They sat in the chairs at Roberta’s table. “I didn’t know people with real powers set up booths here,” Macey said.
“There are a few of us.” She nodded to an older man holding a crystal ball.
“This is my sister, Alexis.” Macey leaned in and lowered her voice. “She’s a werewolf.”
A knowing smile brightened the old woman’s face. “So the truth has revealed itself to you.”
Macey glanced sideways at Alexis. “It’s about time.”
“And Luke?” Roberta asked.
Warmth bloomed in Macey’s heart at the mention of his name, and she couldn’t fight the smile that curved her lips. “He’s good. Luke is…amazing.”
Roberta patted Macey’s hand in a motherly gesture. “Have you heard from our spirit friend?”
Macey gazed at the stack of tarot cards lying on the table. The thick card stock had yellowed with age, and the edges were frayed. “Yeah, actually. Yesterday…he said he was coming for me.” She explained the demon spirit to her sister.
“Sounds like a halfling if his spirit is able to torment you like that,” Alexis said. “He’ll be hard to kill.”
“Especially since he’s already dead.” Macey traced her finger across the top card, and crackling magical energy seeped into her skin. How many magical things had she touched in her life and written the sensations off as her imagination?
“A werewolf can kill a demon easily,” Alexis said. “But a half-demon spirit? It would take a medium to capture something like that.”
Roberta smiled. “Macey can do it.”
A heavy feeling sank in her stomach. “I cannot.” She’d learned how to release energy from an object a few days ago. She didn’t have the power to fight a demon.
“The method is the same.” Roberta picked up the stack of cards and laid a few of them on the table. A slight smile tugged at her lips before she scooped them up and returned them to the deck. “If you can release energy, you can capture it too.”
Macey shook her head. “How?”
“Do the process in reverse. And if you can find out the spirit’s name, that will help. A named thing is a tamed thing.” Roberta shuffled the cards again. “Luke has an exceptional demon hunting team, dear. You’ll be a great asset.”
“An asset.” Could she help them fight the demons? She’d busted plenty of human monsters since she became a cop, but demons? She chewed her bottom lip. Well, why not? She was a werewolf, after all. “Roberta, why didn’t you tell me Luke was a werewolf? If you knew all along…”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell, child. Think about how you felt when your mother told me yours.”
“Oh.” When she put it that way, it made sense. She probably wouldn’t have believed her anyway.
Roberta rummaged through her bag and pulled out a rough, oval-shaped crystal, about the size of a potato. A kaleidoscope of colors sparkled in the translucent white stone as she turned it over in her hands. “I use it for releasing energy, but you can also use it to trap your spirit.” She offered it to Macey.
She held up her hands. “Oh, I can’t.”
“Please, take it.”
Macey sighed and slipped the rock into her purse. Her mentor made it sound so easy. Hopefully it would be. Trapping a demon spirit wasn’t something she could practice beforehand. “Thanks, but…I’m not sure I’ll know what to do.”
“You will when the time comes.” Roberta’s gaze was intense, almost as if she were willing the information into Macey’s mind. “Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I need to see some paying customers.”
Macey and her sister walked up St. Ann and crossed Decatur toward Café Du Monde. They climbed the steps near the iconic green and white coffee shop and peered out over the Mississippi river. Barges drifted by in the distance, and a steamboat churned up the mucky water with its paddle wheel near the shore.
“I’m sorry for blowing up at you in the bar.” Macey reached out to touch her sister’s arm, but let her hand fall to her side. The anger and resentment she’d felt toward her had quelled, but having Alexis back in her life would take some getting used to. “If I had known you were going to be there, maybe I would have behaved differently. Luke thought it would be a nice surprise.”
Alexis ground her teeth. “I understand. It was a huge shock.” She chewed her bottom lip and stared at the ground. “Listen. There’s something you need to know about Luke.”
“He’s in line to be the next alpha.” That infectious smile returned to her lips. “I know what I’m getting into.”
“No. Not that. He…” She shoved her hands in her pockets and kicked at the dirt on the concrete. “I don’t know a nice way to say this, so I’m not going to sugar-coat it. He’s only been dating you to feed you lies and throw you off the case.” She looked at Macey, sadness filling her eyes.
Heat spread from Macey’s neck up to her cheeks like fingers of fire burning a building. Why would her sister say such a thing? “That’s not true. He told me everything. I know all about the demons and the werewolves, and we’re still together. We’re seeing each other tonight.”
Alexis raised her hands. “I know. But I went to a pack meeting, and that’s what he told us. He was keeping you occupied until they could defeat all the demons. He’s been using you.”
Macey crossed her arms, dread clutching at her heart. She refused to believe it.
“And when they found out you were my sister…that you were a werewolf too, they decided to use you as their ‘person on the inside.’ You’re the only werewolf cop in New Orleans, so you can cover up their tracks for them.”
Macey’s nails dug into her arms. Every muscle in her body tensed at the accusations her sister made. Could Luke be using her? Was all the tenderness, all the passion, just a ploy to get her to cover up the pack’s tracks? She shook her head. “Luke would never…” Would he? Spikes of doubt began to bore into her mind. Was that what Stephen meant when he mentioned her being useful?
