Page 78 of The Nowhere Witch

“You should leave. You’re not welcome here,” Hawk said, when Zark didn’t seem to have the strength.

Without a last look back, they left.

The room exhaled. Zark deflated as some of the patrons went over, trying to console him.

Hawk walked out, and I followed, simply because I wanted to get away from the crowd. I’d thought I’d shed most of my softness, but another bit of fluff had been torn from me today.

I stopped, watching as the group walked away. Gregor turned, taking a few steps back toward me, even as Hawk stood not far from my back.

“Tippi, can I talk to you?” he asked.

“Did you sabotage my repair?” I asked, needing to hear him say it.

Palms up, he lifted his hands slightly. “Yes, but it’s—”

“Then no. I don’t want to talk to you now. Maybe not ever.”

I turned from him and began walking in the other direction.

“Tippi,” Gregor called.

“You’re lucky you’re still breathing. Now walk away,” Hawk said, getting into his normal controlling mode and stopping Gregor from following me. This time, there would be no fight about it.

31

“You’re going to have to ask Hawk,” Oscar said, and then slid a shot in front of me. He typically wouldn’t be caught dead in Zab’s favorite bar, but these were special circumstances, and it was the only place Hawk wouldn’t be.

“He’s right. Just bring it up to him. You don’t have the numbers, and now you’re down another with Gregor,” Zab said, tapping the pad with his pencil. He took his shot and slid that one in front of me too. “It’ll make the prospect more bearable.”

“I see the way he looks at you. He’ll definitely do it for you,” Bibbi said, keepingmostof the melancholy out of her tone. She looked at her drink, and then the others that were just placed in front of me.

“I don’t need another,” I said. I threw back one of the shots, and then took a second as it lit my throat on fire. I should’ve remembered Oscar saying something called lava was his favorite drink.

I looked at the three people sitting there, all egging me on. “You really think he’ll do it?”

“He’ll do it. He’s not going to bring it up, but he’ll do it,” Zab said.

“Not that I blame him, really,” Oscar added. “I mean, you sing ‘You Don’t Own Me’ anytime he’s around, like it’s your theme song.”

I shook my head right before I tossed the second shot back. Zab’s shot was much better and an easier recovery. “The monkeys like that song. I can’t help it if I sing now and then.”

“And why do the monkeys play it?” Oscar asked, laughing.

It was becoming well known that they had some strange inclination to add theme songs to every part of my life. They also seemed to have a gift of knowing the right tune for the moment—usually. I wouldn’t fault them for it.

“Whatever. Hawk’s as guilty as I am because he acts like he owns me. A reminder isn’t out of hand.”

“You need another?” Oscar asked, starting to raise his hand to signal the bartender.

“No. I need to be coherent tonight.” I got up from the table before I was incapable of it, and they all assumed I was going to find Hawk. There was something else I had to do first. “See you guys tomorrow.”

I knelt beside the repair that was cracking, running my hand over it. Black chunks fell out at the softest touch, dusting my hand and dropping to the ground. It was the first time I’d seen the damage to the repair. I hadn’t checked the other spots yet, but I was sure they were the same.

Itwas seeping out of the break—trying to wrap its evil around me, trying to tell me how much it despised me.

“You’re not going to win,” I whispered, in case it was listening.

A branch crunched, and I swung around, knowing it wasn’t Hawk. He’d never be so clunky as to announce his arrival that way.