Chapter Seventeen: Claire
Claire could tell by his face that something was wrong. She felt a tug of worry in her stomach seeing him glance around her store like he was hiding.
“What’s wrong?”
“We need to talk somewhere private,” he said, never stopping to look at her. His eyes continued moving around, looking for something or someone.
“Okay,” Claire said, stepping back. “Go to my office in the back. I’ll meet you there.”
He kept his distance from the few customers in the store and went to the back. Claire didn’t release her breath until she heard the office door shut. She smiled, trying to regain her sense of calm for the customers. Humans, as imperceptive as they were, could sense when something was wrong. Even though they weren’t very good at discerning what was wrong or paying attention to all the signs that said magic was real, they always knew when to run.
“Is there anything I can help you with, ma’am?” Claire asked the older woman who was staring at the stone case like it was a puzzle she couldn’t begin to solve.
“Yes. I just can’t seem to decide which stone I want.”
“Well, I can help you with that,” Claire said, thinking it would be a quick discussion.
It wasn’t. It took almost ten minutes for the woman to hear the benefits of every stone Claire had and what one might use it for, only to decide she didn’t want to buy any of the stones once she heard the price.
“I just wanted a memento of Arkala today. My husband’s here on business, and I try to visit a little shop like this that’s different in every new city. Do you have anything a little more…” She paused, and then continued delicately, “A little less pricey?”
Claire wanted to scream, but she smiled graciously and showed the woman to the incense where, thankfully, she bought a pre-selected assortment of cones and left, taking a few business cards. The other customers were easy enough. A man looking for a book on spiritual cleansing and a woman looking to buy a new set of tarot cards, both of which she had in stock. Claire rung them up and followed them to the door.
“Have a great day,” she said with a smile, and flipped her open sign to closed. Whatever was going on with Desmond would get her full attention. She needed to know if he was okay and what she could do to help.
“Des,” Claire said, locking the front door and closing the blinds. “Desmond…” she called as she walked toward the back.
He didn’t answer.
“Yeah,” he said as she opened the door. “They had guns,” he said into the phone.
She sat down beside him and placed her hand on his leg in support as she listened.
“Frank, I’m telling you, something was off about the entire thing. It was like they knew I was there.”
Frank’s voice was muffled on the other end, so Claire couldn’t hear what was being said, but with each passing moment, she grew more worried. Desmond reached over, stilling her bouncing leg with his hand. She hadn’t even realized her leg was bouncing
“Yes. They were in a van, and they had guns. I know. I know, but I did. I shifted and followed them, and they knew I was there. Of course, I was invisible,” he huffed and yelled. “I don’t know!”
Frank matched his tone and voice because Claire clearly heard him yell, “Then why did you fly into the city?”
Claire didn’t need to hear much to know that was a very dangerous thing to do. Just based on the one-sided conversation, she could tell Desmond had done several dangerous things, things that she wondered if he could have avoided.
She stood to make herself a cup of tea. Her energy was all over the place. By the time she made two cups of green tea, Desmond was off the phone and waiting for her. She set the cups down and ran into his arms. His warmth was soothing. She took a deep breath, breathing in his cologne and his natural scent. It was spicy, like mirth and cinnamon.
“Please tell me what is going on.”
“I ran into those people Frank met a few months ago. The theorist and a guy I recognized that had been looking at stuff in your store a while back. They were in a van with weird telescopes, and I had to follow them. I was trying to figure out where they were going, and they knew I was following them. I could tell from how they were driving.”
“You shifted and flew in the city?” Claire said in disbelief.
Desmond sighed. “Yes, Claire. I had to.” Her face must have given away her thoughts because he continued. “I really did!” It wasn’t any more convincing than the first time, though.
“You know how dangerous that is,” she said, slapping his arm. “What if you were hit by a plane or something sensed you in the air?” She considered going on about the various dangers, but her mind shuddered away from them, and she couldn’t stomach the idea of listing even one more way Desmond could have gotten himself hurt. “I can’t believe you did that,” she said, slapping his arm again. “Are you trying to get killed? What’s wrong with you?” she said, moving to slap his chest, but he caught her hand. “I asked you to be careful. Was that too much to ask?” she yelled, pulling on his hold.
He pulled her into his arms, locking her in his hold until she relaxed, and kissed her forehead.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry,” he said, somehow knowing that she wasn’t mad but scared. She filed that thought away for later. Either he was being unusually perceptive, or he was opening up his senses so that he could monitor her emotional state. She could get mad about that, but it was awfully useful, and he clearly wasn’t reading her thoughts. She’d think about it later, though.
“But you did!” She heard her voice starting to get shrill and took a deep breath. “You made me worry, even though you told me you would be careful.”
“Claire, this is bigger than you or me. These guys are a threat to our kind. I had to do something. I couldn’t let them get away.” He leaned back so she could see his face. He cupped her jaw and leaned closer so she could see the sincerity in his eyes. “Not with those guns. What if they were coming here to hurt you?” he said. “I couldn’t live with myself knowing you were hurt and I could have done something to prevent it.”
“I never asked you to be my superhero,” she said without enough bite for him to know she didn’t really mean it. She didn’t want or need to be rescued, but she sure did need her man to be able to rescue himself.
“I know,” he said, leaning in closer. “You could never be a damsel in distress, that’s what I like about you,” he said, finally taking her lips. “But even warriors need help sometimes.”
She shrugged, not wanting to admit he was right. “I need you to be careful,” she whispered, before adding, “I’m not dumb enough to believe you’re going to stop pursuing this.”
He chuckled darkly. “And I love that about you.”
She could tell the exact moment when he realized what he had said by the sharp intake of his breath mere seconds after she’d made the same noise. Her eyes dropped, and she bit her lip, unsure of what to do.
“Claire,” he said, waiting until she looked back into his eyes. “It’s true. I do.”
“You love me?” He sure had a funny way of showing it, but then again, so did she.
He nodded and smirked. “Uh-huh. I’m crazy, aren’t I? Falling in love with a banshee like you.”
She slapped his chest and laughed. “You like all this crazy.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I love it.”
She felt her cheeks heat, and for the thousandth time cursed the ancestry that forced her to show every emotion on her skin. With that kind of signal, it was only fair that she admitted, “I love you, too.”
“You do?” he said, rubbing his hips against hers. “Because that wasn’t all that convincing.”
She giggled and said it again. “I love you, Desmond.”
“Oh, my goodness, what did I do to deserve such an honor,” he said, moving to kiss her jaw and ear. “You love me?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good. I love you, too.” Her stomach swooped like she was about to go over the top of a Ferris wheel. Even though it wasn’t the first time, it was still exciting, and she snuggled into his arms.
“How many times can we say it before we get annoyed?” she asked playfully.
“Knowing us? We’re not going to know until we’ve said it one too many times.” Desmond chuckled at her and whispered one more time, “And I love you.”
Claire giggled, content for the moment. Her man loved her and was safe in her arms right now. Anything else could wait until morning.