A Barrel of Whiskey - (An Urban Fantasy Whiskey Witches Novel) (13 page)

So, what was she going to do with that life?

Dexx came out of the bathroom, closing the bedroom door behind him. “Are you going to stand there staring at the bed all day or are you going to get in?”

Paige gave him a tight smile. “Lost in thought.”

He turned off the light. Some light filtered through the thin curtains of the medium-sized window beside the bed. He turned down the covers on the far side and climbed in.

She followed suit and just lay there, staring up at the ceiling.

“I thought you said you wanted to snuggle,” he said.

“I thought you said you wanted to snog. Though, when you turned British is beyond me.”

“I watch
Doctor Who
.”

“They snog on
Doctor Who
?”

“You’d just have to watch it.”

“Meh. This new doctor is a turn-off for me.”

“Because he’s old?”

“I’ve seen him in other shows. He’s an amazing actor. There’s just something off about him as the Doctor, though.”

“So, you do watch it.” He grinned at her.

“Eh. I’ve seen a few episodes.” She’d actually fallen in love with the tenth doctor, had hated the eleventh until he’d worn on her, and she’d missed most of the episodes of the twelfth.

Dexx raised his arm over her head.

Her body ached to be close to him. There was something inside her holding her back, something telling her that getting close to him was a bad idea.

Fuck that voice. She
needed
to be close to people again. She’d been in her own mind, her own headspace, on her own, relying only on herself for too long. She knew how to take care of herself. That’s what was important. She could lean on others a little.

Also, Dexx’s chest was very comfortable.

She draped herself over him, throwing her leg over his.

He groaned and pulled her closer. “I love that.”

“What?”

He gripped her thigh and gave it a squeeze. “This.”

She smiled into his chest hair. “What are we doing?”

“Lying in bed.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. You said you were going to help with Bobby. You offered to stick around. You’re looking for a job here in Dallas. What are you doing?”

“Staying close to you.”

“For a few months? Why?”

He pulled away, pressing his chin to his chest to stare at her.

She moved to see his face better, but it pulled on her neck and made her eyes hurt, so she tucked her head back onto his shoulder.

He shook his head and settled back on the pillows. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Obviously not.”

“I’m staying close to you.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you?”

A thrill went through her. She felt stupid and little lame because of it, but she loved hearing him say those words.

“I’m hoping you feel the same.”

“I do.” And she did, even though saying the words out loud felt foreign and alien and somehow wrong.

“But?”

Her mind scrambled trying to make sense of the mess of emotions running through her. “Look at us.”

“Yeah?”

“We’re a mess.”

“A mess of what?”

“You’re a shapeshifter. I’m a witch and there’s a treaty against us even talking to one another.”

“You’re a demon summoner with an animal spirit inside you.”

“And I have that animal spirit inside because I can’t summon demons without it.”

He chuckled.

“I bring danger onto this house and I’ve been given the frelling prophet to protect.”

“Okay. Yeah. That’s a bit messed up. But he’s a really cute baby, if that counts.”

“I lost my last child.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen again.”

“How?” This was a question she really needed an answer to. How was she going to protect this child when she’d failed to protect her own?

“We’ll add protections at the door.”

“She used the court of law.”

“She used angels the last time.”

That was their best guess, but she didn’t know that for sure. “What happens if she does it again?”

“Then, we call the angels that dropped Bobby at your door. And, let’s not forget, your brother is a lawyer.”

“Yeah, but he’s in New York.”

Dexx stiffened.

Paige raised up and studied his shadowed face. “What?”

“Well.” He scratched his head with his free hand. “He, um, well, Nick’s coming down here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he found something, and he’s working on a way to get Leah back with you.”

Paige’s heart lurched. “What?”

“I didn’t want to say anything until we knew something more. He doesn’t know if it’s going to work, but he is trying.”

Hope flared painfully in Paige’s chest. “Who knows about this?”

“Just me and Nick. He hasn’t told Leslie. At least, I don’t think so. Rachel sometimes pisses her off and she says stuff she shouldn’t. So, Nick didn’t trust her.”

“Leslie talks to her?”

“She calls to talk to Leah.”

Guilt crushed the hope. Paige pressed her hand to her eye. She hadn’t called her daughter in five years except for the last few weeks. It wasn’t her fault, but it still hurt. Since Louisiana, Nick had made arrangements for Leah and Paige to talk on the phone for a few minutes once.

But Leslie had been calling her niece for the last five years.

“Don’t.” Dexx squeezed Paige’s shoulders. “Don’t. When you get her back, you’ll have your chance to make things right. But until then, everyone did the best they could with the situation as it was.”

That was a fair statement. Well, not really. Alma and Leslie could have removed the memory blockers and Balnore could have taken the wards away from her gift. Rachel could have given Leah back to Paige. That could have happened.

But it hadn’t and she had to stop focusing on that.

Why? She needed to remain angry.

No. She needed to fight for herself and for her daughter, but anger wasn’t going to solve anything. It made her stupid, as she’d discovered the hard way. No. “So, what about us?” she asked, instead.

“Do we have to make it complicated?”

“I have a baby now. My life was complicated before and now it’s a lot more so. I can’t just have a fling.”

“I’m not a fling kind of guy.”

“That’s exactly what kind of guy you are. When was the last time you were in a real relationship?” She actually didn’t know the answer to that question. He’d been single for as long as she’d known him.

“Well, okay. It’s been a while, but I don’t want to ‘fling’ with you.”

“You want to settle down.”

He resituated on the bed. “I want to at least consider it.”

“Why?”

“I enjoy you.” He pulled her closer, placing the palm of her hand on his chest. “I love talking to you. I love lying in bed with you. I love going over cases with you. I love how your mind works. You know, when it’s working.”

