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

In the real world, when cases didn’t immediately solve themselves, there were two options. Well, two major options. Either sit around and run the information through the brain for hours and hours and hours on end, asking the same questions and going absolutely nowhere.

Or choose to do something else.

Paige had already been at it for hours and hours and hours. The evidence didn’t reveal anything new. She’d been lured to St. Francisville to summon a man who was part demon to open the Gate Hell.

Leaving was the best option, but she didn’t have the key and people weren’t safe yet.

Malika and Jones were involved, but neither could be the mastermind. The puppeteer was the real prize, the person she needed to catch. Running away and allowing him to remain free was a bad idea.

Dexx pushed away the to-go bag from the local sandwich shop and leaned on the table in her room. “How does the new ink feel?”

She shrugged. He’d put a new mark in the middle of her back, not permanent. “It feels like nothing. Like I said, I don’t need it.”

“Okay, whatever. Join us on the investigation tonight.”

Paige shook her head, staring at Ashley Fort’s file. “I don’t do ghost hunts, Dexx.”

“Why not? They’re fun.”

She gave him a deadpan look. “They’re ghost hunts.”

“And you’re a demon summoner. What’s the problem?”

She let out a long sigh. She just needed something to click. If they were really after Lucius, she was the wrong person for the job in the first place. He’d been a man. She did demons. Okay, so he was part demon or something due to him being immortal or whatever, but still the pieces didn’t fit. She’d missed something. But what? She had just enough pieces to see what kind of puzzle she was putting together. Not enough to complete it.

Dexx grabbed her hand, dragging her half-resisting out the door and down the stairs. She really did need a break and it had been a long time since she’d gone a paranormal investigation.

The sun had set more than two hours earlier. The stars shone above the tree line as the cool breeze wafted around them. The moon played peek-a-boo behind wispy clouds that did little to blot out the rest of the sky. The scent of flowers teased her nose. It was a gorgeous night.

“We’ll take my car,” Dexx said, pulling his keys out of his pocket.

“Aw, Jackie!” Paige grinned, putting her hands on the warm burgundy hood of the 1970 Dodge Challenger. She’d had some good memories with this car. She met Dexx’s gaze as something clicked. “So, all those cases you helped me out with in Denver.”

He raised his eyebrows, his lips flat. “Yup. Demons and all with you unaware.” He disappeared inside his car.

Paige let out a long breath. She should be pissed, but she’d already expended so much energy on being mad, she didn’t need to take it out on the one guy just trying to help.

The car was a dream, especially from the inside. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. When Dexx brought Jackie to roaring life, Paige purred, her fingers stretching like a cat doing the happy-paw dance. She licked her lips, turning to Dexx, a slight smile on her face.

He wiggled his eyebrows and put the car in gear. “Just like old times.”

“Not like old times. I know what’s going on now.”

“Right.”

“Also, I’ve never been on one of Tru’s investigations with you.”

“You—wha—oh. Huh. Right.”

They hadn’t driven very far before Dexx glanced over at her. “Spill it. What’s eating at you?”

She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean?”

He glanced in his rearview mirror. “Pea, I’ve seen you at your worst. You’re not going to scare me, you know.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re brooding.”

Paige waved him off. That’s what she did, brood. “I’m working a case.”

“You forget. I’ve worked cases with you before. I know what ‘case face’ looks like.”

She rolled her eyes. They only worked two cases, but they’d spent a great deal of time together, and she’d allowed him to get close. She enjoyed his company. So, yeah. He did know when something was off. “This is my fault.”

Dexx’s face screwed up. “It’s not. Look, the—I don’t understand everything going on, but how much of this could be your fault?”

“All of it,” she muttered.

“Pea, you’re an idiot,” he said, pulling Jackie to a stop in the rose-colored gravel driveway of the plantation, just behind the unmarked cop car. “You’re being played.”

“I know, and I allowed it. It’s just—” She took in a deep breath and blew it out one side of her mouth. “If I’d been stronger, if I’d listened to Bal—” She closed her mouth tightly.

“So, it’s ‘oh, woe is me. I’m human?’ Is that the pity party going on tonight?” Dexx slipped Jackie into park.

“No.” Paige glared at the logo on the dash, fighting hard to keep the broken bits of her hidden. “Yes? I don’t know.”

“Well,” he said, shrugging with his eyebrows rather than his shoulders. “The way I see it, you’ve got two things to do here, Pea. You’ve only got to stop demons from opening the gate to Hell, and find the murderer to put him behind bars for the people who don’t believe.”

“Yeah.” Paige straightened her shoulders.

“And you’ve got to take up the responsibility of your gift again. Because you had all that free time. So, three things.”

She flashed him a tight smile, her hand on the door. “Thanks, smartass.”

He snorted and got out of the car.

The Metley Plantation was a beast of a house with a long front porch. The opulence of the Deep South still amazed her. For all that the house was tall, there were only two stories and an attic. The long roofline was riddled with gables. Tall trees crowded in, their branches sweeping along the angles.

An unmarked police car sat out front. Paige ducked down to see if anyone was inside. Nope. “What are they doing here?”

“As long as they’re quiet enough to not to fuck up the EVP, I don’t care.” Dexx didn’t bother to stop.

Tru met them at the door. “Hey guys. You finally made it.” He shoved a device in her hand. “Here’s your EMF reader.”

Paige stared at the little box in her hand.

“Electro-magnetic frequencies,” Dexx said with a playful smile.

“I know what it is, asshole,” she said. “When are we going dark?”

Tru did a battery check on his own EMF reader. “Just as soon as everyone knows what they’re doing.”

Dexx took a camcorder. “I’ve got the basement.”

“I’m taking the main floor.” Tru clucked his tongue. “That leaves you the attic.”

Uh, no. “Why aren’t we going in pairs?”

“Are you scared?” Dexx’s expression widened with mischief. “Big bad demon summoner afraid of ghosts.”

She glared at him. “You just wait. Something’s going to go wrong and Leslie’s going to hear and you’re gonna have a new as—”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Tru said, his full hands raised. “No need to get all mean.”

Paige sent Dexx an evil grin.

Tru held a hand between the two of them. “I’m taking the thermal to see if I can’t catch anything.”

“Tru,” Paige said. “I know you’ve been doing this for a bit, but we could dirty any evidence we gather by going off in different directions.”

“We’re just sweeping. We’ll evidence gather after the initial go-through.” He handed Paige a digital voice recorder and a hand-held video camera.

“I’m sweeping with a voice recorder, a video recorder and an EMF reader?”

“Just in case.”

“The voice recorder is going to be useless,” she said in a sing-song voice.

“Huge house, Pea,” Tru said mimicking her tone.

“Fine. Fine. Okay. I thought you and Leslie already debunked this house last year or something.”

Tru nodded, taking the video camera back to check something.

“Then why are we here?”

“After the murders, apparently the owner has been hearing noises in the attic and doors closing on the main floor.”

Paige sent him a dark, frank look, her head tipped to the side.

Dexx gave her a lopsided grin. “Ah, you’re afraid. That’s so cute.”

“Dead people are weird.” So what if she’d been raised around the paranormal and strange. Ghosts scared the crap out of her. “And slightly wrong.”

Both boys laughed at her.

His