Enough was enough. Parker opened her mouth and was cut off from her questions when the witch glanced over her shoulder. “Where do you keep your hematite crystals?”
Parker dropped the duffel bag in a chair and moved farther into the kitchen and pulled the crystals out of their proper place. Her gaze studied the contents already out and on the table. Salt to ward away spells and for cleansing and hematite was used around the property for protection.
“What the hell is going on?”
Rachel gathered everything she’d taken from the cabinets and cupboards into her arms and stopped in front of Parker. “He’s been touched by black magic. Some of the darkest I’ve ever encountered.” She moved past Parker into the living room. “Someone must have attached it the Devic Crystal.”
Rachel set the stuff on the coffee table and returned moments later with the salt. “I examined the crystal…and it’s bad, Parker. Some of the baddest juju I’ve ever encountered. The black aura drifting form it dropped me to my knees. It would have been invisible to the naked eye unless you were a witch or wizard and knew what to look for.”
Rachel moved around each entryway and sprinkled a line of salt around the doors and window. “It’s going to take my entire coven to sort through the spells and figure out who the hell cursed him.” She set the salt down and picked up the crystals. “And you.”
Quinn Montgomery moved to Parker’s side. “Cursed…” He glanced between them. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He turned toward Parker. “In all my years as a cop, this is a first.”
Parker ignored Quinn and stepped over to Rachel. “What can I do to help?”
Quinn walked out of sight and returned seconds later with his duffel bag in hand. “You two have fun. I’m out of here.”
Parker drew her weapon and pointed it at Quinn. “You aren’t going anywhere. Consider me your bodyguard.”
Quinn narrowed his eyes. His hand made a subtle move toward the zipper.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Rachel warned.
“Rachel is telling the truth.” Parker motioned for him to have a seat with the barrel of her gun. “I watched you touch and absorb the powers of a fairy stone that should have killed you. I got my ass chewed from my boss over your involvement. You. Are. Not. Bailing. On. Me.”
Quinn never moved to sit down. He sighed. “Listen. I don’t know you, and I barely know her. I’m sure you two mean well, but I’ve got a job to get back to.”
Parker pulled the phone from her bra and dialed. “This is Detective Parker McKenna. I need you to patch me through to Quinn Montgomery’s commanding officer.”
She paused. “Commander, this is Parker McKenna. I believe you spoke with my chief at P.I.T.S. Please explain to Officer Montgomery that he’s been reassigned as my partner.” She nodded. “Yes sir.”
She handed the phone to Quinn and turned back to find Rachel burning sage throughout the house.
“But, sir…” He lowered his voice. “They’re talking curses and witches and magical stones. I don’t have time to deal with any paranormal issues. Hell they’re the division that deals with that shit, not us. So why am I still here?” His head dropped forward. “Yes, sir. I understand.”
Quinn dropped his black duffel bag on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest.
Parker moved to the window watching Rachel work the protection spells outside of the house. Why couldn’t it be as easy as that for Parker to do the damn spells? She’s read every book she could get her hands on. She’s scoured the internet and even spoke with other witches from Rachel’s coven. Parker might not have been born a witch, but her interest never waned. No matter how much Devlin and Rachel wished she’d give up her pipe dream from learning the stuff. Parker swallowed around the bitter taste of envy. She turned to find Quinn staring at her.
She shrugged. “I hated to trump you, but this is important.” She moved into the kitchen, and he followed. “You’ve heard of the paranormal before, right?” She waved her hands. “I mean it’s been common knowledge for over five decades. We aren’t in hiding anymore.”
He didn’t answer beyond a slight twitch of the eye.
She went to the fridge and pulled out two beers. She handed him one and twisted the top off hers and took a swig. “I’m a fairy and I’ll prove it to you.”
Chapter 4
Quinn followed her back into the living room. “What are you going to do, show me your wings?”
Quinn quirked a brow when she didn’t answer.
“Have a set, Mr. Montgomery.”
He rounded the coffee table and plopped down on the couch. Maybe he was trainable after all. He placed his unopened beer on the table.
“Okay.” Parker cupped her hands together close to her chest, closed her eyes, and shook them. Her hands heated while forming the fairy dust that all of her kind could produce on demand. She whispered, “Show me his heart’s desire.”
She opened her hands and blew the newly formed dust into the air. The dust settled down, outlining the shape of a woman. The brilliant, dusty shape turned into a full-color woman, even though a bit translucent. The woman looked to in her late sixties with kind eyes and graying hair.
Quinn gasped and stood. “Mom?”
Mom? Well, that was different. Parker had been expecting a tall blonde with a stacked chest and deadly curves. She hadn’t expected the officer’s mother to appear.
He glanced at her as he moved toward the figure. “I’ve always heard stories of paranormals, but I’ve never known any. My mom’s been dead for a year. How did you know?”
Well, that explained his desire and put Parker a bit more at ease. “You’re a momma’s boy, huh? It could be worse.” She shrugged. “She appeared because you wanted to see her.”
She moved to stand in front of him and turned his palms so they were opened and facing the ceiling. “With a little practice, you can do it too.” She traced the lines of his palms. “When you touched the fairy stone, the powers held within it transferred into your body.”
