American Witch, Book 1

by Thea Harrison

  She released a shaky breath. “I love you too, but you sure don’t make it easy sometimes.”

  “I will,” he said into her hair. “I swear it.”

  She snorted. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

  “I’m keeping this one. Sometimes you’re too loyal for your own good, and sometimes I hold on to my promises for too long. I should never have asked you for more time. It was easy to risk my life when I was the only one involved. Then it became unbearable.”

  “I understood.” Her fingers couldn’t stop roaming the expanse of his wide, tense back. “It made me frustrated and angry, but I got it. You’ve had other people depending on you, and you were right—you wouldn’t be the kind of man I would want to be with if you could abandon them so easily.”

  “Fuck this fucking camera,” he muttered viciously. Shoving away, he stalked around the room like a caged animal, then rounded on her. “Go back to California.”

  She shook her head, mouth grim. “That genie’s out of the bottle.”

  His eyes flashed yellow fire. “It isn’t. You flew back under your own name. That leaves your new ID intact. We can get you out of the city, to another airport.”

  “I’m not leaving.” God only knew what their watchers were gleaning from this furious confrontation. She walked toward him but stopped with her back to the camera, keeping her expression obscured, because God only knew what it revealed. “I meant what I said. The agreement we made has blown up in our faces.”

  He slashed at the air with a hand. “That’s not acceptable!”

  “I don’t recall asking for your permission.” She searched his expression as his anger boiled higher. “You said it wasn’t an accident.”

  “It wasn’t!” he snarled.

  The sick feeling returned to the pit of her stomach. “What happened?”

  “I got T-boned,” he bit out. “Twice. First on one side, then on the other. If I hadn’t already started to swerve and accelerate, I would have been crushed. I threw the communication spell to contact you just before impact.”

  She felt the blood leave her face again. “Who did it?”

  “The two trucks are licensed to a local shipping company. We know they were stolen, but our seer said there’s a direct connection between the drivers and our quarry. She said he’s here everywhere she looks. The drivers disappeared. We collected what evidence we could find, swabbed the steering wheels, and now we’re searching through law enforcement databases to see if we can find a match.” His mouth tightened. “Milaya, you need to reconsider. You’re a corroborating witness.” His fists opened and closed while frustration twisted his features. “Right now my magic is more depleted than it has been in decades. I can’t protect you.”

  “I didn’t ask you to. I thought you were dead.” At his expression, she rubbed her face and reached for patience. “I didn’t return without taking precautions. This time you’re going to have to trust me.”

  * * *

  Josiah stared at her in angry incredulity.

  The time when he had pressed against her had been all too brief. Every raw, stressed cell in his body screamed for more contact. But as desperate as he was to touch her again, he had to confront this reckless, dangerous naïveté.

  “You’ve gotten a couple of months’ training under your belt, so you think you can handle whatever might come your way?” he said harshly. “I never would have guessed you’d be that naïve.”

  “I’m not!” Anger made her eyes flash with blue fire. “Give me some credit here.”

  The door opened, and Frank and Rubio walked in warily.

  Frank said, “Everything okay, chief?”

  Josiah rounded on them, his expression savage. “I’m not finished.”

  “Too bad, because I am,” Molly said. She looked at Frank. “I contacted you, and I’ve just spent several hours cooperating with you fine gentlemen and answering your questions.”

  “Actually, that’s not quite true.” Frank raised his eyebrows and scratched at his chin with a thumbnail. “We still have a few questions you’ve refused to answer.”

  “Is that so?” she snapped. “Tough shit. You don’t have cause to hold me. I’ve done nothing wrong other than leave my affairs in a mess, which may be irritating, but it’s not illegal. I’m not responsible for spoon-feeding every detail of my private life to you, especially when it doesn’t have any relevance to your case.”

  “Says you,” Rubio remarked.

  She glared at him. “And it’s not my job to speculate about what may or may not be going on. That’s your job.”

  Verbally, she was on fire, but Josiah suddenly realized how dark the circles were underneath her eyes, how brittle the damp sheen was in her blue gaze. She had been through hell these past few days.

  He needed to take her in his arms again so badly he had to turn away.

  He was so close to blowing their subterfuge. For a blinding moment he couldn’t think of any reason to continue with it. Almost he opened his mouth to spill everything and lay claim Molly and the baby. It would feel so damn good to finally say it.

  If he did, it would shoot him to the top of Frank and Rubio’s suspect list, but who the hell cared? He had alibis all over the damn city with the emergency responders he’d talked to throughout that endless Saturday night. He might need to go on administrative leave until he was cleared, but the DA position didn’t mean shit to him anymore.

  Both he and Molly were already in danger. They should be together. Face whatever came next together.

  One thing stopped him. His injuries, and the subsequent healing, had taken every ounce of stamina he had. He was only standing out of anger, fear for her safety, and sheer, bullheaded determination.

  And while the danger to him had made its presence known loud and clear, so far only he, Frank, and Rubio knew that Molly had returned to town.

