He met her gaze squarely. “Yes. And others like you.”
“How many others are there like me?”
“Dexx?”
Then, he wasn’t referencing the fact that she was an animal claimed witch. He was talking about paranormal types who knew how to investigate and hold the law.
“I could name several others.”
And he’d been working on this for a very long time. “Off the top of your head.”
He pulled the corners of his lips and ducked his head slightly without losing her gaze as if acknowledging she’d caught him in his scheme. “Faith.” His tone was soft. “Rainbow. Tarik. Jo. Blithe. Gomez. Ethel.”
“Ethel?”
“Yes. She’s moving up here as well.”
The lab tech from Dallas? “How’d you talk her into it?” She was human.
“I didn’t. She chose to follow you.” But his shoulders tightened.
She narrowed her gaze, the animal within her—not Cawli—rising to the surface. The power of her will edged forward. “She’s human.”
His pupils contracted.
Paige tipped her head to the side and leaned in. “What happens in your world, under the care of the Council of Elders, when humans find out about paranormals?”
Chuck released her gaze, bowing his head. He rubbed his ear.
“They were going to kill her?”
“They—” He cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. “Their duty is to protect the paranormal community, Paige. They don’t always deal out death.”
“Don’t always?”
He went still and said softly, meeting her gaze again, “She has proof, Paige. We could wipe her memories, but we don’t have a witch of Alma’s caliber, and we’ve seen that memory wipes don’t always work anyway. You broke yours.”
“Mine was a memory block.” Alma had blocked all Paige’s memories of Leah and banished her gift. Paige had lived like a mundane for five long years.
He shrugged. “I’ve convinced the council that you need her.”
“And if she tells anyone else?”
“She will be…” Chuck closed his eyes momentarily. “Killed.”
“And the others who know? King? Wrick? Parris?”
Chuck licked his lips. “Tony…” He looked up, holding Paige’s gaze with an intensity. “Is dealing with it.”
“How?”
“He’s negotiated his own truce, but they will be bound by rules as well.”
“And what about others who happen to stumble on the truth?”
“Like Barn?” Chuck offered.
The coroner in Denver. Shit. A chill swept down Paige’s spine. She understood now why Tony had been so pissed. By telling Barn, she’d basically signed his death warrant. Oh, Blessed Mother.
“We need one of those, too,” Chuck said evenly. “But I can’t save everyone. Barn has a position here. He’s already working on relocating. You make him think it was his idea.”
“Make him think…” What?
“He’s going to call you. He’s going to ask if you need help. He’s going to try to find a job here. You act surprised and then tell him you’ll try, but that you might not be able to figure out how to get him out here. You make it seem like all of this was his idea.”
“Why not just tell him?” Leslie asked.
Paige agreed, a heavy feeling sinking in her chest.
“Tell him that the governing agency over the paranormal community he’s invading wants to kill him for the information he possesses?” Chuck smiled sickly at Leslie. “Yes. Let’s do that.”
“And Ethel?”
“Like I said,” Chuck said, returning his gaze to Paige, “she chose to follow you.”
Paige glanced at Alma.
Who appeared calm, almost relieved.
What did her grandmother know? Why wasn’t this a surprise to her? And why hadn’t she informed Paige as to what they’d be stepping into if she knew?
“Gomez is already here with her grove.”
Gomez. Homicide detective from Texas and ash dryad. She’d chosen to move the ash grove to Portland in order to better protect them. But, if Captain Banes wasn’t going to allow Paige on his team, she doubted he’d allow her, though, how he knew who was paranormal and who wasn’t was beyond her. Maybe he had a latent gift.
“Think about it.”
It seemed as if all the decisions had been made for her. What a tidy bow. He got his police chief. He got to play the hero and save at least two human lives. And he gained a powerful witch family in his arsenal. “No.”
Alma’s white eyes widened when she looked at Paige.
Leslie closed her eyes for a long moment.
Chuck sat back. “Why not?”
“Because,” she released a large breath, “I owe you too much already.”
He stared at her, his expression blank. “I’m not purchasing you.”
“It feels like it.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Tru’s job?”
He didn’t even flinch.
“Rebuilding the house?”
He smashed his lips together.
“And now, you’re offering our family the kind of job that could keep two of you employed.”
He took in a breath. “That is not all I’m willing to offer, Paige.”
She let out a whuff of a chuckle.
He closed his eyes for a long moment.
Alma leaned forward, as if trying to force-feed Paige’s mind.
Leslie breathed shallowly, her eyes pinched with worry.
Finally, Chuck opened his eyes. His blue eyes swam. His nose and cheeks colored. “We really need you,” he whispered.
That did not sound like a man trying to buy her loyalty. That sounded like a man trying to do anything in his power to protect his family.
Was Paige really worth everything he’d invested in her?
No.
But, maybe he thought so.
“What about my store?” Leslie asked. “Could you help with that?”
“I have a space downtown that would be perfect for you.” He kept Paige’s gaze, his eyes burning with desperate hope as he kept his tone even. “I own the space and could lease it to you for a reasonable price.”
