“You did this to me,” she growled savagely as she pointed to the marks on her neck. “I’m dying. Your friends need to know that this is what you do!”
Greyson looked unconcerned as his former lover stood brazenly before him, accusing him of the hideous act. “Go home, Georgia. This isn’t a fight you want to pick.”
She balled her hands and dug them into her hips. “I’m not leaving.”
Greyson stared at her for a long moment and then jerked his chin at the guard. The guard stepped forward and reached for Georgia, but she was much smaller and quickly dodged out of his reach. In the blink of an eye, she was past the guard and at Greyson’s throat. Beside him, Dread cast a glance around and then sat back in his seat.
“Tell them,” Georgia demanded. “Tell them what you did to me! To my husband!”
Two vampires grabbed for Georgia and snagged her by the arms. They tugged her away from their leader and she slumped down, defeated, or simply too tired and weak to continue.
“Your husband?”
Dread shifted in his seat. “Get out of here, Georgia.”
Georgia looked up at Greyson, her eyes full of tears. “My husband,” she sobbed. “You killed him, for no—no good—reason!” The two vampires started to drag her away. “Just tell me why!”
Greyson frowned at her, maybe feeling a shred of pity. “Georgia, I’ll admit to giving you the medallion to wear. Not to kill you, but to test and see if the curse had been broken.”
My eyes snapped to Dread and watched his eyes go wide. “You gave it to her?” he hissed.
Greyson glared at his second, clearly perturbed by his blatant questioning. “What I do with my House heirloom is none of your concern.”
A murmur swept through the room and as I looked around, I noticed more than a few sets of eyebrows were raised.
Greyson raised a hand. “I don’t know anything about what happened to your husband, Georgia. Why would I? I already had what I wanted.”
Georgia looked around wildly. “Then who did it? Who killed my Paul?”
“He did!” A voice pierced the crowd and I cringed.
I spun around and saw Naomi just as she threw off her cloak. Her arm was outstretched, finger pointing squarely at Dread. “He killed Paul Banks. I was there.”
Greyson twisted in his seat, his eyes blazing as they landed on his second. “Is that true?”
Dread shrank back.
Georgia stared wide-eyed at the two vampires. “Why, Dread? What did Paul ever do to you?”
Dread narrowed his eyes in Naomi’s direction. “He got in my way.”
Naomi stalked forward. “I was never yours,” she declared. “I was only with him to get away from you!”
Greyson glanced to a couple of vampires on the other side of the room and they surged forward to grab Dread. As he was being dragged out of the booth, he kicked and hissed. “Why does it matter what human I killed? Greyson’s been doing it for years! Decades!”
“That’s enough!” Greyson bellowed, shooting to his feet. “What I do, I do to keep the family alive. Not out of some petty jealousy!”
A booming voice followed a tremendous crash as beams of light bounced around the room. “SPA! Everyone get on the floor. Now!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Footsteps, screams, and angry shouts all melded together into a deafening roar. I spun around, unsure where to go or what to do. I scanned the crowd as it dissolved into chaos, looking for my SPA contact—a vampire that Harvey trusted—but with everyone running and tripping over those who had immediately followed the order to get on the ground, it was impossible. SPA agents in black jackets emblazoned with the bold white logo burst into every entry point and swarmed the crowd. Greyson, Dread, and the vampires with their hands on Georgia were all taken down by agents.
Georgia got on the ground, only to be hauled up moments later and taken out with a few other women from the crowd. A path opened and I moved for it. Prior to going into Raven, I’d met with the SPA agents on the task force, so they all let me pass without question as they rounded up the rest of the club-goers.
I pushed out of the exit and took a deep breath of the crisp evening air.
“Well that didn’t exactly go as planned,” a familiar voice said wryly.
I whirled around and found Harvey staring up at me. He was dressed in his official SPA gear and consulting the watch on his wrist. “I’m sorry.”
