by Gina LaManna
Special Thanks:
To Alex—the sweetest dad in the world... already! я тебя люблю!
To Baby LaManna—for giving me a very pressing deadline to get these books done!
To Stacia—my most fabulous half-brain and partner in crime.
To my #1 fan (Mom)—I will send you your free copy soon. I promise. ;)
To my family, friends, and LaManna’s Ladies, thank you for getting lost in Wicked with me!
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
THE HEX FILES: WICKED ALL THE WAY
First edition. April 5, 2019.
Copyright © 2019 Gina LaManna.
Written by Gina LaManna.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Synopsis
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
EPILOGUE
Author’s Note
To my boys :)
Synopsis
When Wicked hunkers down for the holidays, a snowstorm isn’t the only thing threatening the paranormal Sixth Borough of New York. A student has been killed on the Campus of Magic, and Detective DeMarco is called to the case. But once she begins to unravel the clues surrounding the murder, she realizes the incident is far more complex—and dangerous—than she ever imagined.
Aside from murder, Dani is also confronted with the mysterious return of her oldest brother to town. Meanwhile, Grey has been gone for weeks and Matthew is caught up in his new role for the NYPD. When Dani is assigned a rookie partner to help her with her latest case, it’s the last straw... until the killer sets his sights on her. Suddenly, Dani’s only Christmas wish is to make it through the holidays alive.
Chapter 1
Darkness set early in the Sixth Borough these days. I shrugged a jacket higher against my neck and hunkered down against it. With the early evening came a drop in temperature that bordered on frigid, though I stubbornly refused to add mittens to my uniform until the sticky white stuff began hitting the ground.
Just the thought of snow had my stomach curling in a mix of anxiousness and excitement. I liked the holiday season as much as anyone else, but for me, gifts were a struggle. All sentimental and thoughtful and whatnot... traits I wasn’t exactly known to possess. I doubted Matthew would appreciate another pair of expensive socks, and the last time I’d tried to stick a Stunner in my mother’s Christmas stocking, she’d just about shot me with it over the roast.
The rest of the holidays were great. The food, the ambiance, the carols, the family time. It was a little more sentimental than I tended to prefer, but I’d grown up under the vicious watch of Rose DeMarco—a woman who cherished Christmas quite possibly more than anything else in the world.
Stockings, crackling fires, and stacks of cookies taller than my brothers were not optional. Neither was Christmas cheer, or at least the pretending of it. And somewhere over the years, it’d grown on me.
I might be all Scrooge and Grinch-y on the outside, but deep down, I savored the familiar smells of eggnog and roasting chestnuts, the very ugly (but surprisingly cozy) sweaters my mother forced over our heads, and the face time with family that was (very rarely) interrupted by work calls.
It was just the stupid presents that stumped me. As I shuffled through the crisp grass, stiff from a layer of late frost sparkling over each blade and straightening them to crunchy little sticks, I wondered if Willa might have some insights into what a splendidly rich, centuries old vampire might want for Christmas.
All the usual culprits were out. Socks, underwear, clothes—none of that interested Matthew. Getting him a thoughtful antique or a piece of artwork was just silly, seeing as he’d likely been alive when the Sistine Chapel had been painted. Fancy food and drink were out, unless I offered him a bite of my neck.
A wry smile crept over my face at the thought as I picked up the pace, glancing over my shoulder into the blackness behind me. I’d made the walk between the morgue and the pizzeria at all hours of the night and day before, but this time felt different somehow.
I chanced another glance over my other shoulder, wondering if I was being paranoid, or if there was something off about this trip. I was generally quite good at picking up when I had a tail—not as good as Matthew or Grey, but not too shabby for a witch.
I hadn’t picked up on anyone following me yet. Not a crack of a branch, a rustle of leaves, a stray footprint that didn’t belong. Not a breath out of place. I held my own, listening hard. Times like this made me jealous of the supernaturals’ ability to hear heartbeats from a ways off—I’d pay good money for that kind of sensory power.
But I’d never trade away my ability to see Residuals. I wasn’t sure I’d know how to exist without being a Reserve. Though it might be interesting for one day, just to see what it would be like...
There it is. A definite footstep.
I continued toward the light in the distance, the sparkling windows of the pizzeria. I was still some distance from home. With the night falling fast, most people were off the streets earlier, tucked inside cozy homes while fires glowed warm on the inside and smells of delicious dinners floated out onto the street, making my stomach growl at the thought of food.
Forcing my attention back to my pursuer, I came to a stop and raised the Comm to my wrist. I debated calling Matthew, but I didn’t want to spook him. He was still away in New York, so it wasn’t as if he could come running. Instead, I opted to ring Willa while I resumed walking. No footsteps as far as I could tell.
“Hey there,” I said. “How’s my favorite pizza maker?”
