The Seven Deadly Sinners

31

"Okay, so what's the story here? Why are we going in?" I asked. We were parked a quarter mile away from the salon along a neighborhood side street where no one would recognize my car.

"You can tell them whatever you want," Colby said.

"Right, I can tell one person whatever I want at a time. I can only Urge one person at once. If there happens to be a group in there, I need a story," I said.

"Okay, say that you want to buy more bullets and find a way to get Axel alone from that. Or just ask if you guys can talk in private. Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you?" Colby asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I can go in there on my own but I want you close by for backup in case I need it," I said.

"Okay, but you have to promise to Summon me the second you need help, okay?" Colby asked. I looked over at him, his blue eyes shimmering in the yellow streetlight that was shining through my windshield. There was a look in them that I hadn't seen before. Was it fear?

"I promise, Colby. I'm going to be okay, really. I know these people," I said. I wasn't lying, I did know these people, but didn't know how they would react to seeing me again after just kind of abandoning ship like I had. But there was no way in hell I'd tell Colby that.

"Okay," he said uneasily.

"I'm going to go in first, okay? You stay as far as possible but still close enough to teleport inside if I need you. If there's more than one of them in there, I'm not going to want to use my powers. These people are smart and deadly. At the end of the day, the only ones I can use for certain that will affect all of them are invisibility and speed. Mind reading will help, too," I said to him. I didn't want to completely sugar coat it, but I knew Colby wasn't predictable when his emotions ran too high. He nodded in response and I took a deep breath before opening my car door.

"Jupiter, wait," Colby said, grabbing my hand before I could get out. I looked over and waited for him to continue. "I love you, baby," he said. He pulled me toward him and gave me a kiss.

"I love you, too. Now let's go kick some ass," I said, winking before I got out of the car. The plan for tonight was to sort of re-friend Axel and get him to let his guard down, but if the opportunity presented itself to kill him, I'd take full advantage.

I walked down the dimly lit street, the only audible noise being my boots on the cement. I decided I'd go in through the back since they would be more alert after hearing someone come in through the front like the clients did. I made it to the back of the building and saw several cars in the back lot. Shit. There were definitely multiple people here. I didn't recognize all of the cars, either. I knew most of them, but there was a black Jeep parked up near the salon door. Where I used to park.

I went up to the back door and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

I pushed the door open and walked through the small hallway into the salon. I heard a group of people laughing in one of the back rooms and made my way over to it. I uneasily peeked around the corner of the doorway and immediately made eye contact with Trixie, who was standing in a circle with a bunch of other people who had their backs turned to me. A huge smile broke out on her face and she pushed through the two guys in between us to give me a big hug.

"Jupiter! Hi!" she said excitedly, pulling back after a moment to look at me. "How have you been, sweetheart?"

"Good! I've been really good," I said, giving her a warm smile.