by E. M. Moore
“It’s hard not to,” he said, staring up at the house. “I think that’s how they got so rich. I mean, who can make this much money? And they don’t even work.”
“Really?” I asked. “That’s crazy.”
He reached out and touched my hand. I pulled away and pretended to be cold, wrapping my arms around myself.
“Chilly?”
“Not used to the north yet,” I said. “You know it’s like eighty degrees already in Louisiana. I’d probably be wearing less than this.”
His stare caught on my cleavage and I almost gagged.
“Is there a place where we can talk out of the wind?”
He looked toward the front of the house, his eyes unsure.
“Are you the only guard on tonight?” I asked. “I mean, I certainly won’t tell anyone since you’ll be doing me a favor.”
“I am at least for another half hour. The other guy went on break.”
A wash of cold hit me in the face. Holy hell. I needed to hurry. “Come on,” I said, pulling him by the hand and yanking him up the steps to the front door. “Just for a bit. I won’t get you in trouble, I promise.”
I swallowed those last words with a bitter pill.
He pushed the door open, and I followed in afterward. While he shut the door, I searched my magic, looking deep inside to try to find something that pulled on the negative end of the spectrum. There was something. A little something, but it was so faint, I wasn’t sure what it was. I was running out of time though. I tiptoed into the house, trying to be funny. “So, where’s this super-secret room we’re not allowed to go in? I want to make sure we’re as far away from it as possible.”
He smirked. “It’s in the basement. There’s no way we’re making it down there.” I crept a little further away. The foyer opened into a great room. Everything was old school charm with antique furnishings. Hands gripped my hips. “Where are you headed? I thought you wanted to talk.”
I froze but tried to make myself relax before turning into his arms.
“Your accent is really sexy,” he breathed.
Okay. I just didn’t have the guts to do this. “Sleep,” I mumbled. Mr. Handsy fell forward immediately. I held him up, so he wouldn’t bounce off the floor. I knew where I needed to be, so I just had to get there and back in the thirty minutes I had until the other guard showed up. I’d find the book, wake the guy up, tell him thanks, and then leave without the other guard even seeing me.
As soon as I lowered him to the floor safely, I walked further into the house. I needed a basement door. In my life, I’d always known basement doors to be in the kitchens. I walked that way, pulling open doors as I went. Some led to rooms, some to closets. There. On the far side of the kitchen was a white door with a black handle. I pulled it open. Jackpot.
I took the stairs that led down. The tug in my gut fluttered. I was headed in the right direction.
Their basement was not a dingy, dark place. It was basically a tech extravaganza with the huge TV’s and sound systems. I followed my instincts. It took me to the door to another room. I tried the handle. Locked. I performed the unlock spell, but it didn’t budge. Shit. It was magically locked, not just locked with a deadbolt or something.
I searched my magic, tugging at anything that could help me out with this, but I couldn’t find anything. The faint trace of negative magic called to me on the other side of the door. I looked around for something to smash it with when I heard a car door slam.
I hissed in a breath. Fuck. I was screwed.
I ran back up the steps, closed the basement door behind me, and got to the guard, who still slept on the floor, at about the same time the front door opened. I shook him. “Awake,” I whispered. He blinked up at me. “You passed out and there’s someone else here now. How can I get out?”
He shot to his feet, but it was too late. Footsteps rounded the corner. “Owen, you…” the voice trailed off as a young kid caught sight of me. Shit. We were caught. “Who are you?”
“Hi,” I waved. “I’m Deborah,” I said, saying the first name that popped into my head.
Owen ran a shaking hand through his hair. “Shit, Dean. I’m sorry.” Owen looked at me, his eyes remorseful.
“Me too,” I said. “I apologize. I’m new to the area and heard about your family and wanted to come by. Owen told me you weren’t here, but then I got cold and he offered to let me step inside to get warm. I’m from Louisiana,” I explained, or at least I hoped it explained everything.
