by Nora Ash
I bit my lip. It kinda did—much better than what I’d be able to manage with all my pent-up anxiety, I was sure. Reluctantly, I nodded. “All right. But... don’t eat so much as a crumb, okay? I’m serious—it wasn’t just spit I put in there. You don’t want to be eating that. Understood?”
Jade cringed even as she laughed. “Gotcha. I have no desire to eat any of your boogers, crazy lady. Thanks for the hot chocolate.”
“Thanks for the double rescue and company,” I said as I followed her out into the hallway.
She flashed me a smile over her shoulder before she opened the door and stepped out onto the stairs. “Anytime, Poppy. I’m always here if you need me.”
Despite everything, there was a genuine smile on my face as I closed the door behind her. It seemed like my little demon problem would be sorted out very soon. And maybe—just maybe—I’d have a friend by the end of it, too.
9
JACKSON
After Poppy and the human girl were safely inside her apartment, I jogged around the corner for my car and drove straight to where I knew the sheriff lived.
All night, as I’d rummaged through Molly Perkins’ house, my mind had been going over everything I knew about Don Wilson, from what I’d been able to read up on in his file when I was first handed the case, to every minuscule facial expression he’d made when he’d come to pick up Poppy. Everything in my gut told me he was sketchy as fuck, and it wasn’t just because I’d seen him jerk off outside Poppy’s windows. My Wolf practically salivated with rage just at the thought of him and his dirty hand on the little witch’s back as he led her away, and it had taken everything I had not to stake out the restaurant while they ate. I’d known they’d be in public and that he wouldn’t try anything then, but when I’d swung by after finishing at Perkins’, my stomach had dropped once I realized they’d left. Much too soon.
Thank fuck she’d been smart enough not to go home with him.
But that blood on the window? After spending a couple of hours in the victim’s home, I’d recognized the scent instantly. It was hers—Molly Perkins’, and it’d had a strong touch of morgue-smell, too. And the only one in town with the keys to the morgue who could have gotten a hold of some of her blood was the sheriff.
I pulled up a couple of houses down from the shabby bungalow I knew to be the sheriff’s and walked the rest of the way, making sure to be quiet about it.
His cruiser was parked in the driveway.
I snuck around to the back and saw the lights were on and a shadow moved inside. Good—so he’s home, and not running around town causing more mayhem.
A grunt sounded from inside, followed by a loud clatter. I creeped all the way up to the window and peered inside—and bit the inside of my cheek at the sight. It was the sheriff, all right, though the way his face was distorted as he swung his fists at the furniture in his small kitchen-diner looked less like a man and more like... a demon.
I frowned as his eyes rolled back in his skull so only the bloodshot whites were visible, his fingernails dragging long, red lines in his bare chest as if he was trying to peel off his own skin. I’d never seen a demon behave quite like that before—but then again, they all were distinctly different, the fuckers.
My Wolf snarled to break free from within me to take on the threat, and I cursed Poppy between gritted teeth—had she not broken the damn weapon, I could have used it now. The catch with weapons-grade, demon-capturing crystals was that you only got one shot, but that was all I’d needed, as preoccupied as the sheriff was with destroying himself and his house.
I hunkered down and settled in for the long haul, resigned to sit between the bushes outside the bungalow for the rest of the night. As frothing as this demon was, there was no way I’d be leaving it unsupervised for the time being. It was one thing was to have a sleeper-demon targeting witches and other paranormals—it was something else entirely to leave an angry one to take out its frustration on an unprotected town.
Nothing like a sleepless night on watch duty in a flower bed, babysitting an upset demon after a bad date. As I watched the sheriff’s rampage, I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had gone down with Poppy to piss him off this bad—or how the fuck she hadn’t realized her date was something more than human, if even a smidgen of his current temper had shown through.
Something I’d have to ask her in the morning, when she’d hopefully worked out how to stop the fucking thing.
SHERIFF WILSON SETTLED down in the early hours of the night, collapsing face-first onto the leftovers of his small dining table.
I stayed in my flower bed until just after six, when his alarm went off and he jolted awake once more.
Instead of the horrifically distorted features he’d sported last night, he looked more like a man who woke up after a bad night on the town, grimacing when he took in his bloodied knuckles.
Only when he stumbled off toward the bathroom did I get up from the ground to make my way back to my car. Whatever bad mood had possessed the demon last night, it seemed like it was over—and I needed to get back to Poppy to let her know I had our guy. A brief thought of just texting her and continuing to shadow the sheriff was quickly pushed aside. I might have believed her now when she said she wasn’t behind the demon, but that didn’t mean the little witch wasn’t hiding something. I’d have been a poor agent if I didn’t keep tabs on her.
It had nothing to do with the excited whine from my Wolf at the prospect of seeing her.
Nope.
Not a fucking thing.
I parked up outside Poppy’s Café and Bakery on the opposite curb so I could keep an eye on who came in and out of the shop. Then I grabbed my phone.
Part of the job was keeping my supervisor in the loop, and since I’d finally identified the demon, it was time to give him a bell. Even if it was before seven in the morning. Since I didn’t get any sleep last night, it was only fair that he got an early rise.
