Jack slapped Rob across the face with the bouquet. Flowers flew all over the room. Rob reached for the knife, but Jack kicked it away, not that it would do him any good regardless.
"You're not even hurt!" Rob said. "The newspaper said—"
"Oh, but that's not true. My feelings are hurt. And the local media just said exactly what I paid them to say."
"Listen, you can't kill me!"
"You're just wrong all over the place tonight."
Rob backed into the corner. His gaze went to the head of brown hair in the hospital bed.
"That's Leroy," Jack said. "He died this morning. Heart attack. His hair matched mine, so I figured, why not? I've been waiting for whoever blew me up for three days. Think about that. Three days of shitty hospital food, of staring at ugly doctors and nurses. I'm not in a good mood."
Jack reared back and buried his foot in Rob's chest. The young mortal's eyes bulged as the wind left his lungs. He cough and gasped as he lay on the floor.
"How's the hand?" Jack asked. "We can pick up right where we left off."
In a mad burst of energy, Rob tried to crawl away. He slithered under the bed, heading for the door. Jack shook his head, and dumped the body of Leroy on top of Rob as he emerged on the other side. Rob let out a girlish scream as he tried to push the corpse away.
"Leroy, meet Rob. He's a bartender. Or he was."
Jack slowly circled the bed. He wasn't in a hurry. The fun part in revenge was the wait, that small window of time when the victim was absolutely certain they were going to die, and did everything in their power to fight it. He loved watching the sudden shift in personality. Rob was on top of the world not long ago. Slinging drinks, flirting with women, living the good life. Because Jack had roughed him up a little, Rob decided it was his turn for revenge. Those silly thoughts were going to cost him his life.
"Wait!" Rob said. "You have to listen!"
Jack leaned down and slapped him across the face. He hoisted Rob to his feet and threw him across the room, slamming him into the wall.
"It wasn't my idea!" Rob shouted, wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth. "I was paid to kill you."
Jack cocked his fist back, but held up in striking again. He studied Rob's body language, his tension. Crossing the room, he turned the light on, pushing the darkness away. He caught Rob eying the knife in the corner, but Rob lifted his gaze immediately when Jack stared at him.
"Stalling for time?" Jack asked. "You definitely don't have much left."
"No! Look, I was paid to slip that bomb under your car, after you destroyed the bar. To be honest, after what you did to my hand, I would have done it for free. But it wasn't me that thought of it."
Jack couldn't tell if Rob was lying or not, and that bothered him.
"Oh? And who is the genius behind the devious plot?"
"Marie Johnson. She owned the bar. That whole thing was her life, you see. And you killed it."
Jack laughed. "Marie Johnson. You might as well say John Doe."
"I'm serious, man! Her name is Marie Johnson. And…this is just a guess, I'm not really sure. But I think she had something to do with Erica's murder."
Thoughts and pictures flooded his mind at the sound of her name. He shoved them aside as best he could.
He took a menacing step forward.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not saying she did it, but I think she knows something. Those two were getting pretty chummy. And she acted really weird after she died. Then I tell her some asshole is asking questions in the bar about Erica, and she offers me a shitload of money to take you out. Sounds weird, doesn't it?"
Jack looked for a quick twitch in the brow, a tensing of the jaw, anything at all that gave Rob away. All he saw was pure fear.
He marched across the room. Rob pressed further into the corner. Jack shoved his arm against Rob's throat and snarled.
"I'm going to pay a visit to this Marie Johnson. I'm going to leave you alive, in the meantime, in case I have more questions."
"Hey, sure, no problem. Always glad to help out. Do you want her address or anything?"
"I'll manage."
"You'll just love meeting her."
"If I don't like what she has to say, I'll find you and kill you."
"Don't worry. I'll be around."
CHAPTER 20
Kevin read the research paper he'd finished for the third time. It was good work. It wasn't his best work, but it was good enough. Every fourth paragraph it seemed there was a distraction. Tiffany marching through the house, complete with icy stare, or simply Leese popping in his mind to give him that disappointed look. Jack's wonderful pep talk on the tablet certainly didn't help.