  Trust me, she had said, but damn, that was hard to do when her life, along with the life of their baby, was at stake.

  “She’s right,” he said to the detectives. “This has gone on long enough. Wrap it up for tonight. Will you give her a ride to wherever she’s staying?”

  “Yeah, we can do that,” Frank replied.

  Josiah pivoted to confront her angry, exhausted face. “If you can provide us with a copy of the Seychelles bank statements, I’ll consider that enough cause to believe there’s a credible threat to your safety. Can you do that before you go?”

  Her mouth tightened, but she replied readily enough, “Absolutely. Like I said, I’ve got copies stored in a zip file in my email account. All I need is a few minutes with internet access.”

  Frank said, “We’ll stop at my desk on the way out.”

  Josiah reached out telepathically.

  Her expression softened, and the damp sheen returned to her eyes.

  Josiah held her gaze.

  Her mouth worked. She shook her head but didn’t try to argue.

  “Are… we done?” Rubio asked, looking cautiously from one to the other.

  “We’re done,” Josiah said. “At least for the moment. After you get a copy of the zip file and verify everything, have a squad car stationed outside wherever she stays tonight. I want a police presence on her twenty-four seven. Is that clear?”

  “Crystal,” replied Frank.

  Josiah leaned back against the table, ostensibly to wait as the others left, but mostly because he wasn’t sure his legs would hold him up any longer. His body ached all over, especially in his hip and neck where he had taken the most damage.

  Molly wasn’t fooled. She gave him a grim look as she followed Frank. Rubio was the last to leave and wheeled her luggage out.

  When Josiah was alone, he rubbed t
he back of his neck and let his shoulders sag. He’d broken into a light sweat from the effort to stay upright.

  But his night wasn’t over yet. He had to convince his coven that watching over Molly was the right thing to do.

  He could hear their arguments already, and they were all valid points. Right now they were stretched too thin. They had other urgent matters to attend to, like following leads from the crash site as quickly as possible before they went cold. And protecting Molly wasn’t in their mission.

  But keeping watch for any suspicious activity that might happen around her… that might just sell it to them.

  After catching his breath, he pushed upright and limped out. As he passed through the squad room, Molly sat at a desk while Frank leaned over her. Their attention was focused on the computer screen in front of them.

  As Josiah’s gaze lingered on the pair, she sat back, and Frank let out a low whistle. “I thought my inbox was bad, but yours takes the prize. People cared about what happened to you.”

  “I guess they did,” she said. Her voice had gone husky with emotion. “There’s the zip file.”

  “I’ll take it from here,” Frank told her. Once she moved out of the way, he palmed the mouse. A moment later, his eyes narrowed, and he straightened. “Okay lady. Like the DA said, looks like you’ve got a credible threat.”

  Josiah didn’t wait to hear more. He stopped by the scheduling desk to see if he could catch a ride from a squad car. The desk sergeant assured him they could take him back to his apartment, and he limped outside to meet the patrolmen.

  Half an hour later, when he unlocked his front door and walked inside, he found his coven waiting for him. All of them.

  He gave their tense, unhappy faces a thoughtful look as he limped over to the nearest leather armchair and eased into it with a grunt. Everything in his body hurt.

  “What?” he said.

  “What are you doing, running around all over the place?” Maria strode over to glare at him point-blank. “You nearly died. The specialist said to take it easy!”

  He closed his eyes. Gods, what he wouldn’t give for the chance to simply rest until he woke up naturally. “I know.”

  “You can’t keep pushing yourself like this. Maybe the crash didn’t kill you, but a heart attack could.” She squeezed his hand.

  “I need a new phone. Then I’ll go to bed, I promise.”

  “I’ll get you one,” Steven offered.

  Josiah nodded his thanks. “What else? You didn’t gather here because I ignored doctor’s orders.”

  Anson said grimly, “I’ve been sensing magic sparks. Several discernible ones have appeared throughout the afternoon and evening.”

  He raised his eyebrows and looked at Maria. “People?”

  She nodded. “I think so. They haven’t appeared all at once, and they haven’t converged, but I think there’s a gathering of some kind going on. I mean… other than us, of course. We’ve gathered too.”

  His breathing suspended as he absorbed the news. “Are they friendly or unfriendly?”

  “That’s unclear.”

  “Do they connect to our mission?” Richard asked.

  At that, she didn’t hesitate. “Very much so.”

  “Doesn’t sound very friendly to me,” Henry muttered.

  “We need to take turns keeping watch,” Josiah said. “See what kind of activity occurs and if we can get a lock on their locations.”

  Anson said, “Agreed.”

  “I regret I can’t help with that at the moment,” Josiah told them. Sick exhaustion dragged at him, and he raged against it.

  “Nothing’s more important than you recovering your energy ASAP,” Henry said. “We need you for whatever comes next.”

  “Agreed,” Richard said.

  He didn’t have any other choice. The sooner he recovered, the sooner he could reunite with Molly to face whatever came next. Damn the subterfuge and the lying. He was done.

