Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

IZZY

A rcher tugs me to follow him as he opens the door to the diner. I smile when I see the white-and-black checkered floor and light-blue upholstered booths. The red stools at the bar and the pink-and-blue lights make the diner feel like a time capsule. It's one of my favorite places in Hawthorne Grove.

When Archer hesitates at the empty hostess stand, I pull him along behind me as I head for my favorite booth. It's tucked in the back corner and somewhat hidden from the prying eyes.

Bishop makes it to the booth first, having sat there with me too many times to count. He picks the side with a good view of the front door, and I slide in after him. The vinyl seat creaks as I move across it. Archer sits on my other side and shoots Luca and Cain a smug look.

Cain sits opposite Bishop, followed by Luca, then Levi on the outside. I'm kind of regretting the seating arrangement that has Luca right in front of me. He's staring at me intently, like I'm some puzzle to solve. I'd like to keep my secrets, wolf boy, thank you very much.

Before Luca can interrogate me, Lucy sweeps over to our table. In her powder-blue retro diner uniform, perfectly curled and pinned gray hair, and ruby-red lipstick, Lucy looks like she stepped straight out of the fifties. "What can I do for you, sweetness?" she asks me with a wide smile.

I grin back at her. Lucy's a friend of the family, and she runs the diner with her sister Annie. Unlike everyone else here, neither of them gives a rat's ass that I don't have magic. All they care about is if I'm a half-decent person. It's refreshing. "I'd like a berry French toast and a pink lemonade, please."

"You've got it, honey. What can I get the rest of you?" Lucy turns to inspect the rest of the table. I only ever come in here with Bishop or my family, so it's odd that I'm here with a big group of scary-looking dudes.

Bishop orders a burger and a malt. The wolves follow his lead, each ordering a burger and fries. They probably don't know what's good here. The answer is everything. Literally everything these women make is perfection. I'd eat three meals a day here if I could. Alas, my mom insists I eat something at least a little healthy most of the time. Levi orders a country fried steak.

"That'll be right out," Lucy informs us before gliding away. I wish I had as much grace as she does. Unfortunately, I'm like a newborn gazelle most of the time. Inanimate objects love attacking me out of nowhere, so I'm constantly tripping.

Once Lucy is out of sight, the wolves turn their attention to me. I squirm under Luca's intense gaze. He smiles slightly at my discomfort, and I glare at him. Luca asks, "How was school today? Did you behave yourself?"

I grit my teeth at him insinuating I'm the problem. It doesn't matter how I act. I'm going to have a shit day at school, regardless.

"Well, I just had the most fantastic day, Lulu," I start in a sickly sweet voice.

Archer barks out a laugh at the nickname and proceeds to fall over in his seat, he's laughing so hard. Cain cracks a smile, and Bishop hides his face in his hands like I'm embarrassing him. He really should be used to it by now.

"Let's see, I haven't gotten a full night's sleep since Thursday. I fell asleep in my least favorite class and got sent to the dean, who has a hate on for me. I passed out while running laps. Oh, and I got kidnapped by my P.E. teacher and taken to another fucking dimension. So, it was definitely a day filled with sparkles and rainbows. Thanks so much for asking, pookie," I finish with a saccharine smile aimed at a gaping Luca.

Levi groans. "I didn't kidnap you, little raven."

"That's right. You just forcibly relocated me while I was unconscious." The wolves turn as one to glare at Levi. Even with three of the scariest wolves in the country glaring daggers at him, Levi is calm and collected. I envy that ability more than he'll ever know.

He's saved from becoming a chew toy to some very angsty canines by Lucy coming over with our food. She sets down her tray and starts passing out each of our orders. Lucy starts with me and works her way around clockwise. Once everyone has their food, she gives me a take-out box and disposable silverware. "Let me know if you need anything, sweets," she tells me before walking away.

I look around the table and realize Aggie's not here. Tugging on my magic that's connected to her, I wait a moment for her to appear. When she shimmers into existence over the table, her mouth opens to blast me for pulling her to me. Then she sees the food and lights up. "Oh, yes. Come to Mama," she says while making grabby hands at my French toast.

