A Little Wicked (The Bewitching Hour Book #4)(23)

“I have enough friends. If you’re all-powerful, what are you doing here investigating a murder?”

She cocked her head. “All-powerful? Now wouldn’t that be boring. I have plans and I’m moving all the pieces into place.”

“And do those pieces involve using Jackson to terrorize Claire and Parker?”

She let out a little laugh. “Jackson was necessary. It’s unfortunate that he’s gone, but that’s his own fault. I warned him to stay away from the soul sucker, but he was too stubborn. It’s always the pretty innocent ones who are the most dangerous, isn’t it?”

He was quiet and didn’t ask anything else. She was talking, and he wanted to see where she went with this.

“I haven’t done a thing with your little soul sucker, and Jackson didn’t bother your newest little trigger-happy partner.”

He picked up on what she didn’t say instead of what she said. “Have you done anything to Parker?” He tried to stay emotionless and keep any hint of protectiveness out of his voice. He knew from experience that the darkness wasn’t above going after those he cared about. It wasn’t as if he could keep Abigail from knowing he liked Parker. They had worked together for years. All he could do was try to keep from making Parker any more of a target.

“Here’s the deal.” Abigail took a step closer to him. Derek forced himself to remain still as she met his eyes. Abigail Harris was a tall woman, and she was wearing heels, so they were just about at eye level. “If I wanted to kill your partner, I could crumple her up like a used receipt and throw her away. Last night was a warning. You and Samantha got away. Consider yourselves lucky. I don’t need her and I’m saving you for later. You two go off and continue your swoon-worthy love story. But if you get in my way again, I won’t be so nice. Do you understand?”

He didn’t understand at all. “You’re telling me that if Sam and I stay away from you, you won’t hurt us or anyone we care about?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I have plans that need to be carried out. So if you stay out of my way, you and Samantha will be safe. That’s the best you will get from me.”

“Everything okay here?” asked Parker from behind them.

Derek stiffened, knowing she was so close to the danger. But Abigail didn’t take her eyes off him. He wanted to tell her to go screw herself. He wanted to promise that he wouldn’t rest until she, or whatever was inside her head, burned in hell. But he could still see that bullet hole in her head. He could still see her shrugging it off as though it were nothing. How was he supposed to take on something like that? Especially when she had already proved how easy it would be to go after his friends.

Parker was one of the most capable people he worked with, and she’d almost died last night. What if Abigail went after his parents? His neighbors? Fuck. He couldn’t promise her anything, but he wasn’t stupid enough to attack her right now either. All he could do was get her away from him. “Get off my crime scene,” he growled.

She stepped back obligingly. “Will do. And don’t forget. If you find out anything, you call me.” She wiggled her thumb and pinky next to her face in a phone motion as she walked away, looking all too pleased with herself.

Parker stepped next to Derek as she left. “What the hell was that?”

“I have no idea,” he answered honestly.





Claire slammed the door shut to her apartment and then fell back against it. This couldn’t be right. She had been so sure that she would talk to Claudia and all her questions would be answered. It was a ghost. It had to be a ghost. There was no other explanation....

She heard a door shutting and jumped to alert.

“Hello?” she called cautiously. The last time she’d come home to find someone waiting for her, it had been Jackson. The time he’d taught her about her powers. The time he’d kissed her.

Dante walked out of the kitchen and held up a plate of food. She blinked a few times, trying to reconcile her memories of Jackson and the appearance of Dante. “What are you doing here?”

“Shawarma.” He held up the food. “You seemed to have had a shitty night and I came to offer cuddles and food. I’m basically the perfect boyfriend.” He winked.

“The perfect boyfriend would wait until he had an invitation,” she snapped before she could think better of it.

But instead of being angry, he looked confused. “Am I not invited here?”

“No, you’re welcome. I just....” She tried to think of the best way to say it. “I haven’t had a home for a while and I don’t like unexpected visitors.”

He winced and shook his head. “I’m a fucking idiot.” He set the plate down on the table. “I’ll leave.”

“No, don’t go.” As angry as she was, she didn’t think he’d meant anything bad by it.

“I’m the biggest moron in the world.” Dante went into the kitchen.

She followed him and was taken over with guilt as she saw that Dante hadn’t just brought over shawarma. There was wine and her favorite type of chocolate bars and a few movie rentals from a bunch of different genres.

But he was still mad at himself. “I forgot. How weird is that? You have been kidnapped and almost killed and I keep on forgetting. How fucking self-absorbed am I?”