by Deanna Chase
“You made national news.”
Chapter 17
“Where are you taking me?” I asked Jade as she zipped down the streets of New Orleans.
“I have half a mind to take you straight to Bea’s. But Kane’s waiting on us at your apartment.” She sped up as she passed a parked patrol car.
My eyes widened as I turned to her. “I was just sprang from jail. I think I’d rather not go back anytime soon if it’s all the same to you.”
“Oh, screw those bastards.” There was vehemence in her tone I rarely heard from her. “I’ll spell one of those assholes straight to hell the next time they try to mess with you or anyone else.”
I sat back in the leather seat and shut my eyes. “Sounds like you had about as much fun dealing with them as I did. Were you arrested too?”
“What? No. But I did spend the past twenty hours or so trying to get Marc in to see you. I was stonewalled at every turn.”
“Marc? Your stepfather?” He was a witch with the Witch’s Council. Did he have answers?
“Yes. He’s also a lawyer, licensed for these specific situations. When someone from the supernatural world is arrested for unexplainable reasons, the council sends a magical lawyer to clean things up. Only the NOPD never even let him through the door. Did you ask for council?”
I let out a sardonic laugh. “Many times. I was denied.”
“I knew it.”
It might have been my delirium, but I swear I saw steam shoot out of her ears.
***
I must have dozed off because I jerked awake as Jade parked Kane’s Lexus in my space behind the café.
“Where’s my car?”
She ground her teeth together. “Impounded. The authorities took it for evidence.”
“Those bastards.” I closed my eyes and fell back against the seat, too tired to even care. They couldn’t keep it forever, could they? They weren’t going to find anything anyway. Not unless they planted evidence. Which, dammit, they would if they thought it necessary. “Jade?”
“Yeah?”
“Why did they let me go?”
She patted my knee. “Let’s go upstairs first.”
I opened my eyes and stared her down. “No. Tell me now.”
She sighed. “There was another attack last night after you’d been hauled in. With you in custody, they were hard-pressed to make a case against you.”
“Another attack? Did… how… I mean, what happened?” My insides churned with unease and I was certain I was going to be sick. Had the ritual, whatever it was, been completed? And who was the victim?
“It was a failed attempt, thank the goddess.” Her hands gripped the wheel tighter. “But from what I understand, she was in bad shape. She’s still at the hospital recovering from bruised vocal cords and a couple of broken bones. They’re watching for internal bleeding.”
”Jeez.” Tears filled my eyes. “The attacker wasn’t caught, I take it?”
She stared at her hands and then shook her head. “No. He wasn’t.”
***
Kane sat on the edge of my bed, holding my hand. His dark eyes were full of worry and stormy rage. “You should sue them, you know.”
I nodded, tracing a red blossom on my comforter with my fingers. “You’re right. I should.”
“But you won’t.” There was bitter disappointment in his tone.
“Not likely. I’d only be harassed more.”
“Maybe not. The media is all over this, Pypes. No one would dare touch you.” He was so angry about the way I’d been treated he was vibrating with frustration, ready to burn the entire district down.
“Suing isn’t going to do anyone any good except the lawyers.” I sighed and took a sip of the berry smoothie Jade had made for me. My appetite had left the building, but she’d insisted. And I had to admit the drink had made me feel slightly more human. I hadn’t eaten a proper meal in about twenty-four hours.
“It’d make me feel a damn sight better.” The circles under his eyes were almost worse than mine.
“It must be hell to be a badass demon hunter and to feel helpless.” I gave him a weak smile and patted his hand. “The law sucks.”
“Especially in this town. Even with connections, we can barely get anything done.” He stood up and paced. “It’s not over, you know.”
I nodded, exhaustion starting to take its toll. My eyes grew heavy and my head started to swim. “You mean Marc? Did Jade call him?”
“Yes. He came right away. He’s also going to try to expedite answers from the Witch’s Council. Lucien is running up against a brick wall.”
“I hope they don’t stonewall him too. Until the murderer is caught, no one is safe.”
He stopped pacing and stared at me. “That’s true. But when I said it wasn’t over, I meant your trouble with the police. They seem to think you’re an accessory. That maybe you were in on the first two murders.”
My body stiffened as I sat up straight. “But why? They can’t have any evidence. Clearly I wasn’t there when either attack happened. And I have no connection to Shelby at all.”
He nodded, dark frustration rolling around in his eyes. “They kept asking who the guy in the mirror was. Your explanation that he’s a ghost didn’t go over well. They wanted to know how long you’d known each other and if he was your significant other. It was clear they suspect Julius. Not that they’ll ever be able to pick him up.”
I swung my feet out of the bed and sat on the edge, staring at Kane. “Seriously?”
He arched an eyebrow. “They questioned Jade and me for a couple of hours. Made it clear if we didn’t answer, they’d arrest Jade too.”
Of course they would. “What did you say?”
“Not much. We didn’t really have any answers for them anyway. We told them we’d met Julius once before on Halloween. That as far as we knew, you two were just friends. The only thing you should know is that they have camera shots of you and Jade on the street the day Jade blew Ruby’s roof off. She told them you two had decided to stop by to pay Ruby’s daughter your respects on your way to Bea’s, but that the neighbors were carrying on about a gas explosion. So she helped the man get the door open, and then you two left so as to not be in the way.”
