I knew it was ridiculous, and that distance - when it came to Magick - didn’t matter much, but I willed Dimitri to keep a wide berth from us. I didn’t know how much he knew about witches, but I hoped he understood that one didn’t step between them when a fight ensued.
He approached the table hesitantly, his phone call finished, his gaze darting between the two of us. His hand hovered over his gun, and I held his gaze and shook my head, hoping that he got the message.
Lauren turned towards him, her eyes blazing bright. Yeah, I didn’t like the way she was looking at him, and I had to stay my hand as the urge to claw her eyes out bubbled up, my jealousy a rage all of its own. He remained motionless, understanding that his presence may tip whatever truce we had over the edge.
I watched her unfurl herself from the chair, the evening air swirling around her as if she were a goddess herself. Her white dress pooled around her once more and I had to force myself to remain stock still as she sashayed towards Dimitri. My mind raced, looking for alternative exit strategies for Dimitri - any way in which we could extract ourselves from this mess safely. The further away she walked from me, the more the background noise from the cafe seemed to liven once more as if our encounter had been conducted in an antechamber of sorts.
I was way out of my depth here.
When she reached him, I was certain that anyone in a ten-mile radius could feel my fury as she slid her hand up his chest and smiled coyly at him. My only consolation was that Dimitri stiffened beneath her touch, his eyes held the wrath of a King, and for a moment I wondered who would win should they truly be pitted against one another. Her gaze flicked down towards where his hand hovered above his gun.
"That won't be necessary, Pakhan," she grinned.
"Remember," she called over her shoulder as she sauntered away, “it's an eye for an eye."
She walked away slowly as Dimitri and I watched her leave in silence.
Dimitri’s gaze found mine and something warm blanketed my chest as he looked me over, scanning for any injury.
"I think it's time to go home," his voice was low and gruff, and I could only nod in agreement.
Lauren had sought me out to deliver a message. Two messages in fact. It was an eye for an eye, meaning that we could not kill Sergei. And, that Charl needed to stop whatever the hell he was doing.
Knowing Dimitri, I knew that he wouldn’t take kindly to being told that he couldn’t kill Sergei.
Burying that problem for later - my list seemed to be growing by the minute - we left the Café Du Monde and all the vibrancy it entailed, the promised beignets forgotten.
This time, the joy found within the streets of New Orleans was entirely lost on me, replaced by worry.
"What did she -" I shook my head, cutting Dimitri off.
"We'll talk at home," I replied.
At least there I knew we were protected - perhaps not from Solomon, but Lauren would not be able to break through my protection, of that I could at least be certain.