He emailed the paper. Relief mixed with a strange sense of guilt came over him. He was sure the conversation he had with Leese earlier in the day wasn't quite over yet. At least now he didn't have the paper hanging over his head, and he could get back to the joys of babysitting.
He wasn't sure what he expected when he agreed to watch Jack's house and daughter. Admittedly, he had no experience babysitting. He thought it might be fun at best, or boring at worst. He didn't think it would be flat-out aggravating and annoying.
Tiffany crossed the living room and headed for the fridge. She didn't say a word, didn't even look at him. She grabbed a soda and aimed back toward the stairs to her room, her sanctuary. It was six o'clock, and Kevin heard his stomach rumble.
"Are you hungry?" he asked. "What do you want for dinner?"
"I'll make my own dinner later. Don't worry about it."
He shrugged, finally reaching the end of his rope. He wasn't going to argue with her. A fight was still simmering with Leese. The last thing he needed to worry about was a young girl's attitude problem.
"Fine, whatever."
Kevin opened the cupboard to scavenge dinner. Tiffany was halfway up the stairs when there was a knock at the front door. He'd barely turned around when Tiffany shrieked and ran back down the stairs, racing for the doorknob. She threw the door open and bounced up and down.
"Jenny!"
"Hey, Tiff!"
Another young girl, apparently Jenny, stepped into the living room. He watched in confusion as she had a backpack on, and carried a pillow and sleeping bag.
"Come on," Tiffany said. "Let's go upstairs and set everything up."
The two girls sprinted upstairs, leaving the door wide open. Kevin crossed the living room to close it. A car idled in the middle of the street, in front of the house. A mother waved and smiled at him as she drove away. He waved back out of reflex.
He peered up the stairs. "Uh, Tiffany?"
She poked her around the corner. "What do you want?"
"Who is that girl, and what's she doing here?"
"She's spending the night. A few of my friends are coming over to spend the night."
"You didn't ask me if anyone could spend the night."
"I don't have to. I asked Jack, and he said it was okay."
"Don't make any plans Friday night," he whispered to himself, thinking back to Jack's words. "You asshole."
"You don't have to stay, if you don't want to," Tiffany said. "We don't need you here."
It was a tempting thought. All it took was one portal, and he could be admiring The Great Wall of China.
"How many people are coming over?"
Tiffany ignored him. She disappeared around the corner, and all he heard was the girls talking in her room. He sighed as he sat on the couch.
Three more girls showed up, each with sleeping bags. The noise exponentially increased with each new arrival. They had the run of the entire second floor. Doors opening and closing, giggling, screaming, music, loud footsteps. Kevin didn't know an elementary school girl could even walk so loud.
He tried to watch television, but it was nearly useless. He thought about working on some magic, but even if he could concentrate, he certainly didn't need young girls asking why he was mixing strange things on the stove.
&
nbsp; Maybe his girlfriend would have some advice.
She almost didn't answer. He expected her voice mail to pick up at any moment, until he heard her voice.
"Hey, Kevin," Leese greeted. "Did you finish your paper? Or the other person's? Whatever it is."
Kevin closed his eyes at the tone. How long was she going to be angry about that?
"Girls are running all over the house."
"What?" she said, confusion and jealousy in her voice.
"No," he said, smiling. "Tiffany's little friends. What do I have to do to make them shut up?"
"What are you asking me for?"
"You were a little girl once."
"I don't know. Put a movie in front of them or something. Look, I'm still upset at you. I don't want to talk to you right now. I'm out with Cindy, anyway."
"Okay. Just let me know when you're not mad anymore. Tell Cindy I said hello."
Leese hung up. Kevin held the phone to his forehead in frustration. He wished he'd never agreed to babysit. Never once up until then did he think about taking Jack's fee under the bed. That hesitation was starting to float away.
