The Dead (The Thaumaturge Series Book 1)

by Cal Matthews

  He was watching my face. “Do you want me to go?” he said softly, and wouldn't you know, he sounded sincere.

  “No,” I snapped. “No, Leo, I want you to stay!”

  He started to reply, but I moved forward, and to my own surprised, grabbed the front of his jacket with both hands, twisting and shaking him a little. He allowed this, a new curious light coming into his face, like I was a tiresome pet that had finally done something interesting.

  “Stay?” he asked.

  “Yes, Leo, stay!” I cried. “I want you to stay. I want you to quit fucking running off every couple of months. Stay with me.” The last bit came out way more desperate than I had intended, a broken whimper.

  “Stay with you,” he repeated dully, ignoring my hands twisted in his coat.

  “Yes. Stay. Please. Just be with me. Just me. Just you.”

  “Is this . . . ?” he cocked his head towards the bathroom, listening and then looked back at me. “Is this a revenge fuck? You fucked him to make me jealous?”

  “No,” I said, releasing his shirt, but not backing up. I used every inch of my height advantage, staying close enough that he had to look up at me. “I did it because I wanted to.”

  “That's good. Because it's awfully rich of you to be pleading with me for monogamy when your dick isn’t even dry.”

  He had a point. I felt my face get red and I backed up a bit.

  Leo ran a hand through his damp hair and took a few deep breaths. When he looked back at me, he looked older, defeated somehow. “Couldn't you have least taken a fucking shower?” He whispered. “I can smell him all over you.”

  I'm sorry,” I said again. My chest ached, my fingers numb. It was entirely possible that I was going to lose him, I realized.

  “Why is he here, anyway?” Leo said, finally taking a step into the room. He glanced at the couch and his body stiffened a little when he saw the condom wrapper. He shot me a sidelong look of pure annoyance, and I just looked away guiltily.

  “I . . . kinda have a lot to tell you,” I said.

  “Yeah? Had a productive day?” He glanced around, and I realized that he wanted to sit, but didn't want to sit on the scene of the crime. Finally, he just sighed and sat in the recliner, crossing his ankle over his opposite knee.

  “Leo.” I swallowed hard and crouched down next to him so that we were eye level. My heart felt like it was trying to work its way out of my throat, and it felt a little hard to breathe. God, I wanted to just throw myself at him and beg forgiveness.

  “I'm sorry,” I said again. I wanted to take his arm in my hands, but I couldn't bring myself to touch him, and let my hands fall back to my own knees.

  “What are you sorry for?” he said, looking right at me.

  “Why are you being so fucking nice about this?” I cried in reply.

  “Do you want me to be upset?” he asked, his eyebrows coming together. “Cause I am. I hate the thought of him touching you. I hate that fucking smell on you. You didn't let him fuck you, did you?”

  I shook my head and he seemed to relax just a tiny bit, the line of his shoulders sloping. “I wish you hadn't done this, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it makes what I have to tell you now pretty uncomfortable.”

  “Hmm? What?” I leaned in a little, the dark look in his eyes making me wary.

  “I found the witches last night, Ebron,” he said. “And they know all about you. He knows all about you. They were trying to find you and he was the bait.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  I set a pot of tea on the center of the kitchen table and then eased gingerly into the seat between Leo and Marcus. Leo sat slumped into his chair, his sprawling legs taking up too much real estate under the table and his arms crossed over his chest. He glared at Marcus, who, having realized that a spurned vampire wasn’t quite benign, steadfastly ignored him. Marcus’s knee wouldn’t stop bouncing. He had his hands fisted together and propped against his mouth, his eyes fixed on remnants of casseroles past that had crusted the inside of the glass oven door.

  I pushed a cup across the table to him.

  “Here,” I said wearily. “Have some tea.” Apparently in times of crisis I became British.

  “We’re going to talk now,” Leo announced with unnecessary force. He abruptly jerked forward into a more aggressive posture, his spine snapping straight. He and Marcus eyed one another, each giving the other bristling looks of barely concealed disdain.

  “No more bullshit,” Leo added.

