by Lisa Olsen
“Actually, what I’m really looking for,” I stepped into her path before she got carried away, “is something that deals with demonic portals.” I know how it sounded, but what else was I supposed to do?
Her eyes narrowed instantly, the friendly smile dying on her lips. “We don’t have any of that satanic crap here. We focus on the right hand path.”
“No, I’m not talking about satanic stuff, it’s not Hell I want to get into, it’s… do you know anything about Midian?” I asked, watching her carefully for any sign of recognition.
“Yeah… you two can go ahead and leave now, you’ve had your fun.” She turned back to her magazine.
“No, I’m deadly serious.” I came back around to the front of the counter. “I’ve heard that some witches know how to get into the demon realm and I need to know how they get in without the gate guard seeing them.”
“I don’t have time for this…”
“She’s not kidding, we really do need to find a way in there, it’s a matter of life and death.” Daphne joined us, the crystal unicorn in hand.
“Look, I get it. You think it’s fun to come in and make fun of the pagans, call us all devil worshippers. Well, it’s not funny to us, it’s our religion!” Her voice rose in indignation. “You’d never think of going into a church and making fun of nuns, or into a monastery to taunt monks, but Wiccans are free game, right?” She was getting herself all worked up, and I decided I’d had about enough of her tirade. With a wave and a scowl, she froze mid sentence, and Daphne stared at her in shocked surprise.
“What did you do to her?”
“I just wanted her to shut up for a minute so I could think. There has to be something else here than can help us…”
“You’re really good at it,” she murmured, waving her hand in front of the girl’s eyes.
“I don’t know how long it’ll last. Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re gonna check out the back room, see if there’s anything back there that looks like it might be useful,” I called over my shoulder, pushing past the hanging curtain that led to the small office and storage space behind the store.
“And then what? Take it?”
“I don’t know, I’m making it up as I go along, now come on!”
“I don’t know about this, Mercy.” Daphne lingered at the doorway while I pulled open the drawers of the roll top desk. I had no idea what to look for, but I was running out of ideas.
“Fine, then I’ll search, you keep a lookout. If she unfreezes, or anyone else comes in let me know and I’ll zap her again.” Only I didn’t find anything useful in the desk or on the stock shelves. I even looked through the tiny bathroom in the back. All I found was extra boxes of books and figurines.
“Ugh, that was a total bust.” I wiped my hands on my back pockets.
“I don’t know, I think this is really cute. I think I’m going to get it.” Daphne held the crystal unicorn up to the light.
“Are you serious?”
“I think Sam will really like it. He’s very into fantasy creatures, I think he’ll get a kick out of it.” Digging through her pockets, she pulled out a wad of crumpled bills and smoothed them out on the counter.
Surprised to hear she planned to give the figurine to Sam instead of keeping it for herself, I watched her count out the right amount and slide them across the counter where the girl was sure to find them. “Daphne… about you and Sam…”
“What about us?”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great you two are getting along so well, but…”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to worry for me,” she insisted, a placid smile fixed in place as she helped herself to a little paper bag to wrap it up. “We should really get out of here before she wakes up.”
“Daph…”
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
Damn. That’s what I was afraid of.
*
After the complete debacle at the witchy shop, I was in poor spirits when I got to work that night. I gave Walter a wan smile at the door, but no sooner had I crossed the threshold when Parker wrapped his arm around me, hauling me close for a big, noisy kiss right on the mouth.
“Parker!” I squirmed in his grasp, but he instantly smothered me with another kiss before I could get another word out. That time I felt his tongue snake into my mouth, and I resisted the urge to bite him to make him let me go. I started to rethink that stance when I felt his hand on my ass, but in the next moment he let me go.
“Relax, darlin’,” he grinned, dropping his voice to whisper at my ear as he hugged me close. “Cop at the bar, don’t look. Come on, we’re selling this thing, right?” All at once comprehension sank in, and I got what he was going for.
“I know, but…” Christ, everyone at work would think we really were an item. Not that dating Parker would be anything to be ashamed of, but there was a stigma involved in sleeping with your boss, and I wasn’t overly fond of the idea. I had managed to live down the suggestion that Parker and I once had a fling when he was dating Sharona, but I could feel the disapproval coming off of Walter in waves. The old fashioned bouncer always had a soft spot for me, and I hated to see the disappointment in his eyes.
Maybe it was all in my head, but I couldn’t help but feel like everyone’s eyes were upon us as we walked back towards the bar arm in arm. Detective Santiago made no attempt to hide her interest in the least, openly staring.
“Hello, Detective, what brings you down to Eden?” I asked, with a tight smile.
“I thought I’d get a first hand look at this great love of yours,” she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Great love?” Parker’s surprise registered at the word and I hurried to cover it.
“It’s still a little new… we haven’t exactly professed our undying love for each other.”
“Really? I could have sworn you said something about not being able to control who you fell in love with,” Santiago’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ve got that right,” Parker muttered. “No, she’s right,” he said a little louder. “Maybe I haven’t said it before, but you know I love you, sweetheart,” he reached up to caress the side of my cheek, turning my face to his. “Don’t you?”
