whiskey witches 01 - whisky witches (46 page)

Paige licked her lips. She wasn’t really interested in the big picture. She wanted to get Dexx, the key, and get the hell out of there. “I can tell you where Lucius is.”

Sven smiled, saying nothing.

“Save Dexx. Take back whatever you did and I’ll give you Lucius.”

Sven took Paige’s arm and led her to the bench, pushing her gently towards it. “I’ve given you quite the scare, I see. I didn’t really mean for all that. To get your attention? Yes. That. But this desperation? No.”

“You gave him a plague and you didn’t want me to be desperate?”

“Well, when you say it like that.” He sat next to her.

She scooted away from him. “What do you want?”

He searched her eyes for a long moment. He blinked and leaned back. “You really are off your, aren’t you? You’re near done in, and that’s not what I need. Not at all.”

“Sven. Tell me what you want.”

“You, of course.”

She frowned at him. “As what? A lover? An adversary.”

“Oh, this—” He sighed. “This will never do. What do you need to be patched up? I need you healed, on your toes. We’ve things to do, you and I, and we can’t do that with you this close to knacking your face.”

“I want Dexx back.”

“Ah, yes. He is quite the partner, isn’t he? Lover?”

She flinched.

“Not quite. Excellent. Well, I look forward to that one. But another time. Yes. Fine. But first, I have to pay a visit to a certain angel to retrieve a certain artifact. I’ll try to keep it from being bloody. I want you home and rested. And not Denver. Really. Move back home. It’s where you’re strongest, and we need you strong.”

For what? “I have the key.”

Sven tipped his blonde head to the side. “What?”

“I sent Mike back and took the key.”

He chuckled, biting his bottom lip. “Why, you do so surprise me. Oh, Paige. You’re quite the dear.”

Paige pulled the mangle piece of broken metal from her pocket. “Why do you want this?”

He shifted his focus from the key to her face. “I don’t want to open the gate, if that’s what you’re askin.’ I was interested to see what Mike’s plan was. I mean, after all, the angels had gone to an awful lot of trouble to kill off all the guardians and myself to get their hands on that.”

Paige swallowed.

“How are you going to protect it?”

“At Grandma’s.”

“Ah. Wise choice.” He ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek for a moment. “Let me offer my protection instead.”

Paige frowned. “Why would I trust you?”

“Think about it, Paige. Alma has children who live in that fortress. There’ll be more very soon. The key brings the kinds of people she can’t beat. Not on her own. Are you moving back? No? Didn’t think so. Besides, even if you did, you’re broken, what with that sigil on your chest.”

“What is this?” She gestured to her scar.

His eyes softened. “Not my idea, unfortunately. Though, I must say, I’m not opposed to the result. Learn to work around it, though.”

Work around it? She couldn’t even conceive how that was possible.

Sven held his hand out. “Give me the key and I’ll protect it.”

“And Lucius? What do you want with him?”

“To talk. I have questions for him.”

Paige glanced down at the key, turning it slightly to catch the overhead sunlight.

“I’ll even clean up the demons in St. Francisville for you.”

“You killed innocent people.”

“To—” He released a breath. “I see now that what I did was wrong. You weren’t ready. You will be.”

“So I can expect more dead bodies?”

“Would you prefer something else?”

“I’d prefer to be left alone.”

He frowned at her. “I’ll do something else for you instead. I’ll give you back your lover, and I’ll bring you back your daughter.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“They’re both needed. I just didn’t realize it till now. Didn’t put the pieces together. Hand me the key and go to your hunter.”

Her fingers flexed around the metal.

“And then heal and practice. Something big’s comin.’ Bigger’n what I brought to you. Beef it up a bit.”

She really wanted to get out of there. “You won’t open the gate.”

“No.” He raised his eyebrows, the corners of his eyes drawing down. “No. I absolutely will not do that.”

“And there won’t be any more killings.”

He winced. “In St. Francisville? No. Not . . . yet.”

She needed to buy time. Time to regroup, to get tougher, smarter, play harder. She dropped the key in the palm of his hand.

He folded his fingers around it and rose. “Go to him. You’ve won a reprieve, my pet. Take it.”

Paige watched him leave the same way he’d arrived. A reprieve? Why didn’t that sound good?

D
EXX WAS SITTING
up in bed, an army of nurses surrounding him, by the time Paige made it back to his hospital room. She paused at the door, hugging herself. Had she made the right decision?

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and searched through her recent calls list.

“White.”

“Whiskey. Have there been any problems?”

She could hear several people around him. “No. It’s pretty quiet. Did you fix it? Are we safe?”

She rubbed her forehead with her thumb and forefinger. “I hope so. I don’t know.”

“Is this done?” he asked his voice quiet.

She let her head fall against the doorframe. “I hope so. Time will tell.”

Over the course of the next few days, Dexx was released on light duty, and things were indeed calm in St. Francisville. Lucius disappeared, going after the key and his brethren. Paige could understand, but his brothers weren’t her main responsibility.

Paige’s boss wasn’t too happy with her extended leave of absence. “Are you planning on returning sometime this year, Whiskey?”

Paige pulled the phone away from her ear momentarily, lowering the volume. Everyone in the diner could have heard him. “Yes, sir. I should be back in Denver by tomorrow—”

“Uh, probably Wednesday,” Dexx said around a mouthful of hamburger bouncing slightly in the aqua colored bench in the diner. “We’re driving.”

Paige shook her head.

“Who was that?” her boss demanded.

