by Candy Crum
“H-h-hi,” I said, my voice stalling several times. They were stunning, and their power was intense. I could feel it from where I stood.
“Hey there. I’m Brett.”
I bet you are, sweetheart.
He was a little over six feet tall with short black hair, jade green eyes, and built like a brick shithouse. The taller one, probably over six and a half feet tall, must have been Aeric. Much longer, shoulder-length obsidian black hair with darker, emerald green eyes and also well built. Both with darker olive-toned skin.
They were the hottest men I’d ever seen. If I could have both of them and Cass all to myself, I would be an extremely happy woman.
Brett laughed. “Thanks for the compliment, doll face, but I have a girlfriend.”
My brows furrowed for a moment before I realized that he’d heard what I thought. “Oh, my God. You can read thoughts?”
He smiled. “Yes. We can,” he said, pointing to himself and his brother.
Aeric smirked, but he didn’t add insult to injury, for which I was grateful. “We can, but my rude brother here thinks it’s funny to do so on purpose. Don’t mind him. He’s an ass, but he’s harmless.”
I gave a nervous smile. “Yeah… Harmless or not, that’s embarrassing.”
Aeric waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. You’re a Succubus. Not like you can help it.”
“So, no offense or anything, but why are you guys here?” I asked.
“They are also looking for Kailah,” Wendy said. “They are traveling through, and stopped by to see me.”
“Oh,” I said. “Carry on then.”
I walked past the boys and made my way into the kitchen for some ibuprofen and ice water. My mom was standing at the stove, making breakfast. Looked like pancakes and eggs. Two of my favorites.
“I saw the bottles in the trash. Thought some breakfast might do you some good,” my mom said with a smile.
“Thanks, Mama. Food makes everything better.”
She picked up a piece of bacon from a plate and handed it to me. “Here. Stuff this in your face and go sit down. It’ll be done in a minute.”
I took the bacon and laughed. “Thanks.”
“What are your plans today, Mia?” Wendy asked.
“Well, I thought about going to see Andrews, but I think I’m going to wait just a bit longer. I’m sure he still feels like shit—thanks to me. I think I’m going to pay a little visit to the volunteer fire department. I need to find the bastard that talked to me through the window. If I can find the one that I helped out of the building, maybe I can get some answers.”
“Do you want some company?” she asked.
“I’d feel a lot better if you took someone with you,” my mom said as she sat a plate in front of me.
I really needed to make them dinner. Ever since I’d been staying with them, she’d been cooking non-stop. I didn’t ask her to, she just worried too much. It was like I was a kid all over again.
“Mom, I’ll be okay. I need to learn how to do this stuff. This house has become the supernatural hub of Jackson. Sometimes I wonder why Jay hasn’t bothered coming here, but then I think—how? How the hell would he do it? There’s always a Vampire, a Succubus, an Incubus, or an Immortal here. At all times.”
Mom and Wendy both laughed.
“Even still, Mia,” Mom said. “You need to take Wendy or Tristan with you. Or maybe one of these nice boys would go with you.”
“Mia,” Aeric said. “She’s not entirely wrong. If your powers are still new, you should always take someone with you. I used to tell Kailah that all that time, but she always went alone, and she always ended up having something bad happen. There’s no shame in asking for help. It’s better than nearly dying.”
I sighed. “I’m somehow still hungover, and there are way more of you than there are of me. So, sure. Why the hell not. Everyone play rock, paper, scissors to be my escort.”
Brett laughed. “I think she and Kailah would get along great.”
I shook my head and turned to my breakfast. The bacon was calling.
By the time I was gone, it was decided that Brett and Aeric would go on their way—though, not without me having their phone numbers in case of emergency—and Wendy would go with me. While I hadn’t exactly grown overly fond of how complicated everything had become, I liked being babysat even less. That being said, I’d grown pretty fond of Wendy. She was just as sweet as she was a badass.
We took her car, which was a gorgeous brand new charcoal Camaro, into the city to the volunteer firehouse. Not surprisingly, things were quite disorganized when we got there. There were only a couple of guys down by the truck, and their posture and auras told me all that I needed to know. They weren’t happy. In fact, they were pissed.
“Hey, guys,” I said.
One of them, a middle-aged guy with salt and pepper hair, turned toward Wendy and me. “Hey, ladies. What can I do for ya?”
He threw the tools that he held in his hands into a bag on the ground before walking over. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. It was forced.
“Wait—are you the girls I saw at the school?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yes, sir. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about that.”
He sighed and looked down at the ground before giving a brief nod. “First, thank you. I wanted to thank you yesterday, but you were gone and out of there before I even got a chance to ask your names. I don’t know how you did it, and I don’t care. You were there for them when I couldn’t be.”
The other man, probably close to thirty, came over then. “Yeah. Thank you. We were supposed to save lives, not doom them. If it weren’t for the two of you, a lot more people would have died.”
“I’m Dave,” Salt and Pepper said. “This is Joey, my nephew.”
“Nice to meet you, ladies,” Joey said. “What is it you want to know?”