He looked up at me and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me how we get the bad guys, Holly. All that matters is that we get them. And an entire room full of witnesses just heard both the murder confession and the truth about what Greyson and his lackeys have been up to. It’s a slam dunk case.”
“What will happen next?” I asked, nervously glancing over my shoulder as agents started filing out and loading their captives into the waiting bus.
“We will question everyone present and get the full narrative. The innocent will be released. The rest will be taken into custody until a trial can be held. Pretty standard.”
“What about Georgia Banks?” I asked, still haunted by the marks around her neck.
Harvey nodded and I turned to follow his eyes. Georgia was being ushered out by an agent and shown to a car instead of the bus. “She’ll be taken through the nearest portal and admitted to the Seattle haven hospital. I’m not sure what kind of curse was placed on the medallion, but the doctors there will be able to help her.”
I swallowed hard, hoping he was right. She’d been through enough.
“And Naomi?”
“She’ll be placed in protective custody until the trial is over. Then she will be free to go. In exchange for her testimony of course.”
I wrapped my arms around myself. “And Gus?”
Harvey sighed. “That one is trickier. We will try to arrange for an intervention before his trial. He will be dosed with a potion that reverses the glamour effect, then the SPA will work to remove him from the human legal system and find a way to extract him from prison. Once that happens, he will be placed into protective custody, likely with his wife.”
I wanted to ask more questions, but a fight broke out across the lot and Harvey raced forward to break it up. Two vampires waiting to be loaded onto the bus started fighting, ramming into one another and scratching with their cuffed hands. Harvey and two other agents ran forward to subdue them.
“Witch!” I spun around at the sharp voice and saw the refrigerator-sized doorman bolting for me, fire in his eyes. “This is all your doing! I can’t prove it, but you brought this down on us! Filthy witch scum!” He lunged for me but I conjured a stunning spell so powerful that it knocked him backward as easily as if I was swatting a fly on a lazy summer afternoon.
I smirked as he hit the pavement. “For a big guy, that was way too easy. You should work on that,” I said before stepping over him.
Through the curses of the vampire on the ground and the noise from the situation behind me, a voice cut through crystal-clear: “Holly?”
My heart jumped to my throat. Nick? No, it couldn’t be.
I turned around and spotted him racing across the street. My pulse slammed in my ears, drowning out everything else. “What are you doing here?”
His face was ashen as he stared at the man on the ground. He’d seen the whole thing.
“Nick, I can explain—”
His eyes dropped to the man on the ground. “Did you just kill him?”
“No,” I yelped, shaking my head frantically. “No. It was just a stunning spell.”
“Spell?”
I squeezed my eyes closed.
“Holly, what is going on here? Why is your hand glowing?”
I glanced down at my hand, not having realized that another spell was right at my fingertips. I clenched my fist and forced myself to meet Nick’s frantic eyes. There was no way I was going to be able to talk my way out of this one, so I opted for the truth. “I’m a witch, Nick.”
“A what?”
“A witch.”
Nick burst out laughing—the delirious, three-o’clock-in-the-morning-sugar-high kind of laugh.
“Harvey,” I hissed, snagging him by the arm as he crossed in front of us.
Nick started to babble questions: “What can you do? Can you fly? Do you use a broomstick or is that some kind of witchy old wives’ tale? Wait! Where’s your wand?”
On and on and on.
Harvey tugged out of my grip and straightened his official SPA jacket. “What is it? We’re a little busy here as you might have noticed.”
I glanced at Nick and licked my lips. “He’s … I had to tell him … about me. He saw me cast a stunning spell.”
Nick looked from me to Harvey and then back again. He held up his hands. “Wait! Wait one second. You’re not going to wipe my memory like they do in the movies are you?”
I winced. “I’m sorry, Nick. It has to be done.”
“No, no. It doesn’t. Please, Holly! You know I won’t say anything!”
Harvey used his fingers to let out a loud whistle and then snapped his fingers in the direction of a tall man wielding a brass-handled wand. “Sinclair, we need a wipe.”
