whiskey witches 01 - whisky witches (33 page)

“Because talking about it will make everything all better.”

He shrugged. “No and yes all at the same time.”

“The thing is . . .” She let her voice trail off as thoughts and emotions battled with each other inside of her mind. She didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to share, but her mouth had other ideas. “I hate her. I really, really hate her.”

Dexx lifted his eyebrows in acknowledgment. “I’m not her biggest fan ever.”

“I want to kill her.” Paige met his gaze. “I want to maim her, to hurt her.” She ground her teeth. “I don’t know how to handle this, control it. This anger—it changed me.” Her throat clogged with emotion.

Dexx laid his hand next to hers on the table. “You’re stronger than you were then. You’re handling this a lot better.”

“I called that demon, Dexx. I told him to kill my mother and I really, really wanted him to. I didn’t think of Leah or how that would affect her. My only thoughts were for myself.”

“We’re all allowed selfish moments.”

“Not homicidal ones. The thing is, I’d do it again. The thought’s crossed my mind. Who would I summon? Who would do as I commanded?”

“You could hire a hit man.”

“Demons are cheaper.”

“Wow.” He released short breath, his eyebrows raised. “Just wow. I hadn’t thought of that. So, no soul signing?”

“I’m a summoner. So, no.”

“You could hire me. I’d do it practically free. Just pay for my gas, I’m your man.”

“You’d go to jail for me, too?”

“Look, Pea.” Dexx grabbed a sugar packet and dumped it on the table. “If she’d done to me what she did to her, I’d be in jail. She’d be dead. By my hand.”

Paige’s eyebrows rose in slow increments.

“I’m not a nice person, either.” He ran his fingertip through the spilled sugar. “That doesn’t make me bad. I just don’t take shit from anybody. I know my limits. Well, sometimes I do. Most times I stay within them.”

She watched his finger move the grains of sugar around, drawing a picture of Mickey Mouse. At least she thought it was Mickey. It could have been a camel.

“But what you’ve gotta do now is figure out what you’re going to do with it. The hate, the anger. How are you going to use it?”

“I feel like I’m evil or tainted or something horrible.”

“You’re not. At least, not yet. Are you going to go around killing people?”

The obvious answer was no. Yes, the anger beckoned, but it wasn’t enough to drive her into homicidal action. Thoughts? Sure. Thoughts were easy. Actions were different. “What happened to the smart ass? Where’d this come from?”

“Being a smart-ass is my cover so that when I have my one minute of smart, I’m brilliant.”

She rubbed her eye. “I don’t want to get back to the lying. That’s the one thing I loved about the last three years and didn’t even realize it. I didn’t have to lie. I didn’t have to cover anything up. Having the chief and Agent Scott know is such a relief. I won’t have that in Denver, though.”

“The solution is to quit. Either quit the demon thing or quit the Force.”

“I’m almost glad.” Thoughts churned wildly in her brain, but her heart was calm. The kind of calm that only comes when someone stumbles upon a truth they wouldn’t otherwise have believed. “I’m kind of happy they made me forget. All this. Magick. Demons. The responsibility.”

Dexx nodded.

“Rachel. Leah.”

Dexx bit the inside of his lip.

“What a fucking coward.”

“Not so much. I’ve seen people who—” He clicked his tongue. “I mean, everyone has their demons. They have their bad days and their fears. There are lots of people who are overwhelmed and they all handle it different. Some people kill others. Some kill themselves. Others grow into hateful, spiteful old biddies. You showed you’re human.”

“Because that’s awesome.”

Dexx curled the tips of his fingers in hers. “You needed that break and it’s okay. It happened. Get over it.”

She still felt like a jerk.

“You’re not a bad person, Pea.”

She couldn’t stop the negative emotions twisting her gut.

He captured her gaze and held it. “And I’m not going anywhere. Not until you need me to.”

What? Where had that come from? Part of her leapt with joy. The other flinched at the implications of his statement. “You’re a traveler, Dexx. You don’t know how to stay in one place.”