“No one, sir. There’s still a few things I have to wrap up here. I should be back in a couple of days.”

“You might not have a job to come back to.”

The line went silent.

Paige cringed and placed her phone face down on the table.

“That conversation didn’t go well.” Dexx shoved another three fries in his mouth.

“Didn’t they feed you in the hospital?”

“That’s a joke, right?”

She raised an eyebrow and shoved the lettuce in her salad around.

“So, where’s the key?” He stabbed a fry in ketchup. “We’ve been sitting around for two days now. What’s the plan to get it back?”

She released a tight breath. For two days, she’d done nothing but think of what to tell him. Should she admit to the truth? What would that do? “It was destroyed. When I sent Mike back through the gate.”

“Really.”

“Yeah.” She set her fork down with a clank and stared out the big window, watching traffic pass on the highway. “I think we’re safe for now.”

“And Lucius?”

“He’s searching for the key. He thinks he can get it back. Try and get the other guardians out of the key.”

Dexx narrowed his eyes at her, setting his burger down without a bite. “Sven?”

She shrugged.

“And you don’t care?”

“Look.” She gestured with her hand. “We solved the case, like I was supposed to. The killings are going to stop, and we managed to keep the gate closed.”

“Why do I get the feeling there’s more here than you’re telling?”

“I don’t know. Really. I don’t.”

A shadow fell across the table. “Can I sit?”

She looked up to find Brian standing at the table, scooting over in the bench seat.

Brian sat, perched on the very edge. He grimaced, running his hand over his head. “So, the reports are written like you said.”

“Good.”

“Are you sure Sven is gone?”

Paige dipped her fingertip on the growing pool of condensation at the bottom of her glass of water. “Yeah.”

“Because it doesn’t make sense. What was the point of all the killings? Why did all those people have to die?”

She wished she knew, but Sven hadn’t shared that with her.

“You’re sure it’s over.”

“Yeah. It’s over. St. Francisville is safe again. I promise.”

Brian closed his eyes for a long moment. “There aren’t too many who actually know what you did for us.”

Dexx shook his head, setting his monstrous hamburger on his fry-strewn plate. “Don’t mention it. It’s all in a day’s work.”

“We really appreciate it.”

Paige smiled, hearing the but.

“I’d feel a whole lot better if you left.”

Paige chuckled.

Brian tapped the table with his middle finger and stood up. “Tonight. I’d appreciate it if you left by tonight.”

“Roger that, Chief. Do you need anything else on Malika’s case?”

He stood up. “We have everything we need. She won’t be going anywhere for a long time.”

“Good.”

Brian thumped the table and left.

Paige quirked her lips.

“That was the nicest, most polite get-the-fuck-out-of-my-town I’ve ever heard,” Dexx said.

“Yeah.” Paige pushed her plate away.

“Whatever happened to the FBI guy?”

“Special Agent Scott?”

Dexx leaned back, draping one elbow across the back of the booth. “Yeah. That one.”

“He got called back to his office. The case is closed.”

“That’s an odd one though, don’t you think?” Dexx frowned. “Did you ever figure out what he is, why he sees people dying around you?”

“No.” She rubbed her bottom lip along her teeth in thought. “Whatever he is, I doubt that’s the last we see of him.”

“Yeah. Hey.”

She met his gaze.

“Tell me what you really did.”

“What do you mean?” Paige stirred the ice in her glass with her straw. “When?”

“I was in a coma. I was dying. What did you do?”

She pulled the corners of her lips down. “Nothing. You did that through the miracle of modern medicine.”

The look he gave her said he didn’t believe her.

“Which, by the way, how are you paying for?”

Dexx smiled, his eyebrows raised high. “You probably don’t want to know.”

“Hmm.”

They ate in silence.

“Did I hear right? You’re coming to Denver with me?”

Dexx shrugged with one shoulder. “You honestly think you’re getting rid of me that easily?”

“I don’t have a couch.”

“You will.”

Paige bowed her head. “This is stupid.”

“Try getting rid of me.”

She stared at his half-eaten hamburger. “This is my faul—”

“Shut up.” Dexx threw down a fry and set both hands on either side of his plate. “Placing blame isn’t going to help anyone. Anyone. Yeah. There’s a problem out there. Yeah. You need to figure out a way to handle it. But sitting there and shoving blame down your throat like poison pills helps no one.”

She released a frustrated breath. She knew what he said was true, but having the truth slammed in her face was a bit tough to swallow. “Such a drama queen.”

“Don’t make me punch you in the face and lick your nose.”

A surprised chuckle escaped her. “What?”

He gave her a lopsided grin.

“How am I supposed to do that?”

Dexx shrugged, his right hand clenching. “We’ll find a way. It might be a good idea to go home.”

“That’s what we’re doing.”

“No, dumbass.” His eyes were soft as he rebuked her. “To Texas. To Alma.”

“I’m not ready.”

“Well,” he said with a sigh, “you might want to brace yourself for it. Because that might be exactly what you need to get ready for. You’re awake now, Pea. You could use all the help you could get.”

“I don’t know if I need that kind of help.”

“Alma. You couldn’t use that kind of help.”

After what she’d done? No. “Sven got away.” She pushed her milkshake sitting beside her water. “And he has a plan. A big one. I have no idea what it is.”

“He’s a slippery bastard.”

If only he knew.

“We’ll catch him.”

Paige nodded and raised her milkshake. “To catching the bad guy.”

He picked up his cola and clanked it against her glass. “And sending them back to Hell.”

Where they belonged.