  But there was one last thing he needed to attend to before he could fall into bed.

  “There’s something else you should know,” Josiah said. “Molly’s returned to Atlanta. She heard about what had happened to me, and she was worried I might have died. So far the only people who know she’s back are the detectives working the case surrounding her husband and, of course, me. I went to the station to see what was going on. They were questioning her this evening.”

  He paused to look around, gauging their reactions to the news. Richard glowered. Anson and Maria looked noncommittal. Henry wore a more skeptical expression. As always, Steven looked friendly. It was his go-to face. That and his heavy-framed glasses camouflaged his dangerous, lightning-fast brain.

  Then Maria sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I would have flown back too if I were her.”

  “We need to keep watch on her too,” Josiah told them.

  “To do what, exactly?” Richard asked. “It’s not our job to babysit her.”

  “Hold on now,” Henry interjected. “We have the arrival of unknown magic users, Josiah’s been attacked, and now Molly’s here. It’s all got to be connected. I think we should take turns keeping watch in her vicinity. And Josiah shouldn’t be left alone either, not until he’s back on his feet.”

  “I agree on both counts,” Anson said. “Josiah and Molly are our two known hot spots. If things are reaching a boiling point, it’s likely they’re going to boil over in either one of their directions.”

  Steven pushed his glasses up his straight nose and smiled. “And also! Since we’re all together and Josiah didn’t die, I have news too. I broke the encryption on the data we stole. We now have a full client list from Sherman & Associates.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  They all turned to stare at him.

  “You couldn’t lead with that?” Richard snapped.

  As Steven’s clever gaze touched on their expressions, he shrugged. “Everybody had a lot to say, and we’ve been busy.”

  Anson rubbed his face. “True enough. Do you have it with you?”

  “Yep.” Steven held up a flash drive. “I also have their financial records.”

  “That settles it,” Henry said. “I’m staying here. I need to comb the data to see if I can find matches between clients and the financial activity we’ve uncovered.”

  “And you need to get me another phone, activated to my old number,” Josiah said to Steven. “ASAP. I want it functioning and in my hand whether I’m awake or not.”

  “Right,” Steven replied.

  Anson, Richard, and Maria looked at each other. The whole coven knew it was better to keep Richard and Josiah separate when possible. Maria said to Richard, “You and I can take turns keeping watch on Molly.”

  Anson added, “I’ll stay here with Henry until Steven gets back. Then I can run interference between you and bring you what you need.”

  Josiah felt the weight of decision fall away. The coven had sorted themselves out without him. Frank and Rubio had given him the address where Molly was staying, so he passed that on to them and pushed to his feet. “Looks like I’m not needed for now.”

  “Yes, you go to bed,” Maria said.

  Like Molly when she had been injured, what he really needed was a couple of weeks of good nutrition and rest, but he didn’t think he was going to get it.

  What the hell, he’d settle for his Power returning. He could rest when he was dead.

  “Wake me if anything breaks loose,” he told them.

  Limping to his darkened bedroom, he stretched out his aching body with care. He didn’t remember when his head hit the pillow as unconsciousness washed over him in a dark tide.

  * * *

  Frank and Rubio escorted Molly to a motel and stayed until a squad car arrived. The two uniformed police would remain stationed in the parking lot until morning.

  Frank handed her a card before they left. “Keep us apprised of your whereabouts. We can’t provide a police presence if we don’t know where you are.”

  “Understo
od.” She took the card.

  Once they had stepped out and she could latch the security chain, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was tired, and the sandwich hadn’t given her a lot of mileage. She needed real food, but it was also late enough she didn’t want to leave the room. She had a bottle of water in her purse and some dried fruit and nuts in her suitcase. That would have to do until tomorrow.

  It was all logistics. She didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that Josiah was alive.

  Sitting sat at the edge of the bed, she called Sarah, who picked up on the first ring.

  “There you are. We were getting worried.”

  “Sorry, this is the first time I’ve had a chance to call. The police questioned me for hours. I only just got to my motel room.” Now that she was in private, she let tears spill over. “Josiah was hurt badly, but he’s alive. His coven brought in a magical trauma specialist. He came to the police station—he said the crash wasn’t an accident.”

  “That’s… complicated,” Sarah said. “It’s such good news that he survived and he’s all right, but are you safe?”

  “For now, yes. Nobody knows where I am, and they put a police car outside.”

  “I’ll let the others know. You’ve got to be exhausted.”

  “I am. I’m going to get some sleep. Then I’ll start tackling my to-do list.”

  “I want you to check in often after you wake up.”

  “I will,” she promised. “Sarah, thank you for everything. Please thank the others again for me too.”

  “Of course. In this coven, we look out for each other. Always remember that. Now get some rest.”

  “You too.”

  After washing and getting ready for bed, Molly rummaged in her carry-on for the new tablet she’d bought at the airport. She went through the setup instructions, connected to the motel’s Wi-Fi, and logged back into her old email account.