I sat in my car and waited, not entirely comfortable with what I had done, even though I'd been left with little choice. It wasn't the first life I had taken, and I was sure it wouldn't be the last. It took only a few minutes for Chief to come out and head for my car.
I turned the key and rolled down the window, not cranking the engine. Putting my elbow on the ledge of the window, I waited to see how he would react to what I'd done.
He stopped and put his hand on my arm. "You all right?"
"Yeah. It had to be done."
"I know."
"Don't like taking lives, Chief?"
"No. I'll go the extra mile to avoid it, even in mundane situations. I even threw my gun at a bad guy's head once to avoid shooting him."
That made me laugh because I could picture it.
"Just sorry to make you do it."
"That's the difference. It is my job."
He nodded, knowing it was. "Doesn't make it easier."
I shook my head. "Why is killing witches different from killing humans? I've killed before, it's always harder if they're witches. Even rogue ones."
"Probably because it's closer to home. Gives us a sense of our own mortality. We could live forever, but often don't."
"Thanks, Bill."
He nodded and headed for his Jeep. I watched him as he backed up and spun around, heading off into the night. The rest of them showed up after and solemnly got into my car.
"I should probably tell them what happened before we leave," I said and opened my door.
"I did. Dennis came out." Jimmy gently closed my door.
I nodded at Jimmy, grateful for taking care of it. "Thanks."
"My pleasure. Thank you, too. He was being Chief again. Stubborn ass."
"He was doing what he thought right. He's fine. Let's grab some dinner and go home. Feels like a pizza and movie kind of night."
∞ ∞ ∞
"Candace, I need you to do something for me…"
Her eyes lit up eagerly.
"I need you to find out who owns the local blood bank. If it's a corporation, I need the managing member's name and anything else you can find. If it's a non-prof, I need to know all that information, too. Whatever you can find. I assume the hospital would be the best place to find it."
"Yes, Lady."
"Thank you." She went back to munching on her cheese pizza. We got two, one with and one without pepperoni. Josie was sharing the without with her. Jimmy and I were greedily gobbling up the other one between sips of beer.
With that portion of my ever-growing list of things to get done outsourced, I could focus on the other things. I went through my list of possible candidates and started making detailed notes of what I could remember about the people on my list. It wasn't as much as I thought it would be. The Coven of the Black Well was my mother's, I was just a member. I hadn't taken as much of an interest in everyone as I should have. Maybe I knew deep in my heart that I would never be their high priestess.
After the last slice was eaten, I cleaned up, grabbed my laptop and lay on my stomach in the middle of the bed. I navigated to Wally World's website and started perusing area rugs, single beds, and storage. If we needed more witches, they were going to need a place to sleep in the already over populated house. I'd make the garage as comfortable as possible. I even bought a couple of large space heaters.
"Whatcha doin'?" Jimmy flopped on the bed next to me.
"Buying beds and heaters and everything else to turn the garage into living quarters. They deliver, but it will take a week. I marked the order for pickup. Can I borrow your truck in the morning?"
"I can do you one better. I'll grab Dennis and go pick it up for you and drop it over at the house."
"You'd do that for little old me?"
"You betcha. Especially if you throw in a kiss as payment."
"Deal." I leaned over and kissed him.
"Such a deal," he whispered as I pulled away.
"I need more people."
"So, get some."
"Thinking about that now. Would you get all jealous if I flew back to Ashville with Chief for a day? I don't want to invite people to come live here if they're unsuitable. I figured if I take him along to the interviews, he can't bitch later."
"Have I mentioned how brilliant you are lately?"
"Seriously, you don't mind?"
He leaned in close and kissed me. "Not if you tell me about it when you get back. Seriously, I'm never going to bitch, so just stop asking. Just never keep anything from me is all I ask."
"Don't worry about that. It's too much fun telling you…"
He chuckled and kissed my shoulder.
"I wish you and Dennis didn't have to work all the time. With as much going on, I could use your help full time."
"Alas, there is rent to be paid, truck payments, cell phone bills, food…"
"I know."
"You know who might be a good candidate…"
"Who?"
"Jason."
"He works at the factory…"
"And how much do you think he makes at said factory?"
"Honestly, I don't have a clue."
"Try minimum wage. Dwight is shift supervisor, so he makes a bit more."
"You're kidding me."
"No. As I said, the economy sucks. People take what they can get. You might want to think about stealing Jason away from the factory to work in your bookstore. You could put him to work now and knock some little jobs off your list."
I rolled the idea around in my head. It could work. I hit the complete order button on my laptop and heard my phone ding with the confirmation email. After closing the lid, I pounced my brilliant boyfriend, crawling on top of him and kissing him all over his face.
"What will you do to me if I mention that you could probably talk Dwight into some part-time work watching the vampires?"
"Hmmm. Might take you into my mouth…"
"Ohhh. I need to be brilliant more often."
"Don't we all. Do you think he'd do it?"
He looked at his watch and frowned. "Their shift started an hour ago, or I'd say call them."
He was being too helpful with this and had that Jimmy gleam in his eye. "Wait."
