Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1)(17)
“Midnight.” Simone checked her watch that seemed so behind the time of the meeting that the hands might as well be moving backward. “They never do anything during reasonable hours.”
“Do you have time for a magic show?”
“If you mean seeing a gorgeous witch who doesn’t lie to my face, then yes.”
She felt Jeremy glare at her. “I didn’t lie!”
Clive held up his hands. “We’ll settle it later. I need you two to go together.”
“Why should I go too?” Jeremy asked.
“I need both of you to watch him in the audience while I monitor him backstage. He knows something, or he wouldn’t have sent his man to follow Gulley.”
A night downtown, and she wasn’t buying. “Could you make our tickets kind of in the middle?” Simone asked. “Some of those shows are televised, and my children won’t let me hear the end of it if they spot me in the crowd.”
“What’s the point?” Jeremy asked. “It’s probably sold out by now.”
“Not if I bribe people out of their seats with a little gold,” Clive said.
“How much gold do you have?” Simone leaned forward, finally distracted from her ire at Jeremy.
“Enough that I don’t tell people how much.”
“What a mysterious answer that only filthy rich people give. I’ll remember that during bonus time,” Simone assured him.
Chapter 6
JEREMY GRABBED a napkin from the table and picked up a Krispy Kreme doughnut, making sure not to crush its pillowy goodness. To think. I have a nice boss who’s competent, and lo and behold, I’m here again about a bloody energy vamp. Why must history be so depressingly repetitive? The seven-thirty meeting meant he had some leeway to make it to the magician’s show at nine, but he was pushing it. Next to him, a young man filled his cup with coffee. Even out of the corner of his eyes, he could recognize Zach’s sun tattoo on his neck. He smiled. “You still coming to these?”
Zach sipped his coffee without adding sugar to it. “Too much stress from my side job recently.”
“So I should prepare to see weirder shit this year.” Jeremy rolled his eyes. Zach’s pet shop, which he used as cover to wrangle illegal otherworld creatures late at night, was probably packed. “I wish otherworld smuggling wasn’t so profitable.”
“Me too. Why are you here? I haven’t seen you attend for almost a year.”
Not since sending out his magical version of Typhoid Mary to ensnare an energy vamp. “Information sharing,” Jeremy said out loud, but he couldn’t banish the memories of his blood streaking the walls in diagrams.
“Long time no see.” Richard, the group’s organizer, joined them and held out his hand to Jeremy.
“May we talk?” Jeremy brought the man closer and whispered in his ear, “I had a run-in with an energy vamp today.”
Richard hastily looked around the room for nearby listeners.
“I’ll get seated,” Zach said. He walked to the circle of chairs.
“Is it starting again?” Richard asked.
Jeremy shook his head. “I don’t know, but it’s wise to warn any mages at risk to stick to shelters.”
“I’ll do that. It’s the beginning of fall, so it might not be too bad.”
More people found seats with their snacks in hand.
Richard tilted his head toward the group. “Are you joining us for the meeting?”
The reason Jeremy tortured himself with the temp agency was so he could stay clean without the meetings. One trip down memory lane wouldn’t kill him. “I might as well.” Richard smiled at him like he had done something brave, but it was easy to jump back into one of the few good habits he had begun years ago.
“Why don’t you start after I settle everyone in?”
“You’re asking a lot.”
“You have an interesting tale.”
More like a warning to stupid young witches.
After they completed the circle and Richard gave his introduction, he waved his hand in Jeremy’s direction. “I know he looks like a new face, but he used to come here frequently.”
Hands and legs fidgeted as the group silently contemplated whether or not Jeremy was there for slipping up.
“He’s come to deliver concerning news that I’ll give at the end of the meeting, but I’ve convinced him to stay and tell us his story.” Richard looked at Jeremy like he was a frightened newbie. “I hand it over to you.”
Jeremy took a deep breath, wondering how far he had really come since his last meeting. “Then I’ll begin with the usual spiel. Hello, my name is Jeremy, and I’m an addict. I’m addicted to heroin. It’s hard to think about it because drugs and magic were something else. There were no limits to what we could—” He swallowed hard. “By we, I mean me and a bloke I was with.” A slight tingle traveled down the back of his hand, the trapped magic gathered in the channels on his skin at just the thought of him. “I’ve been clean six years, but there were some complications I still have to live with.” Jeremy laughed, wishing he could punch his younger self. To two teenagers, reaching new heights of pleasure at any cost had been a grand idea.
A man in his forties raised his hand. “Did the other guy die?”