Witch Hunt, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series) (23 page)

“Even after I ravage you - and believe me, I intend to - my appetite for you will not be sated,” he said.

It doesn’t happen often, but that explanation rendered me speechless. Satisfied that he had finally penetrated my thick skull, he informed me that he was going to get me some more juice and that I had to clean my plate.

“I’ll take a coffee instead,” I called out.

He came back with more orange juice. “You need the sugar.”

“You could have just put extra sugar in the coffee,” I told him.

“Juice is a quick way to get your blood sugar back up,” Aidan said.

“You can sit down.
I feel way better,” I said, giving the mattress a little pat.

“If I get into that bed with you, we won’t get anything done,” he said.

“Oh, things will get done,” I teased.

“Maurin,” he said. I could tell that he was trying to be serious, but his eyes gave him away.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Have it your way.”

18

“We’re going to have to call the coven,” I told Aidan while I made a pot of coffee.

I was walking and talking just fine by this point. I was so eager for this cup of coffee.

“Tell me you’re not actually considering asking for help from them after what they did to you?” he said.

“I’m not thrilled about it either, believe me, but I don’t see how we’re going to kill the Afrit without their help,” I said.

“I’m sure we can come up with som
ething,” he said.

“Wait, don’t tell me.
You passed your OWLS, so you can use magic to kill it.”

“I passed my what?” he asked, not ge
tting my reference.

“It’s from Harry Potter…never mind.
Unless vampires suddenly become magically-inclined, we’re going to need the witches,” I told him.

“What about your sword?
It was forged with magic,” he reminded me.

“I already thought about that downstairs. I think it might work, but how are we going to find him?” I asked.

“He seems to be doing a damned good job of finding you, actually,” he said.

“I’d feel better if we had someone who could cast a circle to bind him next time,” I told him.

“I don’t trust Mahalia,” he said.

“Well, that makes two of us,” I said.

“She’s still hiding something from you,” he said.

“Is there something that you want to tell me?” I asked, suddenly afraid that he was keeping secrets too.

“No, but I could tell that she wasn’t telling you everything,” he said.

“It wouldn’t surprise me, but unless you think that it has something to do with the Afrit, it will have to wait,” I replied.

He didn’t say anything else.
He just sat there brooding. I really didn’t want to go crawling back to Mahalia, but according to what I’d read, I wasn’t going to kill the Afrit without help from someone in the coven. Aidan was just going to have to trust me and I was going to have to figure out a way to work with the coven amiably.

“Have you seen my phone?” I asked Aidan.

He didn’t say anything. He just shook his head no. He didn’t get up to help me look for it either. I tried to retrace my steps. I thought that I had grabbed my phone from my bag and put it in my coat pocket with some cash before I had left for the diner. I went to the diner; was the phone in my pocket when I got my money out? Yes. I went back home and had a run-in with the Afrit. Was it still in my coat pocket after that? Hell if I knew.

“Where’s my coat?
Never mind - I see it,” I said.

It was right where I had left
it - on the floor by the kitchen chair and Aidan’s foot. He picked it up and held it out to me. I took it, but he hadn’t let go. He pulled me onto his lap.

“I know working with the coven is prob
ably our only shot, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he said with his face against my neck.

“I’m not a huge fan of the plan myself, but it’s the only one that we’ve got,” I said.

“I know. I should probably inform you that vampires are jealous and overprotective creatures,” he said.

“Well, get used to having no free time then, because trying to protect me will consume your every waking moment.
I seem to attract trouble. And demons,” I added.

“So I’ve noticed,” he replied.

I dug in my coat pocket and came up empty handed. Shit. My phone must have fallen out of my pocket in Ms. Costa’s apartment.

“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked.

“Sure. It’s on the counter next to my keys. Where’s yours?” Aidan asked.

“I’m not one hundred-percent sure, but I think that I dropped it in Ms. Costa’s apartment,” I said.

“You call Amalie, and I’ll go get your phone,” he suggested.

“Um, I may have locked the door on my way out,” I told him.
“I didn’t want her to think that someone broke into her apartment. She’s old and she lives alone.”

“Yes, but now you’ll have to explain to her how your phone ended up inside her apartment.
Do you think that she’s still alive?” he asked, not at all convinced.

“I’m hoping.
There was nothing in her apartment that led me to believe otherwise. I was going to call Masarelli after I talked to Amalie,” I said.

He gave me the same look that my mom did when she flushed my deceased pet fish down the toilet.

“I checked. There wasn’t any blood and no sign of a struggle. The dog’s leash wasn’t hanging by the door like it always is either,” I explained.

“Okay, so why call
Masarelli at all?” Aidan asked. “We don’t need him trailing after us.”

“I didn’t say that I was inviting him.
I just want him to send someone over later and see if she’s home. It’s not like I’ll have time to do it,” I added.

“I doubt that he’ll be able to spare a man just to come check on one little old lady after what happened at the station last night,” he said.

“Aidan,” I warned.

“Okay, sorry.
Make your calls,” he said.

I called Amalie.
Vampires have excellent hearing. I knew that Aidan would be able to hear both sides of the conversation. This was a time saver actually, since I didn’t have to tell him what she said.

“Amalie, it’s Maurin,” I said, since she wouldn’t recognize the number.

“Maurin, where are you? I’ve left you like a hundred messages,” she said.

“I’m home.
I seem to have misplaced my phone,” I told her.

“I didn’t think that you had a home phone,” she said.

“I don’t. I’m using Aidan’s phone,” I said.

“Aidan?
He’s there? Now? You let him stay with you?” she asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I did.
Do you have a problem with that?” I asked, only half-joking.

