by Bianca D’Arc
Jack was sure to keep Kiki’s wineglass topped up. She was drinking steadily and was already a little tipsy, if he was any judge. He decided to ask some questions about her workplace, hoping to find out a bit more about the plant while her guard was down.
“I’d never been to a paper mill before today,” he said between bites, hoping to turn the conversation in the direction he wanted it to go.
“No?” She looked adorably puzzled for a moment, then her expression cleared. “Oh, I guess SeaLife Enterprises has a lot of different businesses under its umbrella.”
Jack nodded. “Exactly. To my knowledge, this is the only paper business in the SeaLife portfolio. Did you always want to work in the paper business?”
“Me? Oh, no. My degree is in Business Administration. I would’ve taken any job in my field, and this just happened to be the one that was offered,” she said, sipping her wine, again. She was going to have a bit of a headache tomorrow, if she wasn’t careful, but right now, Jack was just as glad to have the opportunity to question her.
“Do you like it there?” he prodded as he ate steadily. She nibbled on the little tidbits she’d taken from the appetizer plates but drank more than ate, which suited him, at the moment.
“Like it?” She tilted her head a little unsteadily. “Actually, if I’m being honest, no. I did, at first, but there have been some things…” She trailed off, and he let her think for a moment before prompting her.
“What kind of things?” Hopefully, she’d keep talking.
“Really strange things,” she went on, and he felt a moment of triumph, even as a little frown formed just above her eyebrows. “Bad things.”
“Bad things?” he repeated, hoping to coax her into saying more.
She looked around, as if checking if anyone was listening to them, then leaned in a bit. Her voice lowered, but he could easily hear her with his superior shifter hearing. He leaned closer to her, anyway, knowing the feeling of intimacy might cause her to share more.
“A week ago, I stayed late and decided to check something for myself in the warehouse because everyone else was gone that I would have usually asked for the information.” Yes, her words were convoluted. She was definitely more than a little tipsy. But Jack was following so far. “I’d never been to that part of the warehouse before, but I figured I would just go quickly and get the lot numbers I needed, then go back to my office and complete my report. But when I got there…” Again, she looked around. “When I got there… It was horrible.”
She reached for her wine and drank a healthy sip. When she didn’t keep talking, Jack had to prompt her some more.
“What was so horrible? Was the warehouse disorganized?” he asked, his tone somewhat bored.
“No.” Her volume rose a bit with her vehemence, then she lowered her voice even more. “They were standing in a circle around an…an…altar. They were chanting. It was bad. Evil.” She shook her head in horror.
Jack tried hard to hide his interest. Now, they were getting somewhere.
“Really?” He tried to inject just enough interest into the single word to make her go on.
“They were wearing robes. Black robes with black embroidery that was glowing red.” She paused, shuddering a bit. “The hoods were up, so I couldn’t tell who they all were, but I think I recognized some of them. They work in the factory.” She took a sip of her wine, shutting her eyes as if to shut out the memory.
“What did you do? Did they see you?” Jack prompted her to continue.
“I don’t think so. I went back the way I’d come, and when I got back to my office, I packed up and left as quickly as I could. I went straight home and got out the salt.” She nodded in emphasis, as if pleased with her own actions. She was drunk, but he wasn’t going to stop her from drinking, now. Not when he was learning things he needed to know.
Jack didn’t know exactly what to make of the last comment, though he had some vague recollection that human mages sometimes used lines of salt in their incantations. Maybe that’s what it was about Kiki that drew him. Maybe she had magical knowledge, if not actual magic of her own. Although, he couldn’t be exactly sure about her yet. She might just be really good at hiding her talents, if any.
“Then, that weekend, Mr. Boehm invited me to a barbeque at his house. I was surprised, to say the least. I had no idea they got together socially, but maybe that’s just because I’m so new. Anyway, I couldn’t refuse the invitation, so I went. Everything was fine until I stepped into his backyard.” She sipped at her wine again. “They were all out by the grill. It felt like the place in the warehouse had felt. Dark. Sinister. Evil. I pretended to trip and twist my ankle so I could leave.”
Smart girl. “That was probably wise,” Jack said aloud. He was trying to figure out how to play this, but he figured some truth wouldn’t hurt. Not too much, but enough to keep her talking. “You know, I’ve seen some weird stuff in my time. My brothers and I came across a group of devil worshipers a few years ago.” Elspeth, the so-called Mater Priori and Destroyer of Worlds, was a kind of devil, to his mind. “Bad business, that.”
“The worst,” she agreed. “I don’t know what these people are doing, but I decided, then and there, that I’d just do my job, so I could pay my bills, and I began job hunting that very afternoon. As soon as I find something else, I’m out of here.” Her gaze rose to meet his as if she’d just realized she could be in trouble for what she’d said. It was adorable, but he didn’t let her see his amusement. “I probably shouldn’t have told you that. Sorry.” She put down her wineglass and looked at it as if it had betrayed her. “I told you I don’t normally drink much.”