  I pressed my fingers into my throbbing eyeballs, hard enough that burst of color bloomed behind my eyes. Suddenly all I wanted was to lie down, press my face into a pillow and to be alone. There was a long unbroken stretch of silence, during which I felt nothing but overwhelming humiliation. I didn't think it was possible to feel as betrayed and horrified as I did right then. My own body felt disgusting to me, the memory of Marcus’s hands on me making my skin crawl, the lingering rubbery taste of the condom twisting my stomach. I couldn't meet Leo's gaze.

  Leo looked back and forth between us, his eyebrows heavy and his eyes hard. I listened to the hum of the refrigerator, to the distance slam of a car door.

  “Any time now,” Leo prompted with heavy sarcasm.

  “Okay,” I said, speaking around the lump in my throat. “So today-”

  “Not you,” Leo snapped. He looked sharply to Marcus. “You.”

  Maybe he couldn’t meet my eyes. I snapped my mouth shut and looked away.

  Marcus rubbed his palms together, his jaw set. He gave Leo quick, darting glances out of the corner of his eye.

  “I can make you talk,” Leo said with quiet promise. He leaned forward just a hair more, resting his elbows in the table. I didn’t have to look at him to know that he’d dropped his fangs; the thickness in his voice told me enough.

  Marcus swallowed hard. “I’m not keeping anything from you. I already told Ebron everything I know.”

  “Not everything,” Leo said softly. They stared at each other, Leo unblinking and Marcus squirming until he couldn’t take it anymore and looked away. He glanced at me nervously.

  “Just lay it on me,” I said tiredly. “Did you know about what I can do?”

  “No,” Marcus stressed. “I did not. But Corvin did. He knows you somehow, from when he was growing up here.”

  I looked to Leo, quirking my eyebrows, but he just shook his head. “I don’t know,” he told me. “I don’t know his real name.”

  “Okay, so he knows about me,” I directed my question back to Marcus. “What does he want with me?”

  “I’m not,” he paused and gave a short, irritated sigh, “I’m not sure, okay?” He looked hard at me. “But he’s been working on this dream walking spell for a while now and he’s been getting into some really dark stuff. That’s what he and Jim were fighting about. Corvin said that he needed one last thing to complete the spell and Jim said that he would stop him. That’s all I know.” Marcus shot a pointed look at Leo. “I swear that is all I know.”

  “Dream walking,” Leo murmured. “Not your run-of-the-mill Wiccan spell work.”

  “I’m not sure of the specifics.”

  “Above your pay grade?” Leo snarked.

  Marcus scowled. “All I know is that Corvin has been working on it for years, before he even joined our coven. That was the whole reason he wanted to join, because Jim is so powerful and Corvin needed the help.”

  “But you tried it at the motel?” I asked. “You participated in it.”

  “My,” Leo drawled. “Aren’t you the little up and comer?”

  “You said it was dark stuff,” I interjected before they could get too snippy. “Does the spell include ritual sacrifices?” I tried to emulate Leo’s easy tone of intimidation, but my voice came out all raw and reedy.

  Marcus considered me, his dark eyes searching mine. I thought of all the different expressions I’d seen in his eyes, anger and fear and lust. Those eyes held a look I didn’t recognize. Those eyes made my stomach roll u
ncomfortably and my fingertips ache in numbness.

  “You think he sacrificed me and Aubrey, as part of the spell,” he said.

  I shrugged. “Can you think of another reason?”

  He breathed evenly, not saying anything for a second. Then he seemed to rally himself, to draw together and sit up straighter. “I want to call Jim,” he announced.

  I felt Leo glance at me. “I thought you didn’t want to cause suspicion,” I said.

  “I don’t,” Marcus said, firm and cool. “But if you let me borrow your phone, I’ll track his number down. Give me a couple minutes and I should be able to reach his wife.” He met my eyes and shrugged. “I’m a good liar, right?”

  I looked away, glancing to Leo and we had a short, silent exchange. Leo finally quirked an eyebrow and I slid my phone across the table to Marcus. He accepted it without making contact with my fingers and pushed his chair back to stand up.