Nick turned to me, his eyes full and pleading. “Holly, please, don’t let them do this. I don’t want to forget everything that happened tonight.”
“I’m sorry, Nick. We don’t have a choice. It’s policy.”
His eyes went wide as the tall wizard approached. I held onto his arm and sucked in a deep breath to combat the tears pricking at my eyes. The panicked look on Nick’s face had me on the verge of crying and begging for an exception, but I knew my pleas would fall on deaf ears. For this situation, there was no wiggle room in the SPA policies. Any human who had contact with the supernatural world had to be wiped. Period.
“It will be okay,” I whispered, clinging tightly to his arm.
“Close your eyes,” the wizard instructed as he raised his wand. He pointed it between Nick’s eyes and waited until Nick followed his command. His blue eyes fluttered closed and small, pinched lines formed at the edges as he waited. “Very good. Hold still and we’ll be done in just a flash.”
The wizard whispered some ancient incantation—the words of which I recognized but didn’t fully understand. Mind magic was extremely advanced and not something the Council let just anyone tinker with. Only those with a proclivity for the practice were allowed to study it at the academy.
When the wizard finished, Nick sagged forward and nearly took me down with him. Harvey side-stepped us to avoid getting crushed but didn’t offer any help as I awkwardly lowered Nick to the ground. I looked up at the wizard, my eyes wide and alarmed. “Is that supposed to happen?”
The wizard shrugged. “He’ll be fine.” Without another word or further instruction, he sauntered off to join a cluster of agents at the other end of the parking lot.
“Harvey?”
“He’ll be fine, Holly. I’ve seen this done dozens of times.”
“Nick?” I shook his arm gently, then more frantically. His expression was calm, no longer showing signs of fear or anxiety. He almost looked like he was merely sleeping. “Nick? Can you hear me?”
He stirred but his eyes remained closed. I looked to Harvey for some reassurance but he didn’t say a word. He just continued to stare at Nick’s motionless body. “Harvey, do something!”
Harvey heaved an impatient sigh. “He’ll come around. Now, I have to go. He can’t be here when he wakes up, so I suggest you use that necklace of yours and get him out of here.”
One hand flew to the Larkspur. “You know about that?”
Harvey scoffed. “Of course we do, Holly. Honestly, sometimes I wonder what it is you think we do all day at the SPA.” Harvey marched off to join the other agents without so much as a parting wave or smile.
Of course not.
I sighed and pulled the Larkspur from beneath my shirt. I’d never attempted to use it with another person and, despite Harvey’s advice, I didn’t feel confident that I could pull it off, especially after everything else that had transpired. I was wiped out and the last thing I needed was Nick coming to somewhere in the middle of nowhere without an explanation or a way home. So, instead I tucked the necklace back under my shirt and heaved Nick to his feet. He mumbled something under his breath but his eyes stayed shut. Considering our current surroundings, that was definitely for the best.
Just as I got him upright, a pair of headlights washed over us. I nearly cried with relief when Evangeline, Adam, and Lacey piled out of Evangeline’s little sports car. Adam pounded the passenger seat as Lacey took her sweet time getting untangled. “Come on, princess. Hustle up!”
Lacey snarled at him but got out of the car and turned back to fold down the seat so Adam could climb out of the back. Adam surged forward to get to me. He cupped my face and gave me a quick once-over before shifting his attention to Nick, who was still unconscious and propped up against my side. “What’s up with Mr. Detective? One too many tequila shooters?”
“Tequila shooters?” Lacey scoffed. “He’s obviously a bourbon man. Classy, sophisticated, older than his years. Stars, nevermind. Look who I’m talking to. Those words probably don’t even register with you, do they fluffy?”
Adam growled and Lacey gave him a triumphant smirk.
“What happened?” Evangeline asked, wisely ignoring the side show.
“He saw everything,” I said weakly. “They had to wipe him.”
They all gasped. “Wipe him?” Lacey asked, her tone suddenly hushed and hollow.
