As one of the teachers of the criminal and delinquent kids, there were a lot of things that Josh had seen, and he had seen them more than once. But he had never seen the same audacity as Leah King in any other criminal. It was one thing that she killed one of the high-ranking shifters, but to set things on fire and run from the headmaster himself, he had to admit that not everyone could be as annoying as this brat.
"Hold my duck."
"For the last time, it is 'goose." A man with silvery blonde hair stepped close to him and frowned hard while looking at the building in front of him. His baby blue eyes stared at the circular jewellery shop as if he were worried that at any second now something or someone might jump out and attack him.
Josh turned and looked at Jeremy. He flashed a scowl at the dragon. This man better be thankful that he was a teacher at the same academy, or else Josh would have done his best to knock that attitude out of him. Jeremy might be a big bad dragon, but honestly, he was an arse and sometimes needed something up his royal dragon arse to be a bit more polite.
"For the last time, you can simply call him Taco," Josh snapped at him. He raised his hand and patted the little goose on his head. Josh then turned his attention back to the trembling cashier of the Shimmer Radiance. He hadn't even opened his mouth or said one word to this human, and yet he was already shaking in his boots. This was the one thing that Josh hated about these puny humans. Was there any need for them to act like their world was ending just because a panther, a serpent and a dragon walked into his shop? Did he really think that chaos was determined to follow just because they walked into his shop?
That was rude. Seriously rude. Because they were better than that.
They were civilised, and they knew better than to pounce on a terrified human like some filthy criminal. But then again, that was how prejudiced the humans were against the shifters, so there was no denying the fact that they were often unwelcome in places where the humans worked or resided, even when they meant no harm.
He tapped on the glass surface of the counter and said in a low voice, "You know we can do this the hard way or the easy way. I have no intention of making things troublesome for you. Nor do I have any intention of killing you. But that can change," he snapped his fingers. "In a fraction of a second, if you do not tell me where the owner of this shop is."
"I —I don't know where he is," the man stammered, but he reeked of lies so hard that Josh clicked his tongue. The sound of his tut echoed past the now silent shop as most of the humans ran away just as they barged inside. Again. Very rude of them. Neither of them meant any harm, and yet they were treated like they were the bane of human existence. Like they could even do anything to them with the number of laws that had been sanctioned by the council.
Love humans.
Be kind to humans.
Blah fucking blah.
The council came up with so many quotations to love humans that Josh started to wonder if they were some kind of exotic and almost extinct animal that they needed to preserve. He raised his hand and placed it on the glass top of the reception.
Flashing a wild grin at the woman, Josh said in a low voice, "Now darling, you have two ways to solve this problem. Number one, you tell us where your owner is and we can leave this place without a fuss. Or two," he raised two fingers in a victory sign and made sure that the man could see it nice and clearly, "Or we do it our way, you might not know this but even the council gives us some leverage over humans and we," he showed his ID to the man before adding, "Have that leverage."
The man started trembling in his boots when he saw his ID, and Josh was not even surprised at his reaction. There was something just chaotically wild about the instructors who could tame even the most feral shifters of their kind.
"I—"
"Just follow me," said Xavier. He silently turned on his feet and headed past the counter and inside the small office behind it.
"Hey—"
The man tried to stop them, but thought against it and then started to mumble something about a dangerous job and whatnot. He was a smart guy, and Josh liked smart guys; he decided that he was going to leave him alone for the time being. A good thing too, because he didn't want to make another round to the council and listen to why the lives of humans were important.
The two of them followed Xavier through the curtained area to a small storage room; there was a narrow staircase leading upstairs. He grunted as Xavier stepped aside and let him do his own thing. Josh rolled his eyes as he turned his attention to the staircase and called out, "Here, little rats, come and talk to your papa."
Chairs on the top floor started to scrape as their occupants jumped to their feet; some of them even let out a shrill cry as Josh climbed up the stairs while humming a happy tune.
"Oh, it seems like the little rats are already on their way!"
Josh excitedly gushed as the six foxes turned their attention to him. They looked really troubled while eyeing the person in front of them.
"What is the meaning of this, Instructor Kingston? We have done nothing wrong. So why did you come looking for us for no reason?" asked one of the foxes, his hands twitching as he looked at Josh with a hint of wariness and hostility.