancing jigs in my head, maybe he’d forgive me. Fuck, I hoped so. Because I really needed to kiss him.
My next fantasy about him was going to involve this office and that desk and… Phew. Was it getting hot in here? What had we been talking about again? “Uh… Yeah? But…” I waved toward his face. “Are you?”
Van’s forehead crinkled, betraying his confusion.
I waved at his face again. His eyebrows lifted as if he suddenly understood.
He blinked a couple of times and drew in a few deep breaths.
The fire ebbed until his eyes no longer looked like they were trying to cook his brain.
The flame was a mere flutter in his dark, but more human-looking irises.
“Do you need some painkillers?” Although would painkillers be the right treatment for burning eyeballs? “Or would an ice cube be better?”
“I’m fine.” Van dismissed my concern.
It didn’t look fine, but who was I to judge?
Levi shuffled by the office door again with a broom and a dustpan. His gaze flicked to mine, then away.
“So, what do you need to know?”
“Do you mind answering some questions?” Van motioned for me to sit in Levi’s chair. It also happened to be the one furthest from the door. I’d boxed Levi in the same way, so I understood the tactic. That was okay. I didn’t have anything to hide. At least not now that my erection had faded.
I sat. Van didn’t.
“Do you plan to harm any supernatural being?”
Okay. We were diving right in. “No. Of course not. ”
Van inhaled deeply. The flames in his eyes brightened for a moment before fading again.
“Did you invite supernatural hunters to our community to harm supernatural beings?”
“No. And I really don’t think they’re hunters.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
“Do you know if your grandmother, cousin, or their friends plan to harm anyone in Willow Lake?”
“No. Why would they? Fin and his friends are here on a lark…”
“And your grandmother? Why is she here?”
Now I could feel my cheeks heat up. My gaze darted to where Levi stood on the other side of the broken mirror. How awkward. I rubbed my face.
“Please answer the question,” Van prodded.
I sighed. “Fine.”
I told him the same thing I’d told Levi.
How I sensed something was off. How I’d mentioned it to my grandmother.
I scratched at my arm as I spoke. Just thinking about that tingling feeling I got in the pub sometimes made me itchy.
“She came because she thinks, in her words, that something is hinky. When she first got here, she said she suspected you guys might be in the Mafia.”
Of course, that wasn’t all of it. She’d also decided to play the role of unlikely matchmaker, but hopefully I didn’t need to say that aloud in front of Levi.
Van’s lips twitched like he was fighting off a grin. “And your cousin and his friends?”
“She called them up and told them to come.” I sighed. “She wanted them here to use their equipment.” I elaborated a little more, based on the few things she’d mentioned.
As I spoke, Van scribbled in a small notepad. When he finished, he looked up at me. “Will you keep our secret? Can you promise not to tell them or anyone else about supernatural beings?”
“Yes. Of course.” Now that I understood better what was going on in Willow Lake, I had no problem seeing why keeping the secret would be important. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure what I could say to my grandmother or my cousin to get them to leave.
“Do you know why someone broke into Levi’s house?”
“What?” I sat up and looked for Levi for confirmation. He wasn’t there. I’d seen him outside the door a few seconds ago. Where was he? “Levi? When did that happen?”
Levi popped his head up on the other side of the wall that’d once held his window.
“Why didn’t you say anything? Were you there? What happened? Did they steal anything? Wait—” I turned my attention back to Van. “You can’t think that Fin or Nana had something to do with that…”
Although now that I said it, hadn’t I been worried about Nana doing that at the Willow Lake Inn last night? Had she left earlier last night than I’d thought? Had she stopped by Levi’s before heading toward the pub?
Van leaned forward. “What are you thinking right now?”
I snapped my mouth shut. No way was I giving up my family, not until I knew what had happened .
Van narrowed his eyes, eyes that were once again blazing like mini-bonfires in the middle of his face.
“No one took anything,” Levi offered. “All they did was leave those bugs or whatever they’re called.”
“Jesus, Levi…” I whispered. “Someone is listening to you? In your home?”
My heart pounded at the realization of what could have happened if Levi was right and Fin’s friends were hunters. I covered my mouth with a trembling hand. Would someone really want to hurt Levi? Hell no. No one, absolutely no one, family or not, was going to hurt Levi. Not on my watch.
“When did it happen?” I demanded.
“Sometime after I ran into you last night…” Levi shrugged.
“So, it wasn’t my grandmother. I heard her leave, and she wouldn’t have had time to go to your place and get out to the inn.” I rubbed my chin. “And she didn’t leave again after we got back.”
I knew that because I’d placed a piece of tape across the exterior door, high enough that she couldn’t reach it.
It had still been in place this morning.
She’d taught me that trick. And she certainly could have seen it, but she was too short to have reached it without standing on a chair or a stool.
She’d have needed to haul a chair down the steps to get it.