“I don’t care. I’m here until you need me.”

“And if I need you for a year?”

His eyebrows rose, the corners of his eyes drooping. “We’ll have to see when we get there.”

Paige extracted her hand from his. The idea, the thought of allowing another person in—She shook herself. No. They’d solve this case. He’d go back to New York, or maybe he’d find another hunt down the road. They’d go their separate ways and be done. She needed to re-draw the line. “We need to find Lucius. After he walked out of the cell, he disappeared.”

He frowned at her hand as she tucked it beneath the table. “I don’t know. Maybe you should let him go, do his own thing.”

“This coming from the same guy who wants to send all demons to Hell.”

“Right. Right.”

The waitress came by with their food.

“Anything else?” she asked.

They both waved her off and she went to another table.

“But the thing is, Pea, you’re open for possession, which means having you near any demon is a bad, bad, bad idea.”

“You heard him, though. He doesn’t feel he has to possess me.”

“Great for him. I still say let him be. I’d rather you were safe.”

Hearing those words, the caring he offered. Jesus. She didn’t know what to do with it. Take it? How? Give it back? Reject it? Remain independent and alone? “While a bunch of demons run wild on the earth.”

He shoved several fries in his mouth at once.

“I see what you did there.”

He hrmphed at her. There could have been words, but the fries stole them.

She concentrated on her burger. Well, she had to prepare it first. She realized she was weird. She owned it. She took off the bun, setting it on a napkin. Then placed the tomato and the lettuce with it. Soggy bun? Gross. Green tomato? Also gross. She took the mustard and slathered the patty, placing the pickles on top with careful precision.

“There’s a drug for your psychosis. You know that, right?”

She glared at him and cut into her burger.

“Okay.” He shoved a bite of burger in his cheek, resembling a chipmunk. “Why can’t we call in the angels?”

“My mother is an angel summoner. If that doesn’t tell you enough about them, I don’t know what will.”

“I get it. She’s a bitch, but some of the demons you’ve summoned are jackasses. You’re not a jackass. Also, I’ve read the Bible. Angel’s aren’t awesome, but at least they could help protect the gate. You’d think. Right?”

“The demons set up guardians to protect the gate. Did the angels? No. In the exorcism, I caught a few things. Gabriel was the one who bound Lucius between planes. He’s the one who left the gate unguarded and allowed the key to fall into the wrong hands.”

“Angels.”

“They see us as a disease.”

Dexx paused bringing his hamburger to his mouth. “Ouch.”

“I know. Fight for us? Angels? No. I’d prefer to keep them out of my sandbox. If they’re our keepers, I’d rather face Hell.”

“You’re afraid of what the angels might do to you.”

“Of what they’ve already done?”

He chewed, reminding her of a cow. “Yeah. Um, point. I wish we had your globe. Why is it broken?”

“I don’t know, but it’s got me concerned.”

“Concerned.” He raised his eyebrows. “It has me fucking terrified.”

She dipped a fry in a pile of mustard. “Yeah. Me, too. It was working, and now it’s not. Now I can’t see any magickal people anywhere? That doesn’t make sense. At all.”

“So did they disappear, or can you just not see them?”

“You really think that every demon on the face of the planet simply vanished?”

“Right.” Dexx rubbed his face. “How screwed are we?”

“We have the demon summoner who can’t summon or banish demons until we figure how these damned—” She pointed to her chest and let out a long breath. “—things can be fixed. We sent the witch home who happened to be our best line of defense. And we’re surrounded by demons and angels with no clue who’s on what side.”

Dexx flattened his lips. “I say we’re pretty screwed.”

“Up the ass.”

T
HE NEXT MORNING,
Brian arrested Malika and Jones for suspicion murder. A few pieces of evidence had come in. A hair that was quite possibly Malika’s, though they were still waiting for the DNA results. One of Jones’ fingerprints. It was enough. Paige knew they were guilty. It was only a matter of time for the courts to provide due process.

