whiskey witches 02 - blood moon magick (28 page)

That was like the beginning of a bad joke. Right?

Tony stopped an arm’s length away from her. “You came inside.”

“Yeah.” Wow. It worked. It really worked. “I’m…fixed.”

“How?”

“Long story.” She walked toward Jack. “At least we know what you are now.”

He twisted his head to look up at her, his eyes rimmed in red. “What just happened?”

“You—” Paige blinked, her lips pursed in formation of the last word she spoke, still semi-frozen in shock. A real reaper? She hadn’t realized that was a real thing. “You reaped him.”

“I what?”

She nodded, unsure of what else to say.

Karl knelt gingerly next to Rory’s body, her hand holding onto her hip. “We lost him.”

Paige smashed her lips together. Rory was dead, so that was a loss, but she was back and Jack was a reaper and the rest of them were still alive. So, win.

Kind of.

Karl got up. “I’m going to call this in.”

Her spirit animal tugged within her, pulling her toward Dexx.

This was going to take some getting used to. The spirit wasn’t possessing her, exactly. But the emotional ping it sent her was hard to ignore. Her feet moved before she’d made the conscious decision to do so. “How are you doing?”

Dexx looked up at her as she approached. “What happened to you?”

“Long story.”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest, his face folded in a frown. “I think you’ve got the time to tell it now, don’t you?”

The man who had been possessed stirred where he lay on the other side of the podium.

She was almost afraid to say it out loud. The solution was so ludicrous. What if it disappeared after she admitted it to someone else?

I am not going anywhere.

She shook her shoulders. “Okay. Well, making it quick. I have an animal spirit inside me.”

Dexx’s eyes widened. “You were bitten? When?”

“This spirit just chose me.” She shrugged deeply. “Now my soul is healed.”

“Is the door gone?” Tony released his arms and took a step toward her.

“No.” How to describe it? “It’s still there, but the animal spirit is using his energy to keep it closed. That’s the only thing I can figure, but it just happened. So, I haven’t a lot of time to piece it together.”

“Just happened?”

“Yeah. As in just now.”

“You’re a shifter, too?” Dexx asked.

No,
the animal spirit said.

She heard his words, but the emotional ping she received was similar to that gut-twist she got when she lied about something big.

It didn’t matter. If the animal spirit wanted her to believe she couldn’t shift, she’d go with it. He probably had his reasons, and she was more than a little grateful for what he’d been able to accomplish. “No. It’s more like I have a ‘familiar’ residing inside of me.”

The animal spirit calmed and although Paige couldn’t see it, she could almost swear, she felt a nod.

“A what?” Tony asked.

“A familiar? Like, um, a witch has a pet and they bond. Like the crow in
Malificent.”

“Oh.” Tony’s face exploded with understanding.

Movie references did it every time.

Dexx pushed out his lips, studying her.

Tony licked his lips. “Does the spirit have any guessing what our boy will become?”

No,
the animal spirit said.

Again, she received an emotional signal that said otherwise. Respect and a little pride.

Whatever that meant. “No.”

Dexx smiled through a half-shrug, his green gaze filled with hope. “It’ll be neat working through this with you.”

She met it with a smile of her own. “Yeah.” It really would.

Dexx clucked his tongue and turned his attention to the front of the church. “So. A reaper.”

Paige turned to Jack.

He sat on the step to the dais. His shoulders sagged.

“Are you okay?” Paige asked. She’d already asked, but he didn’t look okay. He looked like he’d been kicked in the teeth.

“Hey,” Dexx said, pointing toward her. “Does this mean your globe works again?”

“Good question.” She
would
have to try that out, but not right now. Right now, Jack needed her.

Tony narrowed his eyes, raising his chin.

“He’s dead,” Jack said, his voice distant.

How was she supposed to pull him out of this? She had never met a reaper before.

Well, what would it feel like if she was in his shoes? What would it feel like if she’d just discovered she could reap people’s souls?

What had it felt like to discover that her gift was to partner with the demons of Hell?

Not great. She’d felt alien. She’d told
herself
there was something wrong with her.

“What was it like?” she asked.

Jack gave a long blink, then looked up at her. “Me?”

“Yeah, you. What was it like sending a soul on to the next hurrah?”

“It—I—” His lips continued to flop like a fish after the incoherent sounds ceased.

“That good, huh?” Dexx shoved his hands in his pockets. “Cool. Was that light from Heaven?”

Jack shook his himself. “I don’t—I don’t know.”

“You know,” Paige said to Dexx, “I’ve always wondered about that. I believe in reincarnation. So, what’s the deal with the light?”

Dexx mock-scowled at her. “You suck as a pagan.”

She opened her mouth to say something quippy, but no rejoinder came out. Her brain was starting to crash. Too much excitement. Not enough caffeine.

“It felt…good,” Jack said with a frown. “Like, it was a better place.”

“I’ve dealt with a few ghosts,” Dexx said. “When they don’t move on, it’s not good. It’s just not good. They go feral. So, you’re doing a service.”

Jack looked up at Paige. “Am I evil?”

She snorted. “I summon demons and you want to ask
me
if you’re evil? No. You’re not.”

He rubbed his forehead.

Tony thumped one of the pews. “What’s this globe you were talking about?”

“It’s something I used to be able to conjure to see other magickal people.”

“The last time you mentioned it, you were unable to see paranormals.” He narrowed his eyes minutely.

He is not entirely comfortable with you having full knowledge of his world,
her spirit animal said.

You are the embodiment of understanding,
Paige said. “That’s right. But now?”

He opened his hands as if to tell her to hurry up.

Jack was doing okay. His skin had a bit more color now.

