Jamie was off and running in the next second, riffling through her closet where she kept most of her medical supplies. This wasn’t the first time I’d shown up on her doorstep needing medical assistance. Most injuries I could handle, but when things got really bad, Jamie would patch me up without a complaint.
She was one of the few people who knew what I did for a living—not what I was. I’d kept that part of myself secret to even her. Mostly because she was human and revealing myself could cause a whole lot of shit I really didn’t want to deal with. But also because—I don’t know—I didn’t want her to look at me differently or some crap like that.
Although she despised what I did for a living, it hadn’t been enough to push her away. She’d even asked me on a date twice in passing, but I’d refused. She was a good-looking girl, don’t get me wrong, with blonde hair that she always pinned back into a bun, green eyes, a petite figure, and nice hips, but it was better to keep her out of my life, for obvious reasons. My relationships were restricted to one night only, and since there were times I needed Jamie’s emergency skills in a pinch, it was best to not get involved.
Never mix business with pleasure.
Pulling out a portable oxygen tank, hose, and mask, she lugged the thing over to the couch. Shoving me to the side, she worked quickly to set it up and get the mask settled over the girl’s face.
“Deep, slow breaths, dear,” she instructed her as she stroked her hair. “That’s it… Good… Just like that. Keep breathing in and out.”
I backed up to give them space. As the girl continued to follow Jamie’s instructions and breathe, Jamie looked her over for any other obvious wounds.
“No burns that I can see…” She was talking to herself—something she did often when in caregiver-mode. She pulled out a pocket light and shined it in both the girl’s eyes. “No pupil dilation… A bit pale, but that’s to be expected…”
I began to pace the living room as she worked, her words fading into the background of my own thoughts.
I had almost killed this girl. This child. Just admitting it to myself made guilt and rage tumble through me. My demon rose immediately, and heat slid across my skin. I shoved my hands into my pockets to keep any visible changes unseen. At least temporarily. I could feel the rising temperature through my jeans. My head pounded and pain shot through my jaw from clenching my teeth so hard.
Tricking me had been a mistake.
Fernando was in for a surprise visit from me after this.
“What’s your name, sweetie?”
Jamie’s question made me stop. I hadn’t even thought to ask the girl her name.
“Sophie,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the hissing oxygen coming through her mask.
“Sophie, I’m Jamie. This is Cole.” She glanced up at me. “He’s the one who saved you.”
Saved was a strong word.
Sophie’s gaze roamed over me and she nodded slightly.
“Are you feeling better now?” Jamie asked.
Again, she nodded.
“Do you want to watch a bit of television? I can make us a snack, too. Maybe a drink? Water or milk?”
“Where’s my mommy?” she asked instead.
Jamie and I exchanged nervous looks.
“Don’t worry…” she began, making sure to pick her words carefully. “She knows you’re here getting better.”
I swallowed past the tightness in my throat.
“I think I may have some chocolate syrup, too… For chocolate milk? How does that sound?” Jamie asked, a bit gentler than before. Luckily, she knew how to handle the delicate situation better than I did.
The little girl’s eyes lit up. “Yes, please.”
Jamie took the remote from her side table and switched the TV on. Quickly flicking through the channels, it didn’t take long to find some kind of cartoon that grabbed Sophie’s interest. “We’ll just be in the kitchen if you need us, okay?”
But the girl was already lost in the show, eyes wide as she watched animated dogs run across the screen.
Seeing that she was occupied, Jamie waved me to follow her into the kitchen. I did, knowing exactly what was coming next.
She leaned against the counter and ran a hand over her face. Looking her over, I noticed she wasn’t wearing pajamas but her scrubs, and exhaustion hung heavy in her gaze. She must have just gotten home from working a long shift.
“Do I want to ask?” she said and crossed her arms.
I didn’t answer, and she sighed, turning to the coffee maker on the counter. She flicked the switch on and the machine gurgled as the water heated. Moving slowly, she added the grounds. Within seconds the entire kitchen smelled like dark roast.
“I need to take out stock in Starbucks,” she grumbled before turning to me again. “Where are her parents?”
Again, I didn’t answer.
“Cole!” she snapped in an angry whisper. “You didn’t.”
For the millionth time since we’d met, I wished we hadn’t. Wished she hadn’t found me bleeding out in front of her house when one of my hits had gone wrong. I’d been young then and inexperienced, freshly out of my teens, and she’d been going to medical school. Despite the years of friendship behind us, I hated involving her in my shit.
It wasn’t like it was with Wyatt and Sean. They were human, too, but they made the supernatural part of their lives. Jamie was oblivious to that side of the world. She wanted a normal life with a husband and kids—a life she deserved. I’d told myself last time I’d wouldn’t be back, yet here I was, asking her to come to the rescue again.
I watched as she grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured the coffee, her hands shakier this time. “I don’t see you for close to a year and then you show up with a girl you saved from a fire, with no parents.”
She was calling my bluff, and we both knew I wasn’t going to admit anything out loud. But I did feel like I owed her some kind of explanation. Something.
“I was tricked,” I decided with, which was true. Saying it aloud made my anger stir again. “I don’t hurt children.”
