Whiskey Witches, F.J. Blooding [ap literature book list .TXT] 📗

released a few drops into the palm of his hands, rubbed them around and then brought cupped hands to his nose and mouth.

“What are you doing?” the chief asked, looking as worn out as Dexx felt.

“Dealing with a headache.”

“I have ibuprofen. The good kind, even.”

Dexx breathed deep, though the fumes stung his eyes. “Rather do this. Hate pills.”

Brian sniffed with a wry smile and tipped back in his chair, crossing his thick arms over his chest. “So what’s the verdict? Are we in danger?”

“Yes.”

“Is she in danger?”

He wished she wasn’t. “Yes.” Dexx sighed and let his hands fall. “I don’t know how they found out about her gift, but someone did. The murders, the inane symbols? They were the bait. I’ve seen these symbols before, on a case in Texas. I doubt the sacrifices did much of anything. Whoever is behind this killed those three people to lure her out. The mandala was a test.”

“What kind?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it. Leslie needs to hurry up. We need Alma.”

“It’s a good day’s drive from Dallas.”

“I know. They should be here any minute now, but with Leslie being so pregnant, they’re probably stopping every ten miles so she can pee.”

Brian frowned at the table, his gaze unfocused. “What’s the deal with these Whiskey Witches anyway? There are entire forums dedicated to them like they’re heroes or something.”

Dexx fell against the back of his chair. “It’s largely due to the fact they don’t hide. Alma served in the military as an active, casting witch. Then when she got out, she was very vocal about supporting the pagan community and fighting back against the paranormal.”

“She sounds like a real trooper.”

“She’s more like a general.” Dexx scraped his top lip with his teeth. “Paige and Leslie are her granddaughters. She raised them after their mother abandoned them, taking only their brother.”

“Why?”

“Because Paige is a demon summoner and Leslie is a medium. Rachel didn’t want to deal with the dead or with demons.”

“So, what’s she?”

“She summons angels.” Dexx groaned as he recalled how he’d been accepted into her home as family, how she’d encouraged him to fight demons. “Well, more like listens in on them. She took Paige’s younger brother with her when she left. He’s an empath, so she deemed him safe, I guess.”

“So how’d you meet them?”

“Through Nick, their brother. Him and Rachel lived in New York, right down the street from me. He…” Dexx paused as he recalled the state Nick had found him in. He’d just lost his father, blamed his mother, couldn’t rely on his brother. Nick and Jackie were the only two things that kept him together. “. . . just found me one day and kinda took me in.”

Brian tipped his head to the side. “How’d you become a demon hunter?”

Dexx dropped his gaze to the floor. “One possessed my brother. He went insane, got locked up and drugged. I didn’t believe him when he said he was possessed, of course. No one did, but after he killed himself, I started digging.”

“And you wound up here. Huh.”

“Yeah..”

They sat in companionable silence for a long moment.

“What about you?” Dexx asked. “How’d you end up as a civil servant?”

Brian smiled, his eyebrows raised. “I followed my dad, my two brothers, my cousin, and my sister.”

“So there’s a whole family of you protecting the streets. Must run in the blood.”

“It does.”

Dexx ran his hands across his scalp and stood. “Well, I’m bushed and calling it a night.”

“I thought you said she was in danger, that we all were.”

“She is and you are. However, I can’t save anyone if I’m too tired to think straight. Trust me. He’s out there somewhere, watching, waiting.”

“And what’s he going to do with her?”

Dexx turned to the bed. “Use her. But I’m hoping Alma comes up with a plan that’ll ensure he can’t.”

“Hope?” Brian rose from his chair, grabbing his jacket off the chair. “I’ll have someone guard her door.”

“And alert our position? Or that we know?”

“So you’re setting a trap and she’s the bait?”

Dexx smiled at him, a frown furrowing his brow. “You know, for a cop, I like the way you think.”

Brian shook his head and walked to the door. “I’ll stay in the next room then, keep watch while you sleep.”

Bullets against demons. Oh, what a cute mundane. “Okay. Sure. Sounds great. Wake me in four.”

Brian nodded once. He paused at the door, his eyes glued to the Sharpie sigils on the door jam. “These really going to help?”

“They really can’t hurt.”

“Right.” He closed the door behind him.

Dexx pushed the papers around on the table without really seeing them. He reviewed his sleeping options. There was the window bench, which seemed like a good idea if he was a kid, but he wasn’t and his old bones had been broken way too many times to appreciate sleeping in that position.

There was the floor, but again, his bones. He could sleep in the chair.

Oh, no. No. His body ached from just sitting in it.

He could—

Paige jerked upright in bed, her brown eyes open. She turned to him. “The key is calling.”