It looked like Dexx was going to make it. At least, it looked like he would.

Be cautious,
her spirit animal said.
Do not grow overconfident. He is strong and a strong animal will likely choose him. If he is not strong enough to match the animal that chooses him, he can still die.

Well, she wasn’t going to allow herself to get caught up in worry and anxiety about something she couldn’t control, either. She was the kind of worrier who did nothing the more she worried. It was like living in a cage.

Time to stop stalling. Cupping her hands, Paige reached inside of herself. She called on each of the elements, allowing each one to fill her with its own unique quality. Then she reached through the animal spirit and tapped into the energy from the other side.

With each of these within her control, she breathed life into her cupped hands.

The animal spirit inside her looked on with a curiosity that thrummed through Paige. She’d never watched her gift through the eyes of another. It had been so long since she’d discovered all of these abilities, that she didn’t even think about them anymore.

A bubble rose inside her cupped hands, looking like the top half of a snow globe.

Tony stepped closer looking over the edge of her hands, the soft blue glow giving his features an eerie hue.

Dexx peered over her shoulder. “It looks different.”

It did. Before, she’d had a map of the area with dots for each of the magickal people in the vicinity. Red demons. Yellow angels. Purple witches.

Now, the map looked more like a living representation of the surrounding area, down to the last tree and blade of grass.

She could see the storm building to the east.

She watched Kris close up the coffee shop, phone propped near her ear.

Sam watched TV inside his cabin.

Kevin turned in a slow circle at his meadow.

A red trail vanished outside of her globe with a single signature. Sven.

A phone rang.

Paige dispelled the globe.

Tony shook his head, his hand raised. “Not mine.”

“Or mine,” Dexx added.

Paige followed the sound to the man who had been possessed. He lay on the floor, unconscious.

The ringing grew closer.

She rifled through his pockets. His jacket pocket glowed. Retrieving the phone, she swiped the green button and put the phone to her ear.

“Paige,” Sven’s velvet voice purred in a strange accent, giving her simple name a lovely lilt.

Not unexpected. “Sven.”

“You did well. Better’n I though’ you would. Good on ya.”

She was sick and tired of being played. “What do you want?”

“You have a better idea of how that gift of yours works, don’ ya?”

“I do. Why is that important to you?”

“I have plans for you.”

Which was great if she had any damned clue what they were. “I’m not interested.”

“Too bad. Be careful of Oriel’s prophecies. You know what happens to that lot?”

“What ‘lot’?”

“The people what get caught up bein’ hero’s in prophecies.”

She’d read enough fantasy novels as a kid to know exactly what that meant. The hero oftentimes dies. Usually sacrificing himself to save others.

“Ah, you do know. Great. Well, I have a differen’ plan for ya. One what won’t get ya killed. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds like you’re an asshole.” Paige ground her teeth. “How many more people are you going to kill?”

“This time?” He chuckled. “Or next?”

It was time to let him know she had teeth. “I can find you now.”

“Because your gift’s workin’, right?” The sound of an eighteen wheeler whizzed by on his end of the phone. “Well, aren’t ya gonna thank me?”

“Thank you?” Paige wanted to tell him what an ass he was. How much of an evil sonofabitch he was, but she knew he didn’t care. He
was
evil and he enjoyed it. “You’re the one who broke me in the first place.”

“Broke.” He snorted. “Such a harsh word, tha’. No. You’ll see. I’m the one what opened ya up.”

Was he just twisting this to his benefit? “We both know you stole those shifters for your own personal gain. You’re powerless. You
need
an animal spirit to keep you going. Just like in Louisiana. All those demon spirits you were shoving into the key? Those were for you. You don’t have big plans. You just need power.”

“Oy! Look at you. You’re very adept, Paige.”

“But I have the animal spirit. It powers
me
. It assists
me
.” She wanted to jam that knife into him as far as she could and then twist it. “What do you have?”

“Exactly,” he said softly yet clearly, “what I wanted.”

She doubted that. Seriously. Oriel had been the one to bring her into this world.

Oriel. He had to have known about the treaty. Right?

Or maybe he hadn’t. After all, what did demons care about mortals?

But what if he had? What if
he’d
drawn her into the investigation to
break
the treaty?

Why?

To start the war again?

A sick chill ran down her spine. “What do you want, you sick fuck?”

He chuckled. “Ah. Well, I guess we’ll just see, now won’t we? Yeah. See ya soon.”

“Sven!”

“Oh, hey! How’s that sweet mother of yours? She send her regards yet?”

She wasn’t about to tell that man to stay away from her mother. She wished ten kinds of awful on the frelling woman’s head.

Her animal spirit purred.

“Ah. So, she has, then. Well, next move’s yours, but I recommend ya hurry. The shifters I’ve chipped will do more damage.”

“Why did you chip them then?”

“So’s they’d learn.”

“Learn what?”

“What you did, Paige.”

She breathed in calm. “What did I learn?”

Quiet hit the other side of the line. “Not to control it. To become one with it.” Those words came out clean, clear, crisp and quiet.

“I will find you.”

“I’ll leave a trail of bodies for ya to follow. I know how you love that.”

Crap. Shit.

“Until next time, eh?”

The line went dead.

Paige was going to find that damned demon.

Her spirit animal growled low in agreement.

J
ack moaned, clutching his head.

Fuck. Now what? He’d just been okay less than a minute ago.

He rolled into a fetal position on the floor. “So many.”

So many what?

Slipping into witch vision, she assessed Jack. She couldn’t see his soul. Blinding white light poured into him from all directions, warping around anything living; Dexx, Tony, Paige, the plant, a pigeon in the rafters.