“That’s okay. Honestly, I don’t blame you for feeling that way about the company after what you’ve experienced. Remember, I’m from corporate. I have no allegiance to the current leadership or employees of this particular operation, beyond the general feeling that I want all good, honest workers to be treated fairly, and that the company operates within legally mandated guidelines.” He sighed and hoped she was still with him. “I was sent here because SeaLife believes there’s some kind of problem. I’m the one who has to figure out what it is. It just may be that your candidness about what you observed will help me do that job, so I thank you for it.”
She seemed placated, but he noticed she didn’t touch any more wine. The waitress served their entrees at that point, and he asked the woman to bring over a carafe of water with lemon wedges. He figured he’d gotten all he could out of Kiki for tonight—and it was plenty. Better to let her sober up and try to avoid a pounding headache in the morning. The food would help.
Chapter Five
They set about eating their main course with little conversation, except the occasional comment on the quality of the food or the environment. They were discussing the weather forecast by the time they’d finished their meals, and Kiki seemed a lot more sober. She had sipped the lemon-water with her gnocchi and had only eaten a third or so of her plate before signaling to the waitress that she’d like to take the rest home. Nothing was left of the seafood feast Jack had ordered, and he’d enjoyed every last bite of the deliciously prepared meal.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you were hungry,” Kiki observed with a grin. “I have three brothers, but I’ve never seen a man eat that much in one sitting.”
Jack rubbed his stomach and grinned back at her. “Then, you have obviously never seen the Bishop boys at the dinner table. I think me and my brothers can out-eat anybody on the planet. There were often fork fights over the last roll in the basket. See?” He held up his hand and pointed to a non-existent scar. “This is where King stuck me with a fork when I was twelve.”
Kiki giggled as he’d hoped she would. “I don’t believe you.” She leaned forward to inspect his hand. “You don’t have a scar.”
“It healed,” he shrugged. What he’d said was the honest truth, but his shifter metabolism and innate magic had made short work of the small wound.
The waitress c
ame over with Kiki’s doggie bag and the check, which Jack paid for with the spiffy new company credit card Beth and Trevor had given him for this job. He was officially an employee of SeaLife Enterprises for the duration of this mission, and Trevor had even talked about future work for the company after this task was done. Jack was seriously considering the idea. If he could work from Grizzly Cove, he could at least see his brothers and their new mates between missions. It would never be like it was, with the three of them working together all the time, but it could still be good.
His brothers were intensely happy now, and he didn’t begrudge them that at all. No, Jack was truly happy for his brothers. In fact, he hoped to find a mate of his own and settle down like they had—at some point in the future—but lightning had already struck twice in the Bishop family. It would be too much to think that Jack could find his mate so soon.
Although… If he was going to find a mate, he would be hard-pressed to find a woman nicer and sweeter than Kiki. She was pretty, smart, and not much of a drinker. A fact that he was reminded of when she stood a little unsteadily after he’d paid the bill. Jack immediately took her arm to steady her, and she looked up to meet his gaze.
Time stood still as their eyes met and held. The busy restaurant and the noise all around them faded into insignificance.
“Sorry. I guess I’m still feeling the effects of that delicious wine,” she said, a little breathless.
“Let me walk you home. It’s late, and I’d like to make sure you get there safely.” He tried hard to keep the possessive growl of his inner bear out of his voice.
She agreed, and they left the restaurant together. She was carrying the little doggie bag containing the uneaten portion of her meal. She had even put what little of the bread left in the basket that had been served with their meal into the bag, which made him realize that she was a thrifty soul. She didn’t let anything go to waste. She’d talked about having to keep her job, even when she knew things were wrong there, to pay her bills. He supposed he’d have to look into her financial situation to verify, but he suspected she was living frugally because she had to watch every penny.
No shame in that. He’d been there a time or two, himself. Not all shifters were independently wealthy. He and his brothers had lived from hand-to-mouth most of their lives, and he respected Kiki’s steadfast strength in going back to the factory in spite of what she’d claimed to have witnessed.
He’d have to look further into everything she’d told him, just to be sure, but his gut was telling him she was on the level. If she wasn’t, she was some kind of master of deception, and he just didn’t think that was the case. Still, he had to be cautious and dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. He was on SeaLife’s payroll now, and he had to answer to his immediate boss, Ezra Tate, and ultimately to Trevor, and his mate, Beth, who owned the company.
Jack wouldn’t skimp when it came to his job. He had an obligation to do the best possible work for his friends and employers. The stakes were high. SeaLife had become a thing of horror due to Beth’s stepfather dealing in illegal and disgusting activities, including acts of human trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling, and even murder-for-hire. Beth and Trevor were trying to set things right, and Jack was part of that. He wanted to help them get things back on the straight and narrow.
But he also found himself falling for the babe in the woods—the pretty paper pusher who had no head for alcohol. He liked Kiki. There was no equivocating. He really liked her. A lot. He wasn’t altogether sure he trusted her yet, but that would come, he hoped, as soon as he had a chance to double-check her story.
He walked her home, his senses on alert for anything out of the ordinary. He caught the scent of evil not far from her door, and a frisson of dark magic made him want to shake out his fur, but it was an older trace. Whoever had been casting spells—or whatever it was they had been doing—was long gone now. The energies left behind by such workings were hours—maybe even days—old.