She didn’t seem all that thrilled with my new house guest.
Aidan appeared to find the conversation highly amusing so far.

“No, of course not.
I mean - I’m just surprised. Anyway, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you because we did a little research on the Afrit,” she said, trying to change the subject.

“Funny, that’s why I’m calling you,” I replied.

“Really?” she asked.

“There you go - sounding surprised again,” I said.

“I didn’t mean to. I just thought…” She started to speak, but stopped herself.

“What?
That I’d be on my floor in the fetal position balling my eyes out because of Oberon? Or Mahalia? Hardly. I’ve been hurt worse by better people,” I told her.

“Okay,” she responded carefully.
“Can you come over? Or meet me at the Daily Grind?” she asked.

“I’m always running everywhere.
Why don’t you just come here?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure.
I’ll stop at the Grind on my way and pick us up some coffee and if you’re lucky maybe a couple of croissants. Be there in thirty,” she said.

“Sounds good.
See you in a bit,” I said and hung up.

One down.
One to go. I didn’t have Masarelli’s direct line memorized. He was still on my contact list in my phone from when I worked on SPTF, though. Not that it would do me any good currently, since my phone was still locked in Ms. Costa’s apartment. I called the main number and asked to speak to Masarelli. The dispatcher transferred my call to his desk. He picked up on the second ring. My conversation with him lasted about two minutes. It consisted of me telling him what happened in Ms. Costa’s apartment and asking him to have someone keep an eye out for her. He told me that he was up to his ass in brass over what had happened last night and he couldn’t afford to send any men over here unless the Afrit was actually still in her apartment. To which I replied that he was going to have a hard time wading through all of that brass with my foot squarely up his ass if he didn’t have a guy in a patrol car put this on his route. He seemed to warm up to the idea after that and told me that he would see what he could do. I could be such a charmer.

I was feeling a little parched after all that chatting on the phone, so I went for another cup of coffee.
I had just pulled the pot off of the hot plate when I realized that the bottom of my Social Distortion shirt was shredded. The Afrit’s claws had ripped through my wool coat and destroyed my shirt.

“Son of a bitch.
I’m going to kill it twice. I’m going to kill it, and then find someone to bring it back as a zombie so I can kill it again!” I said.

“What?” Aidan asked, laughing.

“Look what it did to my shirt,” I said.

“Your shirt?
You’re more upset about your shirt than your leg!” He was still laughing

"
I love this shirt and now it’s trashed,” I said.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” he offered

“This is vintage. You can’t just buy a new one. It won’t be the same.” I tried to explain, but a vintage tour shirt was not the same to him as vintage Chanel might be.

I went to my room muttering about the different ways that I was going to kill the
Afrit. For my next wardrobe change, I chose a fitted black v-neck sweater and jeans. I threw the leggings in the trash and the Social Distortion shirt in the hamper. I just couldn’t bring myself to part with it yet.

I came out just as Amalie was knocking on the door.
I let her in and took the tray of coffee and the bag of croissants from her. She stepped in and started taking off her coat. I gave the door a nudge, but a boot stopped it from closing. I knew those boots.

“Who the hell invited him?” I asked, rounding on Amalie.

“It’s not just him,” she said sheepishly as Oberon, Graive and Mahalia followed her inside.

It was a good thing that I was holding the coffee, or I might have thrown them out and slammed the door in their faces.
Wasn’t it me who had said that we needed the coven not even forty-five mintues ago? Yes, I told myself, but I had hoped that she’d bring Juno or Phallon with her. Not the coconspirators.

“Maurin, are you-,” Oberon interrupted my thought.

“Don’t talk to me unless you want a black eye to match that busted jaw,” I snapped.

“Well, that will complicate things,” Graive said.

She took Oberon’s hand and led him into the living room.
She wasn’t willing me to catch fire and die a crispy death with her eyes anymore. Guess she didn’t hate me now that I wasn’t trying to steal (unintentionally, I might add) her boyfriend anymore. Isn’t that great news? We could be BFFs and go shopping and whatever else BFFs do. Not!

Amalie shed her coat and gloves and took the coffee tray and croissants back.
She set everything down on the appropriately named coffee table and busied herself with passing out drinks.

“Maurin, I understand your anger and mistrust, but we must work together now.
I am certain that we can get through the evening without any more fighting,” she said as she went to join the others on my couch.

‘Easy for her to say,’ I thought.
I stood at the door a moment and tried to regain my composure before I went over to sit with them. ‘I can do this, I can do this,’ I told myself. Thankfully, Aidan came out of the kitchen to join the conversation. He was cool and casual as he strode barefoot across the carpet as if he lived here. He stopped when he was about the same distance from the room as I was - he was waiting for me.

It was right about then, walking side by side with Aidan, that I realized that it wasn’t my heart that Oberon had hurt, but my pride.
Was there a physical attraction? Sure, but not a ‘tear off your clothes, I can’t control myself when I’m around you’ attraction. There was only one instance where I literally threw myself at him in Mahalia’s office and that was for an entirely different reason. There was a tangled up mess of emotions when I first came into my powers that would have straightened themselves out had Mahalia simply left things alone. Maybe the metaphysical tie would have gone away on its own too. Maybe Oberon was like a magical safety net, someone to guide me as I adjusted to my new abilities and came into my full powers. Scota had latched on to him because she had recognized his magic. Everything I felt really was because of her, despite Mahalia and Oberon trying to convince me otherwise. Now that the transformation, for lack of a better word, was complete. Scota was my past and I was her future. But it was still me - a more powerful, ass-kicking me - and my feelings were finally my own again. I let that settle in for a second and then sat down on my couch, noticeably calm and confident.