Gunpowder & Lead

One | Emory

"You can't be serious."

The look I sent my husband is lethal and would make lesser men cower. But not Jake. If anything, it amuses him. I swear the man gets off on trying to put me in my place.

A smirk crossed his handsome face, and I wanted to kiss it and slap it off when he replied. "Oh, but I am. Mayor Mitchell is throwing a banquet in honor of the task force in a few weeks, and all the beautiful spouses are expected to attend."

I'm damn near wearing a path in the dark concrete of the floor of the Underworld as I recount the conversation I had with Jake to the rest of the Furies

"I'm not going. It's too close for comfort, we tempt fate enough as it is on a regular basis by being linked to these idiots! It feels like we'd be chumming the waters by going."

I stop pacing and place my hands on the stainless steel table in front of me, hoping the contrast in temperature helps me slow my breathing. Birdie's hand lands on my shoulder then pulls me upright and into a hug.

"Hey, it's ok, Em. Deep breaths," her voice is soothing as she gently rocks me side to side. She's always been the voice of reason when I start to panic. "You don't have to go, it's not worth the stress, ok?"

Ever the realist and not afraid to give me the hard truth, Attie pipes in. "We'll support you no matter what, you know that. But it may not be the best look for the commander's wife to be missing from the event that is basically being held to celebrate his hard work."

I groan, realizing how bad it actually would look. I don't have time to dwell on it though, because the motion sensor for the front door of Cora's goes off. The live view of the detection pops up on the monitor on the wall and everyone's eyes snap to the screen. It's safe to say our jaws drop in unison when we see the panicked faces of none other than Penny Mitchell and her daughter, Amelia. A collective gasp leaves the group, and Birdie and I rush up to let them in, leaving the rest of the crew behind. It's our typical response in a situation like this, just in case it's a "married to a police officer" matter instead of a Furies one. We quickly push open the door, usher them inside, and lock it back.

"Oh my God, you two! What happened?!" I ask, wrapping Amelia in my arms and holding her close to my chest. She started working in the bakery part time last summer and we bonded quickly.

Birdie has an arm around Penny's shoulders as she guides her to sit in the cushy loveseat in the corner. Once the backs of her knees hit the chair, Penny collapses into it and begins sobbing. Amelia breaks not long after her mom and Birdie and I try our best to comfort them, something we've grown to be unfortunately good at doing. Once their cries slow to stuttered breaths, I offer to grab them some hot tea and they gratefully accept. When I return with two oversized mugs in hand, their faces are tear stained and swollen, but they each have a determined look in their eyes.

Amelia surprises me when she speaks up first. "We need a pomegranate scone, Mrs. Seresin."

If I wasn't already sitting down, I would have fallen flat on my ass at her statement. There's no way she knows about what really goes down in the Underworld, we keep it wrapped up tight during the daylight and are careful to make sure nobody overhears any conversations with potential clients. It takes a lot to fluster me, and I'm almost surprised with myself when I stumble over my reply. "Oh, uh...Mel...we don't have those available at the moment."

"Natasaha sent us," Penny's voice is rough as she replies. "She was dropping off something from Fern's for one of the paralegals as a surprise from her boyfriend when she saw Amelia sitting in the car. I was inside, confronting Pete about his most recent affair, telling him that Amelia and I were leaving. I was so angry that the adrenaline presented itself as courage when I knew better than to speak out. My mom always said 'don't leave mad, just leave.' I should have taken that advice."