The feeling got stronger as Kiki slowed her steps and reached into her pocket to retrieve her keys. Whatever had been done, it was Kiki’s home that was at the center of the magical working. Of that, Jack was sure.
“Well, this is my place,” she said needlessly as they stopped in front of the garden gate.
A short walkway led to a quaint cottage set only a few yards off the street. They weren’t too far from the center of town here, but it was a small town, and the area around Kiki’s cottage was all very similar. Row houses and small cottages were side by side, each with a small front garden, the houses separated by narrow driveways that led to garages in the rear of the houses. It was quaint. And vulnerable.
“Cute place,” he commented, nodding toward the house.
“I liked it the moment I saw it, and the rent was very reasonable,” she replied. “I liked the garden most of all. Lots of herbs and flowers.”
The garden was wild looking to his eyes. He could see a lot better than regular humans in the dark, thanks to his bear half, and he didn’t see anything sinister in the front yard as she unlatched the gate and walked through. He followed, though she hadn’t exactly invited him into the garden. Still, he had this sense that he needed to see her right up to her door and safely tucked inside.
He entered the garden and immediately felt the peace of the place. Looking down, he noticed a faint line of white on the ground. It could easily have been mistaken for sand, but he knew without asking that it was a fine line of salt. Kitchen witchery, some might call it, but it was effective, nonetheless.
Whatever malevolent magic he’d sensed outside the boundaries of this garden, it did not penetrate here. The salt, or maybe the garden itself, kept the evil at bay. Dark magic had tried and failed to enter here. It had been gently, but powerfully, repulsed.
Somehow, Kiki—or possibly one of her neighbors, or even the landlord who owned her cottage—had known enough to run a line of salt across the threshold. Then again, Kiki had probably done this herself, since she’d mentioned breaking out the salt after what she’d seen in the warehouse.
Words of magic invocation had probably been spoken as well. Jack couldn’t be sure exactly what had been done, but it had definitely been protective magic. The salt line had formed a barrier that nothing intent on doing harm could pass.
The feeling and scent of dark magic had dissipated the moment he’d stepped over the line, even though it had been almost oppressively strong on the other side of that faint, salty line. If he had to piece together what might have transpired, he’d say someone intent on either spying on or causing harm to Kiki had come right up to her garden gate, but the rudimentary protection had stopped them in their tracks.
As they walked slowly toward the front door, Jack noticed the plants, growing wild and free in an unorganized chaos that soothed his senses. This was no rigid garden pruned to within an inch of its life. No, this was more a collection of plants placed in various spots and allowed to grow where they willed.
It was natural. Welcoming. It had an innocent, wild magic, all its own. He could see why she liked this garden. It was like walking out of the human world on the street just beyond the gate into an enchanted forest.
He was getting fanciful. Maybe he’d also had too much of the Chianti? Or, maybe, it was the woman who affected him so greatly. She went up the two little steps that led onto a small covered porch. He noted the weathered rocking chair off to one side where a person could sit and look out at the garden, maybe sipping a cup of tea. Though, where that image came from, he had no idea. Jack wasn’t altogether certain he’d ever had a cup of tea in his life.
Still, the image persisted. He could just see Kiki sitting there in the early evening breeze, watching the last rays of the setting sun, sipping a steaming cup of herbal tea. Was he seeing an echo of something she’d done? Or, more likely, was he just letting his imagination run away with the fairies?
Fairies? Now, what made him think of those immensely powerful creatures? Jack wanted to shake hi
s head. He was getting confused between the magical vision he was seeing—the porch tableau overlaid with a glow of fairy lights.
There was something weird about this place.
Yet another thing he would have to investigate. But not right now. No, as he followed Kiki up onto the small porch and watched her fumble with her key, he wanted only one thing more in this magical evening.
She opened the door and turned to him, a triumphant smile on her face for having managed to get the door open after more than a few tries. He couldn’t help himself. Maybe it was the magic of the place reaching out to him. Maybe it was the woman before him, her face framed in starlight and the magical glow of the garden that seemed to intensify the longer he was in it. Maybe it was just natural that he give in to the smoldering attraction he’d felt for Kiki since almost the first moment they’d met.
Whatever it was, it compelled him to dip his head closer. Inhaling her delectable scent, he brushed her smiling lips with his and captured her little gasp against his mouth.
Testing to see if she’d freeze up or push him away, he waited, patient, his mouth caressing hers lightly, until… Yes. She moved into his embrace as his arms came up around her. She wasn’t pushing him away. Far from it.
She moved closer, and he took it as implicit permission to kiss her a little more intimately.
Kiki could scarcely believe it. She was in Jack’s arms, his mouth on hers, and he was kissing the very breath from her body.
She liked it. She really liked it. Perhaps too much, but she wouldn’t ruin the moment by thinking about that now. No, now, all she wanted to do was kiss him back.
She opened herself to the experience and drank in the sensations. His lips were demanding, coaxing, seductive and strong. Nothing about Jack was tentative, and she found she liked that very much. This was a man who knew what he wanted and reached out to take it. Not by force, but with gentle seduction that was both mesmerizing and rewarding.