Dean, who I could only guess was the son of the Reid’s, raised his eyebrows. He was dressed in a pair of khakis and a button-up shirt. Sure, I was type casting in my head, but I was pretty sure I was right, and this was the son to a rich family.
A figure came around from behind Dean and I paled. I locked gazes with him, trying not to show any recognition on my face. It was Ren. A better looking, more put together Ren than I’d seen the two times I’d met him before. He didn’t look high on his magic or his girls. He looked like a businessman. I swallowed, knowing he had the power to take me out right there if he wanted to. Hopefully, Randy’s scary ass put enough fear into him that he would keep his mouth shut. “What’s this?” Ren asked. “A new witch in town?”
He smirked at me, and I smiled back, trying to tell him to fuck off with my eyes. He knew exactly what I was doing here. He’s the one who told me about this place to begin with. Dean chuckled. “And I suppose Owen was trying to show you some northern hospitality?”
Owen grimaced. I kind of felt bad for him. He reminded me of Liam in a way, and I hated bullies. “Yeah, he was being really nice. Again, I’m so sorry. I know it’s not cool to just walk into someone else’s house. But did you know it’s like eighty degrees back home, and I definitely didn’t dress for the weather.”
Shameless move to try to distract them. That I had to admit. Even Ren looked his full, and I wanted to punch him in the stomach. I still might yet once I got myself out of this mess.
“I should probably get going.” I walked around them, giving them a wide berth. If I had to, I could use magic if they wanted to stop me, but I hoped it didn’t come to that. I might have to use this connection in the future. Well, until they found out I was an Enforcer. Then, all bets were off.
Owen took a step forward. Dean raised his hand. “You, stay.”
Owen’s jaw snapped shut. His face blushed a fiery red. My heart really did go out to him. “It’s really my fault.”
Dean turned toward me. “My friend Ren is going to show you out.” He looked me up and down. “Just next time, ask for me, okay? I’d be happy to show you around.”
“O-okay.” I turned toward Owen and mouthed ‘sorry’. His face lifted a little, but then Ren’s gross fingers wrapped around my hips to steer me out. When we were out of their line of sight, I twisted and pushed him away from me. “Don’t touch me.”
He peeked back, then moved me forward faster. “Are you stupid? You thought coming here and just waltzing in and getting the book was a good idea?”
“I don’t really have a choice. My friend is worse. He needs it off him.”
Ren shook his head at me like I was a child. “You’re getting mixed up with the wrong people. I know damn well Randy doesn’t know you’re here.”
I lifted my chin. “Randy’s not my boss. Trust me, he’s aware of the fact too.”
“That may be, but show up here again, and you won’t like what happens. These aren’t forgiving people.”
“They don’t know anything about me.”
“Yet,” he said, the word lingering in the air.
“Yet,” I agreed. It wasn’t that Ren was threatening me, it was just we all knew keeping my presence a secret here wasn’t going to last much longer. Red had probably already figured it out.
“I’ll give Randy a call. Let him know he should be expecting you soon.”
I walked down the steps, turning back to give him a sly smile. “I can tell him myself.”
“I’d really love
to tell him, though,” he said, his hands moving into his pockets. “I want to be the one to tell him how one of the Reid’s guards, and Dean Reid himself, are now very interested in you. It’ll be a fun conversation, I’m sure.”
I gave him a look, then turned and headed back toward the iron gate. I couldn’t believe I was walking out of there without the fucking book. I’d been so close. So, so close.
I ran back toward the Jeep, hearing my phone ringing from the inside before I even got there. So much for them being able to get ahold of me if they wanted to. I hurried up and unlocked it before answering. “Hello?”
“Norah? What the fuck?” It was Travis. The tension in his voice sliced his words through me. No doubt he woke up still expecting me to be there next to him, and then when I wasn’t…
“I’m sorry.”
