Abby replied, “I understand.”
He acted like he’d never met Abby before, which made me wonder if we’d been bribing the council, or just the ranking hunter team in the city. Not that it gave us any leverage, he’d just kill us if we tried to tell the council witch anything, and it wasn’t in our interests to do that anyway.
Serin waved a hand, “This is my team, and with us is Katrina, the premier earth witch in Chicago. She’ll be reading your land, and if we have any questions after that we’ll let you know. For now, just stay quiet and out of the way.”
Katrina was about five foot nine, with curly golden blonde hair and light brown eyes. She probably specialized in reading the history of the earth, one of the more advanced abilities of an Earth witch. She looked us over coldly, and then clearly dismissed us as non-threatening and unimportant.
“Where?”
Abby replied, “Most of the fight happened right on the lawn in front, just off the porch. There was some fighting on the porch as well, a demon by the back door, and a demon and Stan on the front porch.”
Serin’s eyes widened slightly when he’d heard the word demon. Did he not know who he was in bed with? Figuratively speaking, I think. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Adele hadn’t been doing that literally as well.
Katrina shook her head, “I can’t read wood, but I’ll see them mount the porch before the fight, if that’s true, silence please.”
Serin looked taut, like a drawn bowstring, and most of his focus was on Vic, as if the shifter was the greatest threat there. Or perhaps he thought shifters were unpredictable, and Vic was the one most likely to start trouble. Either way, I did my best not to be noticeable, and trusted in my glamour to keep my true nature hidden.
I wondered how they’d even found out about it, unless Stan already contacted Serin to tell him the fights were under new management? That was probably it.
Then I regretted the tight shorts and clingy t-shirt I had on, because Serin checked me out. I had to focus on not throwing up, at his shallow interest.
Katrina walked off the porch, and she closed her eyes and stood still for what seemed like a very long time, but it was probably only a handful of minutes. Reading the land like I could, like any earth witch could, wasn’t a spell but a skill. An affinity and connection we had with the land. It was just in Katrina’s case she got a lot more information from it than I did, through greater power, concentration, and memory techniques.
The whole time I kept forcing myself to relax, we didn’t actually do anything wrong. It was hard though, the way Serin was staring down Vic. It spoke to Vic’s self-control that he didn’t react, because it was pure challenge. Was Serin trying to force a confrontation?
Then it was over.
Katrina said, “Adele along with her three attacked without warning this morning, before dawn. The shifters were in animal form, and Adele did have two demons with her, which started the fight. Perhaps to soften them up. Serin, it was a clear case of self-defense.”
Serin frowned, “You took down two demons, then a powerful fire witch and her three shifters, with no losses?”
Abby nodded, but didn’t speak. Good, similar to human cops, it was never a good idea to volunteer information to the council, just answer the question minimally and literally.
Serin scowled, “How?”
Abby waved her hand, “Home field advantage, I had my wards to help, and we had holy water on hand for the demons.”
Serin snorted, “How… fortunate.”
Arrogant prick, I took another long breath and managed a neutral face, while I imagined all the ways to kill a Nephilim. Much like an angel, or a demon for that matter, they were tough as hell. Of course, he wouldn’t need holy water for a demon.
Katrina gave him a pointed look.
I got the impression he wanted to find a reason to kill us, but the earth witch just looked like she wanted to go home and was done with it. After sharing a long silent stare, Serin nodded, and they moved away from the house without another word. Not even a thanks for your cooperation.
We waited until they reached their cars, and got inside, before Abby shut the door.
Vic growled, “What the hell was that about?”
Abby bit her lip, “I’m not sure. He must’ve heard about the fight from Stan, when he contacted Serin, but why they came out looking for an excuse to take us down, no idea.”
I nodded, “I had that same thought. The only thing I can think of was there was more between him and Adele than simple bribery. He acted like he’d never met you before.”
Abby snorted, “That’s nothing new, he acted that way every single week at the warehouse too. We’re beneath his notice. I worry this isn’t the last of it.”