Wendy and I looked at one another before saying anything. They were angry, which gave me hope that I might get some honest answers. Because of that, I decided honesty was the best policy.
“What the hell happened out there?” I asked. “I pulled one of your men out, and he said that you guys weren’t allowed back in the building. I was in there. It wasn’t the best of situations, but it took a while for it to become structurally unsafe. There was plenty of time for you guys to get in and save some of those kids.”
Dave nodded. “Yeah. We thought so, too. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve been in way worse buildings than that.”
“There were quite a few guys here,” Joey said. “New recruits. It’s normal for us to get one every so often, but never five at once.”
“Five? That definitely seems like quite a lot,” Wendy said. “Did you know any of them?”
Dave shook his head. “Not one. I found it odd that they were brought straight in. I didn’t even know about the hiring process, and I always know. I’ve been here longer than anyone else other than the big guy. So, I’m always told when there’s newbies coming in. I came in that day, and they were all here.”
“Wait,” I said. “They were all brought in the same day?”
Dave sighed. “All I know is that all five of those guys were here that day, and they’ve never been back since. We barely had enough time to meet them before we got the call about the school. I don’t know what’s going on around here, but something isn’t right. We could’ve saved those kids. Three died, and I know we could have saved them. Three of our guys, good guys, are still in the hospital because of the shit they inhaled in that building. Those five bastards that were here? Yeah… They never stepped foot in that school. And Arthur, the guy in charge here…”
He trailed off, his anger getting the best of him.
Joey picked up where his uncle had left off. “Arthur made some calls we didn’t and still don’t understand. He’s gone, too. This house is in shambles.”
“My name is Mia, and I’ve been trying to track down a drug lord named Jay. It turn
s out that he has a very large reach in a lot of different places. It’s why he’s gotten away with so much for so long. I really think that he placed those guys in your firehouse, and I think he paid off everyone that called the shots.”
“That’s not possible,” Dave said. “Arthur is a good man. I can’t see him doing anything like that. He’s saved my life several times. He’d never hurt anyone.”
“Dave,” Joey said. “Arthur had some debt.”
“What?” Dave said. “What are you talking about?”
Joey sighed. “He’d been acting weird for a while. Me and one of the other guys found some drugs in his office. It was after Maureen died. He lost his shit and went down a bad road. We tried to help him, but he said he owed a lot of money.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that? I would have tried to help him,” Dave said.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It was just that he made me promise that we wouldn’t. I didn’t find out about the money problems until about a week ago.”
“Sounds like he found a way to settle that debt,” Wendy said.
I nodded. “Yeah… I think so. Jesus. Where is he now?”
Joey shook his head. “I don’t know. No one has been able to get ahold of him since all this went down. We only have three guys right now. The other four are hospitalized, including the guy that you pulled out. He’s doing great, though. Just some mild issues.”
I nodded. “I know that it probably won’t mean much, but I’m going to find Jay. I’m going to make him pay. That entire thing was a setup to bring me out into the open. He wants to kill me.”
“Why would he want you dead?” Dave asked.
I sighed. “He put a bullet in my heart, and when I recovered, I came for him. Then, he put a bullet in the head of my best friend. After that, I vowed that I would never stop hunting him.”
Dave nodded, and I could see him thinking about his next words carefully. “I saw your eyes glowing red.” He pointed to Wendy then. “And I saw her blow an entire wall out of the side of a building so you could pull some kids and a teacher out. I don’t know what either of you are. Honestly, I really don’t care. You ain’t human, but you sure as hell ain’t bad either. The guys that did this to innocent children and good educators are the monsters. Your secret is safe with me. Good luck finding your man. If I can do anything at all to help, let me know.”
Wendy smiled. “Thank you for your kind words. There was a point in time when our kind walked hand in hand with yours. I’m sure there will be again one day. Until then, just know that just like humans, there are good and bad in every bunch. We are the good ones. As for your offer, I’d like to look through Arthur’s office—if you don’t mind, that is. We might be able to find something useful in there.”
Dave shook his head. “Absolutely not. Take your time. We’ve already combed through it, but you might see something we didn’t. Would you like me to show you up?”
Wendy shook her head and smiled. “No, but thank you. I’m sure I can find my way up. You’ve been a big help. Thank you for chatting with us.”
We made our way inside and found a set of stairs. Arthur’s office was in the office at the end of the hall. Walking in, it didn’t look any different than any other office. I had no idea where to look. They said they’d already gone through it, so I couldn’t imagine looking for something that they missed.
Wendy walked through, casually looking through the photos on the walls and on the desk. She casually looked through the pages on the desk while I searched through a cabinet off to the side.
“I don’t think they’ll find their missing friend,” Wendy said from the seat she’d taken behind Arthur’s desk.
“What? Why do you say that?” I asked.
She gave a sad smile. “They killed him.”
Chills ran down my spine. That was not the outcome that I had hoped for. That wasn’t what I’d hoped for at all. Damn it. “How do you know?”
“I can sense his essence lingering in the room. His spirit is gone. Where, I don’t know, but I can sense what lingers from his life enough that I was able to pull a vision. He waited until everyone was gone. Then he came back to get his things. He planned to flee. As far as he was concerned, he’d paid back the debt he owed Jay, but there was no way he could show his face around here again. He knew they’d figure it out, so he planned to leave.”