“I’m great,” Willa chirped. “But I thought I was your favorite friend? I’m just wondering, like, why you have to qualify it by saying pizza maker? I mean, it’s not like you know all that many pizza makers. You have a lot more friends than you do pizza makers, so I’m just thinking—I know, mum! Will you pipe down and let me work? This haunting thing is really getting on my nerves! I’m a grown woman.”
I’d made good progress down the path while Willa had gone on and on into the Comm, hosting most of the conversation by herself without expecting much of a contribution from me.
“Ok, my favorite friend,” I amended. “Say, is Jack at DeMarco’s Pizza?”
“Yeah, he’s just with a few customers straightening out an order. But it’s all taken care of, no need to worry, boss.”
“I’m not worried, Willa. And you can just call me Dani for the millionth time.”
“I like having a good employee/boss relationship with you,” she said happily. “I call you Dani off the clock. Anyway, did you want Jack? Or is there something I can help you with?”
“Actually, it can wait,” I said. “I’ll be back in about two minutes. I’ll see you soon, okay? Wait up for me.”
“Wait up? I mean, it’s two minutes, Dani,” Willa said. “I don’t even get off the clock for a few more hours! But sure. I’ll wait up for you anytime. Because you’re my favorite boss.”
I disconnected, hoping that whoever had followed me had understood the point of the call. I was expected somewhere in under two minutes, and if I didn’t arrive, there would be questions asked. That didn’t give my shadow a whole lot of time to carry out whatever nefarious plan was on the horizon. And if there was a plan, they’d have to act quickly.
Indeed, the footsteps in the darkness resumed. I glanced over my right shoulder toward a line of trees and hedges that flanked the edge of a residential neighborhood. There were enough shadows for someone to duck behind, slip from one to the next as I walked. There were spells to turn oneself invisible, and other spells that I didn’t know existed—spells purchased and sold in The Void that had the potential to stop my heart at any given moment.
This time, it was a breath. A short, sharp inhalation.
The preparation. I recognized the breath as preparation for an attack. There was only one way to prevent the worst from happening, and that was to act first.
I whipped out my Stunner and dropped to my belly, aiming for the shadows just as a figure hurtled itself from behind a hedge near the side of the road. He’d been closer than I’d expected; if I’d waited even a breath longer, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.
I squeezed the trigger, aiming for the black mass as it hit the ground. I couldn’t tell gender, but the sheer size of the figure prompted me to think it was male. He landed without so much as an identifying grunt, light on his feet—catlike with his reflexes as he easily dodged the electrifying jolt of my Stunner.
He rolled to the side while I let it recharge, racking my brain for a spell that wouldn’t take more than a few words to engage. I settled on a fireball spell that’d nearly taken Grey’s head off in the woods when I’d chased him down a few weeks back:
“Blood and bone and firestone,
Loose this flame, let it be thrown!”
I didn’t have time to wait for the flaming sphere to grow large and strong. I hurtled it when the warmth curled over my fingers and it reached tennis ball size. It clipped the edge of the figure’s all black attire, leaving a trail of burning embers down the side of his clothes, which he brushed off without a word.
Strangely enough, my attacker hadn’t rebounded with magic of his own. No defenses, no reversals, no ricochets. A good witch or sorcerer could’ve sent the fireball barreling back at me without much effort. It might’ve worked, too, since I was splayed on the ground in a compromised position.
Instead, the figure rose to his feet slowly, showing off an impressive form. Tall and broad shouldered. Dark hair, face hidden in the shadow of a black cap that covered any identifying features. He rivaled Grey in stature, and in a way, he was familiar. It had me wondering if the wolf had returned...
Then he laughed.
At the same time, I pulled the trigger on my Stunner.
“Shit!” I shouted as I connected with the man’s shoulder.
I released the trigger as he spiraled toward me, taking me down in a heap and pinning me against the ground. I dropped the gun and let myself be surrounded by the foreign, yet somehow familiar, scent of my pursuer.
“Dammit, Dani,” he muttered. “That stings like a son-of-a—”
“Oh, now this is my fault?” I shoved the man’s shoulder, taking care to hit the exact spot I’d given him a light tap with my Stunner. “What do you think you’re doing following me around and jumping out from dark corners? You’re lucky I didn’t have the Stunner set to lethal.”
“You wouldn’t have the setting on lethal as your default,” he said in a low, gravelly tone. “It’s against the rules for a detective to carry their Stunner set to anything but shock capacity. And we all know you don’t break the rules.”
I gave a snort. “Are you planning on getting off me anytime soon?”
“You really got me with that Stunner.” He rubbed his arm, winced. “It’s dead to the touch.”
“Feeling will return in a few minutes. Don’t be a wuss.” I gave him a pinch to the shoulder. “You’re giving the DeMarcos a bad name.”
“Always have.”
My oldest brother, Rob DeMarco, managed to pull himself up and position himself next to me on the ground. There was something that irked me about the picture—two grown adults wrestling around on the ground like kids afraid of getting their clothes dirty before Mama DeMarco called us inside for dinner. It struck a chord with me, tickled my funny bone, and before I knew it, my brother and I burst into peals of laughter for no reason at all.