Yeah, I was positive it wasn’t the last of it. Had Adele been screwing him too, or had she been blackmailing him too, in a way we didn’t know about and couldn’t maintain. Or maybe three groups cooperating made him nervous about leaks, in a way that all of us under Adele’s boot didn’t? There was nothing but speculation. One thing was for sure, we needed to be careful. Whatever it was, he wanted to cover it up, and didn’t mind killing to do it if he could find an excuse.
What did that mean for the fight night next week?
Chapter Eleven
The plates had been cleared and put in the dishwasher, and the three of us were sipping an after-dinner coffee flavored with Bailey’s and chatting when John rose for the evening. He caught on to the tension quickly, and it didn’t take long to bring him up to speed on what’d happened.
He grunted, “We should go out tonight, how about a late movie.”
Abby smiled, “I’m up for that.”
Vic grunted, “My teeth itch. I need to go for a run, shed some of this aggression and stress from Serin’s visit, but you all have fun.”
I hesitated a moment, the idea had sounded fun to me until that moment, then I shook my head. I’d have gone with Vic as a friend, along with Abby and John, but I’d feel too much like a third wheel out on their date without Vic around. I also felt annoyed, like he’d abandoned me, but that was ridiculous.
“I didn’t sleep last night, going to read a bit and turn in early. You two should have fun, make it a date.”
I’d have gone with the four, but what I said was also the truth. It wouldn’t hurt to get an early night.
Abby smirked, “Nothing more romantic than burying some dead bodies before catching the late show.”
I snickered. I’d forgotten we still needed to get rid of their corpses. To be fair, John said he’d handle it, so I’d dismissed it from my mind.
John shook his head, “Are you sure? We don’t really have to bury bodies. That’s what incinerators are for. I know a guy.”
Abby’s lips twitched, “Ah, a romantic fire followed by a late show, even better,” she declared in a dreamy girlish voice.
I snickered, the air witch had a twisted sense of humor. I never took killing or death lightly, at least the act, but it was a fact in our violent world, and I’d had to accept it. Humor helped in the aftermath of it.
Vic got up without a word, and he headed out the back door, no doubt for that night run and hunt.
I excused myself before the moment grew too awkward, and I did some of that reading before turning in for the night long before anyone got back.
The next six days passed rather quickly.
John and Abby were an interesting couple, and I got to know them better. Nothing earthshattering like they’d already shared with me, but little things about their past and funny stories. There was still a week left before it was decided on if I was staying or not, and while they welcomed me I could tell they were keeping me a little at arm’s length too.
Apparently, being a kick ass Alchemist and fighting by their side wasn’t enough to overcome their worries about my past and my flirtation with the left-hand path, even if I mostly stuck to the right.
Vic was a conundrum, and my emotions were all over the
place when it came to him. He clearly wanted me in his bed, and we’d enjoyed a couple of more rides together on the trails, but other than that he was closed off. He was hot, and drove me crazy when he walked around shirtless, but he hadn’t shared anything else about himself since that first ride we’d had together, and he hadn’t asked me out.
It made me wonder if a hot fuck was all he wanted from me, if that was all I was worth to him. A pretty face and a nubile supplely and curvy in shape body? While giving into powerful chemistry could be wild and fun, I wasn’t one to hook up just for pure physical pleasure. Not anymore, I’d learned that lesson, and I wanted more than that. If not from Vic, then someone else, but my options weren’t exactly thick on the ground either.
It was what it was, and I’d been constantly reminding myself shifters were dogs, which helped, a bit.
Jayce was kind of cute and obviously enjoyed the view whenever we chatted, but he was human, fourteen years older than me, and in a relationship. In short, he wasn’t really interested, he just liked the view of the young hot witch he worked with, and I wasn’t interested either though the light flirting was fun. He was a good guy though, that I felt comfortable with.