“Well, that’s a relief, at least.” She sipped her black coffee, not even bothering to offer me any. She knew me long enough to know I’d refuse anyway. “You need to take her to the police station, you know.”
“No,” I said a little too forcefully. “No cops.”
“Fine, then I’ll take her.”
“You can’t,” I ground out. “Her life’s in danger. If it’s discovered she’s missing, then they’ll just send someone else.”
Her eyes widened. “She’s a child, Cole. Your employer would kill a child?”
“Obviously, yes,” I replied. She wasn’t getting it. “He sent me to do it originally. If I’d known—”
“This is insane.” She put down the mug, suddenly uninterested in it. “Absolutely insane.”
Tell me about it. And this was just the tip of the iceberg.
“I need you to watch over her until I get this sorted out,” I told her. I needed to go back into Fairport and give dear old Fernando a piece of my mind.
“Oh, no.” She shook her head frantically. “I’m not babysitting. I have to go back to work in twelve hours for a double shift.”
“You’ll figure it out,” I said. “You always do.”
Jamie rose onto her tiptoes to peer into the living room where Sophie was still sitting silently watching cartoons.
“She’s on her own now,” I said, knowing I had to appeal to her caregiver side to make her agree. “Her family’s gone. She needs someone to keep her safe.”
She sighed in aggravation, probably wishing she’d left me for dead that day after all.
“What am I going to tell her about her family?”
“Whatever you want. Tell her the truth if you think she should know.”
“No way. She’s a kid. She won’t be able to handle that.”
I shrugged. She knew better than I did in that department.
“And what are
you going to do now?” she asked.
“I’m going to make this right.” At least as right as I could, despite the circumstances. I moved to the refrigerator and took a magnetic notepad with attached pen and scribbled down my newest cellphone number. “If you need me.”
When she took it from me, her gaze regarded me skeptically. “You owe me for this, you know.”
I nodded, then without saying goodbye, stalked to the door.
“Thank you.” Sophie’s wheezy voice made me hesitate before stepping through the door. “For saving me.”
My chest tightened, knowing I hadn’t saved her—not really. I’d only made her life a hundred times harder.
If she knew the truth, she’d hate me for what I’d done. Almost as much as I hated myself for it.
Almost.
Unable to stay there a second longer, I left with only one destination in mind.
Instead of going straight into the building’s front door and dealing with the three guards and their metal detector again, I found a back door meant to be locked at all times. The outside of it didn’t even have a handle, meant to be used for emergencies only.
My rage was building with every passing moment, my demon bouncing around under my skin as if waiting for its window to bust out. And honestly, it just might. Controlling it was the last thing on my mind at the moment, so my Hellfire rushed to the surface without much thought at all and it took only seconds to melt the metal of the door and sneak inside.
Moving quickly and quietly, I made it to the elevator and peered into the lobby. The three guards were there, at their posts, but were occupied scanning a maintenance worker’s ID and patting him down before his early shift started.
I punched in the code I’d remembered the big guard using, and the moment the doors opened, I stepped inside. The ride felt like hours, my heart pounding with excitement and rage. My gun was already out, loaded, and aimed for the place I expected Fernando to be.
The moment the doors opened, and I spotted him standing behind the desk, I fired.
The cup of coffee in his hand exploded as the bullet ripped through his palm, and he leaped back, screaming. I fired again, this time hitting him in the thigh. He crumbled.
The first shot had been to make spellcasting harder. Wielding magic came from a combination of a witch’s or sorcerer’s inner strength, hand gestures, and magic words, so the first step was disrupting one of the things on that list. The second shot was partly to stop him from running, partly because I was pissed to all hell.
As Fernando struggled to stand, I noticed him pressing something under his desk—a panic button—and the danger of the situation shot up an extra notch. I had seconds before the guards came lumbering up here.
I spun, flames licking my skin, and punched the elevator’s Down button. Sparks flew. A broken elevator would buy me more time. Fernando’s office was twenty stories up.
Crossing the room, I seized Fernando by the suit jacket and slid him across his desk. He hit the display case, which toppled to the ground, the glass shattering all over the floor. Then, I jerked him up against the wall, my hand at his throat and my gun pushed into his abdomen. I may have calmed the Hellfire for now, but my palms still glowed with the pending heat, just waiting to be released. Sweat beaded his brow as he struggled to breathe and gripped my wrist with his one good hand. Terror widened his eyes.
“You tried to trick me,” I growled, my voice sounding animalistic to my own ears, but I didn’t care.
He gasped as I squeezed his throat. “You agreed on whatever it takes.”
In those few words, he confessed to knowing exactly what I was talking about.
“Kids are off-limits,” I bit out. Flames began to tickle my flesh, and the scent of burning hair and fabric hit my nose. “I’m not a monster.”
Fernando cried out, his fingers clutching my wrist in desperation. “Are… you sure about… that?” he managed to get out between breaths.
Then it hit me—what I was really doing—and I let him go, my Hellfire extinguishing immediately. The skin around his neck was the angriest shade of red, and badly blistered.
On the floor, his trembling hand reached for it but he didn’t dare touch the raw flesh. I kept my gun pointed at him.
