Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1)(34)

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes. “Quizás.”

Maybe wasn’t good enough. Simone deepened her pout. “Pretty please.”

“Fine.” Abuelo came closer and kissed her on the forehead. “Stop being nosy.”

Simone sat up and glared. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

You suck. She grinned because if she didn’t make him mad, maybe he would give her more details. “Want to play for lunch money?”

He pulled out a money clip and removed a twenty. “Deal.”

Simone hugged him. “Te amo, Abuelo.”

“Don’t fill my head up with too much gushiness.” Abuelo wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “If you don’t put a stop to the energy vamps, we’ll step in more than just your cover.”

“Don’t get me killed by my cousins for being too interested in my affairs.” She was already asking a lot as one of the covenless. So close to the time of the selection of the new family heads, her status was supposed to make her an afterthought next to her bruja relatives. Only the successors warranted so much, and Simone had enough problems without being accused of sucking up to her grandparents for that position.

“You should have thought about that before causing trouble.” Her abuelo cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted to his friends. “Come back, so my granddaughter can beat you!”

“Maybe this one won’t cheat,” the druid said as he walked over to them.

Simone smirked. “I’ve never needed to.”

The men raised their hands as if fending off an attack, and then Simone let loose for an hour, happy that for once she wasn’t being underestimated and protected for her own good. Sure, that was part of her plan, so the other covens didn’t see what her true intentions were in taking secretary jobs. But it was galling on some days. Every time the pins stacked up, Simone imagined they were every person standing in her way.





Chapter 11


LUCKILY, EDARRA had programmed the location of their most likely target into her car’s GPS before the Council’s visit, so they had one solid lead left. Simone reached in her bottom left drawer, dug under her box of Little Debbie cakes, and took out a baton. “How about this?” She handed it to Edarra, who had broken her mace on the last job.

Without being told, Edarra flicked her wrist, making the stick snap out to full length. “Nice.”

Next to Edarra, Clive buckled a sword belt around his waist. “It’s not my usual preference, but it will do.” He opened the main door. “We’re not going to be here when Jeremy shows up, so tell him to stay until we come back. In order to stay ahead of the Council, we may need to study whatever we find quickly.”

Edarra pushed her baton into its regular size as she walked out. “We won’t be long.”

“Hold the fortress.” Clive tipped his head and followed her.

“Fort,” Simone muttered. The time ticked away slowly since there were no more customers scheduled the rest of the afternoon. In the safety of solitude, she sang “All by Myself” to the cartoon bobbleheads on her desk staring at her. She tweaked Snoopy’s head and sighed. Maybe I should sneak into Jeremy’s office. Simone tapped Snoopy’s nose harder. With my luck, that little shit would find me as soon as I got his door open.

“Your singing is atrocious.”

Simone glared at the lying bastard, who needed a bell wrapped around his neck. “Fuck you.”

Jeremy sipped from the Starbucks drink he claimed was too sweet for him. Not just his clothes were ragged; his eyes had gone beyond raccoon.

“Are you dying?”

“I had a rough night. Instead of sleeping it off like I intended, I’m here with you wonderful people.”

Simone pointed at the cup. “I see you had time to buy a latte.”

“Edarra’s car was gone, so I decided to buy myself a well-deserved drink.” Jeremy rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky I didn’t top it off with whiskey.”

“You had enough energy to play Sherlock.”

“Clive and Edarra are just as guilty.”

“They’ve only lied to me once. You have established a pattern.”

Jeremy held up in hands in surrender. “Yes, I’ve obviously kept my mouth shut for shits and giggles. I didn’t think for a second that pushing this meant a lot of death was coming my way.” He threw his hands down. “I have two people in this world to worry about: me and my dad. My dad has congressmen friends to avenge him, and I’m a lot harder to kill than I look.” He pointed at Simone. “You let a revenant almost kill me the last time you got involved. What the hell kind of incentive do I have to share my extracurricular activities with you?”

“The kind where you respect me enough to tell me the fucking truth.” Simone snapped her fingers at the door because she was tired of his bullshit. “How about you continue being a selfish dick where I can’t see you?”

“Fine by me.” Jeremy stalked away from her desk and slammed the interior door shut behind him.

Simone growled. “If he’s the one with Death trailing his ass, I don’t give a damn.”




ROCK, PAPER, scissors. Clive’s shoulders sank as he saw Edarra’s paper. Why do I always pick rock? Accepting his defeat, Clive grabbed the door handle.