I had nothing against humans, but I couldn’t grow old with one. I was guessing I’d age at a fourth of human rate, but it was quite possible the ratio would be even larger. I wouldn’t even be able to more than guess on that for another ten to fifteen years. So, friends yes, but lovers and partners in this life was out for the human population.
Hell, for all I knew I was immortal, and would never age. Probably not, but a girl could hope, right?
The early pre-dawn mornings I sparred with Vic with John to keep in shape, and they went easy on me. Not with speed, or letting me win, but they held back on their strength when they got strikes in. I didn’t do too badly, but for me fighting hand to hand would only ever be the last resort, and only to give myself time to win in another way, or until I could disengage and flee with the aid of glamour.
Unless I was about to die, then I’d have to reveal the powers of my third race. Something to be avoided otherwise.
I brewed potions at least once a day every morning after breakfast, even if none had dropped to half, I needed to fill the time and feel useful. So, my new rule was to brew anything below the halfway point of full inventory like before, or if nothing was close to that I’d pick whatever potion needed the most to reach that full inventory amount. The rest of my mornings I experimented on new potions and ideas, and I tried to figure out potion recipes for known potions that weren’t in my family’s grimoire.
Even for a master alchemist, experimentation entailed a lot of failures before success. Each failure taught me something new, so it wasn’t a total loss. Only successful potions went in the grimoire, so I had a separate and quite mundane lab notebook to track my experiments.
The afternoons I rode the trails after lunch to commune with nature. In the evenings I studied spells and other lore from my grimoire, and I dropped in on Muriel to chat for a bit before sleep. All of that was becoming my daily grind and schedule over the last week.
I’d also reluctantly hit the dark web on my laptop and done a little research. If I was asked to leave in a week, I wanted to have an idea of where I was going next. Reluctantly, because I really wanted to stay, but a girl had to be prepared. Sure, Vic’s hot and cold thing was frustrating. He looked at me with intense heat in his gaze as much as he ignored me, but I felt like I fit in, and I got along with both John and Abby very well. Point being, life wasn’t perfect, not even close, but this was a good place. One of the best I’d been, since I’d lost my mother.
The whole horse ranch thing was growing on me as well.
I was almost positive none of them were serial killers, or would turn on me, unless they found out about the secret I’d never tell, that is.
Despite my worries about it, we hadn’t seen anything from Serin or the rest of the council since Katrina had read our fight from the earth and declared it self-defense. Of course, later that night was the fight night, my second one, and the first under new management.
I suspected the other shoe was about to drop. That could be the paranoia talking, but I doubted it.
The SUV was comfortable and roomy, and I relaxed back in the seat as we rolled toward the city. I was concerned about that night, but at the same time it was good to get out. I’d need to pick up a vehicle of my own one of these days, so I could get out on occasion. Outside of their date night six days ago, to handle the bodies and watch a late movie, none of us had left the ranch since.
The sky was clear that night, although the light pollution of the city made the bright starry sky dim a bit as we approached. The moon was also waxing, about three quarters full. I was nervous about that night, what Serin might or might not have planned, but we really didn’t have a choice. We’d made commitments to the other groups, and us cancelling and not going could trigger an attack by Serin.
We just didn’t know enough to make a good decision, and Vic needed the outlet of a challenge fight anyway. Speaking of which, I did finish up that rejuvenation potion brew last week, so he wouldn’t have to settle for healing potions anymore. I wasn’t sure why, but the potion only worked on shifters, it couldn’t be used to rejuvenate a witch’s power, rest and food was the only way.
I’d just run my potion booth, hope for the best, and try to be prepared for anything. It was stickier too, Adele was bad enough, but she’d been equally on the edges of society. The councils ruled our worlds, and they didn’t play fair. Fair didn’t really come into it.