“I… um, yeah. Of course I do. I love you too, Parker.” Not a lie, just not the way he meant.
“I’ve always loved you,” he smiled, that sweet smile with no trace of mockery or sarcasm. The smile that transformed his entire face from roguish charm to sincere, leading man, good looks. As I blinked over the transformation, he leaned in close, his lips brushing over mine in a tender kiss.
“Parker…” I murmured, at a loss for words.
“I know, this wasn’t where I planned on doing this but… sometimes I get carried away. You know how it is, don’t you, Detective?” he winked at her, his arm snaking around my waist to haul me up against his side.
“That’s my Parker, always doing impulsive things,” I gave a shaky laugh. “I never know what he’ll do next.”
Detective Santiago’s expression remained unchanged, her dark eyes flicking between us. “Mr. Davies, Miss Renault,” she nodded, rising from her seat without another word.
I wriggled out of his grasp the moment she was gone. “You can’t do that!” I hissed, and he followed me back to his office.
“I thought you wanted to convince her we’re dating?”
“I did… I do…” I couldn’t lay a finger on exactly what bothered me the most, being blindsided like that, or the fact that it was Parker who kissed me. Again. I had to make sure I wasn’t sending him mixed signals. “Parker, you know it’s just for show, right?” Lately with him I wasn’t sure if the usual flirtatious nature of our friendship was turning into something else.
“Of course I do,” his brows drew together. “Oh, come on, it was a couple of kisses. Don’t you think you’re blowing things out of proportion?”
“You’re the one who brought that up to her, I was just going with the flow.”
“You know everyone out there thinks we’re an item now, right?”
“Isn’t that the idea? You don’t think Detective Stick-up-her-ass won’t think of asking anyone else if they’ve seen us together like that before?”
He had a point. It was a few kisses and some empty words, what was I getting so upset about? “You’re right, I’m sorry for freaking out.” I peeled off my coat and unwound the scarf from my throat. “Thanks for helping me out, and I’m sorry if she came down hard on you. What sort of things did she ask you?”
“What didn’t she ask me. I thought she was going to haul me downtown by the balls, what did you do to her?”
“Me? I didn’t do anything, she was like that when I met her. Do you think she bought it, or did she still sound suspicious?”
“Who knows?” he shrugged, sitting on the edge of his desk. “I think she’s a nosy bitch. She won’t rest until she pins this thing on someone, and right now we look like the best bet. But don’t worry about it, we’ll get Ben back and then she’ll back off.”
“Only if we can get Azazael out of him. To be honest I have no idea what we’re going to do with Ben if we can’t figure out a way to do that. Keeping him here all tied up is going to end badly, I can tell,” I sighed, leaning against the desk beside him. He didn’t have anything to say to that, and we sat there side by side for long minutes, lost in thought. “Well, I’d better get out there,” I patted him on the hand and grabbed an apron to tie around my waist, but Parker caught hold of the string and pulled me back towards him.
“Hold on, you can’t go out there yet.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want them thinking it’s over yet, I’ve got a rep to protect.”
“Huh?”
“I’m the kind of guy who likes to take his time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You and me, the make up sex…”
“Ugh. You’re disgusting, you know that?”
“What? They saw you were ticked off at me and now we’ve gotta be all lovey dovey again. I had to have done something right to make it up to you.”
“You know, I think maybe this ‘relationship’ has run its course,” I scowled. He was enjoying it way too much.
“What will the detective think?”
“That I finally came to my senses?”
Parker laughed at that, obviously not bothered by my insults in the least. “Okay, okay, I’ll behave,” his hands came up in a supplicating gesture.
“Don’t kiss me like that without my permission again,” I pushed at his chest with two fingers. Hard.
“Ow… Alright, the next time I kiss you, I’ll make sure you’re expecting it,” he promised, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“No, you’re missing the point. You can’t kiss me at all. I’m not yours.”
“That’s not what you said before,” Parker grinned, undeterred. “You said to pretend we’re an item, that’s what I’m doing. You’re the one bringing real life into it. Maybe you were a little more affected by that kiss than you want to be.”
“What? You’re crazy.”
“Am I?”
“Trust me, if that’s what you call a kiss, I can definitely say I was not affected by it.” I turned to go, but he caught my arm.
“Alright then, give me a chance to show you what I can do.”
“No,” I frowned, not sure I liked where things were headed.
“Why not?”
“What would be the point? Detective Santiago left, there’s no one to put a show on for anymore.”
“But if she was here right now you couldn’t sell it that I’m your boyfriend if you cringe every time I touch you. You have to act like you want me to touch you.” He let go of his loose hold on my wrist, his fingers trailing along my arm.
“Parker…” Definitely not heading in the right direction…
“No, I’m serious. Here…” His hand skimmed up my bare arm, and he was right, I flinched. “Relax, I’m not going to bite you. I’m touching your arm, not groping you.”