Her targets, however, were Sven and that damn key. She needed to get either Malika or Jones to share his location so she could gain possession of the key. She couldn’t leave without it, and she couldn’t stay.

Malika sat in the interrogation room; petite, finely boned and extremely in control. Her mocha skin gleamed with health under the glare of the fluorescent light above her. “Paige.” She raised her cuffed hands. “I would shake your hand, but I’ve been bound.”

Paige took the opposing chair. “They’re only handcuffs, Malika. It could be a lot worse.” If they’d allowed Alma to stay, yes, but without her? She should have let her grandmother stay. “You understand your rights?”

“I feel so guilty about everything. If there’s any way I can help, tell me.”

This woman was like a funhouse of traps. “Tell me about the key.”

“The key?”

“You can stop playing stupid. You know what I’m talking about. We know you’re guilty of murder. You’re going away for a long time. Just tell me where the key is.”

“Why would I do that?”

“I could help you out.”

Malika’s warm expression slithered away as something cold replaced it.

Paige slid back in her chair. “How did you find it?”

Malika’s lips flattened.

“Help me. You’re going down for murder. You’ve got multiple life sentences ahead of you. I could put in a good word for you. Maybe send you someplace nicer.”

“Nicer than what?”

“You haven’t been to jail yet. Trust me. You want my help.”

Malika tapped the table with her fingertips and dropped her gaze. “I found it among my mother’s things.”

“Where is it?”

Malika sat back in her chair. “We tried to open it.”

“Why do I care? I want to know where it is.”

The other woman smiled slyly. “There’s something inside. I didn’t know what it was. Not at first.”

“I feel like we’re flirting and all I want to do is get to the good part. If you know something, spill it. Do not play with me. I am not in the mood.”

Malika’s lips twisted as if she’d eaten something sour. “Someone is trapped inside, someone who understands the gate.”

“Who?”

Malika raised her eyebrows, a slight smile gracing her lips.

Paige rested her arms on the table. “See, here’s the thing I’m having a hard time figuring out. Everything in this case seems to fall around this key and opening it. What if you knew what the key was, and you knew it opened unspeakable power? And what if you couldn’t use the key? What would you do?”

“I would gather magickally rich people and use the power of their blood.”

Blatant. “Okay. So that was your idea? You’re not going to lay the blame on Mike?”

“I discovered the key. I gathered the coven.”

“That doesn’t seem like you. You seem so much kinder than this.”

Malika’s handcuffs clanked against the table. “You can enter the other side any time you wish.”

“Wait? The other side of what?”

“The gate. He said you had the power.”

“Who?”

“You don’t know?” Malika scoffed.

“Why would I? How would I?”

“He’s one of them.”

“Which them?”

Malika pulled back. “What do you mean which them? There is only one.”

Paige couldn’t tell if the woman had lost her mental capacity, or if she was just clueless. Also, trying to follow her was giving Paige a headache.

“He’s an angel, sent to help us. To free us.”

So someone other than Sven? Or was she trying to say Sven was an angel? “Angels? Free you? Are you sure?”

“Can I speak to him?” Malika’s dark eyes took on a maniacal gleam. “The First. He is The First, isn’t he? The one called . . .” She paused.

Paige felt the power gather around the other woman and sat up straighter.

“Lucius.”

The name vibrated through her, ricocheting through every vein, coursing along every nerve. She gripped the table until her fingertips went white.

“Lucius.” A twisted smile played along Malika’s lips. “Come forth and speak to the one who freed you from your bonds.”

The intense power pulsed around Paige, tightening, constricting, choking the very life from her body. It didn’t make sense why. Lucius wasn’t possessing her, wasn’t connected to her.

Someone knocked on the door, the sound loud in the ensuing silence.

Both women jerked.

Malika’s smile slithered into something nicer, but her eyes held the knowledge that she had nearly won. “I know you’re in there, Lucius. She can’t protect you forever.”