A long train of girls ran down the stairs, flailing and shrieking. Kevin tried to figure out what they were doing as they ran around the couch. Playing hide and seek, tag, whatever. They didn't seem to be playing anything. They just ran like mindless animals. It reminded him of when he gave Oscar catnip. Even Oscar kept his distance, observing everything from the top step.
"Guys, or girls, whatever, stop!"
They stopped in place, literally. Holding their arms up and keeping the expressions frozen on their faces. One girl couldn't keep her balance on one leg and fell to the floor. The other girls laughed and pointed. Everyone was having a grand old time, except Kevin.
"What are you all doing?" he asked.
"We're playing," Tiffany said. "We want to play down here."
"No, no no. There's plenty of room upstairs."
"But you're so cute!" one of them said.
"Stop, Melissa. He's already got a girlfriend. She'd beat you up."
"No she wouldn't. I'd punch her right in the face."
"Kevin!" yet another roared. It bothered him that they knew his name. "Order us a pizza!"
"Tiffany said you guys didn't even need me here."
"Yeah we do. We need you to order us a pizza."
Kevin sighed. Most young men his age spent Friday night in a variety of ways. Some spent time with their girlfriends, or chased a girlfriend-to-be. Others hung out with the guys, having fun. He wouldn't even have minded a quiet night in. But fun and quiet seemed to elude him.
"Okay, I'll order a pizza. I'm hungry, anyway. But you guys have to play upstairs."
"We're girls!"
"Girls, whatever."
"We're not playing up there," Tiffany said. "This isn't your house. We're playing down here."
He held up his hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'm going downstairs."
Once the pizzas were ordered he grabbed the iPad and spell-book and headed for the basement. He wondered how many supernatural beings out there spent Friday night watching Netflix in a laundry room.
Sadly, as pathetic as it was, it was peaceful. He sat on the washer with the iPad in his lap. He kept one hand on his spell-book, simply because it calmed him. The girls continued to run upstairs and make noise. The television went on and off, along with what sounded like furniture actually moving.
There was a loud crash, enough to pull Kevin away from the iPad. He glanced up at the ceiling. It was only quiet for a moment before the girls' shrieking moved from fun to panic. He was already halfway up the stairs, taking two at a time, when one of the girls threw open the basement door.
"Kevin! Jenny's hurt!"
He struggled to even remember which one Jenny was. Rounding the corner, he saw the girl holding a hand to the side of her face. A lamp had been knocked to the floor, but didn't break. Tiffany had an arm around Jenny's shoulders as she cried. The other girls stood nearby.
"What happened?" Kevin asked.
"We were just playing," Tiffany said. "Jenny tried to jump off the couch, and—"
He held up a hand. "I get it." He dropped to one knee and tried to peer around Jenny's hand. "Are you okay?"
"I hit my head on the table."
"Okay, let's see how hard of a head you got." He grabbed her hand and tried to pull it away, but she resisted. "Come on, Jenny. Let me see."
The girls, and Kevin, winced at the bruise on her cheek. Her right eye was nearly swollen shut. It looked like she'd been in a boxing match. Jenny was lucky. If she'd fallen a few inches further to the side, there was a good chance her eye would have caught the corner.
Of course, even if she did, Kevin would have healed that, too.
"I'm ugly, ain't I?" Jenny asked.
"Nah, not at all," Kevin said. "You look just fine."
"My head hurts."
Tiffany looked at Kevin. "We should take her to the hospital."
"Nah, we don't need a hospital." He shook Jenny gingerly by the shoulder. "Jenny's tough, right?"
"I don't want to go to the hospital."
A knock came at the door. He couldn't have planned a better distraction.
"That's the pizza." He pulled out some money and handed it to Tiffany. "Can you guys…girls handle the pizza? I'll give Jenny some medicine to help her feel better."
Tiffany was skeptical at first, but another knock at the door, and the thought of pizza, got her moving. She led her friends to the door. Kevin watched for a moment to make sure they were thoroughly in their own world.
"Okay, Jenny, follow me."
