"Tell her not to worry," Alec said. "We'll get around to it in due time."
Harper hated that they had to help the councilwoman; she was a dangerous person who hadn't hesitated to shoot Alec when he couldn't transform. Her henchmen had shot Harper as well, when she was going for a morning walk with Brittney. She also knew they had no choice at the moment. Until they were more powerful, there was nothing that could be done to stop the councilwoman; she simply had too many demons under her control -- both the supernatural kind and normal men and women like Kenna.
"The councilwoman is patient," Kenna said. "But she urges you to remember that even her patience has a limit. She knows that you've needed time to recover..." she paused and nodded to Harper. "But now that everyone is on their feet again, she expects you to live up to your side of the arrangement."
"We're on it," Alec said.
Kenna could hear the anger in his voice, and was surprised that he didn't morph right then and there. "Good. Then I'll let you get going. I can see that you're in the middle of something."
Alec glared at her, all the way up until she got into her police car and pulled away.
"Damn it," Harper said. "I don't want to be an errand girl for Stanley."
"I know," Alec said. "But we don't have a choice in this, Harper. We owe her, and she's more powerful than we are. She could take us down -- and your families -- if she wanted to. Don't forget how easy it was for her to have you shot in the street."
"I know," Harper said.
Alec got driving again. They sat in a sullen silence until they'd reached Afterlife. Movers came out to help Alec take Harper's boxes upstairs. Once everything had been put inside, Alec looked over at her.
"We'll call the others in the morning. Tell them we need to get moving on Stanley's project," Alec said.
"Not tonight?"
"No," Alec said. "Tonight, I have other plans."
"And what do those plans involve, exactly?"
"Well, I can tell you this much," Alec said. "They don't involve unloading boxes or interior decorating."
THREE
Sarah stared at Peter. "You're kidding, right?"
"No, I'm not," Peter said. "I want to break up."
Sarah shook her head. "I don't have time for your drama right now. I'm on my way to Afterlife. We have a job to do. I was supposed to tell you since you're with me, but if you want to be like this, then you can drive by yourself."
Peter glared at her. Sarah was so surprised by the anger in his gaze that she actually shrank back a bit. "It's not drama, Sarah. I'm trying to break up with you. Don't you want to discuss that a little bit before heading to Afterlife?"
"No, I don't," Sarah said. "Especially since you're not serious. You don't want to break up with me, you just want to guilt trip me into moving in with me."
"We've been together for a while now," Peter said. "I told you almost six months ago that I liked you. Don't you think it's time to take the next step in our relationship?"
Sarah glared at him this time, annoyed now. "Peter, we're not serious. I thought you knew that."
"Well, apparently we had a different idea of our relationship," Peter said.
She could hear the hurt in her voice, and wished she could take back what she'd just said. "I'm sorry, Peter. I didn't mean it like that. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but you know that I have issues with committing to people, and moving in together is a large commitment. I just need more time. That doesn't mean that I don't care about you or that I want to break up."
Peter shook his head. "I've proved to you time and again that I understand you, Sarah. I understand you so well that I'm able to shape-shift."
"We still don't know if that's from trauma," Sarah pointed out.
"I think you just don't want to be close to someone," Peter said. "I think you're scared, and I understand that. After what happened with your father--"
"--I don't want to talk about that," Sarah said immediately.
"Fine," Peter snapped. "Same as always. You don't want to talk about it."
"You're also far younger than me," Sarah said. "People will talk."
"You mean, Afterlife will talk," Peter said. "Nobody else cares if you're a little older than me. I'm twenty-two, Sarah. I'm hardly a child. And you're only twenty-seven. That's a five year age gap. In fact, I think it's technically less than the age gap between Chloe and Brittney."
Sarah sighed. She knew this would be his argument, and he wasn't wrong. It was true that she was less worried what other people would think than those who belonged to Afterlife. She was especially worried what Chloe would think -- she was her best friend, after all. Chloe had already pointed out that Peter was Brittney's younger brother, and therefore would make things awkward if they broke up.