  Leo shot out an arm and snatched Marcus’s wrist, so quick it made me jerk back in surprise.

  “Nope,” Leo said, grinding Marcus’s wrist hard enough that Marcus grimaced and tried to pull away. “You sit your ass down.”

  Marcus dropped back into his chair, scowling, his eyes furious and his mouth a thin line. His shoulders drew up and I saw his hands tighten on my phone, but he didn’t say anything. With exaggerated deliberation he swiped at my phone, then snorted and shoved it back across the table at me.

  “It’s password protected,” he complained, and I took it back to enter my code.

  “Here,” I said, handing it back to him. Leo caught my eye and jerked his head to the side, indicating for me to follow him.

  Leo led me five feet away and we leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen.

  “What did you find out today?” he asked me quietly, his eyes fixed on Marcus as Marcus greeted someone on the phone with obvious faked enthusiasm.

  “I went to talk to Aubrey,” I told Leo, shoving my hands into my pockets and trying to feign nonchalance.

  “The girl you resurrected on Wednesday.”

  “Yeah,” I said. From behind me, Marcus made a frustrated noise and started dialing a different number.

  “She was attacked up at the reservoir,” I told Leo. “By two people who match Corvin and Morgan’s description.”

  “She saw them?”

  “Well,” I hedged, “Not definitely, but her description was close enough for me.”

  Leo shook his head. “That helps, but I don’t need that. I know it was the witches.”

  “What did you find out?” I asked, searching his face and hating how he wouldn’t look at me. “How do you know that they know about me?”

  “I found them,” Leo said, shrugging one shoulder. “After I dropped him –” he jutted his chin towards Marcus “off at the hotel, I caught the other witches’ scent and followed them. It led out of town and I lost them, but when I headed back I caught it again by Hot Shots, the restaurant near your store. Two of them were in there and they were talking about you.”

  “Having dinner in Hot Shots?” I asked incredulously.

  “Breakfast, if you want to be technical about it,” Leo said without humor. “It was about five this morning.”

  “Was it Corvin? Pinchy looking guy with a fucking trench coat?”

  Leo snorted. “Yeah, that was him. With a trashy looking redhead.”

  He paused and tilted his head to listen to Marcus, who seemed to be making progress. When Leo turned his attention back to me, something in my chest moved, tightening and loosening all at once.

  “They reeked of blood,” Leo said. “Both of them. They smelled like magic and blood and they were talking about you. About whether you had found his body yet, or if they should have put it somewhere else. They followed you when you went hunting.”

  “Why?” I asked, hollowness in my throat, a yawning helplessness spreading down my spine.

  “They want you for something,” Leo said and he unexpectedly reached up and clasped me by the back of my neck, squeezing tight enough that a relieved sigh punched out of me. “This dream walking, Ebron. That worries me.”

  “How does he know me?” I wondered. “I don’t see a connection.”

  “If he’s from here, you’ve probably run into him a time or two. Maybe you resurrected his grandma or something.”

  “Maybe,” I said doubtfully, and then we both turned back to face the kitchen when Marcus cleared his throat.

  “I got his cell phone number from his daughter,” Marcus said to us, sounding resigned. “Should I call it now?”

  “Yes,” Leo said firmly, going to lean against the dishwasher. “Put it on speaker.”

  Marcus scowled harder, his brow hooded, but he set the phone on the table and thumbed in the number. I scratched at my beard, listening to the tinny sound of the phone connecting. It started to ring.

  Once. Twice. I looked to Leo. He glanced out the window, looking up and down the street.

  “Hello?” The voice startled me and I jerked my head towards Marcus. He stared wide-eyed at the phone, and beside me Leo stood straighter.

  “Corvin?” Marcus croaked.

  My skin felt like it tightened, and my heart gave a lurch.

  “Marcus!” Corvin sounded delighted, and I pictured his pointy face breaking into a smile. “I’m surprised to hear from you!”

  “I bet,” Marcus managed. He swayed a little, and I took an instinctive step towards him, feeling Leo’s glare heat up my back.