“I’ll need a loan to get started.”
“And I will loan it to you based on your business plan. Under one condition.”
“What?”
He leaned forward to look at Leslie. “You open a shop of healing for the paranormal community.”
Leslie bit the inside of her lip. “I don’t know anything about most of the people, what would heal them, what would kill them.”
“We would work with you.”
“But I’m a witch.”
“Which is exactly why we need you. We need a witch who doesn’t want to do us harm.” He emphasized those last few words and met Paige’s gaze again.
Okay. Paige got it. Chuck needed Paige for her police work and Leslie for her healing, and Alma for her knowledge—probably—and Dexx for his protection, and Tru for his mad IT skills.
Leslie rolled her head, popping her neck. “Well, I don’t. Mean to harm anyone, I mean.”
“You Whiskeys are a rare breed of witch.” Chuck frowned at the table with a sigh. “We in the paranormal community need you and want to build a better relationship with you.”
“Not all of you,” Paige said.
“No. Not all of us.”
“Well,” Leslie put one foot on the seat of her chair, drawing her knee to her chest. “I for one will think over your proposal.”
“Thank you.” He rubbed one palm with the opposite thumb. “School will also be a problem for your children. The Eastwoods control all the public schools in the Portland area.”
“We’re in Troutdale.”
“I am aware.”
“Really?” Paige slammed her hand against the table. That fucking woman!
Alma raised her chin.
“How does that woman have so much dam
ned power?”
“She’s been here for almost two hundred years.” Chuck held up a finger to stall her continued outburst. “But we have a school and I am here tonight to formally invite you to at least tour it tomorrow.”
Paige released a breath, not quite ready to give in. He was giving too much. Maybe it wasn’t buying so much, but he was still giving a lot.
“It’s a good school,” Chuck said softly. “Just…think about my offer? And come by the school tomorrow and see if you think it would be a good fit.”
She rubbed her lips with the tips of her fingers. What other option did she have?
Bobby slept fitfully that night. Every time Paige put him down, he’d wake up crying and glowing.
Glowing? He only did that when he was in danger. So, what was setting him off?
She looked. With her witch vision, her shifter vision, and her scry globe. Nothing.
That didn’t change the fact that Bobby wouldn’t sleep unless she held him.
She woke up the next morning on the couch, sprawled on Dexx, Bobby sprawled on her.
Leslie came off the bottom step and blinked at them blurrily. “Rough night?”
Paige didn’t want to talk about it.
“I’ll make coffee.”
“Make espresso.”
They didn’t have an espresso machine.
Paige went upstairs, leaving Dexx still sleeping on the couch. That man would be able to sleep through the zombie apocalypse. She ignored the second floor and continued up to the third.
The attic didn’t cover the entire length of the house, but it did cover the south portion. So, it was pretty big. The roof sloped down, making the room even smaller.
But the girls didn’t care.
Leah’s bed was on the north wall, Mandy’s on the east. They’d already set things up. Scarves and other bits of bright pink stuff were strung along the sloped ceiling and inside the gables. They’d made it quite cozy.
Paige perched on the edge of Leah’s bed and gently shook her. “Hey, sleepyhead. Time to get up.”
The girl groaned and turned away, pulling the blanket up over her head.
With Bobby tucked to her shoulder, Paige tugged on the blanket. “Nope. Nope. Come on.”
“It’s summer.”
“I know.” Paige was just grateful that those words had been in English. Leah wasn’t a morning person. Something Paige understood all too well. And English wasn’t a language the girl even spoke before breakfast. “But we’re enrolling you into school. I thought you’d like to check it out.”
Leah turned around, her blue eyes open. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought we could homeschool like we did in Dallas.”
They’d pulled the kids out of public school after the violence toward them had gotten out of hand. The school had a “severe anti-bully” rule, but somehow that hadn’t applied to the Whiskey children.
“No.” Paige smiled. “You’ll be going to school here.”
“But kids scare me.”
Leah had been attacked at the library, had been burned with a lighter in the gym, her hair had been glued, and she’d been beaten. All in the course of a week. And the school had done nothing.
“It’s not going to be like it was in Dallas.”
“Right, Pa—Mom. Like I believe that.”
Three months and Leah still struggled to call her mom. Every time, it felt like a knife to the gut. “Come on. It won’t be that bad.”
“That’s what you said when you enrolled me in that horrible school in Dallas. I told you then I wanted to be homeschooled.”
“How about you just check it out. If you don’t like it—”
“You’ll suck it up and go anyway,” Leslie finished for her.
Paige turned to glare at her sister.
“Mandy,” Leslie barked. “Get your butt out of bed, get your teeth brushed and your hair, and put on some clothes that won’t embarrass me.”
“Nothing embarrasses you,” Mandy muttered into her pillow.
“You embarrass me.”
“You embarrass me, Mom.”
“I do?” Leslie smiled proudly and turned at the door. “Oh, good. My job here is done.”
Paige waited for her sister to disappear down the stairs. “Check it out and if you don’t like it, we’ll discuss options.”
