Oren shook it and dipped his head. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Jason.” He kept hold of his hand as he stepped up to the same level. “But if you hurt her in any way, it will all sour very quickly.”
“See, a threat like that makes total sense now,” Papan said when Oren dropped his hand.
“I don’t know what you mean.” For once, the old man looked clueless.
Papan smiled at him. “I know who you are.”
Oren took the next step up. “I didn’t think my being a witch was a secret.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
I rolled my eyes. “He knows who you are in relation to me. I told him everything.”
“Really?” That wasn’t the reaction I’d expected. For some reason I thought maybe he would be angry.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I have only good intentions for Fox.”
I swiveled around to face the front door. Yeah, right. I knew for a fact that a lot of Papan’s intentions were full of naughty notions. I unlocked the door and pushed it open, then stepped inside a little cautiously. I hadn’t been back since yesterday afternoon and hoped there weren’t any unexpected surprises.
I pulled my mobile phone out of my pocket and dumped it on the hall table, along with my keys and wallet. As soon as I did, the phone started to ring. I peered at the number but didn’t recognize it, so I ignored it. I didn’t remove the dagger from my boot, though. Knowing it was there just in case I needed it was becoming the norm.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Oren asked, stepping in behind Papan and closing the front door.
Papan continued into the house, peering into the living room before heading for the adjoining kitchen.
“No,” I said. “It’s not a number I recognize. Whoever it is can call back later or leave me a message.”
Oren quirked a white eyebrow but didn’t follow it up with another question or comment. Instead, he grabbed my hand and forced me to face him. “I’m not surprised you confided in Jason. Actually, I’m surprised it took you this long to tell him the truth.”
“I’d been debating whether to tell him or not for days, but was worried it might upset you.” I shrugged. “It was the right time to tell him.”
“Yet you didn’t say anything to me about it.”
I sighed and stared into his eyes. “Look, as helpful as you are and as much as I’m really starting to like having you around, I hate dumping so much on you. I don’t want to become a problem in your life.”
“You’re not a problem.” He squeezed my hand lightly and released it. “You’ll never be a problem. I also never look at helping you as having you dump things on me. I want to help in any way I can. There have been instances where I’ve failed you and I don’t ever want something like that to happen again.” He looked away for a moment. “The only saving grace is that I know you’re capable of taking care of yourself. But I’ll always be here to help, so let’s get on with checking out that file.”
“The coast is clear,” Papan called from the kitchen.
He’d probably gone down to the lower floor of my split-level house and inspected the rooms too. One couldn’t be too careful. From my experience with the bad guys, they liked to hide in the shadows, and invading my house was no big deal to them.
“Thanks, Oren.” This time I squeezed his cold fingers. I really did appreciate him being around and always willing to lend a helping hand. When he’d first thrown himself into my life and told me what our true connection was, I’d resented him. But the walls I’d carefully constructed to protect myself had slowly crumbled. We’d been through too much during the last few months.
“You’re always welcome.”
“I’ll be back in a second,” I said to him, and headed for the stairs leading up to my bedroom. I might have had another shower after breakfast at Papan’s place, but I didn’t like the idea of spending all day in yesterday’s clothes.
As soon as I stepped into my room—which, together with the attached bathroom, was the only thing on the second story—I headed for the large window. It was a habit I’d developed since peering out one night to find I was being watched by a naked, feral man.
A few cars travelled up and down the street and the neighbor across the road happened to be picking up the newspaper from his doorstep. Everything looked and felt normal. Something my life wasn’t.
When things felt this calm, I couldn’t help holding my breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course, that’s when I remembered the Obscurus were still after me, my ex refused to leave me alone, a former werewolf hunter was still stalking my new boyfriend—it felt so good to call him that—and my half-sister had poltergeists attached to her.
I shook off all uncomfortable thoughts and headed for my dresser so I could grab some clean undergarments. I also grabbed a black pair of skinny jeans, a tank top and a gray sweatshirt. It took me less than ten minutes to get changed, run a brush through my knotty curls to turn them into long waves, and head downstairs barefooted. I felt a little naked without my silver dagger.
Halfway down I remembered my laptop was still upstairs and quickly raced back up to get it and the USB drive. I couldn’t help wondering about the demon, Saul, and recall Lavie’s brief argument about him with her aunt. I’d learned from my fellow hunters that there was a fine line between prey and predator. Sometimes the terms even seemed interchangeable.
After all, Oren called himself a witch hunter and had once told me the best way to catch a witch was to be one.
I raced downstairs again to find the two men sitting at the kitchen table. Papan was sipping a mug of coffee—I could smell it from here—and Oren a cup of tea. He never drank anything but tea. When the former made a move to stand and head for the coffee machine, I pressed my hand down on his firm shoulder.
“It’s okay, I’ll get it.”
Papan nodded and took the laptop from me, then placed it on the table in front of him. “I’ll switch it on for the old man,” he said with a chuckle.
Oren didn’t bite, just kept sipping at his tea.
“Here’s the info,” I said, putting the USB drive in Papan’s hand. As our fingers touched, a zing flowed between us and Papan looked up to meet my gaze. It looked like he’d felt the spark too.