I snort and put half of my French toast in the container. Once I've drowned the toast in syrup, I turn to Bishop. "You going to eat all your fries?"

He shakes his head and pushes his plate toward me. Bishop's used to me giving food to Aggie. As a ghost, she doesn't need to eat. She still enjoys it, though. The only way she can interact with food is if I magic it into the spirit realm.

After I pile a chunk of Bishop's fries in one of the small sections of the to-go box, I hover my hand over the ketchup. "Like you even have to ask, kid. What else would I eat fries with?"

"Europeans eat fries with mayo," Levi answers Aggie. To the rest of the table, it seems like he just announced that factoid at random. All three wolves look at Levi like he's a few screws short of a full crayon box. I snort. He grins at me, and my heart gives a little excited thump.

Nope. Not today, stupid heart. We are not getting attached to another man we can't have.

"That's revolting," Aggie responds with her nose wrinkled in distaste. At least she's not screaming at the mere sight of him. That's progress. I shake my head at her and finish assembling her portion.

"What are you doing?" Luca asks as he watches me box up part of my food before eating anything.

"Secret things," I tell him distractedly.

After putting the disposable utensils on top of the box, I pull on the magic that allows me to go to the spirit realm. Carefully wrapping some around my hand, I grab the food and let the magic slowly crawl over the container. Within a few seconds, the whole thing is in the spirit realm, much to Aggie's delight.

"Holy shit. Where the fuck did the box go?" Archer turns wide eyes to me as I pull my hand back out of the spirit realm. I just shrug and start in on my food.

"You're the best, kid!" Aggie digs into her food excitedly while hovering on top of the table.

As I eat the first bites of my French toast, I whisper, " Conticescere . Obscurare. " I throw up a silencing dome and cover it with a cloak to prevent lip reading. I'd rather the entire restaurant not be able to hear my conversation with my mates.

"So, do you guys really kill people for money?" I barely manage to keep the shit-eating grin off my face as Luca and Cain gape at me. Archer chokes on his bite of food at my question. Once he's done coughing, Archer looks at me like he can't believe I just asked that. He scans the restaurant to see if anyone's looking our way.

Bishop sighs. "Stop being a brat, Izzy," he chastises before turning to Luca and Cain. "She put up a silencing dome and cloaked it to obscure our table from prying eyes."

"Party pooper," I grouse as I stick out my tongue at him because I'm super mature.

Luca huffs at me. After debating what to say, he tells me, "Yes. We do. It's a revenue stream for our pack. Does that bother you?"

If he's expecting me to freak out about a little death, he's got the wrong girl. I play with dead people literally every night. "Do you kill innocents? Or do you kill people who deserve it?" There's a huge difference between killing a human trafficker and killing a movie producer who went over budget. For one of them, death is far too easy a punishment. For the other, it's a little extreme.

"We do everything we can to target those who deserve it. We only take contracts for individuals who have committed crimes significant enough to be taken out," Luca explains.

"Then, no, it doesn't bother me."

Luca's brows raise almost to his hairline at my easy acceptance. Death is just as much a part of the natural cycle as life. Sometimes things or people need to die for new life to bloom. It's not something to fear or fight. Without death, life wouldn't be as precious.

"Why not?" Cain asks with his head tilted. His green eyes narrow on me, like he's trying to figure out why I'm so weird. Good fucking luck, dude . Experts have been trying to solve that mystery for twenty-one years.

"Death is part of life. People die. Things end. The world keeps on turning. It's nothing to get worked up over. It's also not like you're murdering kids and puppies in cold blood," I try to explain.

"You're pretty nonchalant about death for a sheltered mage," Cain fires back at me. I somehow contain my eye roll. I've seen more death than most people ever will, including him. I haven't been sheltered since I was seven. "Have you ever killed anyone, angel?"

My lips part in shock at his question. That's the one thing I really wasn't prepared for him to ask. I take a deep breath before answering. "Yes."