by Gina LaManna
Peter, however, was not.
They’d recovered his body from the pavement while I’d been carted off to Nurse Anita. She’d efficiently patched me up and sent me on my way without argument. The hospital would be busy today. All the Wicked citizens who’d been unwillingly sucked into the Harmony debacle were being notified and sent to the hospital for recovery.
“They were over there,” a familiar male voice said, causing me to flinch in surprise. “I’m assuming you are here because you wanted to see where Peter hid the bodies?”
“What are you doing here, Nash?” I swiveled to face my older brother. “I thought you were—”
“We’ve done as much as we can on the knowledge we have,” Nash said. “One hundred and three Wicked citizens have been notified that their Herbals were laced—there might be more. The hospital has called in extra staff to deal with the detox procedures.”
I shook my head. “How could he? How could Peter have been double-crossing us—everyone—this whole time?”
Nash’s jaw clenched. “I should have seen it. I was partnered with him for years.”
“You couldn’t have known. We all fell for it,” I said. “The chief included. Peter was a crooked cop. He was a good cop... when he was on the right side. It’s not your fault, Nash.”
He merely shook his head. “Except it was my responsibility to keep an eye on my partner. There were signs, now that I look back.”
“There always are,” I murmured. “Hindsight.”
“There were a few times he said things... things I thought were jokes. I’d always written it off as dark humor. Now that I know more, I think he was trying to test the waters—to see if he could recruit me as a business partner.”
“Nash—”
He raised a hand. “They uncovered the bodies this afternoon while the chief was taking your statement. They were all there. Sienna ran her tests on them this afternoon—all the missing corpses had signs of Harmony in their systems.”
I stared at the freshly turned piles of dirt. “What a waste.”
Nash kicked at the ground.
“You couldn’t have done anything about it. Trust me,” I said. “You’re not alone in feeling like you should have noticed. We’ve all been fooled.”
“I’m not here to talk about my feelings, Detective,” Nash said sharply. “I came to find you with a message.”
“From who?”
“Eloisa Brimstone.”
The name hit me like a rock straight to the gut. The air whooshed out of my lungs at the name of Trenton’s mother spoken so matter-of-factly.
“What did she want?” I whispered, remembering her pale, shrunken face at the bread vendor in the marketplace.
Trees loomed around us, arching tall pines with visible fog winding through the branches. I shuddered.
“Trenton’s mother wanted to thank you,” he said. “She was affected by Harmony. When I escorted her to the hospital, she knew me—or recognized my name—and we got to talking. She doesn’t hold anything against you, Dani. She knows Trenton’s death was his own doing.”
“How do you know that?”
Nash raised both palms. “I’m just the messenger. Do with it what you will. I hope it helps you realize that you’re not to blame.”
“Funny. You’re giving me the same lecture I was prepared to give you.”
Nash smiled. “Maybe it’s a DeMarco thing.”
I smiled too. “I’m sorry about Peter, Nash.”
“Me too,” he said. Then, gruffly, he pulled me into a hug and brushed a quick kiss against the top of my head. “By the way, congrats. The department is lucky to have you back. But if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll have to kill you.”
I gave him a good-natured shove away. “Love you, too, big brother.”
“Lieutenant, Detective...” A shimmering form appeared behind the trees. “Am I interrupting?”
Nash’s head snapped up. “Not at all, Captain. I was just leaving.”
“Don’t leave on my account,” Matthew said, stepping forward from between two thick trees. “I can always speak to the detective on Monday morning... at the office.”
Matthew’s loaded comment sank softly into the mossy grounds. Neither Nash nor I responded, though Nash did give a nod of dismissal to me, then the captain, before turning to leave.
I had eyes only for Matthew. I’d never been through the Dead Lands with him before, and it was an oddly mysterious feeling to be here with a vampire. Matthew looked stunning, as if he belonged here, as if the beauty of death and darkness brought out everything that was Captain King. Dark, brooding eyes and broad, sturdy shoulders held high. A suit made from the finest materials glistened with fingerlings of fog. Skin, so silvery pale that he looked like a piece of moonlight against the blackness of the Dead Lands behind him, shone bright.
“You shouldn’t have come here alone,” he said finally.
“Is that an order?” I found my voice, stared him down. “I thought work didn’t start until Monday morning.”
Matthew broke into a smile. “How are you feeling, Detective?”
“Fine. A little uneasy.”
“Discovering a close friend’s true nature is never easy when that nature is dark,” Matthew said. “I hardly think your feelings are unusual.”
I shrugged.
“I suppose congratulations are in order.” Matthew moved closer. “Detective DeMarco.”
I lifted my chin high. “All thanks to you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He asked your permission first.”
“Yes,” Matthew said in a careful, measured voice. “Two days ago.”
I blinked, calculating. “Two days ago? You mean—before we...”
