Page 13 of Moody as a Minotaur

Parker frowned as he trudged into the room. As I waited for him to approach the pool table like he always did, I plotted what I’d say to convince him to go home. But instead of coming over, he followed the paranormal investigators and the old woman to a table.

He didn’t look my way. What the hell was going on? Was he friends with hunters?

No. Parker wasn’t like that, was he?

I squeezed the pool cue until my knuckles turned white. The hair on the back of my neck quivered. I desperately hoped a partial shift wasn’t rolling over me. I hadn’t lost control like that since I’d gone through puberty, which was a long, long,longtime ago.

The gathered supes, as if finally realizing they were gawking at the new arrivals, jumped into motion and began loud, animated conversations. Yeah. We weren’t acting suspicious at all.

Parker furrowed his brow, as if aware something out of the ordinary was happening. He glanced around and when his gaze finally caught mine, a little smile curled over his lips. Oh, what his smile did to me. I hated it. I loved it. I didn’t know what to do about it. He nodded in greeting. I lifted my hand to beckon him over, away from the strangers, but he’d already turned away. He continued to the table where the hunters sat.

The young woman—Tamara? Terry? Tammy…? Yeah, Tammy, that was it—who’d been so surly earlier, had shed her wariness and was all smiles now. Gage’s magic must have worked to hide our supernatural energy, because she didn’t seem the least bit suspicious. Her cheeks were flushed as she waved her arms. Finley was nodding at her with an affable smile on his face. And Kyle, the one I hadn’t met when they checked in, was fiddling with some piece of equipment I didn’t recognize, so all I could see was the top of his head. His buzz cut left little more than a shadow of light brown hair over his scalp.

I knew not everyone with that haircut was in the military, but I still wondered if he had ties to the human army. He bit his bottom lip as he concentrated on what he was doing, seemingly unaware of everything happening around him, but I doubted that was the case. He held his head in a way that made me suspect he was listening to more than he let on.

Why were they so happy? Had they gone out again after I stopped following them? Had they seen the town kids? Van had been sure he’d warned the teens in time, but what if he hadn’t? Were these three here to celebrate some discovery they thought they’d made?

I glanced at Van for a sign we needed to apprehend them before they spread the news about their discovery. The hellhound leaned against the bar, looking relaxed. Our gazes caught, and he nodded toward Parker’s table.

Shit.

Was he seriously telling me to go over and talk to them? Me? Approaching an entire table full of humans? And snoopy ones at that?

Normally, I was okay with humans. I’d had many years to figure out how to interact with them. That didn’t mean I trusted the bastards, though. Years ago, I’d hired amage to tattoo a rune into my skin to hide my magic from their kind.

And being so close to hunters dredged up memories that made me want to hide like Simon usually did. If I was a cat shifter like him, I probably would. But a minotaur didn’t exactly blend into the background.

I shuddered and closed my eyes to stave off the sudden nausea roiling through me. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. I was safe. The pub was full of supes. They wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

I also wouldn’t let hunters destroy my life. Not again.

Pep talk over, I gritted my teeth and prepared to face the enemy.

5

MR. JUICY MEETS THE NANA-NATOR

LEVI

I had survived encounters with hunters before. I could do it again. Right?

I swallowed hard. And again. My head felt light on my shoulders. Was my brain getting enough blood? Or was my pounding heart redirecting everything to my limbs so I could make a break for it?

Most people thought all shifters were inherently aggressive and ready to fight. Wrong. Sure, in my past, I had been. But I liked to think I’d learned my lesson. There was a reason I didn’t hang out with the town’s hellhounds and wolves on the regular. I wasn’t interested in that lifestyle anymore. I was quite happy to let other people chase rogue wolf packs and assholes who kidnapped people and Magic only knew what else. Yes, I’d kept up my training in my basement gym, but only to keep healthy.

Or so I thought…

But now Van was looking at me to step up, and suddenly all my training felt more like I’d been unknowingly preparing for this moment. I let out a shaky breath. Fuck. I was out of practice for facing off with the enemy. But I could do it.

For Willow Lake.

No problem. Some lessons you never truly forget, right?

It was only one conversation.

Except this didn’t feel like a simple conversation. Entertaining paranormal investigators could turn deadly in an instant, like choosing to step into an arena with a matador. Everyone knew the bull didn’t have a chance.

A few people cast pitying gazes in my direction as I returned my pool cue to the rack on the wall. I released a long exhale. Not seeing another option, I trudged toward Parker’s table. Dizziness made each step feel treacherous. I sucked in a deep breath to calm my racing pulse. I was a minotaur, for fuck’s sake. A couple of measly humans shouldn’t scare me.