Page 26 of Moody as a Minotaur

As soon as they disappeared, I dropped into my chair and pushed the heels of my palms into my eyes. Thank Magic Nelson had shown up when he did. I wasn’t too proud to admit how relieved I was that someone else wasresponsible for backup now. I wasn’t cut out for this kind of thing.

And who was watching Finley? Or Edith, for that matter. I didn’t buy that she wasn’t as dangerous as the others, perhaps more so.

I heaved out another sigh.

Well, I needed a coffee. I guessed I could check on Finley when I was there.

And if I reassured myself that Parker was okay too, well, no one needed to know about that but me.

9

WHAT THE EVER-LOVING FUCK WAS THAT?

LEVI

When I shuffled into the Flying Rowan Café a few minutes later, I wondered what the fuck I was doing. I should go straight home. My eyes were gritty from lack of sleep. My muscles ached after a night of staying alert and poised to act at a moment’s notice. And my head felt like it was being squished under a giant’s foot.

What could I say? I was a creature of habit, and my body responded viciously to any deviation in my routine. It always had.

When I got to the front of the line, which wasn’t all that long considering I’d missed the morning rush, I handed Parker my travel mug. It had a black bull with a speech balloon that said, “I like my coffeebullack!” It’d been a gag gift from Carter. He gave me a different bull or minotaur inspired mug every year.

Of course, Parker had picked up on the trend and thought I had a thing for cows, so he’d started getting mecow-related gifts, too. Except Parker didn’t understand the context, or that Carter focused on either bulls or minotaurs. So, now I had a herd of heifer and calf figurines, ornaments, and T-shirts that I didn’t know what to do with. And that made Carter laugh even harder than he did at the look on my face when I opened his gifts.

“Morning,” I said gruffly. Despite how late it was, my voice wasn’t ready for conversation yet.

“Morning,” Parker said around a yawn as he handed me back my mug filled with coffee. Our fingers brushed, and a shiver rolled over me. I hated how I reacted to him when I knew I could never have him. But my body was a slave to my attraction and refused to be swayed by reasonable arguments. I held out my money, but he waved it away. “It’s on the house.”

I grunted. With the dark circles under his eyes, he looked as tired as I felt. A strange urge to throw him over my shoulder and carry him home so we could both get some rest swept over me. I clenched my hands around my mug so I wouldn’t reach for him.

Kidnapping a human was a sure way to get the hunters to come after me. I shuddered. They would never believe I only wanted what was best for him. Hell, Parker might not even listen to my explanation. Hauling people away without their express consent tended to be frowned upon.

“Thanks again, Levi, for helping me last night.” Parker clenched a dishtowel in his hand.

He shuffled along on the other side of the counter as if following me as I headed for the door. One of his staff seemed confused as Parker stepped away, but theemployee quickly took his place behind the cash register to take the next order. I understood their confusion. Parker didn’t usually leave the counter. He liked dealing with people, even first thing in the morning. I didn’t understand it, but that was who he was.

So why was he acting out of character? I went on alert. My ears strained for wayward sounds. My eyes scanned the area for threats. Was someone back there, behind the counter, holding him at gunpoint?

“Is everything okay?” Then I mouthed, “Blink twice if you need help.”

“What? No. I’m fine.”

I relaxed a little at his quick assurance, but I didn’t let my guard down completely. Something was wrong, and I needed to fix it. I needed Parker to be safe and happy, like he always was. He wasn’t mine, but that didn’t matter. His happiness was what I cared about.

“So, what’s wrong?”

“Are you around later?” Pink stole over Parker’s cheeks as his gaze flitted to mine before darting away again.

I was wrong last night when I thought I’d been able to see the color of his blush in the shadows of the car. This was so much more intense. Would his skin be hot? I almost reached over the counter to find out.

His gaze darted to the corner of the café. I glanced over my shoulder to see what had caught his attention. Finley and Edith were huddled up at the far table in the corner. The old woman’s sharp eyes narrowed when she spotted me looking. I turned away quickly.

“Oh?”

“I’ve been thinking about Nana,” Parker whispered, “and I think I might need some help. So, uh, can we talk?”

This might be the way in I’d been looking for. If Parker could shed some light on what was going on, we could develop a plan to get his cousin and his entourage to leave town and make sure they never came back. All without me having to get any closer to the hunters. Perfect.

“Uh, yeah. Come by the motel after you’re finished up here.”