“What?” The grumpy voice answering three rings in made me smirk just a little.
“Mornin’, Fulton,” I said, pretending like I didn’t hear him cussing at my chipper tone. “Just wanted to let you know I’ve got the bastard pegged down. Turns out it’s the town sheriff. Interesting twist, huh?”
Sounds of someone shoving duvets aside on the other end of the line made it through my phone. “The sheriff? Thought he’d been in town nearly two years. Get him to spill on why he suddenly decided to kill that woman?”
“He’s not under detention just yet. I’ll have more answers once I’ve got him neutralized. But that woman he killed—Molly Perkins. She seems to have been an unregistered witch. So far, it looks like it might have been a summoning gone wrong, but I’ll update you when he’s been captured.”
A moment’s silence. “Why on Earth is he not under detention yet? He’s killed already—you can’t leave him wandering around the damn town. It’s not like you to make such a reckless decision—what’s going on, agent?”
I grimaced. “There’s been a… complication. The crystal got destroyed. It’s under control, though. I’ve got the help of a local witch. She should have something fixed up within a day or two. No need to worry—I got this.”
“Another unregistered local witch? What the hell’s gotten into you, Jackson? You don’t involve civilians, you get in touch with HQ when the equipment is compromised. Not whichever magic fanny happens to fall into your lap! How can you be sure she’s not involved in the case?”
It’d been awhile since I’d heard Fulton this pissed. “Calm down, she’s solid. And she’s on the register, just never informed us of moving here—which no one ever does, anyway. It’s much easier to use a local witch than it is to get someone from HQ out.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what this is, Jackson. If you can accept help from a civilian witch, you must be able to see how valuable it would be to you if you had an actual partner with magical abilities. What’s this civilian’s name, anyway? I’ll look her up in the register, make sure she
is really as solid as you claim.”
“That’s not necessary, Fulton, we’re good. Sorry, I’ve got to run—suspect’s on the move. Call you back when I’ve got him.” I hung up and wiped a hand across my face. I’d just lied to him—to protect the witch. Why the fuck did I just lie to him?
I was pretty sure Poppy was hiding something—and still, I didn’t want Fulton looking into her background. Not so much in case there was anything incriminating on her records, but because… I cussed quietly between clenched teeth when I realized why.
If she turned out to be involved with the fucking demon despite my instincts telling me otherwise, she’d be a fugitive for the rest of her life if the Agency found out her identity.
And what, exactly, is your fucking plan here, Jackson? I thought sarcastically at myself. Let a shady witch skip town and tell the Agency a fake name? What the fuck is wrong with you?!
I breathed deeply to calm my agitation and stared at the front of the shop, no longer marred by the demon’s bloody gift.
I was one hundred percent certain she hadn’t bewitched me in any way, knew my instincts would have alerted me when I asked her point-blank even if she’d lied, and still… I couldn’t keep pushing away the very real knowledge that every ounce of me ached to protect her. It wasn’t like anything I’d felt with a normal asset. It was different, stronger… primal.
I hadn’t felt urges like it since… since I’d belonged to a pack.
I pressed my hand to my stomach at the unwelcome, but expected pang of longing in my gut the thought of my pack always brought. I’d been nothing but an overgrown teenager, but my Wolf had been all alpha, and with it came the ingrained need to protect my pack, my family.
Grunting, I rubbed a hand against the aching, empty place and forced my thoughts back to the now. Hurting over what I’d lost wasn’t going to capture this fucking demon, and neither was worrying over my Wolf’s obsession with the little redhead.
Poppy Rose. She was still hiding things from me, and I couldn’t let fucking instincts get in my way of getting to the bottom of everything that was going on in Thompson’s Mill.
A somewhat familiar brunette walked past on the opposite side of the road and disappeared into the shop, flipping the sign on the door to “open.” Poppy’s employee. As if by magic, a throng of people appeared outside the shop, the bell jingling over and over as Thompson’s Mill rushed in to gets its early morning coffee and pastry fix.
I remained in my car until the morning rush died down a couple of hours later, watching everyone who came and went and making sure the sheriff wasn’t among them. Once the flow of people finally stemmed, I climbed out of my car and stretched before sauntering across the road to the front of Poppy’s café. All-nighters always stung like a bitch, but sleep wasn’t on the immediate horizon for me. Not until the sheriff was detained.
With a bit of luck, the witch would have a makeshift weapon of some sort ready today.
Or at the very least, a cup of coffee and a muffin. I yawned, and then frowned when my gaze got caught by what looked like cake crumbs in the bin outside Poppy’s café. Blueberry, if I wasn’t mistaken. Looked like someone hadn’t enjoyed their morning muffin, after all.
“Crazy fucks,” I muttered as I entered the shop, the bell announcing my arrival. Her mouthwatering baked goods were the tiny bright side of having to work with a fucking kitchen witch on this case.
Even if my Wolf perked up with excitement at the sight of her pretty, freckled face looking up from behind the counter, its longing whine making my gut clench.
Traitorous fucker.
10
POPPY
I smiled brightly at Jackson when he walked through the door to my café. He tilted his head at me toward the back door leading to my small kitchen, and I nodded and gestured to Jade that she had the lead for a bit.