Of course, she thought Chloe was being a little hypocritical, considering she was engaged to Brittney. And Harper was now moving in with Alec -- moved in, she reminded herself. They had completed it the night before. It made perfect sense to date someone involved with Afterlife. They already knew about the supernatural world, and were involved directly in it.
"Look, I'm not ready to move in together," Sarah said again. "But I don't want to break up. Isn't there a medium ground we can come to? How about this: you can stay at my place on the weekends. And when you find your own place, I'll stay there a few nights a week."
Peter groaned.
"It's the best I can offer right now," Sarah said. "Come on, Peter. Please?"
"Alright, alright," Peter said. "I'll stay with you on the weekends. But you have to help me house hunt. That way, when you're ready, you can move in with me. Your apartment is tiny."
Sarah sighed, but nodded. "That's fair. I'm not promising that's going to happen anytime soon, though, Peter. You're going to have to get used to the idea that I like my independence."
"And you're going to have to get used to the idea that you have to let me in at some point," Peter said. "I don't mean into your house, but through your walls. You haven't even introduced me to your sister yet."
"We can rectify that," Sarah said. "I'll invite her to dinner at my place one of these nights. Okay?"
"Okay," Peter said.
"Now, can we get going?" Sarah asked. "We're running late as it is, and you know how much that annoys Alec."
"Yes, we can go," Peter said, grabbing his bag. "Though I'm still not sure what I'm even doing with Afterlife. Brittney let's me help sometimes, but Alec hasn't given me any real jobs."
"He will," Sarah said. "You're our cleanup guy, after all."
Peter smirked. "I like that. I'm the janitor."
Sarah rolled her eyes and headed out the door. She waited for Peter to step out and then locked it behind them. They climbed into Sarah's car and headed for Afterlife.
When they got there, everyone else was already present.
"What took so long?" Conner Kingsley asked. He wiggled his eyebrows. "Were you having a little too much fun to show up on time?"
Sarah transformed into a wolf and growled at him.
Conner held up his hands. "Easy there, wolf-girl. I was just playing. No need to rip my head off."
She blinked at him with her yellow eyes, and then curled up on the floor next to Chloe. Chloe reached down and scratched behind her ears.
"Hey, Peter," Harper said. She was sipping a ginger ale. "You want something to drink?"
"Sure," Peter said. "I'll have a soda."
Brittney bounded to the fridge before Harper had a chance. "All we've got is ginger-ale," she called out.
"Sure," Peter said.
Brittney grabbed one and tossed it to him. He caught it and sat down next to Conner.
"Alright," Conner said. "Now that Peter's got his drink, can we get started? I have a soccer game that I need to get to. It's James' first one, and I don't want to miss it. He'd never forgive me."
Sarah glanced over at Harper, expecting to see her flinch or something, like she used to do whenever Conner mentioned his new family, but Harpe
r seemed wholly unaffected. She supposed it came from being with Alec.
"And I have to get to the station," Brittney said. "I'm going to be working on a new case."
Harper glanced at Brittney. "Do you want my help?"
"No," Brittney said. "I told Ryan that you're still recovering. I can handle the police side of this one. Though we might need all hands on deck when it comes to actually solving the case. It's involving--"
"--We can talk about that later," Alec said. "For now, let's focus on what I called you all here for. Rebecca Stanley."
The group let out a collective groan. Sarah's came out in a huff of air.
"I know," Alec said. "But we're going to have to deal with it sooner or later, and Harper and I got reminded of that last night. One of her goons pulled us over and made it clear that Stanley wants us on the case as soon as possible."
"Alright," Sarah said, morphing back into her human self. She wandered over to the fridge and got herself a water. "What do we know?"
"We know that some of her demons have gone rogue," Alec said. "They've turned against her, and are targeting those still loyal to her. She wants us to take them out."