Wow, I’ve never experienced such an intense connection with anyone. Being with Papan made me realize that as far as relationships went, I’d been settling for most of my life.
That was how I felt right now, and nothing was going to take the happiness away from me. Ebony might not want me in her life right now, but Lavie, Conrad and Papan were right—she’d come around eventually. The Obscurus might still want to use me for some twisted ritual that would serve as a gateway to the demon Legion, but I wasn’t going to let them. Sally might have predicted my death, but we were all going to die anyway. And I was determined to help Willow sort out whatever problems she had.
This new and positive outlook was something I wanted to hold onto. I just hoped my bubble wouldn’t pop too soon.
“Ah, do you have the password?” Oren asked behind me, having switched seats with Papan.
I grabbed the mug of coffee—I’d managed to fill the cup on autopilot—and sat down in the chair between them. “Um…” I recalled what Lavie had suggested. “Try Obscurus…”
“That’s not it. I’ve already tried.”
“What about demon?”
Oren shook his head.
“How about morons, did you try that?”
Papan laughed, and it filled the kitchen with good cheer.
“Ritual…”
Oren shook his head. “That’s not it either.”
“What about Sierra?” Papan said.
We both turned to look at Papan, but I was the one who asked, “Why the hell would they use my name?”
“They’re obviously obsessed with you, so why not?” Papan took another hearty sip from his mug and sat back in his chair.
Oren tapped away at the keyboard. “As mu
ch sense as it makes, that’s still not the password.”
I exhaled slowly. There was only one other possibility I could think of. “It’s gotta be Legion, then. If it’s not, then I have no idea what it could be.” How had Lavie and Sally made this sound so easy? And why the hell had I agreed with them? There was no way this group of maniacs determined to give themselves over to a demonic creature would make anything simple.
Oren typed in the word and the tiny pop-up box requesting the password disappeared, leaving in its place a text document I’d never seen before.
“Ah, I hope you know what that is because I sure don’t.” I leaned forward, keeping my mug close to my chest as I narrowed my eyes at the squiggly writing. “Actually, none of that even looks like words.”
“I recognize it. This is an ancient dialect of symbols used long ago in the practice of witchcraft.” He scrolled down—the text seemed to go on forever. “This might take a while. Do you mind if I get a copy and take it home?”
“Be my guest.”
Oren reached into his jacket and pulled out a slim silver drive. He seemed to carry lots of things in his pocket, almost as if he could conjure up whatever he needed by sticking his hand inside. And for all I knew, maybe he could. If so, it was a trick I was very eager to learn.
I was about to voice my curiosity when The Ghostbusters ringtone on my mobile cut through the silence. I groaned. Who the hell kept calling me?
“You should answer that, Sierra,” Oren said while plugging in his USB drive.
“Nah, I don’t think I will.” I shook my head before turning to Papan, and found him staring at me with a strange look on his face. He seemed to be lost in thought, a tiny smile twitching his lips. “What?”
His smile broadened. “Nothing, I’m just thinking about something.”
Heat rose along my face. I was pretty sure I knew exactly what he was thinking about. The intense look in his green eyes made me feel as if I was already naked.
“Yeah, well, don’t think too much.”
“I won’t,” he said. “I like to take the hands-on approach.”
“Could you two stop with the innuendoes?” Oren said, shaking his head. “The temperature’s rising in here already.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snapped.
Oren turned his gaze away from the laptop’s screen long enough to flash me a look. His light blue eyes smiled at me. “It doesn’t take a mind reader to know what you two did last night and probably this morning, so don’t act surprised when I read between the lines.”
I pushed the chair back and stood, unable to stay seated for another second. “That’s seriously twisted, old man.” I headed for the sink and rinsed my mug before dumping it inside. “Even for you, it’s twisted.”
“I’m just stating the obvious.”
A quick glance in Papan’s direction confirmed he was amused by the exchange.
“Whatever,” I said.
My mobile ringtone sounded again and for the first time in hours, having to answer the pesky phone seemed like a better option than continuing this awkward conversation.
I left the kitchen, picked up the mobile and noticed the same number from before. “Hello?”
“Hi, Sierra Fox?”
“Yes, this is Sierra.”
“This is Constable Gareth Crewe.”
“Oh, hi,” I said slowly. I remembered him—he was the nice-looking cop who’d taken my statement when Benita was killed. “How are you?” I didn’t know what else to say. The thought of the missing and very bloody letter opener I used to stab Mauricio in his dog form came to mind. In spite of searching every inch of my office, I still hadn’t found it. Maybe the cop had and was ringing to get some answers.
“I’m…good.” He sounded as if I’d either thrown him off by my question, or he didn’t know how to broach the reason he was calling.
“What can I do for you?” Might as well get this over with… I closed my eyes, my heart beating a little too fast and my nerves slowly cutting into my happy mood.
“I’m at your office at the moment, and we’ve got a problem.”
“What, why are you at my office?” Shit, he really had found the letter opener.
