AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A fair point. “I was springing a lot on you at once. And I don’t know that much about it either, Brooke. It’s not like there’s a how-to for this. I just know what my mom told me.”
Chewing her lower lip, she exhaled deeply. “Good point. When I get home, I’ll make some more calls, change, and get my practicing bag together. I have to pick up some herbs too. Oh, and my sister’s coming. I need her help casting the spell. She’s nineteen though, and I know your sign said twenty-one and over, so we’ll make it quick. But is it alright if I leave Spade’s number with the people I contact in case I’m there when they get back to me? I don’t want to miss their calls.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Just tell them to ask for me. But it’s alright that she’s underage. As long as I know, I just won’t serve her, and I’ll tell Emory the same. No need to rush out.” I zipped up my jacket. “And don’t change.”
“What?”
“You said you were going to change. And you don’t need to.” I glanced her over. “You look pretty in that.”
Her cheeks brightened again as she tugged her cardigan in closer. It was cute how that worked. No matter how firm her tone, she couldn’t hide the blush that came to her freckle dusted cheeks. “No one’s going to take me serious if I show up in this.”
“They take me seriously,” I said. “Anyone bothers you, let me know. I’ll handle it.”
* * *
I opened the bar at five, caught Emory up on what had happened in a bit more depth—evading Brooke’s involvement—and bounced ideas back and forth for a while.
He suggested a stricter conversation with Tommy. Maybe he got pissed off when he saw me flirting with Brooke, went home, got drunker, and came back to teach me a lesson. Even if Tommy had the balls, that story didn’t check out.
Tommy was a Werewolf. I knew his scent, and it hadn’t been here yesterday morning.
Whoever shot me was magically inclined some other way. Perhaps a Witch, maybe a Demon, Guardian wasn’t out of the question, and neither was an Angel. It couldn’t have been a Werewolf because they couldn’t magically fire a gun from the midst of nowhere, it couldn’t have been a Vampire for the same reason, and I couldn’t see any Fae pulling this off either.
I didn’t knowhowa Witch could do it, but they could do just about anything with the right spell. They’d create one if they wanted to badly enough.
Vamps though, the only abilities they had were speed, agility, and beauty. They were great at seducing, but not so great at sharpshooting. Most of them couldn’t go out in daylight either, so I doubted that was the case. Either way, I was on good terms with the local nests.
For us wolves, our strength was physical. If we were going to fight, it’d be with our fists. And either way, I knew the alpha of the closest pack—the pack that Tommy belonged to—and he wouldn’t fuck with me. We liked one another. He kept his pups in line, and I made sure not to drink from people in the city. That was his territory, and I respected it.
I guessed a Fae was possible. Someone of the sprite bloodline could have fucked with my head. They were telepaths, so five minutes in my thoughts would be enough to make me look into a parking lot and see no one.
But that didn’t make sense either. I’d only met a handful of Fae in my life. They were calm creatures for the most part. Quid pro quo types of people. You don’t fuck with them, and they won’t fuck with you. Plus, to manipulate my mind to that sort of capacity—to blind all of my senses—they would’ve needed to make physical contact. Since I hadn’t seen a Fae in the last six months, that seemed doubtful.
Demon and Angel abilities went hand in hand, ranging from teleportation, to invisibility, to shape shifting, to electricity manipulation, to telekinesis. They couldn’talldo all of that—it depended on their bloodline, to my understanding—but they were all powerful.
That’s what Emory was. Half Demon, half Angel. He was telekinetic, could teleport, and he could shapeshift. He had some mild telepathy, but only enough to read fleeting thoughts on command.
Still, I bumped my shoulder into his. He looked up from the glass he was drying. “What’s up?”
“Do you think it was an Angel?” I asked. “I mean, that’s all that makes sense, right? Either an Angel, Demon, Guardian, or a Witch.”
“Coulda been.” He gave a slight nod, thinking. “But other than me, what Angels have you seen in here?”
I sighed. “Good point.”
Not many. One came quarterly to collect taxes, but those meetings were always quick, formal, and amicable. I’d never had any issues with an Angel. I didn’t like the bastards, but I had to pay my due, so I gritted my teeth as I passed them the envelope, and I didn’t see them again for three months.
Anyone who ran a business for supernaturals had to pay their taxes. My place was small, and cheap, so our tax wasn’t high, but we paid it. The money went directly into places like the hospital Brooke had taken me to yesterday. Those of us with more money—like the people on the Chambers—paid more, but we all paid.
It was one of the few business expenses that I didn’t mind. We all needed healthcare, and paying my due was a good thing. Paying taxes to the IRS was a different story because in all actuality, what was the American government actually paying for? Not the pothole covered roads—that was for sure. At least the money I gave to the Chambers went to something good.
The fact remained there too though. I was on good terms with everyone in the supernatural world. “Who the hell could it have been then?” I asked.
“I have no clue,” he said. “But I’ve told you how many times now to invest in cameras?”
I waved him off, reached for the rum on the shelf, and poured. “I just don’t get it. Who would—”
The clatter of shattering glass sounded.
