Chapter 14
THE PLAN
LEVI
I dumped my bucket of dirty water down the toilet and wondered if anyone would notice if I left by the back door. Returning to my office to face Parker was the last thing I wanted to do.
Our friendship had changed today. Irrevocable damage had been done. I had panicked. Even now, my lungs weren’t quite working the way they were supposed to. My chest hurt. Dizziness swirled through me, like the water draining out of a toilet bowl.
How could he ever respect me now? Was his laughter hiding fear? That’s what humans did sometimes, right? Instead of screaming or fainting, they laughed.
I didn’t think I could handle that. And I also didn’t want to stick around to find out if I was right.
I tucked the bucket and the mop into the janitorial closet and debated my options.
I sighed. As much as I didn’t want to face Parker, I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew for sure what he was thinking.
I washed my hands and dried them as slowly as I could.
Now what? I couldn’t think of a damn thing to delay going out there any longer.
I opened the bathroom door and jolted in surprise. Parker was standing right outside. I glanced around but didn’t see Van.
“You were in there a while.” Parker studied me. “I thought I should check on you.”
I shuffled around him and made for my office again. “I should be the one checking on you after everything that happened today.”
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t the one hiding in the bathroom.”
“Where is Van?”
“He left,” Parker said, following right behind me.
I entered my office, but it didn’t feel as comfortable as it had before. It was too exposed now. Too open. I was going to have to get someone in to fix that too, wasn’t I? Wasn’t it bad enough I already had lock people and camera people coming?
If I rearranged the furniture in the reception area, would it help? A nice little maze. I didn’t have the space to make it too big, but a few extra obstacles wouldn’t hurt.
Jasmine was watching me, cataloging everything Parker and I did. The whole town probably already knew Parker could see under the Eternal Magic’s glamour now.
I rubbed my forehead. I hadn’t had enough sleep to deal with this shit.
“So…” Parker said, glancing over his shoulder at Jasmine before looking back at me. “Van mentioned something about you wanting to get close to Fin so you could find out more information. ”
I frowned. “Why would he go and tell you something like that?”
Parker frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t you trust me?”
Now it was my turn to frown. “It isn’t that.”
“What is it?”
I gritted my teeth. How was I supposed to keep him safe if he became more involved? I couldn’t. And I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to him. I’d already survived something like that. I couldn’t do it again. Nope. “You need to stay out of it.”
“I can get closer to them than you can. It makes sense that we work together.”
I heaved out a sigh. “Parker, you don’t understand…”
Parker’s face changed from the frown to something softer.
He uncrossed his arms and stepped closer.
“I care about Willow Lake and everyone who lives here. I care about you. I know I’m new to all of this, but my feelings aren’t new.
I really don’t believe we’ll discover anything bad happening.
Fin isn’t a killer. And my grandmother, well…
She’s unpredictable, but she doesn’t let prejudice guide her.
She’s the most straightforward, no-nonsense person I’ve ever known.
She’d never condone killing someone because of something they couldn’t control, like the color of their skin or their sexual orientation.
Now, if it’s something they choose to do, like be a fucking bullying asshole, well, all bets are off then. ”
“But…” I sputtered.
“But…” Parker nodded as he placed his hand on my arm. “I know. We don’t know anything about Tammy or Ky le. It is a risk, but I can’t ignore this. I can’t step aside and pretend I don’t know there might be a problem.”
My eyes were burning, so I closed them. I couldn’t look at his earnest face.
“Levi,” he whispered as he squeezed my arm. “Look at me. Please. Good. Now, listen to me.”
I held his gaze and nodded.
“Have you ever wondered what you would have done if you’d been there during those horrible moments in history?
How you might have acted? If you would have been too scared to do anything?
Or if you would have tried to do something…
anything …?” He cleared his throat. “I know this isn’t quite the same thing, but I can’t pretend the people I care about might be at risk because I inadvertently brought a bunch of potential assholes to town.
I need to do something to make this right. Let me help.”