Then, because the landing was narrow, she’d have had to move the chair back up the stairs to open the door.
And she’d have had to do the same thing all over again when she returned.
I would have heard something if she’d had to do all that.
I blew out my breath. Okay. That was better than it could have been. But that still left Fin as a possibility. Or his friends. I hoped it was his friends and not him. Except if it was his friends, that meant they could be dangerous. My head was going in circles now.
“Okay,” Van said with a nod. “I believe you.”
Van plopped down in one of the other chairs. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how he’d been looming over me. He smiled and kicked his feet up on Levi’s desk.
“So, you and Levi, hey?” Van asked as he pulled out his phone. From this angle, I could see he was looking at his calendar, but I wasn’t close enough to read what it said. “Damn it. My day is two days from now.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“The bet at the pub.”
“The bet at the…?” Then I realized what he meant. “Someone has a bet going about Levi? And me?” Okay. My voice might have squeaked a little at the end there.
Levi groaned loud enough that I could hear it from the other room.
“That’s why no one told me,” Levi muttered. “I should have known.”
“Of course you should have.” Van nodded. “I just hope Paws doesn’t win again. He’s insufferable enough as it is.”
“Who is Paws?”
“That fat calico cat that hangs out at the pub. He’s…” Van shrugged. “I don’t know exactly what he is, but he’s magical. And he’s powerful.”
That cat who I thought was a stray. And Clive and Warren were cats, too. That was weird, right? So many cats? “Levi is a minotaur, I know that, but what are you? Are you a cat too? Is it rude to ask?”
Levi snorted as he walked by with a trash can. He glanced into the office and his gaze caught on mine. He was smiling and his eyes crinkled at the sides like I’d said something funny. Thank God. Maybe he could forgive me for laughing. Because I really hadn’t meant anything by it.
Van wrinkled his nose like he’d smelled something bad. “No, I’m not a damn cat. I’m a hellhound.”
I scooted my chair back a little.
Van rolled his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, uh, nothing…” I brushed a bit of lint from my pant leg.
“I can tell when you’re lying.”
“Really?” Wait. Levi had suggested as much, hadn’t he? Oops.
“Although I would have been able to tell even if I hadn’t scented the lie on the air. You’re clearly uncomfortable.”
“Yes, well… I don’t need to be dragged off to underworld today, thank you very much.”
Van rubbed his forehead. “Hellhounds don’t…” He shook his head. “You know what… There is going to be a lot you don’t know. I guess I should give you a break. But I will say this. Hellhounds are usually considered the good guys.”
Levi poked his head into the room. “That’s true. They can scent lies, but they can’t tell them. Lies make them uncomfortable.”
“You should get in touch with Jeremy,” Van said. “He recently learned about supes too. He can probably help explain things from a human perspective.”
I barely hid my grimace. Jeremy seemed like a nice enough guy, but he was… a little, um, exuberant. I wasn’t sure if I could handle talking to him for a long time, let alone turn to him for answers. But maybe I was being harsh.
“Hayden can help too,” Van continued.
“My mechanic?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Van nodded. “He’s our alpha.”
“Alpha?” I couldn’t hide my disgust.
In my experience, guys who called themselves alphas were assholes. What was that meme always going around on social media? Something about an alpha version being untested and problematic, the first version of something that would ultimately need to be improved before it was fit for purpose.
Levi walked by the office with a mop and bucket next. He glanced at me and stepped toward me like he wanted to fix whatever was bothering me. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Hayden is an alpha?” My disdain dripped from that last word. “I totally misread the guy.”
“Yes…” Levi nodded slowly, like he still didn’t see the problem. “He’s our alpha. Why is that a problem for you? Have you met other alphas? I didn’t think you knew about supes until today.”
“Alphas are…” How did they not know this? “I mean, people call them alpha-holes for a reason, right?”
“That must be a human thing,” Van said. “For us, alpha signifies a kind of local community leader. And, sure, some of them can be assholes. But that’s like anyone, right?”
“You should think about calling him something else.” I shuddered. “I didn’t get the whole toxic masculinity vibe from him, but…”
Van and Levi wore matching looks of confusion. Okay. Obviously, this was a me problem.
“Never mind.” I waved my hand through the air.
“Do you have any other questions?” Van asked as Levi swished the mop over the floor.
I shook my head. “Not right now, but I probably will have some questions later. Finding out supernatural creatures are real wasn’t on my bingo card for this year, but I’ll figure it out.”
But not on my own. I’d figure it out with Levi’s help. Yep, I would be just fine. Particularly if he forgave me for laughing. And it’d be even better if I could talk him into kissing me.
Levi grunted at my words and hauled his mop and bucket away.
“Okay.” Van nodded. “We’ve asked Levi to get close to Fin and his friends to find out what they know. Can you help with that?”
Spend more time with Levi? Sign me up!
Did this mean I was an honorary supe now?