“I should kill you for that,” I said and the temptation was there. Urging me to pull the trigger and splatter his brains all over his expensively decorated office. But a small voice inside me whispered that was just what the demon inside me wanted and I had to resist. I couldn’t let it overcome me, as much as murdering this bastard would have quenched the fire within me.
Behind me, footsteps thundered and a door shot open. The three guards rushed into the room, guns drawn.
A shot rang out, and I shifted just in time, the bullet whizzing past me and embedding itself into the thick cushion of the office chair. At the same time, I whirled and fired, nailing the big guard in the arm. He dropped his gun automatically.
“He’ll be dead before either of you put your finger on the trigger,” I snapped, waving my weapon back Fernando’s way. “Don’t even try it.”
The guards glanced at their boss for direction, but when they found him only whimpering in pain and grasping his bloody thigh, they tossed their guns away. Even though the sorcerer was a pitiful sight, Sophie’s face kept hovering in my mind and my finger stayed firmly on the trigger, still unsure if keeping this scumbag alive was really worth it after all.
I forced myself to take a step back, then another.
I’m not a monster. I’m not.
I could still find a way out of this curse. I had to remember that.
My gaze switching between the guards and Fernando, I kicked away any big glass pieces with my shoe, picked up The Key of Fotheringhay, and pocketed it. A charmed object that could open any door, any lock—yeah, something like this could make my job a lot easier.
When Fernando went to protest, I jerked my gun at him again.
“In exchange for sparing your life,” I said. Then, I shoved past the guards and into the emergency stairwell. I must have gotten my point across because they let me go without a fight.
Weeks passed. Since I wasn’t asking Fernando for anything ever again—not that he’d give it to me anyway—I was left with hunting down Xaver myself. Why Xaver when there was a Hell full of demons? Simple. It was personal. This wouldn’t be the first time our paths had crossed or the first time he’d given me the slip. We’d been at this chase for a while now. Years.
He knew the information I needed. I knew he did. But I was tired of him playing hard to get.
I’d ended up sending Jamie a good chunk of Fernando’s payment after I’d cashed the check—enough to care for the girl and retire on if she really wanted to—and hoped that would pay my debt to her for helping me out.
It was also my way of saying goodbye without really saying it. This time, I’d stay away. I swore it to myself. I was done bringing my messes her way. She deserved better than that.
After bugging Wyatt and Sean for their help a little more than usual and contacting a few other supernaturals on my contact list for their advice, I’d gotten a lead of a man acting strange with all the signs of possession in the middle of downtown Fairport. Which shocked the shit out of me since the solstice was still days away and demons could never cross over without it. At least, that’s how it’d always been before.
But despite all my doubts and reservations, I didn’t have Fernando’s dark magic to help me so I decided to check it out myself. Would only be a waste of time if I came up empty, and frankly, I was getting used to that. The hunt for a cure had led me to many dead ends, but my drive kept me going. Just in case this one time was it.
After checking into my usual motel spot under the highway’s underpass, I drove down downtown Fairport’s cobblestone roads in the dead of night. I parked on the side of the road and got out, lugging my backpack on my shoulder and pulling out the paper where I’d scribbled my notes. According to my contacts, the guy I was looking
for was tall and lanky with dark skin, eyes, and glasses.
Not much to go on, but at least it was something.
I had to make sure I worked fast. Xaver could switch skins or possibly slink back to Hell whenever he felt like it with the veil acting screwy.
Walking into the alley between two buildings, I knew I had a few long nights ahead of me. A lot of walking and searching. Mind-numbing stuff. Crouching low, I took off my bag and rummaged inside for an extra magazine and pocketknife, both of which I stuffed onto my belt next to my gun. Then I kicked the bag behind a bunch of trash bins to pick up later.
As I stood there, was a flash of light bright enough to stun me. In my temporary blindness, I fumbled for my gun and pointed it.
My eyeballs burned, but I jerked my weapon across the alley, aiming blindly. If anything moved, I was going to shoot.
“Put that thing down,” a voice came from behind me, and when I whipped around, found the dark outline of a body surrounded in light. I winced as my gaze struggled to hold on to it and make out details, but I fired anyway.
The shape blurred in its speed, coming right at me, and suddenly, my gun was knocked out of my grip. I heard it skitter across the ground somewhere out of reach.
Next came a slap across my face, hard enough to leave me gasping, blood filling my mouth. I stumbled sideways, my anger and inner demon rising instantly.
“The only reason you’re alive right now is because I need you, so I suggest you put your fire out or I’ll send you straight to Hell myself, Halfling.”
After spitting out blood, I straightened and looked at my attacker. It took a moment for everything to focus again, especially after a hit like that, but when I saw him—a man dressed in a perfectly tailored suit with the sharpest, greenest eyes I’d ever seen, I hesitated.
My first thought was Fernando Flores. That the sorcerer must have sent someone after me as revenge, but the more I looked at him, the more uneasiness began to churn in my gut. Something told me that this stranger wasn’t an ordinary man—wasn’t even an ordinary supernatural for that matter. He was something more.
Halfling for Hire Page 4
