Repossessed (8 page)

As usual, Rob remained silent as he plodded along a few steps ahead.

The walk wasn’t that bad. The rows of plowed dirt left a pleasant earthy smell, but not pleasant enough for a midnight walk in clean sneakers. Rob preferred to walk through the soft dirt, but Tessa took the long way and walked alongside the field. In the distance, rows of tall evergreens and oaks hid an old Victorian house. A light wind swayed the trees’ branches. Stars in the night sky twinkled brightly, quite a contrast to the limited view in the city. She hadn’t seen a field in years since moving. A sense of melancholy washed over her and brought a smile. The Midwest girl still lingered underneath.

Rob darted ahead and checked out the house. The gravel driveway was empty. A poorly kept yard showed signs of an unoccupied home. As she approached the front, a hum tickled her ears and flowed into her jaw. Rob crept up the porch’s creaking wooden stairs. The wind whistled through the trees behind them. She turned to look through the shifting darkness.

Nothing shifted except the trees.

She couldn’t sense any beings within the forest or the house, but her heart thundered in her chest in anticipation of the possible dangers waiting inside. A good witch was taught that sometimes powerful creatures lurked in the shadows undetected. Rob’s confident stride slowed and his body stiffened. She could almost imagine him approaching the house with a machine gun in hand. Should she be scared that he was concerned?

Broken lawn chairs and an overturned urn littered the wide porch. She was in the middle of checking out a broken bird feeder when her cellphone rang in her backpack. Rob fed her dirty looks as Tessa searched frantically for her phone. She set the noisy pest to vibrate mode. To keep Rob quiet, Tessa didn’t bother to check the caller ID. It wasn’t like she did repo work everyday. What did he expect?

A pile of bricks from a discarded masonry project partially blocked a set of ornate oak doors. Rob finagled with the locks a few times, then with success, walked around the pail, shovel, and bricks. He placed his index finger over his lips then mouthed the words, “Wait here.”

Tessa nodded, happy to stand outside until Rob secured the first floor. Something about this place rubbed her the wrong way. Chills on the back of her neck gave her the persistent feeling they weren’t alone. After a few minutes, the door opened, and he motioned for her to come inside. The darkness beyond the door left her wary, wondering if anything malicious lingered beyond the threshold. A gust flowed through the porch, making the door bang against the wall.

In the stuffy home, cobwebs and white sheets covered the furniture. A fine layer of dust concealed portions of the oak floor. Based on the many footsteps along the floor, Rob had explored the bottom floor quickly and efficiently.

“Is it all clear?” she whispered.

He nodded.

Tessa followed him from the foyer to the great room on the right. Before the furniture was had been protected and heavy maroon-colored curtains hung over the tall windows. Behind the covered sofas and tables, an elaborate marble fireplace and grand piano sat in the back of the room.

A few twig-shaped lumps under one of the side table covers caught her eye. Curious, she lifted the dusty fabric and peered at what lay hidden underneath. Someone had lined up wands by length across the table. She touched one, expecting a soft hum, and found nothing, almost as if it was nothing but a regular piece of wood.

“Leave them alone,” Rob said. “They’re tainted and useless.”

Tessa placed the cover and moved on. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one. Aren’t they supposed to be sent to the Warlock’s Guild for disposal?” Every family had that oh-so-special someone who ended up cursing their wand due to negligent use. Angry wives cursed mistresses with death. Back in Illinois, she remembered a bitter PTA mom had blackened her staff when she tried to off another zealous mother who planned the best school functions. Certain spells shouldn’t be cast and, as such, the wands were drained of magic.

“Yes, but apparently whoever owns the piano doesn’t care about that,” Rob replied.

Silence settled over them, but the quiet ended abruptly as a tree brushed against one of the windows. Rob’s head turned to the sharp tapping, and he stopped for a moment before continuing slowly to the piano. She’d never played before, but she knew a fine instrument when she saw it. Her mother had wanted a ballerina, but Tessa danced poorly. In the end, Tessa excelled in violin throughout high school until she accidentally changed the expensive string instrument into a cheap plastic bucket.