  “You sound well,” Corvin continued. “I trust you’re well?”

  “Yes,” Marcus whispered. “Where’s Jim?”

  “Oh, Marcus,” Corvin simpered, and I watched Marcus’s face go from fear to anger in about two seconds. “The better question is, where are you?”

  “I’ll come meet you,” Marcus said tightly, glancing up at me and quirking his brow. I shrugged.

  There was a pause. “Is Ebron with you?” Corvin asked, his voice going harder.

  Marcus shot me another look and Leo stepped up beside me. He nodded to Marcus and brushed the back of my hand lightly with his finger, the reassurance clear.

  “Yeah, he’s here,” Marcus said. He sounded strained.

  “Great.” Corvin sounded so genuinely pleased that it made me pause, wondering what we were missing. “Bring him. Probably time we talked.”

  “Okay,” Marcus said. “Where are you?”

  “Hmm.” Corvin made some hemming noises and then, like it had just occurred to him. “Hey, how about Ebron’s store? I need a few extra ingredients anyway.”

  “Fine,” Marcus said. He stared at me hard. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait,” Corvin said, and the line went dead.

  “Fuck,” Marcus breathed and slumped down in to the seat.

  I took another step into the center of the room, unsure of what to do. Marcus’s shoulders gave a subtle shake, and from behind me, I heard Leo hiss in a breath.

  “You okay?” I asked Marcus reluctantly.

  He wiped aggressively at his face and sniffed loudly. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “All right, kids,” Leo said. “Let’s saddle up. Ebron?”

  “Hmm?”

  He looked hard at me. “Go get your gun,” he said, and headed for the front door.

  “There’s someone following us,” Marcus announced ten minutes later. He slumped down a little against the passenger’s side door, trying to inconspicuously look behind him out the back window.

  Leo didn’t spare him a glance. “I know,” he said. He glanced in the review mirror. “They were parked just outside the trailer park.”

  I tried to crane my neck around to see, too, but I was jammed uncomfortably between Leo and Marcus, the gearshift between my knees. “Do you recognize them?” I asked, shoving my shoulder under Marcus’s and trying to twist around.

  Leo swatted me. “Sit the fuck down.”

  Sweat pooled in my armpits and I leaned forward to fiddle with the h
eat, turning it down so that I wasn’t being blasted full in the face with recycled air. Leo’s thigh felt hot against mine, and my knees cramped from being bent up to accommodate the stick shift. Even with Marcus huddled against the door, the bench seat felt a few feet too short. None of us looked at each other. Beside me, Leo’s elbows locked, his hands fisted on the steering wheel.

  I shifted until I could drag my phone out of my pocket. I had one new text message and a voice mail. I thumbed to my texts and saw Cody’s name.

  “Call me when u can,” the text read. I swiped back to the voice mails and saw a number I didn’t recognize. The voice mail I hadn’t listened to earlier. I frowned, and put the phone up to my ear, getting jostled by Marcus as he squirmed beside me.

  “Ebron, this is Aubrey.” I had to strain to hear her, her voice muffled. “I thought that you should know I told Scott and Cameron that you know who killed me. They’re coming to talk to you. I’m sorry, Ebron. I hope they don’t cause trouble for you.”

  I frowned as I rested my phone on my leg. Leo nudged me with his elbow.

  “Who’re Scott and Cameron?” he asked, without looking at me.

  “Aubrey’s boyfriend and boyfriend’s father,” I said. “They’re the ones who brought her to me on Wednesday.”

  “And they’re trying to track down the witches too?”

  “I guess,” I said, shifting my legs to accommodate Leo as he manhandled the stick into a different gear. My abs burned from holding my knees up for so long.

  “I brought her back,” I said. “But Corvin still murdered her. He’s still a murderer.”

  Marcus turned his head and looked at me, his face stricken. “Do you think he killed Jim and Shaina?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “Not if he stills needs them.”

  Three blocks away from my store, Leo abruptly pulled the truck to the side of the road.

  “I’m hopping out,” he told me, setting the truck into neutral. “It’s best if they don’t see me.”