"What?"
I narrowed my eyes at him and moved my face within inches of his. "Are you trying to set Jason up as my personal assistant to get me to fool around with him, too?"
He grinned. "I wasn't, but I kind of like that idea…"
"Seriously. Like I don't have enough to handle with you and Chief."
"You think he's hot."
"Well, yes, but…"
"Dot. I'm not and I wasn't. I'll just say, I wouldn't mind if it happened and leave it at that."
"Fine."
"Good."
He chuckled and flipped on his back, head on my pillow, stretching like a big sexy cat. I poked him in the stomach. "So, no matter how many boyfriends I could possibly end up with…you won't care?"
"Well, I'm sure there would be a limit. How about I promise to tell you if you get close?"
I stared at him incredulously. "You're insane."
"No. I just know how I feel about you, and I'm pretty sure I know how you feel about me. I'm not worried about anybody stealing you away from me."
"What about me? You do know that even thinking about you with another woman makes me growl. I'm very possessive."
"And do you think there is a single woman on this planet that could turn me on more than you? No, Dot. You can get as growly as you want. It will never happen."
"Promise?"
"I swear upon my soul and my life. I am yours."
That earned him a kiss and various other things. "Damn right you are. Be a shame to have to kill you dead."
He gave me a shit eating grin. "Not gonna happen anyway, so I'm not worried."
"What about if I was there?" I asked him out of curiosity, just to judge his reaction.
"Helping?"
"Yeah."
"Then she would
be awfully bored. Because my attention would be focused solely on you. How could it not be?"
"You're fucking smooth."
"No, but I could be. Did you want to shave me? That might be fun."
"Is there no limit to your kinks?"
"I'll let you know." He gave me a mischievous grin.
"Do you have your phone?"
I nodded. "With all the shit happening at the other house, I'm afraid to set it down." I grabbed it off the bed.
"May I see it?"
"Want to see my texts?"
"Nope."
I shot him a suspicious glance but handed it to him. If he could trust me, I could trust him. A little.
He took it from me and got up off the bed. "Pay attention to the computer. Pretend you're looking at porn. Better yet, put some porn on it."
"Okay?" I opened a new incognito browser and opened the site I used every once in a great while.
He moved to behind me and took a step over, clicking the shutter button on the phone. He reached above him and pulled the light chain on the ceiling fan. "That's better." He took the same picture again, but a little lower.
"What are you doing?"
"You'll see."
He stepped a little closer, lifted my shirt above my waist, and straddled my thighs. I heard the shutter button again. He scooted back a little and reached up, tugging my leggings over my ass. Click. He got up again, tugged them down to my ankles, and moved over by the dresser.
"Put your right arm under you and tilt your head back."
"Like I'm touching myself?"
"Exactly."
I rolled my eyes and did as he asked.
He reached over, grabbing my pants and tugging them the rest of the way off. "Would you spread your legs?"
I did it, my thong clearly visible.
"Wow. That's hot. Put your finger on it where I can see it."
I did. Click.
He set the phone down and reached up, tugging my panties down just below my ass. I hated to admit it, but I was getting really turned on just from being photographed.
"Okay, now reach down a little lower and slip your finger inside, just a little."
I didn't have to be asked twice. A tiny moan escaped my lips. Click.
"Okay. That's good enough."
"For what?" I rolled over and gasped, Candace was in my doorway. I pulled my panties up.
My phone made the woop sending noise.
"Jimmy. What did you do with those pictures?" Staring at him incredulously, I forgot about Candace altogether.
He handed me my phone. I opened my messages and saw he had sent every single one of them to Chief.
"Now we wait," he said as he lay on the bed.
"For what?"
"Twenty bucks says he sends you a picture of his dick."
"What? No way. You're on," I laughed. He didn't know Mr. Boy Scout like I did.
My phone bleeped.
Confidently, I opened the messaging app back up. "Ha!" I turned my phone to Jimmy and showed him his one-line response.
Woah. You are gorgeous.
"Pay up, bitch!"
"Wait for it," he whispered with a smile.
"It's not going to happen."
"I say it will."
"This is Chief we're talking about. The only thing he'd send a picture of is his Jeep."
The phone was still pointed at Jimmy when it went bleep again. His expression didn't change so I figured he sent a thank you or something equally as innocuous. I turned the screen to see what he sent and saw a picture of his very erect manhood being squeezed by his fist.
"Son of a bitch."
Jimmy started laughing with no signs of stopping. Even Candace was giggling in the doorway.
I can never win. I'm not betting anymore. Ever.
"How did you know?"
"I told him I would give him ten bucks to send you a dick pic later. He would know when."
"You have got to be kidding me! You cheated?"
"No. I just thought it would be funny to tell you I did. He's a guy, Dot. If you send nude pictures of yourself to any man, you will get pictures in return. It's like engrained into our DNA."
"You're so full of shit."
"Want to test this theory?"
"Uh… Yeah. Not so much. I'll trust you."
"Bout damn time."