She glanced up into his face. The lines around his eyes deepened. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. How is that even possible?”
Parker closed her hands over his. “That’s simple. You have some amount of fairy blood coursing through your veins, even if it’s just a trace amount. It’s my job to teach you how to use it until we can figure out how to remove it.”
He dropped his hands and shook his head. “That’s Impossible.”
She took a step back out of his personal space. “Obviously it isn’t.” She moved the curtains to peer outside. “Someone in your family line has fairy blood. Even if you don’t want the powers, you’re still screwed. Consider that lesson one.”
She let the curtains slip from her fingers and drop back into place before turning to find him sitting on the couch with his head between his hands. Mr. Yummy was a big guy and made her brown suede couch look like something you would find in a doll house. She wasn’t petite by any means, but his presence took up a lot of space. “A simple touch of the stone should have transferred the powers back into the stone and out of your body. We have to figure out why it didn’t work that way and how to fix it.”
****
Quinn rested his head in his hands. Screwed didn’t begin to explain his predicament. Teamed with a fairy, albeit she was a cop, it still didn’t give him much hope. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, his commander wanted him to stay with the woman and her band of misfits. Quinn let his gaze wonder over the “fairy” for the first time since finding her in the alley. She was tall; he liked short. She was blonde; he preferred brunettes. She was bossy; he wanted submissive. She was pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way, although a bit weird. He twisted the top off his beer and took a long draw. “So, let’s pretend for a minute that I buy into the blood line assumption.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
He could add opinionated to the mental list of traits he disliked about her. He tilted his head. “Work with me he
re. This might be second nature to you, but I’m still new to this.”
She plopped her butt down on the coffee table in front of him. “Listen, I’m sure this is a shocker, and once we find out who’s behind the theft, then I promise to give you time to have a mental breakdown and cry, but we can’t afford it now. I’ve been assigned babysitting duty and told to stay off the case; however, I believe whoever called in the tip about a Peeping Tom is the person responsible for setting you up. We need to figure out who’s behind this if we’ve got any chance of fixing it.”
He nodded. “Are you always this bossy?”
Rachel walked in and set the left over ingredients down on the table next to Parker. “She’s normally worse. This is a good day for her. Just be glad you weren’t saddled with her best friend, Devlin.”
“Perfect,” Quinn muttered as he leaned back against the cushion and took another swig of the beer.
He picked up the phone from the coffee table and dialed the one person that might help them solve this quicker.
“Who are you calling?”
He held up his hand. “Hi, Barbara. I need your help.”
“That’s a first coming from the man who never needs anyone.” Quinn bit his tongue. Antagonizing her was out of the question.
“Listen, my last call this afternoon was a complaint on a Peeping Tom. I need the specifics on the call. Anything you can dig up so I can locate the informant. I’m working a special case, or I would just come into the office and do the digging myself.”
He was met with brief silence. If he’d been standing in front of her, he’d be watching her chew on her bottom lip while she debated helping him.
“Fine. Give me an hour and meet me at the coffee shop on Main with the transcripts. I’ll also go talk to the dispatcher to see if there was anything left out of her computer entry.”
“Thanks, Barbara, you’re a doll.”
“I know.”
Barbara hung up. He chuckled as he glanced up to find Parker watching him. “She’s going to meet us at the coffee shop on Main Street in an hour.”
Parker glanced at her watch. “We’ll be cutting it close to their closing time.”
Rachel walked to the front door. “The protection spell I cast was just temporary. If the case goes on longer than about a week, I’ll need to bring in the coven for something stronger and more permanent.” She nodded to Quinn. “I’ve already protected him while he was still passed out cold.”
“You what?” Quinn asked. His expression was tightened with strain.
Ignoring Quinn’s question, Rachel’s expression turned serious as she held Parker’s gaze. “I’ll be back to put one on you later. I really need to go speak to the coven. Parker…be careful until then.” She chewed her lip. “Maybe I should call Devlin to come help.”
Parker rose and walked to the door and pulled it open, keenly aware of Quinn and Rachel’s scrutiny. “Don’t be ridiculous. I can take care of myself. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” the witch whispered as she walked out and pulled the door closed behind her.
Quinn crossed his ankle over his knee. “Maybe you should start explaining.”
Parker sat in the recliner with her legs folded under her. She shifted so that Remi could take the familiar spot next to her. She rubbed the dog’s coat. “I’ll try, but you have to promise to keep an open mind.”
He nodded.
She spent the next half hour giving him a condensed version of her police division and a first-hand account of what she and her partners did for a living. His mouth had parted, but he’d been quiet through the whole explanation. He had questions, but refrained from asking. When she’d brought up the lower-level demon and how Sully was now dead, Quinn had snapped his mouth shut. Really what could he say to that? A dead demon was a good thing, right?
His mind raced to process the information she’d thrown his way. He knew as crazy as it all sounded, that it was real. He’d encountered some pretty bizarre things while working on the force, but he’d never been this up close and personal to this stuff. He was now submerged into their world, which meant he was in potential shit. He glanced up at her. “I always knew you guys existed, but we always passed off the cases to your division. Does every ‘other’…” He used air quotes to get his point across that he was asking about all the other paranormal. “…have abilities? If so, how am I going to know how to protect you and myself against them?”
