whiskey witches 01 - whisky witches (4 page)

“It’s the gift she was born with, Les. There has to be a reason it was given to her.” The hand holding the pen jerked with his frustrated anger, creating a line that didn’t belong.

“She’s dangerous and you know it. She summoned demons to kill, Dexx.”

“Just one person.” He brushed the pen across the sigil to repair the damage.

“Yeah. My mother.”

Fucking bitch from Hell. “You have met the woman, right? The world would be better off without her in it, especially after what she did.”

Three years prior, Paige’s mother had waltzed into Dallas and taken Paige’s daughter. No one understood how she’d succeeded. Legally, she didn’t have anything against Paige. Paige’d been an upstanding member of the Dallas Police Department, had the complete support of the entire Whiskey clan. There should have been absolutely no legal reason to remove Leah from Paige’s custody, much less remove her to an entirely different state.

Paige wasn’t the only parent to lose custody for no apparent reason. It was an epidemic in this country and grew at a staggering rate. However, she was the only person capable of summoning demons on a whim. When a demon summoner’s heart is filled with rage as she called upon creatures who feasted on that, bad things happened.

The woman was a box of hand grenades.

“Be that as it may, Paige didn’t deserve paying the repercussions of that on top of losing her job and Leah. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Yeah, well what are we going to do now? What if the next time, the damned thing gets in and strips away all your protections? What if it gets a hold of her gift?”

“Which demon is it?”

He ran a hand over his head. “No clue. Not yet. He talks like a Brit.”

“Most demons do, Dexx.”

“I know, Leslie.”

She sighed, not adding anything for a long moment. “If only she had stayed. I could have helped her.”

“Except that when she was still there, you and Alma had to reapply the memory wipe on a daily basis because everything reminded her of Leah.”

“A mother’s love.”

“Yeah.” Not that he knew much about that. His mother had been good at supporting him and his brother, but he hadn’t paid much attention. He’d taken their father leaving out on her. It hadn’t left them with much of a relationship, though she had tried.

Dexx let the silence linger until he finished the sigil on Paige’s wrist. “Any more thoughts? Like, uh, I don’t know, how I’m supposed to keep your protections in place?”

“I don’t know. Just—hold on a sec.”

Dexx knew what was coming, but his hands were busy so he couldn’t pull the phone away from his ear. He did as far as he could without dropping the phone.

“Grandma!” Leslie’s voice shrilled through his ear.

“You could have moved the phone away from your mouth.” He bit his lip, surveying temporary tattoo. If this worked, he’d talk Paige into making it permanent.

“I did, you dolt.”

“Again with the language.”

“Shh. Grandma, I’ve got Dexx.”

He could hear Alma in the background. Things clanked and clambered. She was either in the kitchen or her workroom.

“Dexx?” her voice crackled over the speaker. “What happened?”

“I already told Leslie. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“You’re a pain in my ass, boy.”

“I do what I can, ma’am.”

“Do you need me there?”

If her gift really did awaken, yeah, he could handle himself. He was a tried-and-true demon hunter. Well-practiced even. But with her? She’d been a friend for a good part of his life, had pulled him out of more than a few scrapes. Not to mention the little fact she was a Whiskey witch, and a demon summoner, and . . . would be really, really pissed if the thing awoke her memories.

“I hear your silence.”

“Alma, I could reall—”

“Don’t go anywhere,” Leslie interrupted. “Whatever you do, don’t let her go back to any crime scenes. We’re on our way.”

“But the kids—”

“What do you think my husband is for? You have protections up?”

“How stupid do you think I am?” he asked. “But how good are they going to be if it’s using the backdoor to get in?”

“You tested her, right? You said she wasn’t possessed.”

“Yes, I tested her and, no, she’s not possessed,” he said tightly. “But how do I test for a bond? Will it show up with holy water?”

“I’ll ask Grandma. Maybe she can come up with something.”