“Yes.” Matthew watched me carefully. “The department is very pleased to have you back.”
“What about you?”
“I want to see you happy. If this makes you happy, then I, too, am pleased.”
“I wouldn’t have taken the job if—”
He raised a long, slender finger. “I couldn’t live with myself if I made you give up your dreams for mine.”
“What are your dreams?”
“To be with you,” he said simply.
“Matthew...”
He turned one finger into five, holding his palm out in a stop sign gesture. “Until you feel ready to come back to me, don’t say it. Don’t say anything—it will only make matters worse.”
My eyes teared. “You know I love you.”
He closed his eyes, let his hand drop. “I understand.”
“But—”
“I know.”
“If we are meant to be, then why is it so hard to be together?” A sob bubbled up in my chest. “I want to be with you, Matthew, but there’s no easy path to us.”
“I’ll make one when you’re ready.”
“I want to be ready.”
“But you’re not,” he said gently, dropping his grief, his frustration, his hurt, and leaving an expression filled only with love and light. He moved closer, drew my face into his hands, and pressed a life-giving kiss to my lips.
It only made me sob harder because he was right. The only man I loved was Matthew, but the time was not ours to have. Not yet.
So, I let my arms loop around his neck and devour the kiss as if it were our last. Our tongues tangled, the heat from me blending with the tender strength of him. By the time we separated, my tears had bled to his face, and his cool touch lingered on my skin.
“So,” he said, breaking the silence while my tears still glittered on his pale cheeks. “I guess this is it, Detective. Until Monday morning?”
I NEEDED SOME TIME to cool down after my run-in with Matthew. The news that he’d given the chief his word before we’d spent the night together meant something. I wasn’t sure what—but it meant something.
I ached, physically and emotionally, as I parted ways from Matthew outside of the Dead Lands. I needed to get back to the pizzeria, but I
couldn’t go straight there—I was a mess. My eyes were red-rimmed and my face exhausted. The last thing I wanted was to see my family and be forced into a sympathetic pep talk.
As I wandered through Wicked, I strolled closer to the marketplace than usual. I passed several small shops, decided there were too many happy people milling about for my liking, so I turned down a dark and dingy side street. It better fit my mood.
I glanced through the windows of the shops and restaurants as I passed them, content to watch strangers interact in their normal lives, until I caught sight of one particular loner in a grimy old pub with a frosty pint in front of her.
I stalled, a wave of guilt shattering in my stomach, splintering and breaking off every which way. It was impossible to say how long I stood there, but it was long enough for Sienna to raise a skinny arm and wave to the bartender for another glass.
I averted my eyes, feeling voyeuristic as I studied her. I made it two steps before I stopped, a decision snapping into place and forcing me to turn back. I yanked the door open to the pub and slipped inside. I was at Sienna’s table and seated before she could utter a curse.
“Hi,” I said simply. The bartender swooped by to take my order, but I shook my head.
“Bring her one,” Sienna drawled. “She’ll need it.”
The bartender looked confused. He slunk away behind the bar and pretended to be busy while watching us from under lidded eyes.
“Sienna—”
“What brings you here, hotshot?” Sienna pulled her pint closer, wrapped her thin fingers around it, and studied me. She had violent black hair today—one side of her head was completely shaved, the other was covered by long, beautiful locks. Her black jeans were ripped and her shirt hung on by threads, dripping from her thin body underneath a chunky leather jacket. “Should I be asking for your autograph?”
“I came here to apologize.”
“Right.” Sienna rolled her eyes, took a sip of the pint, and slammed it to the table. “Now that you’re hired back on and need favors from me, we’re friends again?”
“Believe it or not, I owe you an apology, and I’m good for it. I know when I screw up.”
Sienna studied me. “Did you screw up?”
I hesitated. “No. I saw what I saw. And I wasn’t all that far off, was I? It was an inside job. Peter Abbott is dead because of it.”
“And Lucia?”
“She’s alive and well,” I said. “So are the rest of the Harmony patients at the hospital. At least for now.”
“What about the invisible kid in the interview room?” Sienna asked. “He survived?”
“Juno?” I couldn’t help but grin. “He’s better than ever. He’s out of the Herbals business now, and he’s going to help Willa’s mother with her garden. DeMarco’s Pizza is going to be buying some herbs and veggies from them moving forward.”
“Aren’t you all just one big, happy family. What about Lucia?”
“Lucia will be fine—she’s tough. She’ll have some things to work through, but she’ll get there,” I admitted. “The chief has given her six months paid leave, and I encouraged her to take it. She’ll decide if she wants to come back after that.”
“You nervous about her decision, Detective? There have never been two Reserves on staff,” Sienna said. “You’ve got competition.”