I chuckled. “As good a reason as any I suppose. Good thing I didn’t say anything. Now Jade and I can corroborate our stories.” A yawn overtook me and my eyes watered with fatigue.
He sat on the bed next to me and patted my hand. “I’ll let you get some rest. But know that Jade and I will be here when you get up.”
“Kane…” I admonished. “That’s not necessary.”
“I know. We’ll be here just the same. Marc wants to talk to you, but I’ll tell him he has to wait. He doesn’t have any new information anyway.”
“All right.”
Kane shut the door softly behind him as I crawled back into my bed. I lay there, staring up at the ceiling. How’d I get into this mess? Just by shopping at a vintage shop? It was ridiculous. All I wanted to do was to move on with my life. I had a gallery showing in a few days and a café to run. Plus the Southern Haunts article. Those were all good things. And a date with a real live human. Unease coiled in my gut. What about Julius?
I hadn’t seen him since the police had arrested me. He’d disappeared as soon as they’d showed up, and he hadn’t been at the apartment when I’d gotten back. That was some relationship. He couldn’t be leaned on when the chips were down. How could I have possibly thought there could be something between us?
How stupid could I be?
Frustrated with myself, I resolved to go on that date with Tyler and to really give him a chance. Interesting and unconventional was one thing. Absent was entirely another.
My hormones were just going to have to take a backseat. I couldn’t take being deserted again. Not this time. It didn’t matter that what
ever was keeping Julius away probably wasn’t his fault. The fact was, he wasn’t here when I needed him. It was time to break the pattern.
I snuggled down into the covers and let oblivion overtake me as the low murmur of voices drifted softly from my living room.
***
The bed shifted with a rustle of the covers, waking me up. “Kane?” I asked without opening my eyes.
“Shhh. Go back to sleep.”
“Hmmm. What time is it?”
“It’s late.”
His voice filtered through my semiconscious state, waking me up. My eyes flew open and I stared into Julius’s intense dark eyes. I bolted upright. “What are you doing here?”
He looked different, sitting there next to me on top of the red-and-gray floral-print comforter. Had he gotten new clothes? I took in his dark gray pants, a blue pin-striped white button-down shirt, and a matching gray vest. His shirt was open at the collar. Definitely new. He was an updated version of his nineteen-twenties self.
“I’m keeping an eye on you.” He reached out to brush my hair from my eyes, but I jerked back.
“Now? You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m in my bed and my very powerful friends are in the other room. What makes you think now is the time to watch over me?” My blood raced through my veins with both anger and excitement. He was on my bed… right next to me. All I had to do was lean over and—no. I wasn’t going there.
Julius jerked back as if I’d physically attacked him. Then he stood and took a few steps back. “My apologies. I was worried and wanted to check on you myself. But I can see I overstepped. I’ll be going.”
Well, dang it. That wasn’t what I wanted either. Now that he was here, I wanted answers. Just before he reached the door, I said, “No. Stay.”
He paused and glanced back at me. “You’re sure?”
Leaning against my headboard, I crossed my legs and pulled the covers up to shield my vulnerability. “I’m sure.” I patted the other side of the bed, the same place he’d been when I’d woken. “Sit.”
His hand was on my bedroom doorknob, and for a second, I thought he was going to leave anyway. But then he dropped his hand and walked slowly back to the bed.
I patted the space again. “We need to talk.”
He nodded once and sat, his body stiff with tension.
I cleared my throat. There was no need to beat around the bush. Due to my outburst, he already knew I was pissed at him. “Where have you been the past twenty-four hours?”
“I was doing everything I could to make sure you were released as soon as possible.” His steady gaze was unreadable.
I frowned and clutched the edge of the blanket. “What does that mean?”
“Let’s just say I was making sure the evidence didn’t point in your direction.”
“You… oh my God.” I pressed my palm to my forehead, trying to ease the pressure of a sudden stress headache. Suspicion and fear took up residence in my gut, and I swallowed the bile rising to the back of my throat. They’d let me go because another woman had been attacked. “Tell me you didn’t. Please.”
He frowned at me in obvious confusion. “It worked, didn’t it? You’re here.”
I jumped off the bed and pointed a finger at him. “It worked? Is that all you have to say? It worked? A woman almost died!”
“I—”
The door burst open with a crash and Jade rushed in with Kane on her heels. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?” she demanded.
I shook my finger at Julius. “He… he…” The words were stuck in my throat, and I started to hyperventilate.
“I think you better go,” Kane said to Julius, his tone commanding, leaving no room for debate.
Julius nodded once, and without another word, he vanished into the night.
Chapter 18
I gasped, sucking in shallow breath after shallow breath, doing nothing to fill my lungs.
“Pyper?” Kane asked gently.
I waved a frantic hand at him. It had been forever since I’d had a panic attack, but the last one I had, he’d been the one to calm me.
