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“Leave them. They ward off evil.” He reached over and took my other hand, his calloused palm tender and so warm. “Please, Nickie, don’t remove them.” Then he handed me a menu.
Something about the way he said my name had me leaving the bells in place, and I liked the sound of it on his tongue.
“I’ll pay you back later, as I don’t have my bag, phone, or anything.” My cheeks burned, though it wasn’t the first time I’d asked someone for money. Still, I hated doing so.
Leven met my stare, his mouth curling into a smile, chasing away the shadows beneath his eyes. “I’ve got this covered.” The softness behind his gaze showed a different man than the one I’d seen back in the motel.
“Thanks for helping me.” I lowered my attention to the menu, reading the first line several times, and yet I couldn’t remember a word. Not when I felt his eyes on me.
“What are you ordering?” he asked. “I’m getting kransky burritos for the guys and me.”
Looking up, I said, “I’ll have the same. Extra sour cream, please.”
With a nod, he climbed to his feet and strolled to the counter. Instinct clearly controlled my body because my eyes fell to his ass without hesitation, how firm it looked in his jeans, how his body tapered upward to his shoulders. How his muscles moved under the shirt that hugged his body. Who exactly were these men?
When he returned, he carried a cup of coffee and hot chocolate, the latter he placed in front of me.
“Thanks.” I wrapped my hands around the mug, warming my fingers. “So where are you guys from? Are you and your friends traveling the country? Brothers?” Though in saying that, they didn’t look similar.
“Friends, and we work together. We’re searching for someone.”
I took a sip of my sweet drink. “Oh, really? What happened?” So many questions swirled through my mind—who they searched for, did the three of them work for a detective agency, and where were they from—but he responded before I sorted through my thoughts.
“Our friends went missing a few weeks ago. This was the last place they were seen, so we’re here to find them.”
I leaned forward. “Crap. Are the cops searching too?” Maybe I’d been wrong to think I’d left behind the crime world when I’d arrived in Hirschheim.
He shook his head. “No police. It’s a personal situation. And unfortunately, you are now drawn into it.” His voice dipped, yet his attention remained on me.
I couldn’t find my words at first, but his admission settled in my thoughts like a brick, sinking through me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He ran a hand over his mouth, a gesture I’d seen people do when they weren’t sure how to say something—something important. And my gut tightened because clearly everything seemed to be going way too easily. And my life was never smooth sailing. Nope, that would be too much to ask, and now I was stuck out here with strangers or with no place to stay, and running away seemed impossible with the storm outside.
“Relax,” he said, as if sensing my panic. He licked his lips and leaned toward me from across the table. “So back in the woods, when you put on Santa’s hat, did you feel anything? Did it come in contact with fire? That would have connected the hat to you.”
I stared into Leven’s green eyes and movement whirled behind them. “So you didn’t find me just lying in the snow? Were you watching me getting attacked? Did you see the creature too?”
“Did you feel anything when you wore the hat?” he asked again, his voice climbing, clearly ignoring my earlier questions.
“I don’t know what you want me to say. That it was a warm hat and heated me up? That it fit perfectly? Who cares about the hat? A freaking goat monster attacked me. It ripped open the roof of my car with its claws!” I shook in my seat, remembering the fear, how I’d thought I’d been facing my death. And he was asking about a stupid hat.
“We sensed the magic of the hat when it found its new owner. But we didn’t arrive in time to stop your attack. Krampus was after the hat, and that was why he targeted you.”
I huffed and reclined in my seat. “Wait, back up a bit. Did you just say Krampus? Like the mythical anti-Santa who scares kids? Are you feeling all right?” I set my mug down, trying to read his expression, waiting for him to break into laughter any second. Except a scowl swept over his face.
“This isn’t a joke. He would have killed you if we hadn’t interfered.”
I gave him my bestare-you-kidding-melook. “Pretty sure I getsomecredit. I burned him before running away.”
“And if we hadn’t driven him back, he would have ended your life.”
My mouth dropped open and closed again. “Nothing you’re saying is making sense.” It sure as hell wasn’t gelling in my mind. “You’re joking about this, right?”
His brow creased. “No! But if you say the hat flooded you with warmth, and it came in contact with fire while you wore it, then your life’s about to change forever.”
I inched out of my seat, my skin crawling, my hand in my pocket, except I didn’t have my pepper spray or phone. Hell! Standing there, I growled, “Don’t you dare threaten me.”
The waiter approached our table, placing a bag of food in plastic boxes on the table. “Four kransky burritos to go.” He stared at both of us with a raised brow, then backed away.Great.