The lines of her face softened. “Typically, if the stone’s magic isn’t removed within seventy-two hours of ingesting, then the knowledge will eventually come naturally to you. Until then, let me do the protecting.”
He stood and grabbed his duffel bag before glancing at his watch. “Then we only have sixty-eight hours left to figure out how to get this magic out of me. I refuse to live like a freak for the rest of my life.” He shrugged. “No offense.”
****
Freak… She’d show him freak. She rose out of the chair and kissed Remi on the head. “I’ll be back, baby. You hold down the fort.”
She slid back into her shoes, grabbed her purse, and swiped some lip-gloss on her lips. Yum. Piña Colada. Breathe in, breathe out. She aimed for the Zen-like feeling that eluded her. Oh, screw it, finding her happy place with him in the same room wasn’t likely to happen unless she could, of course, tie him up and gag him. Devlin’s suggestion held more potential. “Let’s get you back to the land of the mundane. You’ve convinced me that you aren’t ‘freak’ material.”
“I didn’t mean freak...”
She patted his chest on her way to the door. “Yes, you did. Really, it’s okay. We’ve been called worse.”
Quinn moved as though all of the air had been taken out of his sails. He slipped into the passenger seat of the SUV. “Parker…”
She clenched her eyes closed and took several deep calming breaths before opening her eyes and turning in her seat to face him. “Officer Montgomery, let me give you a piece of advice since you’re my charge until this is all over. You might live longer if you refrain from insulting the people who are trying to help you. You might not like us, or even believe in us, but right now, I’m all you’ve got, so it might be helpful if you keep your thoughts to yourself unless they’re actually helpful.” Her disapproving tone didn’t waiver. Her smile was forced as she flipped the ignition and pulled out of her drive.
They rode in tense silence that mounted with each mile they traveled on their way into town. Her mind replayed his harsh words and exactly how she’d gotten into this predicament. The demon, she reminded herself. A lower-level demon. She clenched the steering wheel.
“You look ready to kill.”
“Trying to figure out how I let the demon get me into this mess.”
“If I remember correctly, you mentioned he was a lower demon.” Quinn glanced at her. “Who’s the leader, or do they even have one?”
Parker chanced a glance in his direction. She grinned. “Zander is the highest level demon around. Not much gets by him. I think we might need to go pay him a visit after meeting your friend.”
“A real demon?” The lines of his face hardened. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
Parker waved her hand. “Oh, Zander’s like a little pussy cat. All I have to do is bat my eyelashes, and he’ll be putty in my hands.”
“I doubt that’s the case.”
Parker pulled into a parking spot in front of D’Vine Awakenings. Her belly tingled in anticipation of the scrumptious coffee inside. Nothing compared to Cassidy’s creations. Cassidy D’Vine, known as Cass by her friends, was God’s gift to every person, human or not, who was a slave to the black gold. She made delectable brews of every kind and creation. When you walked into her shop, you didn’t order. There was no need to when you could experience her unquestionable judgment. She had a keen sense of what you needed. She called it her inner 411, serving the souls of every man, woman, and coffee drinker within Paradise Falls County l
ines.
Pulling the keys out of the ignition, Parker scanned the sidewalk and patrons inside before sliding out of the vehicle and meeting him in the front of the SUV. “You didn’t pick the place, did you?”
He shook his head.
“Didn’t think so.”
They both reached for the door to pull it open at the same time. Parker’s brows dipped as he gently pushed her hand out of the way. He pulled the door open and made a grand sweeping motion. “After you, princess.”
Parker strolled up to the counter to find Cassidy making drinks. Parker smiled. “Hey, Cass.”
“Oh, Parker, it’s so good to see you again.”
Quinn stepped up beside Parker and placed his hand at the small of her back. Parker ignored the sensation that the slight move made on her body. A boyfriend move, and, well, everyone knew…Parker didn’t date. Casual flings with great sex, absolutely, but public displays of affection? Hell no. Cassidy’s gaze moved to Quinn. She crinkled her nose as she held his gaze. “I know the perfect drinks. Have a seat, and I’ll bring them out.”
Parker paid the cashier the standard price for the surprise drinks.
Cassidy hummed as she started mixing concoctions. Quinn steered Parker to a booth along the back wall where a blonde was sitting, idly sipping her coffee. He slid into the other side, and Parker followed. “Barbara, this is Officer McKenna, my new partner.”
Barbara’s facial features were unreadable. Jealous ex-lover? No…it wasn’t like that. Parker studied the fine laugh lines around the woman’s mouth and eyes. The diamond on her ring finger sparkled. Married and happy. Parker held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Barbara shook her hand and smiled while sliding a file across the table to Quinn. “Everything you asked for is inside.” Barbara took a long sip of her coffee and grabbed her purse. “It’s too late to be drinking this stuff, but it’s too good to leave behind.”
Not My Shifter/ Sinfully Cursed (Shifter Paradise) (Volume 1) Page 14