“I’m relaxed, I’m just sensitive, that’s all,” I protested. For some reason I didn’t pull away, even though my instincts still screamed inside that it was a bad idea to go down that path with him. Parker brushed his fingers over my other arm in the ghost of a touch. I closed my eyes for a second, shutting away the pang of longing for something I had no right to want.
“Do you jump like that when Adam touches you?”
My eyes snapped open at the mention of Adam, a flush of guilt going through me. “Well… he hasn’t really…”
“Then he’s an idiot.”
“He’s not an idiot,” I frowned, taking a step away from his touch. “We’ve had more important things on our minds for a while, we haven’t had all that much alone time.” Not between his stupid ideas of leaving me alone for my own protection and then striking the bargain with Raum.
“I’d make time if you were mine.” His blue eyes met mine for long seconds before I broke the connection.
“Well, I’m not,” I frowned, pulling free from his grasp. I tightened the apron into an impossibly small knot I’d have to cut off later, but I didn’t care. I had to get out of there. “I have to get to work, I’ll see you out there later.”
Chapter Five
The ‘break in’ at Ben’s the night before turned out to be a total bust. Though Sam enjoyed playing burglar, even going so far as to dress all in black, complete with a knit cap and smudged face, I couldn’t get into Ben’s laptop at all. Whether he’d changed the password or the cops did, the only thing I could get it to do was show me the pictures he had on screen saver, which sadly, featured too many pictures of me. All it did was give me a whopping dose of guilt, and put us no closer to throwing the police off track.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Parker called me the next day, asking me to come by the club a little early. Maybe he wanted to clear the air between us? I’d pretty much tried to ignore him for the rest of the shift, as well as blowing off Jilly’s attempts to ask me about what was going on with us.
When I walked in, I half expected Parker to jump out and kiss me again, or grab my ass or something in the name of our “relationship”. Instead he threw a damp towel at me with a grin. “Just in time, she’s gonna be here any minute.”
“Why am I afraid to ask?”
“Laugh now, sweetheart, but old Parker really came through on this one, wait and see,” he winked confidently, and I had to admit, he definitely captured my interest.
“What did you do?” my eyes narrowed in suspicion. Not that I didn’t trust Parker, I just… I guess maybe I did have some trust issues, and he didn’t always do the most appropriate thing.
“I found us a witch,” he grinned. “Told you I could.”
“A witch…” I couldn’t help but be skeptical, especially given my failure at the pagan shop. “How did you find her?”
“Craig’s List. No seriously, she came highly recommended,” he back pedaled at seeing my face.
“To do what?”
“You know, magic stuff. She said she’s had dealings with demons before, and she might be able to help us.”
I couldn’t quite trust any of it, either the woman was dicking with him and wouldn’t show at all, or more likely clinically insane. “What makes you think she’s not a crock pot?”
“That’s crackpot.”
“Whatever. You know what I mean. You seriously called me down here to meet a witch you found on Craig’s List? Have you even talked to her?”
“No, she’s meeting us here, she didn’t want to give me her phone number. Like I was the crazy one,” he snorted.
“She’s never gonna show,” I sighed, sinking down onto a barstool. I was wrong though, as the doors opened, and the woman strode in, her kitten heels clicking on the hard f
loor with short, businesslike steps.
“Mister Davies?”
“That’s me,” Parker straightened a little, and I recognized the look he got in his eye whenever confronted with a good looking member of the female population.
“I am Jadeluz Santiago. You are looking for a witch?”
“Whoa, you didn’t say anything about being hot in your profile,” Parker’s grin widened, and I couldn’t resist a roll of the eyes. Did he think that kind of compliment would make her swoon?
“Watch it, I can turn you into a toad,” her lips twisted into a wry grin. Her accent was thick, but understandable. I guessed Hispanic of some type based on her name and dark features, but she could have been Italian. Her aura was a swirl of bright greens and purples, with flecks of pink. Almost dizzying if I allowed myself to stare at it for too long, and I tried not to. Overall she was a beautiful woman, with that look about her that if she took off the conservative skirt and let her hair down she’d be all kinds of sexy.
“Santiago,” I frowned, wondering if she was in some way related to Detective Santiago. I didn’t come right out and ask her, it would be like asking everyone named Miller if they were related.
“Do I know you?”
“No, I don’t think so, I’m Mercy,” I smiled to cover what I’d been thinking. “Nice to meet you.”
“So, you’re the one everybody is all in the uproar about, huh?” Her eyes swept over me critically, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much he’d told her about me.
“Guilty as charged,” I smiled, extending a hand. For a moment I thought she might not take it, but then she did, clasping it with both hands. Instead of shaking it, she held my hand for long seconds, until it started to get a little uncomfortable. “Um… Ms Santiago…”
With an open smile, she let go of my hand, overcoming whatever reservation she might have had about meeting me, from whatever she picked up from my hand. “You can call me Luz. Now, your man said something about you needing the real deal, a witch with power. What kind of power are you looking for?”