She frowned and shook her head in disbelief, “But… the attacks started the same time…”
Bria stare turned hard, “Yes, we believe whoever did it sensed the trouble coming for you, and chose that time to act in order to muddy the waters. I’m glad you haven’t left him alone, because we are fairly sure the assassination attempts are not at an end.”
She shook her head, “But… they didn’t restart until we got here, until after Gerald knew we were here.”
Bria raised an eyebrow eloquently and waited for her to figure it out.
“Crap. It was also right after we called in our arrival in Albany along with the hotel we’re staying at. Are you saying it’s…”
Bria finished for her in an angry voice, “Someone from either the Charlotte or Rock hill covens. Someone is targeting their own enforcers and protection due to… hate or fear, I don’t know. We have no idea who it is either. I chose to stay here and make sure we have an understanding with the covens up here, Damon and Sally are back home looking into it.”
She felt her eyes water a little but stopped her tears with a surge of anger. She could hardly credit it, but Bria seemed so sure, and she wasn’t lying. Bria wasn’t kittens and rainbows, but she’d never once lied to Celia, so she trusted her.
“What should we do?”
Bria shrugged, “Be cautious until we find them. You and Ed will have to stick together a while longer. You look like you’re going to explode, why don’t you go to the weight room and I’ll visit with Ed for an hour or so.”
Relief shot through her body, and she nodded. She gave the two local witches a nod of thanks and went down to the hotel weight room. She chose an elliptical, put it on the hardest settings, and worked as hard as she could for an hour straight. All the while she tried to think of who would want to kill her. She knew some of them were uncomfortable around her, but nothing solid came to mind.
She also decided she needed one of these machines for home, for nights she couldn’t get away to run.
Bria and the other two witches left when she came back upstairs. She was no closer to solving the assassin question, but she did feel a hundred percent better. Ed was awake when she got out of the shower and stayed awake long enough to share lunch. She knew he needed the calories to replace what was being burned off by the fast healing of the magic.
That afternoon while she changed his poultice again and gave him a potion, he looked at her like a man about to start an argument.
“We should go, I never told anyone where we stopped in Pennsylvania, so we’d be safer if we left now and we rested there.”
She considered that, he was much better now. The wound was only skin deep at this point, and some skin was even starting to grow over it. Mostly he’d just be extremely tired, but she could drive.
“Alright, we’ll do it your way, but you need to put the seat back, and I’ll be driving slow, we don’t want to put too much pressure on it, or pull apart what’s healing.”
He agreed quickly enough. She wasn’t fooled, he was more worried about her than he was worried about himself. He hated the idea he couldn’t help if another assassin showed up. She packed up the room and loaded up the van which was now corpse free thanks to the locals. She used the self checkout rather than talk to anyone, what the manager didn’t know he couldn’t reveal, and hit the road.
She was both filled with worry about what awaited them back home, but she was also relieved to finally put Albany and the whole Gerald thing behind them. Ed tried to stay awake, but the magical healing was just too demanding, so she mostly drove with her own thoughts going in circles.
And of course, she had Silva for company…
Chapter 19
They decided to spend two whole days at the crappy motel in the middle of nowhere, which she paid for with cash. It was pleasantly assassin free, and although she didn’t completely let down her guard, she was able to relax a little. She’d told Berny and Fran they’d be incommunicado for a couple of days, and even had their phones off so no one could trace them that way.
They didn’t do much of anything except eat, sleep, and talk. By the second day, Ed was feeling much better and could even move without pain, although he still had a way to go to recover, he could stand, move, and use his magic. He was even persuasive enough to get her more amorous side engaged by day two, though she made him lie still to his amusement, and was very careful as she took care of everything.
She’d considered sending the elemental out to search for information a number of times, but what if it was unable to find any? She was worried about the consequences Cilla had laid out for her.
They arrived back into Rock Hill in the early afternoon, three days after they’d left Albany. She noticed right away, Berny and Fran had gotten her window fixed, and Ed’s car was parked near to the store as well, with a new windshield, hood, and a fresh coat of paint. It would be good to finally get rid of the assassin’s van.
She and Ed had speculated a lot over the last three days, but there were just too many people in both covens that didn’t like Celia, and that was depressing to her, but something had to break sooner or later. She knew Bria, Damon, and Sally were looking into it too.
She found herself bombarded with hugs as she went into the store.
“Welcome back,” Berny said softly.
Fran was there as well, “You look good, hiding out seems to agree with you. I’m glad you’re both back safe.”
Elaine was there as well, along with Mia. Elaine was in tears when she pulled Celia into a hug, and Celia didn’t have to wonder why. It seemed that at least for her, the nightmare was over.
Ed was taken off guard when he was included in the welcome back, it was obvious to Celia he wasn’t used to it all. It was true that although enforcers were appreciated for keeping the peace, most witches preferred them to be doing so at a distance.
