Gray’s magic seemed to have immunized me from those symbols.
How is this even possible?
“Ease off, Shears.” Smokey fished a pack of Camels from one of his many pockets and shook out a smoke. He cupped his hands around the lighter to light it, even though there wasn’t any wind in here, and sucked in a deep drag. “Where is he, demon?”
Smoke clouded my eyes. I forced out a cough. “I said, fuck—”
He cracked my jaw with a right hook, damn near dislocating it. I heard the bone pop, but barely felt the pain. The bone was already sliding back into place.
It hadn’t even had time to swell up.
That was the power of Gray’s magic.
Thank you, Cupcake.
“Top… topside,” I moaned, slurring my speech a little. “Something about more… more witches.”
“Whatwitches?” Shears asked. “Where?”
I didn’t respond. I needed them riled up and distracted. The more rage that blinded them, the sloppier they’d become.
Right on cue, Shears kicked the chair out from under me, sending me sprawling on the floor.
He was definitely the bad cop in their operation.
I moaned and groaned, then braced for the kick in the ribs I knew would come next.
The force of it cracked my sternum.
Damn, these assholes are predictable.
“Please,” I begged. “I’ll tell you whatever… Just… make it stop.” I gasped for air, but my ribs were already healed.
Short of beheading, it seemed there wasn’t much they could do to hurt me.
Smokey knelt down in front of me, blowing a plume of smoke in my face. “Tell us everything you know.”
“He… he was talking to Gray about a… a coven. In town somewhere.”
“And the witch?” Smokey asked.
“Took her as… bait. A way in with the other witches. Surprise attack.”
“What else?”
I pressed my advantage, recalling their earlier conversation about “the old man” who was supposed to take over for Jonathan. “Something about… finding his own way. Secret experiments. Didn’t want the old man to know.”
“Shit.” Smokey Joe glanced up at Shears, and I knew I’d hit the mark. “Get Duke on the line.”
Shears removed a device from another pocket—some kind of souped-up cell phone—and made the call.
“The kid is AWOL,” he said to Duke. “Topside, we think. Some kind of coven. Yeah, send someone to investigate.”
He glanced at Smokey while Duke responded, then said, “What do you want them to do when they find him?”
Smokey didn’t hesitate. “End it.”
“You heard the man,” Shears said, then disconnected the call. Kicking me again for old time’s sake, he said, “So, we smoking this motherfucker or what?”