“But he didn’t get a chance,” I said. Wendy nodded. “Damn it.”
“I can’t handle this shit anymore, Wendy. I really can’t. I’m not a cop. I’m not a detective. I have no idea what I’m doing. I just keep taking advantage of whatever opportunity arises.”
“What do you think cops and detectives do? They do exactly that. Take advantage of whatever opportunity arises. The only difference is that they know how to look for them. You’re at an advantage. You are supernatural. You’re a Succubus, but also part witch. There is nothing you can’t accomplish. Give yourself some credit. Remember—it was your idea to come here today.”
I nodded. She was right about that, but I still didn’t feel like I was doing all that I could. I was weak in a lot of areas, and that wasn’t even a jab at my lack of knowledge of the shadow world or my own abilities. The whole detective thing was just brand new, but it was kind of fun. I felt like I should be there with Andrews and not Wendy, not that she wasn’t fun. Also, I never would have figured out that Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year was already dead.
“Okay, so, this isn’t the only place we need to look into,” I said. “We have a lot of dirty cops, too. That, however, will require a bit more finesse than this.”
She nodded. “I couldn’t agree more. Those guys outside were pretty upset about not going in. I couldn’t imagine them just following along without another influence.”
“You mean, without them being threatened.”
She nodded.
“Okay, then. Let’s go talk to them again. What do you think about this place? Did you find anything else? Anything physical that we could use?” I asked.
She held up a little black book. “I found this in a false bottom in the bottom drawer. It was unlocked. We should take it with us. Also, we should let them know that their friend is dead.”
“That should be fun to explain.”
She waved a hand in the air. “It’ll be fine. They already know we aren’t human. No big deal.”
“Is that okay?” I asked. “I mean, shouldn’t we care about that?”
Wendy shrugged. “Their auras are clear. They mean us no harm.”
I sighed. “It’s so much easier to walk around in the open, with people knowing.”
Wendy smiled. “You might not think so on a grander scale. You forget the capacity humans have for segregation, racism, and other biases. As humans, we have basic rights. Once we aren’t human anymore in the eyes of the law, what rights would we have? However, when it comes to simple, common people that are good at heart—yes. It truly is much easier. It’s nice to not have to hide.”
“You said that you used to live out in the open with humans and that you thought it would be that way again. Do you really think that?” I asked.
“I never lived out in the open. I was born long after that. Sayen, Khanae, and Khia all lived in that time, however. Sayen said it was mostly peaceful.” She shrugged. “I truly believe that it will happen again. I think the war is heading in that direction. The humans already know we exist. The agents that took Kailah knew who we were. The government knows about our existence, but they have done nothing to call us out. Mostly, I think they’ve been afraid of what would happen. Mass hysteria. Vampires realizing there were no walls holding them back any longer. Things like that. I don’t know. I can’t see the end of the war. There will be too much death and there are too many Reapers in the way for me to see around them. Reapers like Death and Anubis are the only beings that Immortals can’t see around. There is literally no way for us to predict the outcome of the war, but I have my theories.”
I looked around
the office, taking in what she’d told me. The thought of living out in the open on a larger scale was appealing, but it was rather terrifying to know that the government already knew. But of course, they would—wouldn’t they? Did they know about me? So many questions…
“Let’s get out of here and tell them what happened to their friend. I need to plan my apology to Andrews.”
Wendy smiled. “I think you are far too worried. Andrews is a good man. He also happens to be friends with several supernatural beings. I doubt he will hate you for what happened. Trust your friend. He will understand. It was a mistake and nothing more. Try not to dwell too much on it.”
Easy for her to say…
Chapter Seven
It was the next day before I got the courage to talk to Andrews. I wanted to make sure that he was okay and felt better before I made an attempt. I had certainly calm down quite a bit, which was great. Who wants a mopey Succubus around?
I went back to his house, and waited for him to get home from work. My anxiety spiked when he pulled in, but I was presently surprised to see the expression on his face upon spotting me in the driveway. He actually seemed happy to see me. As soon as he got out of his car, he smiled.
“Hey! Wait… No. I know that face,” he said as he walked my way. “No, no, no. Don’t bother apologizing.”
“Don’t bother apologizing? Are you insane? I have every reason to apologize to you. I am so sorry that I lost control. I honestly don’t know what happened. One minute, everything felt great, and then the next, I was being ripped out of the tub because I’d killed you.”
He laughed. “I was the one that wanted to do that. Well… not the dying part, but you know what I mean. You told me that you didn’t want to hurt me. Still, I wanted to help. I don’t blame you. So, don’t blame yourself.”
I didn’t know what to say. I certainly wasn’t expecting that reaction from him. Pissed off. Confused. Anything else other than what I just got out of him. Andrews was a great guy, one that I was grateful to have in my life. Especially knowing that he was so comfortable and forgiving of what I am. It definitely made things easier. He was kind of part of the family, and I’d been terrified that I’d lose him.