“He did. I was there when he said it.”
How could she have been so naïve? Looking back on the path of their relationship, Alexis’s words made sense. Luke had deceived her, then left her. But when he found out she was a werewolf, and he could still use her, he’d come running back. And she’d accepted him with open arms like a fool.
Tears welled in her eyes. “I see.”
Alexis wrapped her arms around her. “I’m sorry, Macey. I hate being the one to tell you this, but I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Too late.” She pulled away from her sister’s embrace.
“Stephen said Luke was screwing you to keep you occupied. Did you sleep with him?”
“Worse. I gave him my heart.”
Pity softened her eyes. “Oh, Macey.”
“I have to go.” She hurried down the steps and crossed the street into Jackson Square. This was her own fault. She’d let her guard down. She’d been distracted by his piercing eyes and sexy body, and she’d opened up to him. Made herself vulnerable. A mistake she wouldn’t make again. There was a reason she’d guarded her heart so heavily all these years, and she was stupid to think Luke would be any different. People left. She was never worth sticking around for, and she still wasn’t.
How long was he planning to string her along? Just until they’d vanquished the demons? Or would he keep using her until he tired of her?
She wiped her tears and straightened her spine. Love wasn’t in the cards for her, and that was fine. She was done playing the fool.
As she passed in front of a candy store, the shop owner yelled at what appeared to be a homeless man, then he hit him on the head with a thick stick of summer sausage. The poor guy cowered in the corner, trying to inch his way toward the door, but the shop owner’s relentless berating continued.
Tucking her emotions into the vault, Macey welcomed the distraction and stepped inside to flash her badge. “Is there a problem here?”
The homeless man whimpered.
“Every week,” the
shop keeper shouted. “Every week he comes in here and eats my samples. Every time he buys nothing!”
The cowering man covered his face and peeked at her through his fingers. Tears filled his frightened, brown eyes, tugging at Macey’s heartstrings.
“Okay. How about I take him outside and have a talk with him?” she said to the shopkeeper.
“Tell him not to come back! Idiot!”
“Okay.” She cautiously approached the man and touched his elbow. He recoiled. “Sir? Do you want to come take a walk with me?”
He ran his hand under his nose and wiped it on his sweat-stained shirt. “Please don’t hit me.” His bottom lip trembled as he spoke.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Come on. Let’s take a walk.” She ushered the man outside and guided him away from the store. She sat him on a park bench and waited for his sniveling to subside before speaking. “What happened in there?”
He wiped his nose and dried his eyes on his shirt sleeve. “I was hungry. I thought it was free.” He sighed. “I’m a stupid idiot.”
“No. No, you’re not. That wasn’t nice of the shopkeeper to call you that.” She sat down next to him. Aside from his dirty clothes and greasy hair, something about the man wasn’t quite right. Like his elevator didn’t go all the way to the top. He almost seemed drunk, but she couldn’t smell any traces of alcohol.
“Oh, I am. My brother told me so.” He appeared to be about thirty years old, but he had the speech pattern of a six-year-old. His stomach growled, and he hit it with his fist. “Sometimes, if I punch it, I can make the roaring stop.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
“The candy in the shop.” He pointed.
“I mean a meal. Something that filled you up?”
He shrugged. “My brother brings me food sometimes. Well, he used to.”
“Sometimes? Wait here.” She trotted to the food vendor a few feet away and bought two hot dogs, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water. The man’s innocent gaze flitted about the park like a little boy’s would. He smiled when he saw a dog pretending to be passed out on the street, a hurricane glass lying on its stomach and a patty of fake vomit near its mouth.
“That’s a smart dog,” he said as Macey returned to the bench. “It’s not really asleep. It’s just playing like it is.”
She offered him the food and sat beside him. Though she was certain she’d never seen him before, his oddly familiar face pricked at her mind, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. She stifled a gasp as she realized where she’d seen him. She pulled out her phone and found the image of the police sketch. His features were similar to the rapist. It wasn’t an exact match, but this was only an artist’s rendition based on someone else’s description. It could be the same man.
He inhaled each hotdog in two bites, then started on the bag of chips. How long had it been since his last meal? He certainly didn’t act like a rapist. The women had described him as charming. Smooth. This was a child in a man’s body. And he had brown eyes, not red. The guy in the sketch was most likely half demon. This man definitely was not. “What’s your name?”
He finished the chips and chugged the water. “My name is Jimmy.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jimmy. I’m Macey.”
“Thank you for the food, Miss Macey. That will keep my tummy quiet for a long time.”
“My pleasure. Jimmy, do you come here often? The shopkeeper said he sees you every week.”
“Oh, yes, ma’am. Mondays are my free days. I get to come here every Monday.”
She tilted her head. “But it’s not Monday.”
“Oh, my brother told me to meet him here today. He said we’re going to do something fun. I hope we can go to the aquarium. I want to see the fishies.” He clapped his hands.
“Do you have somewhere to stay? A bed to sleep in?”
He nodded. “Yes ma’am. I have a futon. My brother got it for me when I was really good.”
“Does your brother live with you?”