“What are you doing back in town?” I asked, wiping my eyes once I let the adrenaline of being chased through a dark street fade. “And why’d you scare the crap out of me? I didn’t do anything to you.”
Rob smiled, pulling the hat off his head so I could see his face for the first time. My brothers were a generally handsome bunch—objectively speaking. And evidenced by the fact that Nash and Jack were never short on dates. Or women fawning over their every move.
Yet we all agreed Rob had gotten the best genes in the looks department—myself included. He had these piercing blue eyes that were offset by wild dark hair, a playful combination that was lovable on first impression. There was the cheeky smile that made everyone he talked to feel as if he were letting them in on a little secret, a private moment, just the two of them. And then there was the whole badass, outlaw thing he had going on that had women asking for Rob’s number a decade after he’d left town.
Rob was no less handsome now than he’d been the day he’d left the borough. If anything, there was a new mysterious allure that clung to him and matched the new jagged scar that glinted a ghostly white against the moonlight. His eyes were harder, but when he looked at me, that same boyish sense of adventure that’d made him both incredibly lovable and incredibly frustrating still existed.
“I had to make sure my little sis was taking care of herself,” he said, cocking his head to the side and watching me for a reaction. “I don’t like the idea of you wandering down dark roads by yourself at night.”
“If you can’t tell, I can take care of myself.”
“I can see that,” Rob said. “Though in my defense, I didn’t fight back. If I’d brought a little spell with me—”
“Where, from The Void?” I asked, a trace of bitterness creeping into my voice.
“Is that really what you think of me? The first time you see me in a handful of years, and you think I’m going to hit you with a spell from The Void?”
“I’m still in shock, Rob,” I said. “You up and left, and we haven’t heard head nor tail from you since the day you cruised out of town on your stolen broomstick, and—”
“Borrowed,” Rob corrected. “It was borrowed. I borrowed it from Jimmy Crucio, and his dad let me... never mind. You can obviously take care of yourself. I just thought I’d check up on you. And really, the morgue? This time of night? I think the dead bodies will still be dead in the morning.”
“I have a job,” I said dryly. “You know, one of those things that pays the bills, taxes, all of those legal duties?”
Rob scratched his head, gave a shake before deadpanning back. “Nope. Not familiar with the term.”
A small smile crept onto my lips. It was impossible not to like Rob, no matter his somewhat ethically gray areas of operation. He was infuriating and honest and smart and most importantly, my biggest brother. “You’re hilarious. Does mom know you’re back?”
He sucked in a breath. “I surprised you first, lucky duck.”
“Lucky duck,” I echoed. “Or is there a catch?”
Rob let my retort roll of his shoulders. “Can I walk you to your place?”
“You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
“Let’s call it...” Rob stood, pausing for dramatic effect. He grasped my hands, lifted me to my feet. “Christmas cheer.”
That earned him a snort so hard it turned into a coughing fit. Rob had to thump me on the back before I reg
ained my ability to breathe normally.
“Your Christmas cheer came out of retirement after a decade?” I asked. “Pretty dusty load of cheer if you ask me.”
“I’m older, maybe not wiser, but definitely older,” Rob said with a grin, slinging his arm around my shoulder. “I missed family.”
“Mmhmm.”
“I see I’m not going to be able to convince you, so I don’t plan on trying. You’ve always been stubborn.”
“And you’ve always been a troublemaker.”
“Yeah, well,” he said. “I guess it’s in my blood. The rest of y’all got the moral genes, so you didn’t leave much for me.”
“You’re ma’s firstborn. You took up all the genes. The good-looking ones.”
Rob just ruffled my hair. He hated to be called out for his looks, or for being smart, or for really anything. He might be a troublemaker, but he was a modest one. Except for the stunt. That wasn’t modest, but he hadn’t intended it to be. The stunt had left an impression on the borough that nobody had forgotten.
My Comm buzzed. “Crap! I forgot about Willa.”
“That was a good one,” Rob said. “I liked it. Though next time you make an emergency call, pick a friend who’s not going to talk to you for forty-five minutes before asking what you need. Someone else might not have waited as patiently as me. By the way, is her mother a ghost?”
I just shoved a hand toward Rob’s face in a symbol that told him to be quiet while I answered Willa and assured her that I was fine, that I’d met up with a friend, and to give me another ten minutes before she panicked if I didn’t arrive home.
“Your friend?” Rob asked when I hung up. “I’m flattered you consider me a friend, but...”
“Jack works at the pizzeria,” I said bluntly. “I wasn’t sure you’d want him to know you were in town.”
Rob’s face went slack, his eyes dimming. “You really don’t believe I’m just here to see family, do you?”
I tried to nod, but I just couldn’t do it. I rolled my lips inward in thought, but I just couldn’t manage to fake agreement.