During her lessons, her teacher would use a grand piano similar to the one in front of her. As her eyes adjusted to the dark room, she noticed the piano didn’t have a sprinkle of dust. Cobwebs abruptly ended half a foot from the legs. There should’ve been a cover over the piano, but somehow the fabric had been defiantly tossed to the floor. For some strange reason, her fingers itched to touch the smooth wood and read the peculiar writing carved into the sides. Columns of ancient magical glyphs only witches and warlocks could see.

“Don’t touch it! The piano’s cursed.” His fingers caught her wrist before her curious fingers touched the top board.

“It’s beautiful.” The compulsion had been so strong. She had to back away to come to her senses.

“Everything around it’s dead.” His eyes darted to the dead space around the piano where bugs keeled over within an inch of the piano. The source of the irritating hum in her ears came from the instrument.

“This should be easy—” Her phone rang again. She ignored it as Rob fumbled in his satchel for something. The cell phone vibrated against keys and other noisy objects. She frowned and pulled the pest from the front pocket. He took a threatening step in her direction. Before he could snatch her phone away, she answered the call. “Hello?” She scrambled toward the foyer for privacy.

“Look, I don’t mind when a woman has a few kids,” a male voice exclaimed. “I sired a few pups over the years. But you put me on a date with a woman who has, like, fourteen kids!”

Tessa rolled her eyes. At least she had this unlisted client’s phone number in her iPhone now. Her client, Denny, wanted an alpha female to help lead his pack. This guy went through women like a cat through catnip. This wasn’t the best time for a phone call, but a few minutes and some metaphorical scratches behind his ears should hold him over until Monday.

“Denny, not every woman is perfect. If I recall, you two hit it off on your first date. You both like rock-climbing and traveling. Is the fact she has over ten kids a deal breaker? You need to see the positives in the matter. Yes, she—”

“Could you take the call outside?” Rob hissed.

She nodded and walked toward the door.

“Is this a bad time?” Denny asked.

“Oh no, I’m working with a client on a team-building activity. You know, working on his people skills by engaging him in extracurricular activities. You can call my office about it sometime in the future.”

She continued to babble on with Denny as she approached the door. As her fingers reached for the doorknob, she froze. A murky shadow slithered in front of the door.

“Oh, shit.” A wraith. They were ghosts who were chained in purgatory on Earth. In some places, like this house apparently, they clung to darkness and decay, feeding on what little life remained. One of these apparitions advanced on her. Chips of paint from the old oak door fell as the opaque form of the wraith touched the wood. The nasty creature leaked death. She willed her reluctant feet to step backwards. Her mouth stammered, “Rob, R-rob—the door.”

Denny called her name as she turned to the great room to see another wraith spill down one of the Roman columns on the fireplace. Another rose from behind the covered couch.

“I gotta go,” she mumbled. Power tingled in her fingers, waiting to be tapped, but this wasn’t the place.

Tessa shuffled away from the door into the sitting room. Hissing shadows advanced like sidewinders. A sturdy back collided with hers. “I hope you have something in the bag for wraiths. Water witch spells aren’t worth shit unless they’re on fire!”

Rob dug into his bag as they closed in. They flowed over the covered lamps and from under the heavy drapes. Their hissing rose to a fevered pitch.

One wraith menacingly approached her foot. Her breath caught in her throat. There wasn’t any place to go. “Rob, damn it!”

From behind her, she heard the sounds of rustling, then a second later, the room burst into bright white light. The light blinded her. She covered her eyes with her arm as the wraith’s painful bite seared her foot up into her ankle. Like frightened mice, the dark creatures scattered into the corners of the room. Rob left her side to drive the stragglers away, waving his knobby wood wand about like a torch, driving the more brazen wraiths into the darkness.

As a woman who’d stood in waist-deep Midwestern snow drifts, she’d experienced the bitter cold on exposed limbs, but nothing prepared her for this. The deep ache penetrated to the bone. She clenched her teeth and caressed her throbbing ankle.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded, attempting to stand. No dice. “Ow!”

Rob sighed. “Hang tight while I take care of the piano.”

