Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1)(83)

Simone waved away his comment. “I wasn’t very hungry.”

“I wonder if that has anything to do with the empty Oreo package I saw in your car.” Jeremy licked frosting off his fingers.

“You had cookies?” asked the youngest, Andres, his dark brown eyes staring at his mother like she had committed the greatest betrayal.

The cuteness was a gut punch to Jeremy, but Simone rolled her eyes, completely unaffected by the puppy gaze of her son. “That’s an empty wrapper I’ve had in my car forever.”

Elijah placed his hands on both his brother’s shoulders. “There’s only one way to find out.” He ran out of the kitchen with his brothers close behind him. Seconds later the front door opened and closed.

Simone gritted her teeth. “I know they are not going to sniff my car.”

Rudy crossed his arms. “I can’t blame them, Stingy. If you’re hoarding Oreos, the Thin Mints in the freezer are mine.”

Clive stomped down the steps with his phone in hand. “Where’d the boys go?”

“They went outside to play Columbo thanks to this dickhole,” Simone said as she pointed to Jeremy.

Jeremy finished wrapping his food in foil and put his hand on his hip. “Serves you right for that bloody swear jar.”

“Swearing while saying swear jar only proves my point.” Simone looked at Clive. “You were gone for pretty long. Is there any trouble we need to know about?”

“Just business for me to take care of,” Clive said. “I don’t mind being on the clock so late.”

Trouble, Jeremy thought. That was always the cause when Clive’s forehead made that weird line down the middle. Jeremy couldn’t tell if the crease was a scar or a natural indent. The knight’s timing was convenient because Jeremy’s smile started fraying the longer he watched what he and Desmond didn’t have.

Edarra straightened like she expected a fight to come any minute and welcomed it. Another clusterfuck coming their way would probably be the cherry on top of her version of a perfect night.

“If you want to wait until morning to tell me, I’ll allow it,” Simone said as the door burst open.

“I knew you lied!” Elijah cried out before he even entered the kitchen to point an accusatory finger at Simone.

Simone raised her face at the ceiling with her hand on her hip. “Especially if you take that troublemaker with you.”




AS SOON as they were on the road, Jeremy slapped his hands on the back of Clive’s seat. “What new disaster are we facing, oh fearsome knight?”

“A man and woman were brought into the ER with heart attacks and no prior health problems,” Clive said without taking his eyes off the road.

“Energy vamps?” Edarra asked.

“Likely, but one of them was home alone when they collapsed, and the other was at a party with friends. Neither encountered any strangers lately.” Clive’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Either the vamps leeched the memories from their minds, or they’re draining their victims’ energy through an intermediary source. Information that might have been easy to garner if Perry was alive.”

“Debatable.” Defending Desmond was becoming a habit, and Jeremy would be glad when the knight found another focus for his frustration. “I doubt he was the type who would have squealed.”

“But he could have led us to whatever plot has been implemented or alerted us what to be on the lookout for.” Clive frowned in the rearview mirror. “Never discount any information you can gather. We need to find out the cause of this before more people die.”





Chapter 22


WATCHING CLIVE mope around the office for days wasn’t something Edarra enjoyed. After hitting a dead end because the heart attack victims were transported to another hospital under a Dr. Faradin’s orders, their investigation seemed pointless. Each clue was snatched up either by the Council or the Great Mother. For all her determination to use her strength to help people, she could only manage to save idiots. “There is no honorable way to do this,” Edarra explained for the fourth time as she held out the unfolded blanket. Pete, the first idiot, straining on the toilet for thirty minutes, thought he could beg his way out of his predicament, but it was pop a squat or get torn apart from the inside out.

Jeremy waved his hand for the client to speed up. “It’s not going to come out on its own.”

“Fuck you, Dave!” Pete shouted to his brother outside the door, who was just as guilty for bungling the summoning spell.

“I said I was sorry!” Dave, the second idiot, shouted back.

Pete gripped his knees and groaned.

Jeremy seemed less patient every minute, even though his part was easy. “I told you to stop paying attention to other shit.”

The client glared at him.

“Sorry, bloke,” Jeremy muttered. “Bad choice of words.”

“Why do you sound British all of a sudden?”

“I’m practicin’ for a play,” Jeremy said with that fake Southern accent.

Edarra sighed. Sometimes it sucks having inhuman strength. She glanced at her partner for the disgusting job. He really couldn’t find a spell to get it out?

“Fuck it, we’ll be here forever.” Jeremy yanked the client forward, and Edarra sprang to the side of them with the blanket open.