"And now we're hit men?" Conner said. "I don't know if I'm comfortable with indiscriminately wiping out demons just because they don't agree with Stanley. What if they know something we don't? What if they're actually the good guys here?"
Alec shrugged. "I've considered that. We're not going to be just killing them. We're going to find them, and we're going to question them. If they're just turned against Stanley because of something she's done, we're going to convince them to leave her alone. If they're targeting her because they've suddenly become bloodthirsty, then we're going to take them out."
"So our jobs?" Harper asked.
Alec considered for a moment. "I want Sarah to hit the gym with Chloe--"
Chloe groaned.
"I know," Alec said. "But Harper can't go yet. She's still too injured. She's going to hit The San Fransisco with Conner."
Conner and Harper looked at each other. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Conner asked. "Harper's no demon."
"They won't know who she is," Alec said.
"What about me?" Brittney asked.
"You've got your police investigation to handle right now," Alec said. "I'm going to help you with that tonight, after I've had some sleep."
"Alright," Brittney said.
"What am I doing?" Peter asked.
"You can handle Stanley," Alec said. "Go to her and tell her that we're working on her little project."
Peter paled. "She sent demons after me, though."
"And she knows you're one of us now," Alec said.
Sarah shook her head. "I'm not comfortable with Peter going by himself to Stanley. I'll go with him after Chloe and I hit the gym."
"I can handle it," Peter said quickly.
Sarah knew he was just trying to prove himself to her, but she still didn't like the idea. "No. You're not going alone, and that's final. We'll meet back at my place once we're done at the gym and we'll go together. You know, it wouldn't hurt for you to come to the gym with us, actually."
Chloe shook her head. "He doesn't have a pass yet, and he's already been once."
Sarah frowned. "You're right. Fine, then we'll meet up after, like I said."
Peter sighed but nodded.
"Alright," Alec said. "Everyone knows their jobs. Let's get to it, people. We need to figure out who these demons are, and why they're going rogue."
FOUR
Conner beckoned Harper over. "Let's take my car."
Harper shrugged. "That's fine."
They went out together and Conner saw Harper looking around for his sports car. He shook his head and pointed to a minivan. "That's my new ride."
"You traded in your beast?" Harper asked incredulously. "You loved that car."
"It wasn't safe for James," Conner said. He felt himself flushing, and reminded himself that he had nothing to be ashamed of. He was just putting his child first, that's all. That's what father's did. "Come on, it's not so bad."
"It's just doesn't fit you," Harper said. She shrugged and got in the passenger's side.
Conner said nothing to this, and instead just started up the van. They drove in silence for a long while, before Conner glanced over at Harper. He thought she looked exceptionally beautiful that day. The red in her hair stood out from the blonde, and she had a few freckles dotting her nose from the sun.
Then he shook his head. He couldn't be thinking of her like that, not now. He had chosen Janice after all. "Harper, how are things with Alec?"
"They're good," Harper said. "We finished moving my things into his apartment this morning. I'm going to have to redecorate some. His place just isn't something that I enjoy. I like my colors."
Conner nodded. "I know you do. You know, it's funny. You wouldn't move in with me when I asked, but you moved in with Alec with no problem." He saw the way she flushed and immediately cleared his throat. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad. It's obvious that you and Alec belong together. Everyone knows that. Everyone has always known that."
"I would have moved in with you," Harper said quietly. "If you'd just given me enough time."
"It wouldn't have been the same," Conner said. "You wouldn't have been happy, not with Alec always there."
"So you're saying it's a good thing we broke up?" Harper asked.
"I'm not saying that," Conner said quickly. "Damn it, I can't get out what I mean. Look, Harper, I just don't want there to be any hard feelings between us. We have to work together, and I still consider you one of my best friends. Maybe leaving you for Janice wasn't the best thing I could have done, but--"
"--Conner, leave it," Harper said. "You have nothing to apologize for, if that's where you're going. You had the chance for a family and you took it. I don't blame you for that. I don't blame you at all, okay? There's no hard feelings. We've both moved on."