“We can hope so.” He hung up the phone. “I told you I’d kill you if you lost control of your gift.” He blinked and rose from the bed. “I just don’t know if I can.”

She’d tossed her bags in the corner, not doing much to unpack before she’d left for the crime scene. It’s what he would have done, too. He checked her computer bag to see if she had any files. It was heavy enough to have a massive laptop, but what he found instead was a tablet and three inches of paperwork.

The papers had nothing to do with this case. To be honest, he didn’t know why she had them, though, he didn’t invest much time in deciphering them.

The tablet was password protected. After three failed guesses, the screen locked up for thirty seconds. He sighed, wracking his brain for something. This was Paige. She wouldn’t choose her family’s names, or birthdates, or even random numbers attached to names. Her pet wasn’t an option because she wasn’t an animal person.

She was, however, a huge fan of Queen, and her favorite song just happened to be Bicycle Race. He replaced a couple of the letters with the numbers he knew her logical mind was likely to use. Still blocked.

Holding his breath, he did it again but added Leah’s age.

He was in.

He closed his eyes, expelling a heavy breath. Shit.

Paige startled violently enough to shake the bed and emitted a gut-wrenching cry filled. He looked over at her, trying to pry his heart from his throat.

Her eyes were open. White-knuckled hands gripped the comforter beneath her.

He scrambled to the bed, grabbing his flask of holy water on the way. “Pea?”

“He’s here,” she whispered. She closed her eyes, her whole body relaxing as if she suddenly fell asleep.

He unscrewed the cap and sprinkled a bit of water over her. It lay against her cheek, on her bared arms, on her exposed belly. Nothing. Hollywood made it look so easy. Throw some holy water, spout some words in Latin and presto, instant dead demon. If only it always worked that way.

“Pea, you’re dreaming,” he said, setting the water on the table next to the bed. He grabbed her shoulders and shook lightly. “Come on. Wake up.”

“Leah,” she sobbed. Her clawed hand raked at her heart, tugging the v-neck of her tank down to do so. Blood welled in the trails her nails left.

“Oh, shit.” Dexx slapped her face. Nothing.

She undulated. Her body twisted in pain. Grief ravaged her face.

“Not good. Not good. Very pissed off woman with the ability to call demons. Not freakin’ good.” He reached up to slap her a bit harder, but stopped at the sight of the sigil on her wrist glowing a fiery red.

“Oh, God.” He grabbed the holy water off the table and glared into the flask. “Richard, if you shysted me, I am so gonna kick your ass.” He poured the rest of the flask on her arm where the rune burned. It sizzled and evaporated instantly. “Oh . . . shit.”

His mind scrambled, coming up blank. Trained demon hunter. Honed instincts.

Scared shitless.

Her eyes shot open. The chocolate brown was gone. Only black remained.

“Paige!” He jumped on the bed and straddled her, taking her shoulders in his hands.

Her lips twisted as she grabbed hold of his wrists. “Hunter.” The voice that came out of her resonated with a thousand different tones.

Demon. Not Paige.

“Let her go.”

The thing just smiled with her lips. “I will protect the key at all costs.”

“P
AIGE?”

The demon pressed the burning rune to Dexx’s arm. “Look what you did.”

Fire shot through his entire body. Pressure built inside his head. Sounds invaded his ears. Visions raced across his eyes. Emotions swam through his heart.

“Paige,” he roared.

She felt nothing. No love. No hurt. No anger. Just numbness.

Concern shone in Leslie’s brown eyes. “How about you call Leah early today?”

Paige called at bedtime every night, hoping to catch that one magical moment of pre-bedtime festivities again. She hoped she could read Leah a story, or sing to her, or talk to her like they used to when they’d been together. She missed holding her, Leah cuddling close, missed that one sacred moment of the day. There was no one else, just the two of them, mother and daughter, sharing the quiet time before bed. The hurt that filled her was too much, too overpowering, leaving her feeling . . . nothing.