“You look awfully cheerful,” he said once the door was closed behind us. Suspicion was painted across his handsome features.
“I got rid of the demon,” I said, not completely able to keep the smugness out of my voice. “If he’s not gone yet, he should be before lunch.”
Jackson’s dark eyebrows raised up high on his forehead. “Beg your pardon?”
I grimaced. “Turns out you were right—it was the sheriff all along. So I baked some of the anti-demon powder into his favorite muffin. Jade delivered it to him personally on her way to work this morning.”
His jaw slackened for a moment as he gaped at me—and then his features pulled into a thunderous expression. “You fucking knew who he was? What the fuck happened to informing me before you decided to attempt to kill the bastard? You’re not a fucking agent—and you put yourself and a human in danger just on a whim? What if you were wrong and he hadn’t been the demon? What the fuck would happen to him then, after eating a cursed muffin? For fuck’s sake, of all the irresponsible, idiotic witches I’ve ever come across…”
I paled a little at the outburst of frustration that washed over me from the pacing shifter, not expecting the level of sudden anger. But then my own temper flared and I raised my chin to stare him down. “I don’t know what your problem is. I’ve taken care of your job, the demon is gone, and you can go back to wherever you came from and howl at the moon, or whatever it is you shifters do for fun on the weekend! And trust me, if you’d seen what I had, you’d be sure he was the demon too!”
Jackson narrowed his eyes at me. “How do you know it’ll work? Last we spoke, you weren’t all that trusting of your magic. And what if he didn’t even eat the damn muffin? Then what? I sure as fuck hope you have a backup!”
“He always eats my baked goods,” I said, some of my anger fizzling as his words made me second-guess myself. But no, Sheriff Wilson might be a demon, but if the last year and a half had proven anything, it was that he was a demon with a sweet tooth. “But even if he didn’t, then I have one left over. And plenty more of the powder. I know this will work, Jackson. I could feel it when I made them—the magic is much stronger than any I’ve cast before.”
“I guess we’ll see about that,” he said between clenched teeth. “I’m going to go to the station and check up on him. In the meantime, you’re staying put. If I get back here and your sweet little ass isn’t in the shop or you apartment, you won’t like the consequences. And when I do come back, you and I are going to have us a little chat about how you figured out the demon was the sheriff but forgot to get in touch with me to let me know. Got it? This time, there’ll be no charming your way out of it.”
“Got it, sir,” I snapped, even as a mounting unease settled in my gut.
He huffed at my mock salute, turned on his heel, and stormed out with long strides, his fury nearly crackling in the air around him.
I slumped back against the wall and rubbed my face with both hands. I should have known things were never going to go that smoothly. I might have taken care of my demon problem, but Jackson wasn’t going to stop digging until he uncovered my secret. He might not believe I’d summoned the damn thing myself anymore, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t haul my behind in jail if he didn’t soon lose his mistrust for me, once and for all.
I breathed in deep a couple of times, settling my anxiously beating heart.
But I wasn’t just a scared girl who had no other resort than to flee when threatened. I’d felt the curse in those muffins—my magic was stronger than it’d ever been. If I had enough power to kill a demon, I certainly had enough power to make a snoopy shifter lose interest in my past. And grandma’s spellbook was going to help me.
With renewed resolve, I poked my head in the shop and asked Jade to take care of the customers because I was taking the afternoon off. It was time to take my life in my own hands and get that bossy shifter out of my life.
UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME, Grandma didn’t do a whole lot of “mind your own business” spells. Since I had no desire to try and bind Jackson’s powers or send a demon after him—and boy, did I never realize my grandmother dabbled in things like
that—I was left to flip through the leatherbound tome while casting frantic glances at my clock on the kitchen wall with an increasing sense of urgency. I had no idea how long it would be until Jackson came back, and apart from finding the right spell, I also had to bake it into some form of pastry before he had a chance to corner me.
Sighing with mounting despair, I brushed my hand over the frail pages and closed my eyes. “Come on, Grandma. If there was ever a time to stick your nose through the Veil and intervene with my life, it would be now,” I murmured, not really expecting anything. Divination didn’t run in my bloodline.
True to form, I didn’t get any sense of divine intervention—not so much as a trickle of otherness along the spine or anything—but when I opened my eyes and looked at the page I’d opened the book to, I frowned thoughtfully.
Increasing Fondness & Trust, the title read, and when I looked closer at the spell, it was aimed at making people more comfortable around you so they’d be more inclined to follow your lead.
It wasn’t exactly what I’d been looking for, but the more I considered it, the better it looked. If I, with this spell, could finally convince Jackson there was nothing about me worth a closer look, then he would be on his way swiftly enough without me having to magically drive him out of town.
Relief flooded through me as I rushed around my kitchen, turning on the oven to 350 degrees and grabbing all the ingredients I needed.
I didn’t have any meadowsweet on hand, nor bindweed, and so I added vanilla bean and rose water instead, deciding to bake the magic into a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies. I finished off with a dash of allspice and stirred my magic into the dough with every swirl of the wooden spoon.