“This isn’t your fault. Hunters…” My voice cracked. “They hunt. It is what they do. With the magic changing here so much lately, they probably would have come eventually anyway. And this isn’t your fight.”
“I can decide for myself if something is my fight or not,” Parker said. “Just because I’m not a supe doesn’t mean I want horrible things to happen to supes.”
I stared into his eyes. I knew he meant what he said, but he didn’t understand the risks. Not really. He hadn’t seen what hunters could do. They acted outside the law. They got away with things. Sure, the Supernatural Council worked to contain them, but they weren’t always successful.
“You don’t understand. They hunt supes, but if they think you’re a supe sympathizer they won’t hesitate to hurt you too.
” I clenched and unclenched my fists, wishing I could grab him and shake some sense into him.
My gaze darted around the room, searching for anything I could use to make him understand.
I came up empty. Every curse word I’d ever learned in my very long life clogged my mind until I felt light-headed.
“I understand you’re worried.” Parker’s soft tone nearly undid me.
I wanted to rail against him because he was underestimating the danger.
“I know this is a difficult situation, made worse by your past,” he continued.
I grunted in surprise. How could he know that?
“I don’t know what happened to you,” he answered. Shit. Had I said that out loud? “But I can tell it wasn’t good, based on how worried you are. But I’m in a unique position to help. Let me. We can do this together.”
I needed a maze. A really, really big one. And I was going to take Parker into the heart of it and never let him leave.
“They could kill you, Parker.” I damn near choked on the words. “Don’t you understand?”
“And how do you think I’d feel if they killed you and I hadn’t done anything to stop them?”
I shook my head. “I can’t let you risk yourself like that. Please. Don’t do this…”
“I’m doing this, Levi.” Parker narrowed his eyes. “If you don’t go with me, I’ll do it myself. I won’t let anything happen to you or anyone else in Willow Lake. I may just be the guy who owns the local café, but I’m not useless. ”
Ice-cold fear slashed through me. “Parker, no…”
He crossed his arms again as he skewered me with an assessing gaze. “So, are you with me or not?”
FUCK!
The word detonated in my head like an atomic bomb.
Parker wasn’t the type to give up or shy away from difficult things.
Before he’d ever set foot in Willow Lake, he’d purchased a business here.
He moved here on his own without knowing a single soul, and somehow, he’d thrived.
When he was losing at a game of pool, which admittedly was rare, he had a knack for rallying and coming back to win.
If he really was set on getting involved, nothing I could do would deter him. If I was going to keep him safe, I had to be with him. And Parker had to be kept safe. I couldn’t let anything happen to him. I would sacrifice myself a hundred times before I let someone harm him.
“Well, I can’t let you do it alone,” I muttered.
A pleased grin broke over his face. “That’s the spirit! So how should we do this? I’ve been thinking about our cover story…”
I shook my head, but he just plowed on.
“I think we should pretend to date. That way they won’t be surprised when we show up to things together.”
“I…” I gaped at him. “Um… What?”
His plan echoed what I’d been thinking in the middle of the night, but to have him suggest it…
“It isn’t like anyone would be surprised. Nana already thinks…” His words tapered off and his cheeks darkened. “Well, um, you know what? Never mind what my gr andmother thinks. Anyway, what do you think? It’s a good plan, right?”
Magic help me, but I couldn’t think of a better one.
“Uh… I…” I swallowed hard. “I guess.”
“Excellent.” Parker rubbed his hands together. “Now, what should we do first? Go tell Nana we’re together? Find Fin? Invite everyone to my place for supper so we can get them in a social setting and see what they spill? Oh… Or should we practice the whole dating thing? You know. To be convincing.”
“Practice the whole what?” My eyebrows shot up.
“We could kiss.” Parker nodded, like that made perfect sense.
“Oh! Wait! Don’t kiss yet. I need to open my camera app,” Jasmine shouted from the other room. “I want to get it on video, right from the start.”
Fuck my life.