Page 20 of Witch Bound and Down

"Ruining his wedding?" Hazel stood up, her temper flaring despite the danger. "I did him a favor. That wedding was a disaster waiting to happen."

"The cake alone cost three thousand smackeroonies."

"The cake was hideous. It looked like a marshmallow threw up on a disco ball."

Sheriff Lawman lunged for her, but Bullseye was faster. He stood up and put himself between them, all six and a half feet of protective minotaur male.

"I don't think so," he said quietly, and there was something in his voice that made everyone in the truck stop go very still.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Sheriff Lawman demanded. "Besides an accessory after the fact?"

"I'm the guy who's not going to let you lay a hand on her," Bullseye replied. "So I suggest you back off."

Hazel's heart did something complicated in her chest at the protective edge in his voice. No one had ever stood up for her like that before—not her parents, not her ex-boyfriends, certainly not Smokie.

"Wait a minute," Agent Fernandez said, picking himself up from the floor and staring at Bullseye with sudden recognition. "I know you." He pulled out a tablet and swiped through what looked like mugshots. "Bullseye Maverick. You're wanted for questioning in connection with the Phoenix potion heist last year."

"Time to go," Bullseye said again.

"Both of you, hands where I can see them," Agent Fernandez ordered, reaching for his cuffs again.

But before anyone could move, Sage's voice cut through the tension like a knife.

"Boys, boys," she called out sweetly. "Let's keep this civilized. Sheriff, you're welcome to try to arrest my customers, but I should probably mention that this establishment has some very specific magical protections in place."

"What kind of protections?" Sheriff Lawman demanded.

"The kind that get very cranky when law enforcement officers harass paying customers without proper warrants." Sage's smile was bright and cheerful. "You do have a warrant, don't you, Grizzley?"

The silence stretched out. Agent Fernandez cleared his throat. "Actually, Sheriff, we're here on a preliminary investigation. We don't have arrest warrants yet."

"Then I suggest you get some," Sage said pleasantly, "because otherwise, you're just a bunch of folks in uniform bothering my customers. And my establishment's protections take a very dim view of that sort of behavior."

As if summoned by her words, the truck stop's lights began to flicker in a distinctly ominous pattern. The werewolves grinned, showing their teeth. The centaur stamped his hooves approvingly. Even the gargoyle door greeter seemed to be leaning forward with interest.

Sheriff Lawman looked around the room, clearly weighing his options. Finally, he pointed at Hazel again. "This isn't over, young lady. I will find you, and when I do, you're going to pay for what you did to my son."

"What I did to your son," Hazel repeated, "was save him from a lifetime of misery with someone who doesn't love him. You should be thanking me."

"Thanking you? You humiliated him. You broke his heart."

"His heart will recover. His ego, maybe not so much, but that was probably overinflated anyway."

"Oh, this is entertaining," Hopper croaked from her shoulder, where he'd been unusually quiet. "Nothing like a good public argument to really sell the 'laying low' strategy."

Sheriff Lawman looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. "You are a menace to society. And now I'm in hot pursuit."

"Drama queen," Hazel shot back. "Seriously, it was one wedding. It's not like I burned down the whole venue."

"You turned the kitchen into a disaster zone."

"Hopper summoned every frog in the county. They got to have the adventure of a lifetime."

"And the frogs are probably still telling stories about their big adventure," Hopper added cheerfully. "Really brought the community together."

Bullseye's hand found hers under the table and squeezed. When she looked at him, he was grinning.

"Come on," he murmured. "We should go while Sage has them distracted."

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