Page 84 of Magic and Muffins

Griz sighed. “Everly and Vena, you two pack up the perishables in the main fridge. I’ll clean the kitchen. Anchor, you take the office upstairs. Cross, can you check over the bars and throw out anything perishable in those refrigerators? Give it a wipe down as well.”

We all split up. While Griz cleaned, Vena and I started packing boxes with stuff from the kitchen fridge. Some of it needed to be thrown out already, but most of it was still good. Once we had several boxes waiting by the back door, we checked the storage room.

“I think everything will be good in here for a while,” I said. “Let’s take what we have out to the SUV.”

Propping the door to make it easier for us, Vena headed out with the first box. As I was picking up a box from beside the door, I heard a shout and looked up. A group of protesters descended upon Vena, who was standing at the back of the SUV with the tailgate open.

“Werewolf lover!” someone yelled.

A man ripped the supplies from her arms and started throwing the contents at her. Dropping the box I was holding, I ran into the chaos, yelling her name, then Anchor’s.

I briefly lost sight of her as I reached the outer ring. The guy whose shirt I pulled on in an attempt to get him to move turned on me and shoved me back. I stumbled and fell on my ass hard enough that it felt like I broke my tailbone, and all the soreness of the sex-a-thon I had with Shepard came roaring back.

A booming growl filled the air.

Everyone stopped moving.

I twisted around to see Anchor storm out of the building. He knocked down people like they were bowling pins and he was the ball. Those still upright backed away in a hurry, giving me a clear view of Vena on the ground. She was sitting awkwardly, holding her arm.

My friend, who barely ever cried, had tears in her eyes.

She looked up at Anchor. “I think my arm’s broken, babe.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got you now,” he said, picking her up gently. Any softness he had was for her alone because, when his gaze swept the crowd, it held pure murder.

“Do you see the man at the top of the building?” he asked.

Everyone turned to look at the building, but there was no one there.

“Thanks for looking right at the security camera,” he said. “Everyone here can expect a call from the police.”

“Who are on their way,” Cross said, appearing beside me to help me to my feet. He faced away from the camera and flashed the protesters his black eyes and fanged teeth.

The crowd scattered.

“Did you have to do that?” I asked as his face went back to normal.

“It was for their own good,” Cross said simply. “Maybe they’ll think twice next time.”

“You can’t fix dumb,” Griz said. “I doubt it did any good.”

“I’m going to take Vena to the hospital,” Anchor said. “Can you give the police the footage?”

He didn’t wait for an answer because, of course, we’d do what was needed. I watched as he gently put Vena in the passenger seat of the SUV and secured her seatbelt. He ran to the driver’s side and hopped in.

“I hope she’s okay,” I said.

Cross rubbed my back for a moment.

“I’ll get the footage and let Shepard know what happened,” Griz said.

While he did that, Cross and I cleaned up the mess in the parking lot and resumed clearing out Blur. The police arrived just as Cross and I put the rest of the perishables in the back of Griz’s car.

He handed over the footage. “You can see they started it, and everyone’s faces are clear.”

“Once we ID them, do you want to press charges?” an officer asked.

“I’ll leave that up to Shepard, the owner, and Vena, the woman who was hurt,” Griz said, passing Shepard’s business card to them.

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