Paige closed her eyes. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Paige.” Dexx twisted with pain. “Paige. You’ve gotta wake up. Fight this.”

She walked over to the phone with a growing doom blooming in her heart. It was the same every time. She knew what to expect. She knew what she would hear, what would happen. She knew the pain she would go to bed with. She bit her lip as she dialed her mother’s number, and choked down the rising tears of desperate frustration. She wouldn’t stop. She would let Leah know she loved her now and forever.

“Hello?” Rachel’s cheerful voice said as she answered the phone.

“Rachel,” Paige said, her tone devoid of emotion.

“Paige?” Rachel asked in surprise. “You’re calling early. Do you have a date?”

Guilt flared in Paige’s chest. Was she being selfish for calling early? She just wanted to take a bath, let some of the pain ebb before she went to bed, maybe push the nightmares aside for one night. “No. Just calling early. That’s all.”

“Well, Leah’s in the middle of something right now. I could interrupt her if that would make you happy.”

Paige rolled her eyes. What could she do? Argue with the woman? What good would that do? Every time she stood up to her, Rachel used Leah as a hostage, buying Paige’s submission. “Fine. I’ll call back later.”

“Wait,” Rachel said quickly before Paige could hang up. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something without Leah here.”

Paige raised an angry eyebrow. “What? Need more money?”

“What did I ever do to you?” Rachel admonished. “All I ever did was love you.”

Paige kept herself silent for fear of losing her chance this evening.

“I want you to come up some weekend. Soon,” Rachel said.

That threw Paige completely off-guard. “What?” Hope flared painfully in her chest, poking at the numbness she so desperately needed to cope.

“Leah misses you and I was just thinking that it would be really good for her.” Rachel paused. “I didn’t want to mention it in front of her. You know how you are. You’re never on time and were never dependable.”

She was as dependable as she could be. Sometimes traffic or work or a new case would interfere, but she tried to—She shook her head. She always tried to be dependable.

“It hurt Leah more than she ever let on that you didn’t come home when you said you would.”

“But—”

“Just because you gave birth to this little girl doesn’t make you a mother. There’s more to being a mother than having a job.”

Guilt pounded through her like a gilded hammer. “I did the best I could.”

Rachel’s tone turned silky sweet. “I know you did, baby. I should have been there for you more when you were growing up. I should have shown you how to be a better mother.”

Paige rolled tear-clogged eyes and leaned up against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Okay. You don’t need to say anything.” Hurt laced the tone of her words. “I understand.”

“What do you want me to say, Rachel?” Paige asked, her voice slipping. “You abandoned us when I was four.”

“You just had to throw that in my face, didn’t you?” she said, sniffling. “Can you be up here next weekend?”

“That’s tomorrow. I can’t afford the plane ticket with that little advance. Even if I got in the car now, I doubt I’d make it in time to get up there and come back in time to get to work.”

“Work. It’s always work with you, isn’t it?”

“Someone has to pay the bills. You don’t.”

The line was silent. “I’m trying to help you.”

Paige swallowed. “How about next weekend? Gives me time to talk to my boss, get a day off. I’ll drive up there and then drive back.”

Rachel clicked her tongue. “Sounds fine. You can’t stay here, though. I can’t run the risk that you’d steal her in the middle of the night.”

Like you did? “Of course. I expected nothing less.”

“Paige,” Dexx called through gritted teeth. “Come on! Wake up.”

“Dexx?” Paige asked, her voice tight with tears. “What is this? What’s happening?”

“I need you to wake up.”

“Is this real?” she whispered.

He grimaced. “Yes.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, God.” She closed her eyes.

She had drove days straight without stopping for more than gas and sleep. She called Rachel to let her know she had made it into town and to ask if it was okay to come straight over. Rachel had been cheerful when she’d said okay. Too cheerful. A sinking feeling filled Paige’s stomach, but she pulled up in front of her mother’s house, a tall beast built onto the side of the mountain itself.