CHAPTER 77: [77] WHEN IN DOUBT, CHOOSE VIOLENCE

"So what’s next?" Margaret asked, adjusting her glasses. "We’ve got the whole afternoon ahead of us."

Xavier shifted the shopping bags between his hands. "I was thinking we head back. Call it a day." He closed his eyes briefly. Fortuna, if you’re listening, please let them agree. I’ve carried bags, given fashion advice, and eaten overpriced burgers. That’s enough unauthorized social interaction for one day.

"Head back?" Naomi’s eyebrows rose. "It’s barely three o’clock."

"We could go to that crystal shop on Fifth," Selena suggested. "I heard they have some interesting pieces from South American gates."

Calypso shook her head. "Shopping for more stuff seems redundant after we just spent three hours doing exactly that."

"We could go to the arcade," Margaret offered.

That... that didn’t sound too bad. "That sounds—"

"What about a movie?" Ashley interrupted. "The Meridian Theater is just down the block."

The suggestion sparked immediate interest. Four pairs of eyes lit up.

"Perfect!" Naomi clapped her hands together. "I haven’t been to a movie in ages."

"What’s playing?" Margaret pulled out her phone, already searching.

Two more hours, maybe two and a half... I can manage that. "A movie sounds reasonable."

"There’s that new Virgil Constantine film," Selena said, peering at Margaret’s screen. "He plays a hunter who has to clear a Tier-4 gate solo after his team gets wiped out."

"Too much like work," Ashley replied with a dismissive wave. "I don’t need to see gate clearing when I’m trying to relax."

"Agreed," Naomi nodded. "No action. We get enough of that at school."

Fortuna, you let me down before, but please, if you’re real, no romance. PLEASE. Action, horror, comedy—anything but romance.

Calypso leaned over Margaret’s shoulder to scan the movie listings. "What about this one? ’The Perks of Being a Shrinking Violet.’ It’s about a shy girl who falls for the most popular hunter at her academy."

Fortuna you’re a fraud.

"That sounds perfect!" Margaret said.

"I’ve been wanting to see that," Selena added.

"The reviews say it’s the rom-com of the year," Naomi read from her own phone.

Xavier resigned himself to two hours of cinematic torture. "So we’re decided then?"

"Looks like it," Ashley said, then glanced at the shopping bags weighing down his arms. "You can put those in the car first. We’ll wait by the theater."

At least there was that small mercy. "Where’s your driver parked?"

"In the private lot behind Saks."

Xavier nodded. "I’ll meet you at the theater in ten minutes."

"Don’t be late," Calypso said.

The women headed toward the theater while Xavier trudged north, laden with designer bags.

He found the black SUV easily enough. The driver, a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair, stepped out when he spotted Xavier approaching.

"Miss Martin’s shopping?" the driver asked, opening the trunk.

"Among others." Xavier deposited the bags carefully inside.

The driver shook his head sympathetically. "They always make me carry everything."

"Is it always this many bags?"

"This?" The driver laughed. "This is nothing. Last month it took me three trips to load everything."

Xavier winced at the thought. "I dodged a bullet there."

"You’re the guy from that video, right? With Miss Sinclair?"

"News travels fast."

"Miss Martin’s father has a security team that monitors her social media presence. They flagged you this morning." The driver’s tone remained conversational, but the message was clear: Xavier was being watched.

"Good to know."

"For what it’s worth, you seem like a decent guy. Most of Miss Martin’s male acquaintances don’t help with the bags."

Xavier wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an observation. "I should get back to them. Movie’s starting soon."

The driver nodded and closed the trunk. "Enjoy ’Shrinking Violet.’ My wife dragged me to it last weekend."

"That bad?"

"Let’s just say there’s a reason they don’t put guys in the target demographic."

Well I’m fucked. At least his arms were free now. Small victories.

***

He was still a little ways away when he spotted the commotion. The women stood in a tight cluster outside the theater entrance, facing off against six men. Two of the men were clutching their arms, expressions twisted in pain. The rest stood slightly apart, hands raised in a placating gesture.

Xavier quickened his pace. What the hell did those idiots do, and whose ass do I have to kick?

"What’s going on here?" Xavier asked, sliding between Ashley and the uninjured man.

"These perverts thought it would be funny to grab Calypso," Naomi said, her voice cold as ice despite her flushed cheeks. "Ashley made them reconsider that decision."

Xavier glanced back at Calypso, who stood slightly behind Margaret. Her silver hair was disheveled, and her pink eyes held a dangerous gleam that didn’t match her outwardly calm demeanor.

"She almost broke my fucking wrist!" one of the men shouted, cradling his arm. He was college-aged with an expensive haircut and a Metro University sweatshirt. "We were just having fun!"

"You put your hands on someone without permission," Xavier said, keeping his voice level despite the rage building in his chest. "What did you expect would happen?"

"Come on, man," one of the uninjured ones said. He wore a similar sweatshirt and had the same entitled look as his friends. "We saw you with all these girls. We figured they were, you know..."

"We figured what?" Ashley stepped forward. "Say it. I want to hear exactly what you figured."

"Nothing. Look, my friends are hurt. We should just go."

"You should," Xavier agreed, though every muscle in his body wanted to do something else entirely.

One of the injured men, still holding his arm, spat on the ground. "Fucking hunter bitches. Think they’re so special."

Xavier took a single step toward the man, who immediately backed away.

"We’re leaving! Jesus, we’re leaving!"

The six men retreated, throwing dark looks over their shoulders as they disappeared around the corner toward the parking garage.

Xavier turned to the women. "Everyone okay?"

"Fine," Ashley said, straightening her jacket. "Nothing I haven’t dealt with before."

"I’m okay," Calypso said, though something in her eyes told Xavier she wasn’t.

"Those idiots," Margaret shook her head. "Security should be notified."

"I got their faces on camera," Selena held up her phone. "I’ll send it to the security office."

Xavier nodded, but his attention kept drifting toward the direction the men had gone.

"We should head inside," he said, gesturing toward the theater entrance. "Movie’s starting soon."

As they walked in, Xavier hung back slightly.

Those men had touched his Calypso.

They’d put their hands on her and thought they could just walk away.

Like hell they are.

"I just remembered," he said as they approached the ticket counter. "I left something important in Ashley’s car. I need to grab it."

Five pairs of eyes turned to him with varying degrees of skepticism.

"What did you leave?" Calypso asked.

"My medication," Xavier improvised. "For migraines. I’ve had one building all day."

"I can come with you," Calypso offered, though her tone suggested it wasn’t really an offer.

"No need. You all get the tickets and save me a seat. I’ll be right back."

"Don’t miss the previews," Margaret said. "They’re the best part."

"Five minutes, tops," Xavier promised, already backing toward the exit.

Naomi raised an eyebrow but turned to order tickets. Selena was still focused on her phone, presumably sending the photos to security. Ashley gave him a long look that said she didn’t believe him for a second but wasn’t going to call him out.

Calypso’s expression was harder to read. She knew him better than the others, knew what he was capable of. "Xavier," she said softly. "Don’t do anything stupid."

He offered a reassuring smile. "When have I ever done anything stupid?"

Her pink eyes narrowed further.

"Five minutes," he repeated, then slipped out the door.

Once outside, Xavier took a deep breath of the late afternoon air. He remembered the direction the six men had gone—toward the parking garage on the north side of the mall. His feet were already moving, carrying him at a brisk pace that wasn’t quite running but covered ground quickly.

Basic Combo: +5. Counter Strike: +15. Perfect Dodge: +10.

He wasn’t going to kill them.

Probably.