She snorted and slapped his chest.

He grabbed her hand again and gave her fingers a squeeze. “And I’m going to enjoy having sex with you. Your grandmother doesn’t want to kill me, and your sister likes having me around because I keep her husband and son busy. I’m good with the kids.” He shook his head. “Do I need to keep going?”

“No.” She blew out a breath into his chest hair. “Truth of the matter is, I don’t want to even think about doing this without you.”

“Then don’t.”

“But…” She turned over onto her other side.

He curled around her, tucking her back into his body. “I’m listening.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to stay and then freak out when you realize how hard staying with me really is. I’m fighting to get Leah back.”

“And you will get her back.”

“And that’s going to be a lot of work. And I’ve got Bobby now.”

“I know.”

“And we’re moving to Portland.”

“We are?”

“Well, Bobby and I are.”

“Is that a good idea?”

“Leslie wants to come, too,” Paige muttered into her pillow, her eyes drifting closed.

“Why?”

“She says it’s dangerous here. We have to be careful, too. She’s getting heckled in the grocery store.”

“Heckled? That’s not dangerous, Pea. You know what danger is.”

“It starts there, Dexx. You know that. What happens when words aren’t enough? What happens when someone gets courageous enough to punch Leslie in the face?”

“When she’s with her kids?”

“Exactly.”

Dexx growled low in his throat. “What are you going to do about Henry?”

“I’ll talk to him. I have to stay away from Heather’s case anyway.”

“You’re really going to do that?”

“To protect this baby?” Her tone implied what a stupid question that was.

“Right. Never mind. Okay. So, we’re going to Portland. Any reason why?”

She shook her head, relaxing deeper into her bed. She’d forgotten just how comfortable it was. “No clue.”

“All right. Well—what the—”

Paige opened her eyes to see what had interrupted Dexx.

A light shone at the foot of the bed.

Paige scrambled out of bed, her eyes widening in disbelief.

Bobby glowed a bright, golden light.

The walls shook, rattling pictures and moving objects around on the dresser.

Paige stumbled into the bed, her hands splayed.

Dexx stared at her with wide eyes. “What the fuck was that?”

Paige jerked the door open and staggered into the hall.

Leslie ran down the stairs.

“What was that?” Paige yelled.

“The wards,” Leslie answered. “Someone’s at the front door that the wards don’t like.”

The wards made the house rattle? “What the hell would do that?”

Leslie paused with her hand on the door handle. She turned and gave her sister a serious look. “Rachel.”

B
loody bundles of shit! All they had to do was talk about her and she showed up? What the frell?

“What’s going on?” Dexx asked still halfway down the hall.

Paige flew to her room, pushing past him. “I need pants. It’s Rachel. You keep Bobby up here. We do not need to let Rachel know we have him. We don’t need her asking questions. We don’t need her—”

“I get it.” Dexx closed the door behind him and grabbed his jeans. “I’ll keep Bobby quiet. At least he’s not glowing anymore.”

Paige glanced at Bobby. His big eyes were open and he looked calm. Sighing, she knelt down beside him. “I don’t know if you understand me, but I need to you to be quiet. I got your warning. You glowed to let us know you were in danger.” Which was a handy thing to note. “But I might not be able to get rid of her easily. So stay quiet. Okay?”

Bobby flailed his small fist at her, his face solemn.

Paige stood, slipped on her jeans, and was out the door.

“Hey.” Dexx grabbed her arm.

Paige wanted to punch something. Namely, Rachel’s face. She wasn’t in the mood for stalling or anything else he might have in mind.

He wrapped her in his arms. “Keep your head cool. Okay?”

She remained stiff in his embrace. She wanted out of it. She wanted to be down those stairs and in her mother’s face. She had questions, concerns. She wanted more than just words with the woman.

He let her go. “Be good.”

She flew out the door, down the hall, and down the stairs.

Alma ambled toward the door and opened it. “Rachel. Didn’t realize you were coming.”

A tall, slender woman stood at the door, her wavy, dark hair falling just to her shoulders. In the porch light, her cheekbones stood out in a way that only contoured make-up could do, especially for a woman of her age. Well, she was only sixty-nine, but Paige always pictured the woman as a hag. Even though she was the very opposite, which was a good thing. If Paige aged as gracefully as Rachel, she’d be a very handsome woman for a very long time.

But she didn’t care about that. Where was Leah?

“Would you have changed your wards if I had?” Rachel quipped in her nasally voice.

“Probably not.” Alma tugged the belt on her robe. “What do you want, Rachel? It’s midnight. Some of us like to do things durin’ this time o’ day, like sleep.”

Rachel threw her shoulders back and raised her chin. “We drove straight through without stopping to get here and this is how you want to treat me?”

We?

“Well, I didn’t reckon you for a drive like that. What’s the rush?”

Leslie opened the door a little wider, peering through the screen door.

“She’s here,” Rachel said, her tone cool. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t leave her behind.”

“Well, we can’t assume with you.” Leslie smiled sweetly. “Sweet, angelic person like yourself.”

Rachel huffed. “She’s in the car. I didn’t know what kind of reception we would receive. And with good reason. Honestly, mother? You would set your wards against me?”

“After what you did the last time you were here?” Alma demanded.

Paige stepped down another step. She had four left. She wanted to fly down them and punch the woman in the face.

Leslie raised her hand, waving her fingers, as if waving her off, but she didn’t look at Paige. She kept her attention on Rachel.

Paige released a frustrated breath and remained in place.

“What do you want?” Alma demanded.

Rachel’s eyes cooled as she looked at her mother. “Leah needs to spend some time in this house.”