I nodded. “He hasn’t woken up yet.”
“Well let’s get him back to the manor,” Evangeline said, reaching to brace Nick’s other side and take some of his weight from me. We all worked to get him into the backseat. “You getting in?” Evangeline asked me once he was situated.
I turned to look over my shoulder. I wanted to go back inside and see what was going on but I hated the idea of abandoning Nick after everything he’d been through.
Lacey placed her hand on my arm. “I’ll get home. You take my seat. Make the fleabag babysit.”
“Are you sure? Maybe I should go see if they need any help inside.”
Lacey followed my glance and then shook her head. “Holly, you know they don’t want you in there. They’ll just tell you to leave and get out of their way. Whatever your deal was with Harvey, you’ve held up your end. It’s time to let it go now.”
I nodded as her words sank in. How could someone so shallow also be so pragmatic at times? “You’re right. Thanks, Lacey.” I tore my gaze away from the abandoned store front and glanced up into Lacey’s shimmering eyes. “I hope there aren’t any hard feelings. I know you were trying to help and I kinda made things worse for a minute there.”
Lacey shrugged. “I’m looking at another few centuries on this earth, Holly. I prefer not to hold onto grudges for too long.” She paused and looked over the top of the car to where Adam was standing. “I make an exception for him.”
I laughed, thankful for the small bit of normalcy. “I’ve noticed.”
She returned her gaze to me and smiled softly. “I’m grateful for your help, Holly. There’s no telling what kind of damage Greyson and his followers would have done if you hadn’t stepped in and stopped them. They weren’t just bad for the vampire community, but for all supernaturals in general. There was a time when I wouldn’t have cared about anyone outside the vampire community, but now …” She looked over at Adam and Evangeline and then back to me. “Now I have friends from all kinds of communities. Supernatural and not,” she said, adding a meaningful glance at Nick.
Tears pricked at my eyes and I fought off the urge to pull her into a tight embrace. She might have finally admitted to being my friend, but if I tried to hug her she’d likely still try to claw my eyes out.
She returned my smile and then tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulders. “Come on, let’s get back home. I’m right behind you. Posy will know what to do with Nick.”
I g
ave her a grateful smile and slithered into the backseat to sit beside Nick. Adam locked the passenger seat in place and then got in after Lacey took off, using her super speed to nearly hover off the ground as she flew back in the direction of the manor.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Halfway home, Nick began to stir. “Holly?” he mumbled, reaching for me.
“Nick! Oh, thank the stars! Can you hear me?”
His eyes fluttered slightly and then opened slowly. “Holly,” he whispered, his lips curving into a smile. “You’re here.”
“Of course I am.” I smoothed his unruly hair out of his eyes. “You had quite a fall.”
At some point during the car ride, I’d decided that was the best cover for the situation.
“I did?” Nick asked as he tried to sit up.
I nodded. “Yeah. Are you dizzy or nauseated? Those were the signs we were supposed to look out for.”
“We?” he repeated, looking around as if only just realizing his surroundings.
“Yeah, Evangeline and Adam are here too,” I explained. Evangeline waved to him in the rear view mirror and Adam muttered a gruff hey. “What do you remember?”
He stared out the window for a long moment and then turned back to me. “Where are we?”
“On the way to the manor. Nick, please, try to remember,” I urged, stopping short of shaking his arm. I knew it wouldn’t be good if Nick suddenly recalled what we’d really been doing, but I could still hear the echoes of his pleas before the wiping and there was a part of me that wished he could be an exception to the SPA rules. That he could know the truth.
“There were bright lights, men with flashlights running around shouting.”
Adam shifted around in his seat, suddenly perked up. His eyes met mine, wide and panicked.
“Holly?” Nick said, turning toward me. “Were we raided by the FBI? That’s what the jackets said, right? FBI?”
Relief flooded Adam’s eyes but I felt a sting of disappointment. “Yeah. They got the bad guys though. Don’t you worry.”
Witch Slapped: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 3) Page 17
