Free The Dead (The Thaumaturge Series Book 1) by Cal Matthews Page B

wouldn’t notice my implication. “I mean, if you ever need to get away, or need help...”
    She paused, her eyes searching my face. “He doesn’t hurt me, Ebron.”
    I exhaled the breath that had felt too hot in my chest. Thank God. The last thing I wanted was to go busting in on their domestic issues.
    “Okay,” I said. “But you can still call, three a.m., whatever. It doesn’t matter.”
    This time her smile was genuine. “Thank you, friend.”
    “Anytime,” I said, and leaned back into the booth as the waiter arrived to set our plates in front of us.
    The arrival of the food broke up the heaviness of our conversation and we slipped easily into light town gossip. The diner filled up a little, but I lost track of the people around us, just content to be wrapped up in our friendship bubble. Then Dahlia’s phone rang and she fished it out of her purse.
    She made a face as she read the text. “Ugh, sorry, love,” she said. “My one o’clock came early. I got to get back.”
    I glanced reflexively at my half-eaten lunch and Dahlia made an apologetic face. “Stay and finish,” she said, already waving to the waiter and calling for the check. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
    “Okay,” I said. “Thanks, Dalh.”
    “Drinks next week,” she leaned over to kiss my cheek and then she was gone in a flurry of spicy perfume and clicking high heels. I watched her out the window as she hurried down the sidewalk, her chin tucked into her tightly crossed arms. I waited until she disappeared from view before letting my eyes wander back up the street.
    I wouldn’t have noticed them if the car hadn’t pulled away from the curb. A Toyota blocked them from view, and they huddled up against the brick wall of the bar across the street. But the movement of the car drew my eye, and as it pulled away, I saw them.
    Corvin. And one of the women, the redhead. And they were definitely watching me through the window of the diner. I was certain about that, even as my eyes fell on them. I felt a chill run up my spine and spread across my shoulders and I started with enough force to make the table shake under my clenching hands.
    Through the dirty glass, Corvin met my gaze with a triumphant smile. They both dressed in black, wearing long dark coats, and against the grayness of the day they looked like skulking crows.
    My teeth clenched and I snarled through them, the chill quickly replaced by anger. My instinctive reaction was to bolt out of the booth, get over there and confront them. I didn’t like his stupid fucking hat and I didn’t like him sneaking around my shop and my town, watching me eat lunch.
    Some part of my brain chided me for my overreaction, for my paranoia, while the rest of me urged me to just go out there and beat the shit out of the little fucker. I imagined his smug face crumbling as my fist connected with his jaw, imagined how good it would feel for his lip to split against my knuckles.
    I took a deep breath, and then another, and when I looked back out of the window Corvin and the redheaded woman were gone, the sidewalk where they had stood empty except for the swirling leaves. Taking a deep breath, I picked up my Rueben and finished eating.
    I got back to the shop right as it began to snow again, light flakes blowing in on the north wind. It felt good to just plop down right onto my stool by the window, with my coat still pulled up to my chin. I let the silence of the empty store relax me, the hum of the heater lulling me into peace.
    Corvin’s smug face floated through my mind. Maybe it was a coincidence; maybe he’d just happened to be across the street, with no ulterior motive. Yeah, maybe, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been watching me, that he’d been trying to scare me. Or unsettle me, at the very least.
    I didn’t think I was imagining it. There had been something in his eyes, some sort of challenge that I didn’t understand. Certainly it was possible – probable even - that