Fran asked, “Any ideas yet on who…”
Ed frowned, “Unfortunately there is no way to know, so we’ll have to interview everyone, in both covens, until something shakes out. We can’t even guarantee it will be someone that has shown not to trust Celia, it could be someone hiding how they feel. That may even be more likely to be so.”
Something about what Ed just said tickled her mind, but she couldn’t place it. She shook her head, if she thought about it too much about it she’d start suspecting everyone.
Ed continued, “The type of person to hire an assassin is not usually one to make large noises elsewhere, so chances are we are looking for someone who hides how they really feel behind a smile and a welcome word.”
She got the chills, as if someone had doused her in ice water. The way Ed had put that brought one person to the front of her mind. But it couldn’t be, could it? If it was, it could tear the coven apart, she didn’t want to be the cause of some witch civil war in Charlotte.
Her phone rang and she answered it a little distractedly.
Kelly said, “Hey, the wolves are throwing another barbeque, can you stop by there tomorrow?”
She frowned, “Maybe, but I’d have to bring Ed, we’re still dealing with attacks and we’re under orders not to split up.”
Kelly replied, “Hmm, let me talk to Tina, maybe she can talk her brother into it. I’ll text you later, or Tina will. You’ll have to fill us in on what happened, and there’s a rumor that a certain witch might be sticking a little closer to you than required for safety.”
She laughed, “A lot closer actually.”
Kelly snickered, “Good, maybe you’ll loosen up a bit now. I love you like a sister, but you’re so tightly wound all the time.”
She huffed into the phone causing Kelly to laugh harder, “I’ll see you later, if you can’t make the party, at least come by my house for a run tomorrow afternoon, I don’t think Joe would mind.”
Celia replied, “Alright, see you later,” and they got off the phone.
Was she really that uptight? Probably, but then she’d been through a lot over the last month,
and she had been pretty frustrated, hadn’t she?
Everyone was still speculating when she got off the phone, but she barely paid it any attention until it turned to other subjects and she joined back in. She was a little distracted by her thoughts, and hoped she was wrong. But when four in the afternoon rolled around, Berny, Fran, and Elaine left, leaving just Mia, Ed, and her in the store.
She shook her head, almost afraid to know the truth, but sent orders for her elemental to watch her suspected target for a day. If it was who she suspected, there would be a crap storm of monumental proportions.
She spent a little time going through the paperwork for the handful of days she was gone, but everything looked good. She’d expected no less really with Berny and Fran taking a hand in it, but it was always good to check. The routine was kind of relaxing as she put together orders with Mia’s help before UPS showed up.
Ed had been quiet, spending time doing his report on his laptop in the back room. But he spoke up when Mia went back upfront giving them a little privacy.
“I think we need to start questioning people in the morning. It won’t be long before the assassins start showing up again.”
She agreed, but Kelly had texted her earlier about the party, she just had been putting off mentioning it.
“Sure, but how about we do lunch at Tony’s? We’ve been invited to their barbeque.”
He raised an eyebrow, “A lawn party? Me? With shifters?”
She laughed, “You wanted to date me, and I’m half shifter. Didn’t you think ahead at all? It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
He nodded slowly, although it was obvious he hadn’t considered any such thing at all, he seemed reluctant to admit it. And perhaps it wouldn’t have, he didn’t have to do everything she did, did he? Probably not, but right now it was either both of them went, or neither of them.
She added, “I wouldn’t mind going alone of course, but right now I can’t…” she trailed off, not willing to state the obvious. They were stuck together for now.
He seemed to consider that and said lightly, “We can do that, we’ll stop by Fran’s coven in the morning, and then head to Charlotte after the barbeque.”
She doubted it was anyone in Fran’s coven, but they couldn’t play favorites either. Guiltily she admitted to herself, that it might be better if it was, rather than who she did think was behind it.
Chapter 20
She woke up the next morning with a catlike stretch and a soft smile. She muttered a few words and sent out her magic, the wards were undisturbed, the window still intact, and no one had attacked them yet. She glanced over and saw Ed watching her stretch her body, which was clearly very well outlined by the thin white sheet in the morning sunlight through the window.
She could scent his growing… appreciation.
Ed muttered in daze, “I think I changed my mind, we should stay in bed today.”
She snorted, “Right, I wish. I don’t think our assassin free existence will last long enough for that.”
She winked and slid off the side of the bed, and walked into the kitchen to turn on the coffee on her way to the shower. She smiled when she felt him follow, and could feel his eyes on her bare backside. His wound was closed now, although still a little tender and she thought it only right that they conserve water…
After some coffee and breakfast, they opened the store and stayed until Berny showed up a little after eight. Berny told her to be careful, and find the bastard fast, whoever it was, and took over the store for them. Before they left, Ed did a thorough check of the car for bombs, but his wards were undisturbed. That was probably paranoid, but both of them thought they’d have been attacked last night. Better safe than sorry… or blown up.
She was focused on the road, but she was also thinking about other things.
