Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1)(109)

SIMONE PULLED her husband aside. “I’m gonna be late tonight.”

“On the same case that was already solved.” Rudy scratched his head. “Why are any of Desmond’s affairs our business? Should you really be tracking down his soul mate?”

She rolled her eyes. “You mean to tell me you’re not curious? Besides, it’s more than that. Desmond is under some curse, and since his soul mate is in the picture that was used in that spell, so is the other guy.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand why anyone would keep being in love with Desmond a secret.”

“I don’t think it’s a mystery you want solved.”

“Um, yeah, I do. If Desmond’s true love gets whacked, he might go on a rampage and be brought down by the Council.” Simone groaned. “And then the Great Mother absorbs his people, and that’s way more power than I’m comfortable with someone like her holding. She doesn’t strike me as the type who’s happy about the Council’s role even though we need them. Did you know that last night they stopped a black hole that bootleg portal jumper somehow created by falling into the blowback? If that dude wasn’t already dead, my grandparents would have wasted him. There’s too much weird shit for one person to be in charge.”

Rudy tilted his head to the side. “No ulterior motive?”

“Some, but look, between resting with my family and being at work, I choose family. I swear. I dodge an asshole boss, but now I have to help save the city every week.” Simone wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck. “It’s not easy being Supergirl.”

“Not Wonder Woman?”

“Naw, too many people I want to heat ray.”

“So finding out who Desmond is boinking is purely to help save the world?”

Simone held up two fingers. “As God as my witness.”

Rudy leaned in so his lips touched her ear. “Every time Jeremy comes back from his mysterious illness, he always has Desmond’s scent on him.”

“What the fuck did you just say?”

“Also, Desmond smells jealous whenever Jeremy is close to any attractive man, including Clive.”

“You knew! You fuc—Oh shit! He’s working on the spell!” Simone dashed inside the inner offices, where the knights stood chatting with Edarra.




JEREMY SIPPED his mocha frap while watching Rudy incline his head toward him, and Simone’s eyes widened. She turned to stare at him with her mouth dropped open, and Jeremy gave her a little wave. I think the cat’s out of the bag. Fucking werewolves. He looked at Clive huddled with the knights and Edarra. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m done with all of them.

“You have the potion sorted out already?” Clive asked with a dumb smile on his face.

“Was I supposed to work on that now?” Jeremy tapped his bottom lip while frowning in confusion.

The others stopped talking.

“You know how important it is.”

Jeremy put his drink down. “No, I don’t. Correcting your mistakes isn’t one of my priorities. Tell me, how is Desmond’s life any of your business? I mean, let’s be honest, you’ve trashed it because Desmond doesn’t fit into your tiny box of perfect good.”

“That’s not true.”

“If a miserable knight like you can’t be happy, then the bad apples shouldn’t be either.”

Simone grabbed Clive’s arm. “He’s not himself. Jeremy, stop this. It’s not what you want.”

“No. This is the epitome of Mr. Ragsdale,” Clive said. “He’s instigated this since the moment we met.”

“I agree wholeheartedly, prick, and thanks to tweaking Rosaline’s spell so I didn’t kill myself, all that matters is what I want,” Jeremy said.

Clive frowned. “Who’s Rosaline?”

Simone turned to Jeremy. “She’s the energy vamp who came to our office. Rudy says Jeremy’s had Desmond’s scent on him several times throughout the years he’s known him.” She shook her head in disbelief. “What kind of person keeps their mouth shut about fucking Desmond?”

“The kind who left England to get away from him!” Jeremy shouted. “We did a daft spell when we were kids, so I’ve always known we were soul mates.” He glared at Simone. “Except unlike you, I didn’t get the happy ending. I got misery, death, and every fucking witch trying to hunt me down to get to him. Then you rubbed it in my face.” Jeremy laughed. “You know what he told me when he first tracked me here? He said he would become a star. He said he would be so big that I couldn’t turn my head in any direction without seeing his face. And he fucking did it! Those dates with other men where he’s posing for the cameras were meant to hurt me, and you brought those damn magazines in every day!”

“Did it ever occur to you I would have stopped bringing them if you had said something!” Simone shouted back at him.

“It doesn’t matter.” Jeremy looked at everyone in the room. “I’m done caring about the consequences of having him.”

Clive’s voice took on that quiet military tone that he should have realized only intimidated weak idiots in his old world. “Where is that bark I gave you?”

Jeremy smiled. “You mean the one I soaked in sulfuric acid?”