“I have a new potion, I’m not sure if you want to try to sell it or not. It’s… borderline, not a healing potion per say. Eye drops, that give perfect vision. No glasses or contacts needed, just a drop in each eye every morning. I could make the effect permanent too, but that would be true healing and undoubtably draw the attention of the council. Each bottle has enough for three months, so it’d cost about two hundred a year if we charge fifty a bottle, I think most people would pay that for the convenience.”
Obviously, it would be a human and witch item, most supernaturals had perfect vision. Shifters, vampires, fae, and Nephilim eyesight never went bad, and were even enhanced for those races to different degrees.
Abby replied, “Not tonight, let things settle first before we change anything, but we can put it on the shelves in the shop tomorrow morning, at your suggested price.”
John asked, “What would it do for someone that already had perfect vision?”
I asked teasingly, “You volunteering to be my test subject?”
He laughed.
I shrugged, “It’d get your eyes wet. It doesn’t enhance the nature of your eyes, it just makes them work as best as naturally possible.”
Vic asked, “Would it work on the blind?”
I frowned, “I don’t think so. Maybe in some cases, there’s a lot of different reasons for blindness. It wouldn’t help if the optic nerve is damaged, but maybe for any damage to the eye itself.”
John said, “Try to keep your head down this week.”
I snorted.
“I’ll do my best.”
John pulled into the warehouse parking lot, and I tried to fade into the background as much as possible as we went inside. As much as possible, because I looked damned good in a red skirt, and black boots and a thin clingy lowcut sweater. Of course, drawing a few male eyes wasn’t the kind of attention I’d need to avoid.
I was more than content working my way up to the booth level and setting up the booth with John. Let Abby lead, and deal with the other two groups involved, while Vic went into the back to hang with the other shifters and get ready for his fight.
I couldn’t help but notice the crowd was different this week. There were less well-dressed council stooges, more shifters and even a few vampires. The rich and bloodthirsty humans were the same though, no change there. That latter group was also a shield of sorts, if Serin planned any mischief it wouldn’t
be in front of our human customers.
I’d barely gotten settled, and the potions out on the table, before I started to sell the usual stuff. Performance enhancer, beauty products, contraception, pain relief, and others. Before the fights even started, I had almost three thousand dollars in the lock box. Only five hundred of it was mine under the new deal, we shared everything equally with the other two groups, and our group’s third was split between me and Abby.
And the night was just starting. It paid to be an alchemist, I’d already made quite a bit this last week, enough I was itching to get out to some stores. I had plenty of clothes, but it never hurt to have more.
When the line ended, I frowned over at the leader’s booth, where Abby, Sally, and Stan stood.
John asked, “Something wrong?”
I shook my head, “I don’t know, but where is Serin? Shouldn’t he be here by now, to accept the bribe?”
John snickered, “He’ll be here, he doesn’t always show up first thing like that first week.”
I nodded, “And the audience, does that change so significantly every week?”
John shrugged, “It does vary, don’t get paranoid on me.”
Too late.
I took care of two more customers, then a shifter I hadn’t met walked up.
“Hey, darlin,” the man drawled out. He was buff like most shifters, and he had a chiseled face. He had black hair, green eyes, and was six feet four in height. He was also an asshole, darlin? Really?
I said firmly, “Kyra, and you are?”
He chuckled, “Don’t be like that, didn’t mean nothing by it. I’m Kevin, were-bobcat, part of Stan’s group. Running security tonight, and thought I’d introduce myself to the sexiest lady in here since I haven’t had the pleasure yet.”
If wolf-shifters were dogs, male cat shifters were worse, though this guy seemed to be in a class by himself. I was also getting a creepy vibe off of him, and it wasn’t because he’d called me darlin, there was something about him that wasn’t quite right. I usually enjoyed a compliment from a good-looking man, but his flattery fell flat and left me feeling cold. His tone of voice and innuendo about not having the pleasure of me yet made me flinch on the inside, and his eyes roving down my body made me feel violated and dirty, made me want to take a shower, with lots of hot water and soap to get clean.
Hexes and Hellfire: Kyra Bell: Book One Page 8