“Look, Sienna—I know you’re upset, and frankly, that’s fine. You deserve to be,” I said. “I wasn’t wrong about what I saw, but that’s only part of the story. I should have trusted you. Matthew did. He never for a second believed you could have had anything to do with the bodies disappearing.”
“Right.” Sienna snorted.
“Matthew trusts you. He respects you,” I said. “And I do, too. I was wrong to assume, Sienna. I’m sorry.”
The bartender chose that very moment to deliver a pint of beer. He slid it in front of me and was gone again before I could thank him.
“You trusted Peter, too,” Sienna said finally. “And if you’d believed him explicitly—if you hadn’t followed your gut—people would still be dying from Harmony.”
I shrugged. “True, but—”
Sienna raised her glass. “Forget about it.”
“About what?”
“Cheers,” she said. “You’re the meanest detective I know, and we’re glad to have you back.”
“But—”
“You owe me dinner, remember?” Sienna said with a fiendish smile. “I cancelled our ladies’ night when you started thinking I stole dead bodies. So, what do you say? Are we back on?”
“Did someone say ladies’ night?” The door to the pub clanked shut as a breathless Willa appeared behind me. “I have been trying to catch up with you all night, Detective, but you’re so damn fast. Hi, Sienna. Anyway, I wanted to tell you thanks from my mom, Dani. She’s feeling so much better, and now that you’ve given her some work, it’s like she’s a new person.”
I patted the seat next to me while Sienna gestured for another pint. When the bartender delivered it to Willa, the three of us raised our glasses.
“To all the superwomen who saved our city.” Willa raised her glass and winked. “That’s you two, if you didn’t know. By the way, super cute jacket, Sienna. Detective—maybe you’ll look a little more badass if you shave one side of your head, too?”
Both Sienna and I stared dumbly at Willa.
“Right—never mind,” she said, and raised her glass higher. “Cheers.”
Epilogue
A shadowy figure cloaked in black robes watched Danielle DeMarco as she walked home... alone.
His hands were splayed over the crystal ball before him, his eyes alight with fire as he studied her careful footsteps, her bright eyes—remnants of jolly laughter left behind after a night at the pub with her friends.
He could do it now, he thought—kill the detective and end this, once and for all.
But that would be far too easy.
“Soon,” he murmured to the damp, stone-cold room. “Very, very soon...”
“But sir.” A man spoke quietly, with reverence, before his master. “Let me get rid of her this evening, and you will never have to worry about The Hex Files again.”
“Silence,” the master said, and then turned to his assistant. “Touch her, and you die.”
The master’s eyes gleamed.
The fire crackled.
The crystal ball went blank.
“She’s mine.”
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed spending a little more time in Wicked! I’m very excited to let you know the next book in the series, THE HEX FILES: Wicked State of Mind, is available for order on Amazon now! Click HERE to read the synopsis.
To be notified of new releases, please sign up for my newsletter at www.ginalamanna.com.
Thank you for reading!
Gina
Now for a thank you...
To all my readers, especially those of you who have stuck with me from the beginning.
By now, I’m sure you all know how important reviews are for Indie authors, so if you have a moment and enjoyed the story, please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads. I know you are all very busy people and writing a review takes time out of your day—but just know that I appreciate every single one I receive. Reviews help make promotions possible, help with visibility on large retailers and most importantly, help other potential readers decide if they would like to try the book.
I wouldn’t be here without all of you, so once again—thank you.
List of Gina's Books!
Gina LaManna is the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Magic & Mixology series, the Lacey Luzzi Mafia Mysteries, The Little Things romantic suspense series, and the Misty Newman books.
List of Gina LaManna’s other books:
The Hex Files:
Wicked Never Sleeps
Wicked Long Nights
Wicked State of Mind
Lola Pink Mystery Series:
Shades of Pink
Shades of Stars
Shades of Sunshine
Magic & Mixology Mysteries:
Hex on the Beach
Witchy Sour
Jinx & Tonic
Long Isle Iced Tea
Amuletto Kiss
MAGIC, Inc. Mysteries:
The Undercover Witch
Spellbooks & Spies (short story)
Reading Order for Lacey Luzzi:
Lacey Luzzi: Scooped
Lacey Luzzi: Sprinkled
Lacey Luzzi: Sparkled
Lacey Luzzi: Salted
Lacey Luzzi: Sauced
Lacey Luzzi: S'mored
Lacey Luzzi: Spooked
Lacey Luzzi: Seasoned
Lacey Luzzi: Spiced
Lacey Luzzi: Suckered
Lacey Luzzi: Sprouted
The Little Things Mystery Series:
One Little Wish
Two Little Lies
Misty Newman:
Teased to Death
Short Story in Killer Beach Reads
Chick Lit:
Girl Tripping
Gina also writes books for kids under the Pen Name Libby LaManna:
Mini Pie the Spy!