He shared a glance with Jade and before he could cross the room, Jade was by my side, holding my hand. A small shock of magic zipped into my fingertips, sending a wave of calm through me. Within moments, my breathing was back to normal.
I slumped back against my headboard, holding my hand over my chest. “Thank you.”
Jade leaned over and kissed me on the temple. “Anytime.”
Kane moved from his spot at the end of the bed and sat next to me. “Want to tell us what that was all about?”
I shook my head, afraid I’d retrigger the panic attack. “I need a minute.”
“Of course you do.” Jade walked over to Kane and whispered something in his ear.
“Stop talking about me,” I said without any heat. “You know how I hate that.”
Kane chuckled. “Jade is shooing me away so you can get out of that bed. You’ve been in it for twelve hours now.”
I glanced at the clock. It was just after five a.m. I did want to get in to the café. I’d been gone for two days, and while I was sure Holly had kept everything running in top shape, I needed to go in, to feel normal. To be useful doing something not related to serial killers and psychotic ghosts. Ida May excepted.
“She’s right. Go make coffee or something. Maybe find a pastry or two.”
He saluted and strode out of my room.
Sending him away hadn’t really been necessary. I was wearing flannel pajama pants and a cotton camisole. I was hardly indecent. But Jade had that ability to sense what I was feeling. Overwhelmed. Confused. Betrayed. And I needed to process that before I started talking.
Jade disappeared into my bathroom. As I was jamming my feet into my fuzzy slippers, I heard the water rushing in the shower. She bustled out, pointing to the bathroom. “Go. I’ll be back with the coffee.”
“Yes, ma’am.” No wonder Kane had taken to saluting. She was a drill sergeant when she got something in her head. Then the image of her holding a whip while ordering Kane around the bedroom made me giggle.
She stopped in the doorway to the living room. “What’s so funny?”
I only giggled harder. “Nothing. I’ll be right out.”
She rolled her eyes and left.
Fifteen minutes later, I strolled out of my bedroom feeling like a new person. I was still unsettled about my jail stay, and more than a little freaked out by what Julius had said. But when Jade handed me the coffee and the first hit of caffeine buzzed through my system, I felt some of my energy start to return.
I sat at the table next to Jade and helped myself to a cheese croissant. “Where’d these come from?”
“Your shop. Holly made them yesterday.” Kane sat back in the chair, a mug to his lips as he studied me.
I took a bite and nearly groaned. “These are a day old?”
“Oh, Pyper stop.” Jade elbowed me. “They’re still good.”
I had a thing about never serving day-old pastries, always insisting that whatever the customers got was to be fresh. But for me? I wasn’t nearly as picky. “No. I’m not complaining. I’m saying this is the best damn cheese danish I’ve ever tasted, and I’m shocked it’s not super fresh.”
“I warmed them in the oven,” Kane said by way of explanation.
“Obviously.” I put the danish down before I inhaled the entire thing in two bites.
The conversation came to a standstill, only the occasional click of dish against dish filling the silence.
Finally Kane cleared his throat. “Wanna fill us in on what happened earlier?”
I took a sip of my coffee. “Julius showed up in my bed.”
Jade raised her eyebrows. “And that was… bad?”
They both knew I had a thing for him. They’d even seen me kissing him
at the Halloween party. “No. Not until he told me he was out making sure the evidence for Ruby’s murder didn’t point to me.”
The pair of them shared a confused glance.
“And?” Jade asked.
“And what? You do realize why they released me right?” I stood up, unable to control the incredulity consuming me. “A woman was attacked. That’s so wrong. So awful. So beyond words, I don’t even know what to say. How could Julius think that was okay?” My voice was hoarse and shaking by the time I was done with my outburst.
Jade reached her hand out to me, her vibrant green eyes full of shock and something close to pity. “Oh, Pyper.”
“Stop. Okay? I don’t need—”
“You misunderstood,” Kane said, cutting me off. “Your ghost didn’t attack anyone. He was destroying evidence.”
“What evidence?” Shock turned me to stone, and I clutched the back of the chair until my knuckles turned white, hope and relief warring for dominance in my heart.
Jade leaned forward with her elbows on the table. “There was the security tape of your car on Ruby’s street, time-stamped ten minutes before I blew her roof off, a signed statement from a neighbor saying she saw a woman with black-and-blue hair at Ruby’s at least twice within twenty-four hours, and your fingerprints on the hanger that had been used to beat Ruby before she died. Julius slipped into the evidence room and destroyed the hanger. Then he broke into Brant’s office, shredded the statement, and wiped the photos from the database.”
“The case against you was already circumstantial at best,” Kane continued. “Without any evidence to show the judge, no DA on the planet would bring charges against you. There was no way Julius had anything to do with the attack. He was with Marc the whole time except when he was breaking into the restricted area at the station.”
“Which he can do because he can disappear,” I said to myself, remembering the look on his face when I’d accused him of attacking another woman. My stomach fell all the way to my knees and I thought I might throw up. Julius had already confided in me that he felt responsible for Grace’s death. He’d pledged to protect me no matter what. Had risked his existence to do just that. And at the first sign of trouble, I’d jumped to a horrible conclusion without even hearing him out.