CHAPTER 18
The new Keurig worked awesomely, and I didn't have to threaten it once to hurry up. It was my reward for it taking me thirteen minutes to figure out how to use it. I grabbed my steamy mug of happiness and took a sip.
"Mmmm."
Candace walked out of my bedroom, sleepy eyed. I really needed to buy her scuffy-footed pajamas. The ones with plastic-bottomed feet built into them that made scuff scuff noises when you walked.
She'd be adorable. Adorabler? Whatever.
With eyes closed and one handed, she popped the brewer open, flipped out the pod, grabbed another and shoved it in like she was loading the magazine into a Glock, slammed the lid shut, and hit brew. Before it even started, she grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and had it underneath it.
"That was the most amazing fucking thing I've ever seen. You're like a damn coffee ninja. How did you do that without looking?"
"We have one at work. I need it to live. It became necessary to master it."
"Teach me, sensei."
"You are not ready, grasshopper."
I bowed my head in defeat, vowing to train myself to one day be worthy.
She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around my stomach, hugging me. I still had trouble believing how short she stood. If she was five-feet it would have been a miracle. I'd say four-ten, four-eleven max. If it weren't for her obvious feminine charms, people would probably mistake her for a teenager. I bet she did get carded a lot.
I petted her head absentmindedly, until her coffee started gurgling and was done. She let go of me like yesterday's newspaper and scooped it up, sniffed it repeatedly making animalistic noises, and took a sip.
"That's the good shit."
I think that might have been the first time I ever heard her swear. "Watch your language, young lady."
"Yes, Mom."
We both laughed and clinked mugs.
I grabbed my phone off the counter and walked over to the couch, sitting down with one leg underneath me. Candace sat across from me, eyeing the seat next to me, though. I patted it and she immediately got up and moved.
"You know you don't have to be so afraid. If you want to sit somewhere in this house, next to me, next to Josie, wherever. You sit where you want to sit. Like the grocery store. I saw you eyeballing the mint hot cocoa. If you wanted it, why didn't you ask?"
"Four hundred years of being beaten if I asked for water."
Yep. That would do it.
"Candace, I apologize. I didn't think of that."
"It's okay. Another lifetime."
I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. "Next time you feel like that, remember…if it would make you happy, I would do it in a heartbeat."
She blushed and nodded, setting her mug down on the table and standing up. She reached down and pulled my leg out from beneath me and sat on my lap, laying back against me.
"You said I could sit anywhere I wanted, right?"
I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her. "Yep. But you need to hand me my coffee." She reached over and grabbed my mug by the rim, offering me the handle. I sat there and drank my coffee holding a woman six-hundred years my senior like a kid.
Josie walked out of the room and plopped down on the loveseat across from us, smiling softly.
"Morning," Candace said and gave her a smile.
"Sucking up to Dot, I see."
Candace nodded, and her smile morphed into a grin. Josie laughed and rolled her eyes. "Do you want coffee?"
"Yes, but stay where you are, I'll get it."
I'd known Josie, literally, my entire life. I'd seen firsthand how jealous she got.
For the life of me, I couldn't fathom why she didn't feel like that when Candace got clingy with me. Then again, there was nothing normal about any of my personal relationships.
"I still don't get it," I said aloud.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Ask Josie if she wants to sit in your lap."
"Uh, she's a perv. She'd sit on my face if I'd let her."
Candace let out a musical giggle. "Ask her, though. See if she has the desire."
She was trying to make a point that I wasn't getting. I waited a minute for her to bring her mug of coffee into the living room and sit back down. When she finally did, I asked her. "Hey Josie, want to sit in my lap?"
"Can I?" She set the mug down.
"Um." I looked down at Candace. "Can she?"
Candace smiled knowingly, nodded, and scooted over to the couch seat next to me. As soon as she moved, Josie got up and came over, sitting down on my lap and leaning back against me, sighing contentedly. She didn't fit nearly as well as Candace, but seemed perfectly content.
You could hear my neck creak as I slowly turned my head to the little witch next to me. "Did you cast a spell on her or something?"
She laughed, shaking her head. "No. You did."
"Excuse me?"
"Think about it."
I tried. I even had trouble drawing a blank. I couldn't figure anything out. "I don't get it. What's going on?"
"You are our Lady."
"Candace… I know I'm your high priestess, what the hell does that have to do with anything?"
"Your mother has multiple lovers, doesn't she?"
"Yeah. She's freaky."
"Those in houses of glass…"
"Yeah, yeah. What of it?"
She sighed, almost impatiently. "Most high priestesses are simply place holders for those the goddess bless as true high priestesses. We are not mortal, our birthrates are low. We can not conceive unless we choose to. True high priestesses are like queens of the hive. We are drawn to her, to protect her, love her, and the chosen few, mate with her."
"What?"
"She says you're queen bee. I tried to explain it to you before, but you just shrugged it off."
"What?"
Even Josie rolled her eyes.
"So, these feelings of love, aren't your own?" The thought kind of turned my stomach but explained a whole lot of shit.
Second Blood: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 2) Page 16