Tessa plopped down on the cold marble floor while Rob opened a portal then used magic to shove the cursed piano through the enlarged opening. She peered into the salmon-pink haze, but couldn’t see much beyond the piles of magical litter. The piano disappeared from view as it rolled down an embankment of junk. She grimaced as the sounds of jostled piano keys and dented wood came from the portal.

“Could you have—” She searched for the words, “been a little more gentle?”

“How about you stand here, pick up the cursed piano, and carry the damn thing
gently
into Limbo?”

She shook her head, fighting to keep her mouth shut. Rob didn’t take criticism well. Another sign why he rode the crazy train alone.

“No more comments from the Privileged Princess Patrol? I thought so.” Rob closed the portal and marched toward the door.

Fuming, she tried to follow, but with a single step on her ankle, the pain stabbed into her foot like a hot poker. “Damn it!” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Strong arms snaked under her knees and back. Rob easily lifted her into his arms and carried her out the door. She wanted to protest, to bite off his head for his snide comments about money she didn’t have. But after one deep whiff of his inciting cologne, she cradled into his hard chest and wanted to purr like one of her familiars.

“You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” he grumbled quietly. She didn’t expect him to carry her all the way to the jump point, but he did. To make her ride easier on him, Tessa moved her arm to a comfortable position around his neck. As he carried her across the field, the rocking motion pulled her closer to his neck, and for a moment, she drifted away.

She supposed it could’ve all been worse, but here she was getting carried by Rob to the jump point. No one had carried her this far before. Once they reached the meat-packing plant, she’d tried again to walk. Not that she wanted to walk, mind you. After Rob held her for twenty minutes, she found the rest did little good.

“I don’t want you to carry me the whole way,” she whispered against him.

“You can’t walk on it.”

“Hopping, perhaps?” She frowned. Stray wheelchairs usually weren’t abandoned in meat-packing plants. She had no choice; Rob had to take her all the way back home. This guy rubbed her the wrong way at times, but she couldn’t lie, this was the best ride home she’d ever had.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Dating Tip #18: First dates open up the opportunity to make mistakes. It is normal to be bored and nervous, but please don’t take a simple mistake out on your date with a silence spell—for life.

Monday was to be a day of possibilities. In ten minutes, Tessa’s recruitment session would take place for one of her werewolf clients. Even with a minor ankle injury and the memories of the creatures that came for them, she still hungered for the hunt. A pitiful binding spell held her ankle in check, but she’d sure as hell hobble her way through the portal to earn her prize.

Not far from her, Rob held up the wall sleeping next to Ursula’s desk. His boss was a man a gal like her could appreciate. With the promise of more security guard opportunities for Rob, Clive’s wallet opened up eagerly. She couldn’t keep Rob like this for long, but she was optimistic she wouldn’t need him once she found her scroll.

A snore from the wall drew her attention. As to how he could stand and do that—she’d have to ask him. She would’ve fallen over by now. Ursula snuck a peek while she tried to work on the computer. With a body like his, watching him sleep was much more interesting.

Even with Rob here, work waited for no one.

An hour later, Tessa smiled as she showed the werewolves to the elevator. The interviews went well. Rob had slept or frowned the whole time, leaving Tessa wondering what he’d given up to be here with her.

She approached him and asked what he usually did during the day.

“More repo jobs.”

“I see. More missed opportunities for me.”

Rob’s cheek twitched and a hint of a smile appeared. “I give a rough ride. I don’t think you’d last long enough.”

A shiver went up the back of her thighs and settled into her stomach. After he’d said that, she should’ve turned away and rolled her eyes. She’d heard numerous men toss around such lines. Those guys had greasy hairlines with generous waistlines to boot. But the way Rob looked at her wasn’t what she expected. His dark eyes made her want to toss any rules of civility she had out the door.

When she didn’t say anything—she merely swallowed—Rob took a single step toward her.

“It’s lunch time,” she finally managed to murmur.

“So I’m good for the day?” His voice was also hushed. Enough to make her heart beat faster.

“For the next hour you are.”

“See you then.” He nodded and then sauntered out.

Instead of immediately following him out to enjoy her own lunch, Tessa thought it was safer idea to wait a bit. And catch her breath.