December 31.
“We have reservations for a table for seven,” said Mal to the maitre’d.
The host looked at the gathered people. All the men were in fine suits, including the little boy with white hair. The big blond had the top button of his shirt undone, and his tie a bit askew, but the rest looked fine. The two little girls were in satin dresses, the blond in cornflower blue, and the red-head in black. All looked fine enough for this establishment.
Opus was an upscale French restaurant, located just outside of town. Mal wanted to ring in the new year with fine wine and fine company, and Knight was only too happy to oblige. They invited Scott and Mike, packed up the children, and headed off in the van.
The children were growing fast, as expected for cats. Seph seemed to be a little smaller than Roland and Caroline, who were already on pureed foods. Seph was still on the bottle with rice, not even interested in solid food yet.
The host brought them to a corner table in the back. Other people watched as they wheeled the stroller into place. Some gave them disapproving looks, but Knight gave them looks right back, daring them to say anything. They were the only people in the restaurant with children.
There were no high-chairs, which Mal had anticipated. Leaving Seph in the stroller, he undid the baby carriers for Roland and Caroline, and set them in between himself and Knight. Seph was placed between Mike and Scott, who cooed at the baby, making her giggle.
Mike glanced at his phone. “Eleven o’clock,” he said. “Think it’ll take us an hour to eat?”
“It may,” said Mal, flipping open the menu. “They seem to be very busy.”
“Nobody’s eating,” said Scott. “Everyone’s drinking.”
Mal glanced around and shrugged. “We got here just in time, then.” He skimmed the menu, “Let’s start with the Escargots a la Bourguignonne.”
Scott said, in impeccable French, “Nous allons avoir, Foie Gras Bodiguel.”
Mike laughed, and Knight looked up from the menu. “You know French?”
“Mes’a’mes,” he said, waving his hand side to side. “Enough to get around Paris without being totally embarrassing.”
“Then you order,” said Mal with a grin.
“Oh, no,” said Scott, “this is your party.”
Mal ordered the hors d’oeuvres, including soup for the children, two bottles of wine, one red, one white, both of a good vintage year. He ordered a champagne to be chilled and left at the side of the table. As the waiters came and placed more glasses, replacing the settings in front of the children with small bowls, the four men talked. Scott and Mike talked about their “kids”, with Mike doing most of the talking and Scott playing with Seph. Knight took Roland out of the baby carrier and gave him a spoon to play with, which he banged on the table to accent Mike’s discussion.
Mal then ordered dinner for everyone, six dishes in all, from which they would pick and choose what they wanted. From Bouillabaisse Marseilles (a fresh fish and shellfish dish in tomato broth) to Boeuf a la Bourguignon, and so much in between, they would have a smorgesbord of different French dishes to try. The children were going to get their first taste of fish tonight.
As Mal poured another Riesling, he and Knight perked their heads up, both hearing a commotion coming from the kitchen.
That was when the windows exploded inward.
Mike was up, waving his hands, as the shield spell encompassed them. Knight ducked under the table with Roland, tipping the baby carrier and yanking Caroline out of it. Mal jumped up, snarling; Scott had a spell at the ready.
Following the shards of glass were five men in special ops uniforms, clad head to toe in black, swinging into the room. Patrons screamed and tried to rush out the door, but guns were trained on the men in the corner.
“Give us the baby,” said one man, as Knight moved under the table, ready to tip it over. He grabbed a crying Seph from the chair, and pulled children close to his body, as all three of them started to cry. “Nobody will get hurt,” said the man. One other man grabbed an elderly woman and held her by her neck, pointing a gun to her head. At the other end of the room was a man yelling “Sophie!” as he was trying to fight his way back inside against the crowd of people streaming out.
Knight rocked with the children, trying to soothe them, but they could tell something was wrong as they howled and cried all the louder. Mal said, “I don’t think so.”
Mike grinned and yelled something in a gutteral language. Nothing seemed to happen. The men looked around.
Then the demon came through the shattered window and bit the head off of the man holding the woman.
The woman fell to the ground, covered in jets of blood, and Mal moved, attacking the speaker. Scott let loose with a spell that toppled over the remaining three men as if they had all been hit by a truck.
The demon looked at the woman, gazing down at her and ready to pounce. “Eh, eh, eh,” said Mike. “Take the man. He’s yours for dinner. Happy new year.”
The demon dragged the remains of the man outside, while Mal lifted up the speaker and yanked down his mask. “Who sent you here?”
The man grinned at him through a mouthful of blood, as a couple of his teeth had been knocked out by Mal’s exuberance. The man spat blood at Mal. Mal turned and slammed him into the wall. “Who sent you!”
Knight slowly rose, all three kids in his arms, Roland holding on tight and crying, Caroline shifted into a cat and hissing, and Seph bawling. Knight’s eyes were furious. Mal kept slamming the man into the wall until finally the man slumped, unconscious. The wall had blood on it and was cracked.
Mal turned to the other three. “We still have three more.”
The elderly man went to the woman, as Scott had already gone to her. “She’s all right,” he said, “Just fainted.” The man smeared blood on her face, petting her cheek. Scott helped the woman sit up, and at his touch, her eyes fluttered open.
Mal walked across the room and grabbed one of the other men, putting him in a fireman’s carry. “He’s coming with me,” said Mal coldly. He looked across the room at Knight.
“Give ‘im one from me,” said Knight.
Mike looked at his phone. “Hey, it’s midnight. Happy new year.”