He blew out a breath, the receiver crackling as he did so. “Are you coming home now?”
I hopped in and started the Jeep. “On my way.”
“Good.”
Then, he hung up. I threw the phone down in the passenger seat and did a U-turn on the posh road. I slammed my hand down into the steering wheel a couple times. Frustration fueled me. I was so close. Heat gathered behind my eyes. I’d put a lot of hope into this plan and it all ended with nothing. And we were nowhere closer to finding Liam or figuring out how to get the stupid familiar off him. We were running out of time…and plans.
17
Randy
My phone buzzed and rang on the table next to the bed. I shot up immediately, my heart slamming in my chest. I scrambled to pick it up, but it slipped through my sleep deprived fingers not once but twice. Gabe and I had been out searching all the places we could think of for Liam. We went to Headquarters, restaurants, the library. He wasn’t anywhere. But who else called in the middle of the night when you were searching for a missing person?
I stared down at the screen where a simple phone number stared back at me. Not Liam’s name, but he could be anywhere at this point. I swiped at the screen. “H-hello?”
“Ah, Randy.”
I gripped the side table, not recognizing the voice.
“You want to tell me why your girlfriend was at the Reid’s place tonight?”
My heart clenched, simultaneously afraid for two different reasons. One, that it hadn’t been Liam on the other end of the line, and two, that Ren was talking to me about Norah. “What?”
“Your girlfriend. Miss Sexy Southern Accent. You know, the one with the—”
“I swear to God, if you finish that sentence I will fucking end you. I know who my girlfriend is.” My lips felt numb. Girlfriend. I’d just said girlfriend. I wasn’t the type to have a girlfriend, but it was all out there now, and the truth to it was evident, seeing as how I wanted to blast Ren with a shit ton of my own magic right to the chest.
Ren chuckled. “Which is why I’m fucking calling you. Your girlfriend was at the Reid’s place tonight trying to cozy up with one of the guards to get the book I told you about. She might have gotten it too, except for Dean Reid himself came home. You know enough to understand you don’t want any of the Reid’s interested in what you have. I covered for her as much as I could, but Dean’s not likely to forget a pretty face like that.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “Where is she now?”
“On her way home to you, I guess. I didn’t ask her for a play-by-play, but I tried to warn her from doing anything stupid like this ever again.”
I threw the blankets off, my bare feet sinking into the carpet. When I’d gotten home, she’d been laying on the couch with Travis sound asleep. “You better not have touched her.”
“If I had, do you really think I’d be calling you or letting her go? Come on, I may not be an Enforcer, but I’m not a fucking idiot either.”
“Let’s just keep it that way.”
Silence descended on the conversation. I got up from bed and searched the room for something to pull on. I was going to head downstairs and wait for her ass to come home to make sure she was securely in bed. We didn’t need another missing coven member right now. Fucking Christ, she could’ve just told us where she was going.
“Listen, Randy, I know you need the book. That’s why I’m over here tonight,” he said, lowering his voice. “I’m going to see what I can do. I’ve tried making a business partnership with the Reid’s before, but that was with the dad. I thought I might give junior a try to he seems more open to the type of business I’m in. I’ll see what I can find out.”
“And why the hell would you do that?”
“We’ve all got our reasons. Just know there might be a time I might need a favor and I’ll expect it.”
I stood up straighter. “If it’s a favor of the black magic kind and I’m not allowed to mark you, you can just stop right there. That’s what we do.”
“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s something far more personal.” His voice held a hard edge.
There was no weighing options. We needed information and Ren was the closest to getting it.
“Shall I continue?”
“Yes,” I said. I’d be willing to give up a whole hell of a lot for that book.
At that, I ended the call and pulled my sweats on before heading downstairs. I stopped at the end of the staircase. Travis was there pacing in and out of the foyer. “Dude?”
He looked up, startled. When he got his bearings back, he said, “Norah’s gone. She’s on her way back though.”