“Yes, ma’am. Well, kinda.”
“Kinda?” She pulled a pen and a slip of paper out of her purse. She’d have to do some research on this brother of his. “What’s his name?”
Jimmy’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, I…I’m really not supposed to talk about him. I…I’m not supposed to talk to people at all.” He jumped off the bench and tripped over his feet, falling back down. “I have to go.” He clambered to his feet again. “Thank you, Miss Macey, for the food. You’re a real nice lady.” He turned on his heel and disappeared into the crowd.
“Well, that was strange.” Macey picked up the food wrappers and tossed them in a trash bin. There was no way that guy was the rapist. He probably couldn’t even operate a toaster, much less a woman’s body.
Chapter Twenty-Two
As Luke strolled up St. Philip, the evening sun dipped into the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pink and purple. The afternoon clouds had dissipated, and the French Quarter buildings cast long stripes of shade across the pavement. The steamy scent of fresh rain drifted up from the puddles in the street.
He’d had the urge to dial Macey’s number all afternoon, but she was spending time with her sister. He’d see her soon enough. As he approached the bar, he hesitated to go in. His mind was so wrapped up in his sexy detective—and she was his now—he didn’t want to think about werewolf business.
But he had to. With Macey’s help, they wouldn’t have to worry so much about the humans finding out about the demons, but they still needed to catch the bastard who was summoning the fiends. His parents would be home tomorrow. He’d be alpha in five days. He needed to wrap this up.
The chilled curtain of air separating the inside of O’Malley’s from the outside blasted his skin. Chase had his arms full of half-drunk hurricanes, and he dumped the contents down the sink before tossing the plastic cups in the trash. Alexis sat at the bar, nursing a glass of whiskey, a grim expression occupying her face.
“How’d it go with Macey today?” Luke asked.
“Oh, fine.” She glanced at him before turning her attention to her drink. “Trying to repair twenty years of damage won’t be easy.”
“At least you made a start.”
She shrugged.
Chase poured Luke a beer and handed it to him. “You’ve got a spring in your step I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Luke grinned. His life was finally starting to fall into place. “I’m in love. What can I say?” And he planned to tell her tonight.
Alexis’s head jerked up. “Love? But you said—”
“Hold on.” Luke’s phone vibrated in his pocket. His grin widened when Macey’s name lit up the screen. “Hello, beautiful. How was your day?”
“You can stop now, Luke.” Her voice was strained. Irritated.
“What can I stop?”
“Pretending you like me. I know, okay?”
He tightened his grip on the phone. “Preten—Macey, what are you talking about?”
“You’ve been using me to cover up the truth. That’s why you’re dating me. Well, you don’t have to anymore. Okay? I’ll be your ‘man on the inside,’ so you can stop the charade. I won’t tell anyone about the werewolves or the demons. No one would believe me anyway.”
“Where on Earth would you get an idea like that?” He eyed the woman sitting at the bar, staring into her drink. He knew exactly where.
“Alexis told me everything.”
His heart pounded like a sledgehammer as he glared at Macey’s sister. “And you believe her?”
“Of course I do. She’s my sister.”
“Macey, none of that is true. Macey? Hello?”
Silence hung heavy on the other end. Final.
Angry heat rolled through his body as he dropped his phone into his pocket. He turned to Alexis. “What did you do, rogue?”
She shrank in on herself, wrapping her arms across her middle. “I…I was looking out for my sister. After what you said at the meeting, I thought you—”<
br />
“Well, you thought wrong.” He raked his hands through his hair. “I’m not using her. I’m in love with her.”
Alexis’s mouth hung open, her bottom lip quivering. “I…”
He dialed Macey’s number. Straight to voicemail. “Macey, Alexis was wrong. None of that is true. I…just…please call me.” He pocketed his phone. “I’ve got to find her.”
He strode toward the door, and James came flying through. “Demons. Three. On Rampart,” he said between breaths.
“Shit. They aren’t wasting any moonlight.” Luke tensed. He had to hunt the demons, but Macey…
“I’ll talk to her.” Alexis downed the rest of her whiskey. “I’ll make things right.”
“You better.”
Chase leapt over the bar, and the men rushed out into the night.
The French Quarter swarmed with people. They’d have to herd the demons out of the city to have any chance of battling them unnoticed. James led them up St. Philip to Rampart and stopped. “They’re on the move.”
Luke inhaled deeply, sifting through the scents of the Quarter. It was faint, but underneath the sweet smells of magnolias and pralines and the sour tinge of alcohol, the putrid scent of death and decay lingered like a long-buried secret. “This way.”
They darted down Dumaine and skidded to a stop on Royal. There, in the shadows, indistinguishable from the darkness, save for the gleaming red eyes, three demons lurked in an alley.
“One man on the roof,” Chase said. “The other two at each end of the alley. We surround them and get them all at once. They won’t know what hit them.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot, his eyes gleaming in the gas light.
“You got lucky last time,” Luke said. “We’re not shifting in the city again. Too many witnesses.”
James cracked his knuckles. “Witnesses that are about to become victims if we don’t act fast.”
“Right,” Luke said. “Wait…what’s this?”
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