Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1)(101)
“I can’t believe how blind you are. The truth around him is so obvious I can’t understand why you don’t see it.” Salvatore smiled. “Then again, I was present for the incident with Levi. I know everything he did, and while his actions had unforeseen consequences, it was an honorable effort, even if he won’t admit it.”
“I still can’t trust him.”
“As I said, that’s a bounty for us.”
Clive held out his hand. “I don’t agree with your choice, but I wish you luck.”
SIMONE LOOKED over her shoulder at Clive’s closed door. “This feels like I’m in the principal’s office being asked to snitch on other classmates.”
Edarra sighed. “This isn’t comfortable for me either.”
His employees’ reticence couldn’t be helped. Clive was essentially asking them to spy on Jeremy. “I’m not asking this for fun. Sometimes Jeremy lets things slip around you two.”
“And not around you,” Simone said, correctly assessing Jeremy’s silent hostility toward him since the energy vamp’s visit. “The only thing he’s said recently about Psycho Bitch is that he wants to face her on his own in some macho last stand to the death.”
“He said sort of the same thing to me,” Edarra said.
Clive squeezed his eyes shut. These are things they should have come to me with. He smiled so he wouldn’t stop the stream of honesty he had to pry out of his employees. “Did he say why?”
“He hedged around that part, but I think he wants to avenge Levi,” Edarra said. “Were they a couple?”
Simone blinked. “Eh….” She bit her lip. “I don’t think so, but Levi might’ve had the hots for him. I can’t believe I never asked him that.”
“While that does sound like a plausible reason for Jeremy not being forthcoming, that doesn’t excuse his behavior.” Clive glanced at his shut door. Waiting for Jeremy to go to lunch was a good idea. He wasn’t as nosy as Simone, but he had his moments. “I’m going to find out who the other person in the picture is. I need your help with that, but I don’t want Jeremy involved.”
“You’re sure you want to open that can of worms?” Simone asked. “If we find Cinderella, we’re gonna have every witch, wizard, and otherworlder on our ass to get their hands on it.”
Ah, from the fairy tales I read, Clive thought. Simone said her kids loved the movie, but he didn’t quite understand why humans of Earth Realm told children stories of feet being chopped off before they went to bed. Perhaps it was a bravery test. “That’s why I contacted the Great Mother. If we find the answer, we’ll personally deliver the photo into her hands, where she will keep it under guard.”
Edarra frowned. “What is our reason for doing this, and how will the energy vamp not know that we’ve given the photo to someone else?”
“Desmond is too great a threat to rely on him being satisfied with the magician act forever. He doesn’t flinch from killing in cold blood, and that magic he used at the hospital? Those are the kind of spells I’ve only seen evil witches perform.” He held up his hand to forestall Simone’s protests. “We’ll create a copy with a few innocuous features of someone already dead, do whatever we can to clone the original’s essence to the copy, and then we’ll deliver that to the energy vamp.”
“Jeremy does have a point about you being judgmental,” Simone said. “You can’t know that Desmond is capable of being evil just because his techniques are questionable. I still don’t see why—” She cut off as Clive slid a folded piece of paper across his desk for the two women to read. Simone unfolded it and gasped. “Is that… is this real?”
Clive smiled. “That’s how much the Great Mother is willing to pay us if we determine the other person’s identity.”
Simone handed the paper to Edarra, and even Edarra blinked in astonishment. “I could buy that fey weightlifting set,” she whispered.
“I could pay for college and retirement.” Simone groaned. “Why are you making me choose between my conscience and money?”
“I genuinely feel that giving this information to the Great Mother is in the best interests of everyone, but I want you two on board with me,” Clive said. “You have to be with me 100 percent, or I hand over the picture to the Great Mother without solving the mystery, and we get no money.” He looked at Simone. “Besides, I thought you of all people might want to figure out who in this world could make Desmond fall in love with him.”
“Okay, not knowing does chap my ass a little,” Simone admitted. “But is it any of my business?” She took the pay quote from Edarra and stared at the huge number again. “You are handing our results to the Great Mother, and it’s not like she’s ever tried to kill Desmond.”
Clive turned to Edarra. “What about you?”
Edarra scratched the back of her neck. “I’m good with receiving money from a client who isn’t evil. I’ll take it.”
He grinned. “And you’ll have the joy of knowing something that Jeremy has no clue about.”
Simone returned his smile. “That does sweeten the pot a little.”