“I know,” I said, holding up my cell phone.
“She called you?”
I shook my head. “No. Ren called me. She was at the Reid’s house trying to get the book we told you about.”
Travis ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, that about sums it up,” I agreed. A flurry of overprotectiveness washed over me, but that shit wouldn’t sit well with Norah. But to pull this with Liam missing? That was fucked up. “She could’ve told us where she was going.”
“We would’ve tried to talk her out of it.”
“No shit.”
“Well, that’s probably why she didn’t tell us,” he said.
I glared at him. Obviously, that was the case. Jesus. Slept with her once and now acted like he knew everything about her. He was well behind the curve when it came to Norah for fuck’s sake. He could barely stand to be around her a fucking week ago.
“Don’t give me that look,” Travis said. “Yes, I’m into her, too. Have been,” he admitted, dropping his voice.
“So, you were just what? Determined on being a dick?”
His gaze narrowed. “That’s between me and Norah.”
Fair enough. I didn’t really want everyone knowing the ins and outs of the intimacies of our relationship either.
“Listen,” Travis said, holding his hand up. “I don’t want to fight about this. We’re a coven. We’re all interconnected now more than ever. Is this thing with her and me going to be a problem for you?”
“No, it’s not a problem. Just don’t act like you know her and I don’t. That would be a problem.”
Travis looked away, continuing his path from the front door to the kitchen island. I moved to the island and sat on the stool, hoping she’d get back soon. I wanted to make sure she was fine, and that Ren was telling the truth when he said he didn’t hurt her. Not that she couldn’t protect herself. She had enough magic for that. She was stronger than the rest of us
Travis stopped in front of me. He waited until I looked up at him, then said, “Dude, I know I’ve been a dick lately. I’m sorry. I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I just want to move forward with the way things are now. Jax is in the past. Jennie’s doing good…”
“Adams?” I asked. He’d never opened up that much about what happened there, but if he was still hung up on some girl, he didn’t deserve Norah yet.
“Not even a sliver of a memory compares to what we’ve got in front of us.”
I nodded. That was exactly what I wanted
to hear. “Should we wake up Gabe?”
Travis shrugged. “Only if we’re going to have a group meeting. Other than that, I guess it can wait until morning.” He checked his watch. “You know, in a couple hours.” He pulled up the stool next to me. “We must’ve done something wrong if she went to the Reid’s by herself without telling us. I’d rather know about her plans before she implements them rather than being blindsided.”
“That’s the fucking truth,” I told him. “When Ren asked me why the hell Norah was at the Reid’s place, I had no idea how to answer. It wasn’t a great feeling.”
“She does what she wants to do when she wants to do it. She’s not used to having a coven.”
I scratched my jaw. The earlier conversation we’d had with her came back to me. “We did kind of tell her she wasn’t going into the Reid’s place without us even though her idea wasn’t that bad. She is the only one they don’t know or haven’t heard of. Especially Liam.”
“Liam?” Travis asked, his eyebrows arching.
“Yeah, Liam’s family and the Reid’s were tight. Both rich. Both powerful. I’m kind of glad he’s not around for this. He doesn’t like being reminded of shit.”
“But he didn’t know them? How could he? He was adopted.”
“No, of course not. He just knows they were close friends when he did research once he found out who he was. He’s always wondered about them, and if they’re as close as he said they were, I’m sure they would’ve known about him. Maybe even why he was sent away.”
“I see what you’re getting at,” Travis said, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. “Yeah, best he wasn’t here for this one.” He ran a hand down his face, stifling a yawn. “We’ll have to tell him when he gets back though.”
The door handle jiggled and both Travis and I stood. It opened, and she stepped through. I did a once-over in my head, looking for just one hair out of place and Ren was getting another call from me. Not that any of it would’ve been his fault, but I needed some place to vent my anger.
“Oh, good. You’re both up,” she deadpanned.