Leah rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
Paige clamped her lips shut and got up. She needed a shower and fresh clothes. And, Blessed Mother, coffee.
Thirty minutes later, her and Bobby were showered and changed and half a cup of coffee was streaming through her system.
Leslie waited until they were shepherding children out the door before speaking her mind. “You’re not supposed to be her best friend, you know.”
“What?” Paige stumbled as the diaper bag banged against the doorway. Babies were a handful. Literally. She carried Bobby in his car seat, the gigantic diaper bag strapped her to shoulder.
“Leah.” Leslie balanced everything like a pro and closed and locked the front door.
“Don’t lock that,” Alma called from the front garden.
“Sorry, Grandma.” Leslie turned the key the other way. “Habit.”
“What do you mean?” Paige asked with a sigh as she headed toward Leslie’s car.
“I mean, that you’re babying that girl and she’s not going to learn how to be a decent adult if you don’t start showing her.”
“I am. By example.”
“She needs a firm hand.”
“I can hear you, Aunt Leslie,” Leah said from the rear seat.
“Good.” Leslie snapped Kamden into the middle seat on the driver’s side.
Three rows of seats. Ingenious. Paige snapped Bobby’s car seat on the passenger side, jamming the seat into Tyler who was wedged between the two car seats. She shut the door and got in. “We have differing parenting techniques.”
“No.” Leslie slid into the driver’s seat and pushed the button to start the car. “You’re spoiling that child because of guilt, and she’s playing you.”
How many times were they going to have this discussion? Leslie didn’t understand. She’d been her children’s mother since they day they were born. Paige’s daughter had been taken from her. “I have a lot to make up for.”
“No. You don’t. You weren’t in her life because Grandma and I made a decision for you.”
“Because I tried to kill Rachel.”
“Yeah. But that wasn’t our choice to make. We shouldn’t have been the judge, jury, and executioner. This is our fault. Stop wearing our blame.”
“I’m not.”
“Then, be her mother.”
“I’m fine with the way she is,” Leah said.
“Shh,” Mandy cautioned.
“Oh, no,” Tyler said over his shoulder. “This is good.”
“Shut up, Ty.” Leslie pulled onto the black top road and headed away from town. “She needs you to be mean.”
“No.” Mean? If she put her foot down, Leah might run away. She might pull away. They barely had a relationship as it was. “I disagree.”
“I didn’t say evil, Pea. She needs you to draw the line, make the rules, and then enforce them.”
Yes. Right. But wouldn’t it be better if they had a relationship first? “And how would you suggest I do that?”
“The same way you would at work. Blessed Mother, Pea, you’re amazing at work, but you suck at everything at home.”
Paige opened her mouth in shock. That statement stung.
“She’s a child, Pea. She doesn’t make the decisions. You do. So, do so and then enforce them.”
Paige glared out the window at the passing trees. A storm cloud loomed above them, casting the morning in gloom. “You’re thinking about accepting Chuck’s help.”
Leslie glared at Paige briefly before returning her attention to the road. “Nice subject change, but yes. Without it, we’re as good as dead and you know it.”
Paige
did. “I don’t. We still haven’t exhausted all other options.” Was she being stubborn just to be stubborn or did she really have a viable reason? After her conversation with Chuck the night before, she…didn’t really think she had any viability behind her argument anymore. But she would have to draw the line. And then make him not cross it. He was being too generous.
“Well,” Leslie said, irritated, “when you have, let me know.”
As if Leslie ever needed her baby sister’s approval. On anything. “I take it you’re going to accept his help.”
“Yes, actually, I am.”
“And the kids? What are you going to do there?”
“Send them to school.” Leslie extended her head forward, elongating her neck.
“And what about after school?”
“Parents work all the time, Pea. You honestly think that all these questions haven’t already been answered. Having any adults at home is a luxury now. A luxury.”
“But this is different, Les.” Paige was super happy for Leslie that she was chasing her dreams, but as a woman with a demanding career, she didn’t think Leslie was taking into effect just how much time her dream was going to take away from her kids. “You’re opening a store. What are you going to do? Operate on bankers hours? The location he referenced is downtown.”
“Yeah. Downtown Troutdale.”
Oh.
“So, I can operate the hours I need to and leave my number in case something comes up. And I’ve got a budget in there for a part-time counter worker so I can take care of my family. Trust me, Pea. I’ve worked this out.”
Paige held up her hands, jiggling her head back and forth. “Fine.”
“Fine.” Leslie turned down a dirt driveway. “I take it you’re not going to accept his offer?”
“I can’t, can I?” Probably not. No. But how else was she going to do what she needed? She wasn’t like Leslie. She didn’t plan. She didn’t even know how to come up with a business plan. Didn’t even know what one looked like. And budgets? Her time in Dallas had been a real eye opener. She sucked at budgets. “You won’t be put in a possible situation where loyalties are called into question.”
“So, you’re just going to let this murder and all those soulless kids go un-investigated?”
Sometimes, Paige really hated her sister.
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