Conner let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks, Harper. That means a lot. Hey, after this, do you want to come with me to James' soccer game?"
"Will Janice be there?"
"She will," Conner said. "Will that be too awkward for you?"
Harper shook her head. "No, it'll be fine. I have some questions for her, actually. I'm trying to work on a spell and I'm having a difficult time with it. I'm hoping she might be able to provide some insight."
Conner nodded. "You're really getting into the witch thing, aren't you?"
"I am," Harper said. "I know that Ileana wasn't a witch, but that doesn't mean that I can't be one, with the right practice and temperament."
They pulled into the parking lot of the San Fransisco. Conner looked over at Harper. "You know, I know that Alec said you should come with me, but if you're nervous at all, you can just wait in the car. I don't mind going in alone. I've done it plenty of times."
"Nonsense," Harper said. "I can handle it."
"Alright, let's do this," Conner said.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a twirl. Harper laughed and swatted him away.
The two of them walked into the San Fransisco and headed toward the ATM. The San Fransisco was not known for being cheap; the cheapest slots were $10 a spin, and the minimum bet at the tables was $50. They both maxed out their cards and then looked at each other.
"This place is crawling," Harper whispered.
"Of course it is," Conner said. "It's a demon hangout. Do you want to stay together or split up?"
"Let's split up and cover more ground," Harper said. "Just, let's stay in sight of each other. I'll take the slots right over there and you go to that table."
Conner nodded and morphed into his incubus form. He wandered over to the table that Harper had pointed out and took a seat. He exchanged some of his cash for chips and placed a bet.
"Hey there," said a man next to him. Conner looked over and saw what looked like a regular man. He assumed he was a vampire that was out during the day, so he wasn't able to transf
orm.
"Hey," Conner said. "How's the tables today? Looks a little empty in here."
The man shrugged. "I'm on a winning streak. The dealer is great. She warns me when I'm about to make a stupid mistake."
Conner smiled. "My favorite kind of dealer. You have no idea how much I've lost because I wasn't paying attention."
The man laughed and held out a hand. "I'm Eric."
"Conner," Conner said, taking the hand and shaking it. He glanced down at his cards and signaled the dealer that he wanted to stand. "So what's with the place? Normally, you'd see five times the amount of people in here. Some convention that I'm missing out on?"
Eric's expression darkened. "No convention. Just a woman that's trying to clean up the streets. I'm sure you've heard of her: she's that councilwoman running for mayor."
"Stanley?" Conner asked. "Yeah, I've heard of her. What's her deal with the San Fransisco?"
"She's banned her men from coming here," Eric said. "I think it's scared off a lot of others too. It's really cut down on traffic."
"Why?" Conner asked, nonplussed.
"She doesn't like them associating with the rest of us," Eric said. "It's a shame, because some of them were really good at knowing when and where attacks were going to happen. I always managed to get a good feast in from their information."
Conner considered this a moment. "They can't be happy about that."
"If they're not, they're not showing it," Eric said.
"How do you know this anyway?" Conner asked. He raked in his chips from his win, and set out a new bet. The dealer nodded at him, and dealt the cards.
"I hear things," Eric said. "I'm friends with one of her succubi. We used to have a great time together until Stanley told her she couldn't associate with me anymore."
"What a shame," Conner said dryly. "Succubi can make great bed warmers."
"You're telling me," Eric said. "She gave me a choice, of course. I could join Stanley or I could get lost. I got lost in a hurry."
Conner raised his eyebrows. "So Stanley is recruiting."
"Don't join her, man," Eric said. "She's got a reputation for killing those who don't agree with her. And she uses us like errand boys."
The Zig Zag Scam (Afterlife Book 12) Page 2