“I needed to talk to you about something, but when I got here one of your office neighbors informed me there were some strange noises coming from inside yours.” The constable paused. “He claims to have knocked on the door, but when you didn’t answer he assumed something was wrong. In fact, he was calling the police when I got here.”
“That’s some great timing.”
“Yeah,” he said with a dry chuckle. “Anyway, I found something in your office that you need to see.”
Despite my certainty, my mind raced with other possibilities—a demon, a ghost, a new member of the Obscurus. Maybe even Jonathan waiting inside to ambush me since I’d been doing my best to ignore him. But no, it had to be the weapon I’d used to stab Mauricio.
“What is it?” I croaked before clearing my throat.
“Ah…” He sighed into the phone. “I think it might be best if you see it for yourself. Are you able to come in?”
I snapped my eyes open and rubbed the bridge of my nose. My initial response was a defiant no. There were so many reasons why I didn’t want to leave the house right now—Papan, what Oren was working on, Papan, the fact I’d have to go in later anyway to see Willow. Out of every reason running through my head Papan was the main one. I didn’t want to leave his side. The thought of spending the weekend together was getting brighter by the minute. But how could I deny going to my own office when something was wrong?
Even though he couldn’t see me, I nodded. “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“You, get back inside.”
“What did you say?”
“Sorry Sierra, I wasn’t talking to you,” he said apologetically. “That’s great. I’ll see you soon.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but he’d already hung up. Lowering the phone, I sighed.
My day had started out brilliantly—on the highest note possible. But as usual, something was trying to get in the way. Why couldn’t I catch a freaking break?
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air before releasing it. I was determined to deal with whatever was going on, and would then get back as soon as I could. Yes, I could do this. It would take an hour—tops—to sort this out.
I dashed upstairs to my room and grabbed a clean pair of socks and my ankle-high boots. I carefully tucked the dagger’s scabbard in between, securing the clip on the back. Too bad I couldn’t spare the time to reset the shrouding incantation.
I wandered back into the kitchen, prepared to tell Papan and Oren what was going on, but found Papan holding his phone in front of him and Oren still hunched over the laptop. He’d placed bifocals on the tip of his nose.
“Please, Jason, you have to come over,” a grating female voice said over the speaker.
I mouthed, “Her again?” and he nodded.
“I’m busy, I can’t.”
“Are you still with that bitch?” she screamed. “I bet you’re with that fucking—”
“Whoa, Anna, mind your language,” Oren shouted fiercely.
“What the hell?” Her voice echoed out from the phone in a shrilly tone. “Are you with the creepy old man as well?”
“Yes, he is,” Oren answered. “And he can’t help you right now, he’s busy.”
“Whatever, old timer, I wasn’t talking to you.”
“And from what I can tell,” Oren said, “you’re being a mighty pest at the moment. Leave Jason alone. We all know that if there’s anything wrong with you, it won’t kick in until the next full moon phase.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I feel like shit. Besides, that’s only a week away.”
“Vixen, I doubt that’s got anything to do with being bitten,” I baited.
Both Oren and Papan gave me a look, but I simply shrugged.
�
��Bitch!” And with that, Vixen hung up.
“Maybe I should get you to answer my phone from now on,” Papan said with a smile.
“No thanks, I hate answering mine as it is.”
“So, who’s been calling you this morning?” Oren asked.
“Yeah, about that…” I stood between them, trying to look from one to the other so I could gauge their reactions. “That was a police officer calling from my office.”
“What happened this time?” Papan asked, his face darkening.
“I’m not sure. He said I needed to see it for myself.”
Papan stood up. “Okay, let’s go.”
I shook my head. “No, I’ll go on my own. Can you stay here with Oren and see if you can make heads or tails out of this jumble?”
“I’d prefer to come with you.”
I strolled up to him, closing the distance between us so I could get on my tiptoes and kiss him lightly. “And I’d prefer to stay here with you too.”
“I don’t think you should go alone—”
“Jason, she’s going to her office to meet with a police officer. What could go wrong?”
Silence filled the kitchen because we all knew a lot could go wrong. It could be an ambush. Or someone could be waiting for me when I arrived in the building. Still, I refused to live my life as a scared woman who needed a chaperone every time she left the house. No, I’d handle this myself and come back safely.
“Point taken—a lot can go wrong.” Oren looked at Papan over his glasses. “But I don’t think anything will today.”
“What makes you so certain?” Papan seemed to be challenging him.
He shrugged. “Call it intuition, but I think the Obscurus will probably take a different approach with their next move. After all, the attack angle hasn’t been fruitful for them, has it? They’ve come so close to getting their greedy paws on her, but she’s still free.” Oren sighed, turning to face me. “And judging from the small amount of script I’ve deciphered so far, this ritual they so desperately want to use you for requires you to be both alive and in your most powerful state.”
I wondered if either of them knew what this powerful state was. I did. These bastards wanted me to receive the full extent of my familial powers before the ritual was conducted. In order to do that, my grandmother had to move onto the afterlife instead of being kept in limbo like she was now.
On Pins and Needles: Sierra Fox, Book 3 Page 7