She wondered how much Ed would be around once the danger was put behind them, as they’d never really spoke about it, or defined what they had together. Whatever it was, she was happy with it for right now, and she’d gotten used to falling asleep in his arms, and waking up next to him. But the circumstances were kind of unique, they hadn’t been together that long and she didn’t know if once the danger had passed, she’d want to share living space. That was a pretty major decision that had been made moot, at least temporarily.
She was also feeling a bit jumpy, she felt like she was on a hair trigger, and almost wished they’d be attacked already, before she lost it. But it didn’t happen, and they pulled into the coven house driveway without incident.
Ed smiled over at her and it made her heart skip.
“I’ll ask the questions okay? It might be a little awkward for you, since your friends with half of the people here.”
She nodded in thanks, and she steeled herself for the morning as they went inside. The coven was all gathered together thanks to Fran, and they started to interview them one by one. She felt a little guilty, holding back her suspicions of who she thought was behind it, but it would be better to find out first. If she was wrong, it would be better if she’d never spoken them aloud to begin with.
Still, that didn’t make the next couple of hours easy as they questioned the witches. She gladly let Ed take the lead, and was coming to understand a little more why witches were intimidated by and avoided enforcers. It was in a way, insulting to be questioned and to be under suspicion when they were innocent. That led to a certain awkwardness, and to walls being built as even the ones who liked her suppressed their anger.
The simple truth was no one liked having their loyalty questioned.
She wasn’t surprised when none of them lied, and all were cleared. She wasn’t sure how Ed did it, perhaps he took a course on interrogations and just used observation to pick out the guilty liars out of the innocent, but as they left the coven behind, he was pretty sure of their innocence.
Not that he came right out and said it, but she found she could read his moods rather easily now with very subtle changes of his scent, and it also didn’t hurt that he was a lot less guarded than he used to be around her.
Ed broke her musings, “Are you sure about this? Witch at a shifter thing…”
She smiled at him, “Sure, why not. My existence brings out the crazies, why not make it a benefit too and bring us all together. Plus, I think you get along with Joe, and he’ll be there I think.”
She winked and said in a faux excited voice, “We can have campfires, and songs, and bang on drums.”
He laughed, “Okay, how about we just try to get through a party first, before we all just try and get along.”
She shrugged, “It won’t happen overnight, too much bad blood, but it won’t even happen in the long haul unless we push the envelope every once in a while… you know? Is that naïve?”
He nodded, “Maybe a little. Pushing the envelope might bring some together, like Berny and Tina, or Kelly. But it’s also liable to really anger those that would rather stay apart, or even keep killing the other side. It could backfire. But I think we’ll survive one afternoon with me around.”
There was a loud crack as the windshield took a hit. Without the wards, it would probably have shattered, she could see where the bullet impacted, and it wasn’t from anywhere close. She started to look around at all the buildings while Ed hit the gas and started to swerve his way down the street. They’d gone about a hundred yards when she saw a glint of rifle scope on top of an apartment building.
She pointed, “There, sniper,” and a second later the windshield took another hit.
Ed mumbled something about just getting his baby back as he raced for the apartment building and screeched to a stop.
She noticed that her frayed nerves and worry were completely gone. She just felt a sense of excitement, she wondered where her sense of self preservation had gone as she jumped out of the car before the screech of the tires faded, and she raced into the building. Sure, they could have ran away, but that would only give the guy another shot later.
It needed to be take
n care of.
She checked her wards again as she raced up the stairs to roof access, although with a sniper rifle she wasn’t sure her wards would do crap, even against one bullet. She created a glamour of herself as she kicked the door open and moved to the side, the copy of herself ran out onto the roof and looked around. She heard another sharp bang and a confused muttering as it seemed to do nothing.
The sniper must have had a back up piece, because she heard him empty a nine millimeter handgun into the illusion. She raced out when the bullets stopped and rushed the man. He was frantically reloading, and she had all the time in the world considering how fast she was moving. Instead of a punch, she muttered a one word stun spell and it knocked him on his ass. He was more than stunned though, he was completely out.
She tilted her head and took a sniff, he was human. Apparently the assassin broker was branching out. She’d thought a sniper rifle wasn’t really a shifter’s, or a witch’s style. It chilled her, if the guy had been more patient and waited for one of them to be on the open street, instead of inside a heavily warded vehicle, he probably would have had much better luck.
She heard Ed run out, he looked pissed again, probably because she ran on ahead. So much for training her instincts…
“He’s human Ed… the bastard is branching out.”
Ed just grunted, and looked really annoyed. He dropped a glamour over the roof and then incinerated the body. Despite the fierce flames and smoke, no one would see it through the spell. It took a couple of minutes, but the human sniper turned to ash. Somehow Ed controlled the fire well enough that it didn’t set the roof on fire. It made her a little jealous, she should be able to do that too, though fighting with her body suited her shifter nature, she was beginning to really dislike having her magic handicapped.
There were times it would come in handy after all.
“Damn it Celia, you need to listen and stop running off. What if there had been two up here, or one waiting downstairs to attack you from behind, or even attack me after you left. No more running off.”
Demon's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 2 Page 11