She sniffled and sighed as they walked to the kitchen. Kevin patted the stool at the breakfast bar, and Jenny climbed up. He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.
He capped it with his thumb and turned it upside down, creating the simplest, purest magic potion of all. Magical healing water. It turned blue as he kept his back to her to hide the glow. Looking over his shoulder, he could see the pizza man at the front door, giving him a nasty glare as the kids methodically checked every pizza box. They carried each individual box from the door to the couch.
The water turned clear once again. He handed it to Jenny, keeping the smile on his face.
"Okay, here you go. I put some medicine in there. Just take a good drink."
One drink was all it took. Kevin watched as the bruise vanished, her cheeks rosy once again. Her eye opened completely. Jenny looked confused at first, and the sensation was enough to make her bring a hand to her face.
"Oh, wow. I feel a lot better!"
"I'm sure you do."
"Kevin!" Tiffany shouted. "The pizza's all okay. But there's a small one with anchovies on it. It's nasty."
"That's mine. Then pay the man, and let's eat."
The girls brought the pizza to the bar, and various degrees of astonished sounds and words escaped when they saw Jenny's face.
"Your face is all better!" Tiffany said.
"It doesn't even hurt," Jenny said, smiling.
Kevin put the water away. "Yeah, it wasn't even really that bad. I think the light over there was just playing some weird tricks."
"But her face had a huge bruise on it."
"You were wrong. It's okay, it happens. Little girls are wrong a lot of times."
"No we're not! Boys are wrong more than girls."
Children were so easy to misdirect. He laughed as he picked anchovies from the one pizza and shoved them in a plastic bag. He only wanted them for a magic potion he wanted to try later.
"Why did you get a pizza like that if you don't like what's on it?"
"I collect anchovies."
"You're weird."
"I've been called worse. Hand me a slice of that pepperoni."
He waited for the order to go to another room. Upstairs, or down to the basement. It never came. The girls actually let him eat dinner with them. Even Tiffany seemed less moody than usual. He had to remember that t
rick. Food, especially pizza, was capable of magic all by itself, no witchcraft required.
Kevin cleaned up after dinner. The girls all sat in various positions on the couch, one even upside down, as they debated on a movie to watch. He was halfway to the basement when the girls noticed him.
"Where you going? Watch a movie with us."
He stopped. His spell-book was downstairs, and he planned on spending the evening reading it. It was Tiffany's earnest expression that changed his mind.
"Watch something with us. Please," she said.
It was the first time she looked at him without disdain.
"Eh, alright. Just don't put anything dumb on."
"Let's watch a horror movie!"
"I don't like horror movies," Tiffany said. "Anything but that."
Kevin had no idea what movie they put on. It was animated, with talking animals fighting to save a forest. It was torturous, at first, but then he actually enjoyed himself. The girls all had soda, and he had one more slice of pizza. He managed to forget about the rough week he had, and Leese being angry with him. He laughed at the girls' antics, and they were all eager to show off for each other.
He had fun. Even Oscar joined them and sat on Kevin's lap.
The movie ended, and the girls were restless once again. They debated on another movie to watch, or another game to play.
"Kevin!" Jenny shouted, her fall a distant memory. "What can we do that's fun?"
He shrugged as he grabbed a soda from the fridge. "You girls do whatever you want. I'm out now. I've got some things to do."
"What? No, you have to play with us. It's more fun with you."
He rolled his eyes. He was part of the elementary school gang. Life was complete.
An idea did cross his mind. Simple and safe, it would definitely be an experience they would never forget.
"I've got something."
The girls all watched him as he dug inside his coat. He pulled out the second of his magical feathers. One feather let him float, as long as he held it in his grasp. The second feather let objects he held float.
Those objects could also be people.
"Okay Tiffany, let's start with you. Stand up on the couch."
The little girl did so, now all smiles. Kevin clutched the feather in one hand while grabbing her wrist with the other. Nothing happened, and the girls looked at each other, one even going so far as to put her hands on her hips and frown.
Damned and Cursed (Book 2): Witch's Kurse Page 22