Whiskey Witches, F.J. Blooding [ap literature book list .TXT] 📗
- Author: F.J. Blooding
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She nodded.
“No. I saw nothing.”
“How’d we discover this one?”
“Groundskeeper called it in.”
She blinked and raised her face to the brilliant blue sky. What was going on here?
“What did you see? What was the message? Wait. What kind of message? Magickal? Demony?”
She nodded again.
“Which question are you answering?”
“The last one. Or two. I don’t remember. I saw letters, the kind I’ve never seen before. Then, something in my head translated them. I don’t know how. Maybe they were in the language of demons? Perhaps that’s something I can read? I don’t know.”
“And the note said?”
She ducked her head and looked at him through her eyelashes. “It was a love letter. He started off with poetry. All I remember is that it was E.E. Cummings, but now I don’t even recall how I remember that. I’m not a fan of poetry anyway, and that one’s not ringing any bells for me.”
Dexx dropped the foliage and crossed his arms over his chest. “Poetry.”
“And then he went on to say that I’d understand one day. That he and I were meant to be together, and that he’d protect me as only he could.”
“Bullshit.”
She shrugged.
He pulled the vines away again. They drooped in place. “Is the note still there?”
She shook her head.
“Maybe we can get some trace evidence off the body.”
“It was magickal, Dexx. There won’t be any trace evidence.”
He dropped his chin to his chest. “What’s going on here?”
Paige knelt, reviewing the scene in more detail.
The victim’s abdomen split open and a swarm of dazzlingly blue swallowtail butterflies shot into the air.
Dexx reeled out of the way, shielding his face.
Paige reached out with one hand, feeling with her gift to see if she could find some clue, some reason as to why this man had been chosen to carry the message.
For you.
The fiery letters disappeared from the man’s chest before she’d had a chance to do more than note their existence.
A branch broke directly behind her.
Paige spun and swung.
Agent Scott parried her attacks and took a step back. “What happened?”
Dexx walked into Paige’s line of sight and studied her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll repeat,” Scott said. “What happened?”
Dexx paced away two steps, turned, his fingers interlaced on his head, and paced back. “Sven, the murdering scum we can’t seem to catch, is leaving her love notes.”
Scott blinked. “Where?”
“On the body.”
“Evidence?”
“Magick.”
Scott licked his lips and glanced at the body behind Paige. “What kind of love note?”
“Poetry.” Dexx threw his arms down. “Pea, come on. We have got to get you out of here.”
She was ready. Good grief, she was ready, but she couldn’t. “Not without the key.”
“Right. What are you going to do with that?”
“Keep it safe. I have to.”
“How?”
Frustration ripped through her. “I don’t know, but I’ll find a way. I always do.”
“No, you don’t!” Dexx spun, rubbing his eyes with one hand. He turned back to her. “No. You don’t. You’re over your head.”
“Do you have enough to summon him?” Scott asked. “Even if you didn’t have his true name, if he’s leaving you love notes, wouldn’t that mean he wants to come?”
“Interesting concept,” Paige said, dread filling her chest. “Except I can’t summon.”
Dexx frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
“I saw you summon yesterday,” Scott said. “You seemed to do it quite well.”
“You’re right. I’m fine.” She placed her fingertips on the scar on her chest. “I’m open to possession. As soon as a demon comes close, he possesses me.”
“But—” Dexx shook his head. “No. You were in the car with Lucius and Balnore. Neither of them possessed me.”
“Apparently, I’m getting stronger and so is the need to take over my body.”
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“No,” Paige agreed. “But it doesn’t matter. Sven needed Lucius. I brought Lucius back. We need to talk to Lucius and see what happened two hundred years ago.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, they disappeared at the same time. We may have figured out where this plan hatched from. Where’s Lucius?”
Scott pursed his lips.
Dexx shoved his hands in his pockets. “In a demon trap in jail.”
Paige pressed her thumb to the side of her nose and closed her eyes for a second. “Great. It means he’s protected. Let’s go. I have some questions to ask.”
Dexx hadn’t been kidding. Lucius sat in a jail cell with demon traps surrounding him on the floor, on the ceiling. Demon traps littered the bars.
Paige released a breath, but didn’t enter. “Do you feel the need to possess me?”
He raised his bald, tattooed head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s likely because I’m a bit different than the rest, love. I take it someone’s had the talk with you, told you what happened?”
Dexx blinked, his chin jutted. “Why not, Lucius? How are you different?”
“Does it matter?”
“If we’re going to figure out how our new world works? Yes. Now, talk. Luce, why not you?”
The demon lifted one shoulder. “Because I’m not like the rest? How would I know?”
“Do you know anything about why my globe’s not working?”
“The summoner’s sphere, you mean?” He leaned against the gray-painted CMU wall, his hand splayed on his legs. “Probably for the same reason you can’t control the demons, why they want to possess you.”
Paige fingered the scar on her chest.
“Yup. That right there, love. It’s all it takes.”
“It’s a scar.”
“That goes straight to the bone. I don’t know what the plan here is, but you seriously need to get out of here.”
“Before what?”
“Before another demon, not nearly as nice as I was, takes over your body and uses that gift of yours.”
“To what?”
“To summon demons? Come on now. I didn’t scramble your mind that much.”
“No. I mean why? Why summon them? What do they gain? What does Sven gain?”
Lucius pursed his lips, his black gaze unfocused.
“What happened two hundred years ago? How did you both disappear?”
“I don’t remember much.” He winced.
Maybe it was the wince, or maybe it was the pained expression that followed. She didn’t believe him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing. It’s none of your business.”
“Will it help me keep the gate closed?”
“You don’t have to worry about that. It’s my charge to keep it closed. You can kick up your feet, love. I’m here now.”
“And you’re capable of doing that this time?”
“Now that I have my own body? Sure. Locked and cinched.”
She didn’t believe that either. “How’d they get the drop on you the last time?”
“The witch used earth magick. Won’t be able to hold me this time. Trust me, love. I have this handled.”
“Really? Dexx, who isn’t a witch, isn’t a sorcerer, nothing. He was able to trap you using earth magick. So what’s keeping you from being bound this time?”
Lucius let out a long breath, then stood. Between one blink and the next, he’d left his cell and stood beside her.
Paige frowned at the traps laid in the cell.
Dexx jerked in surprise. “How’d you get out?” His head swiveled furiously from the demon to cell and back.
“Like I said, love,” Lucius murmured in her ear, “I won’t be held by your earthen magick again.”
“How?” she asked in a mere whisper.
“You gave me your magicks, showed me how they worked when you gave me a body. This isn’t just a vessel. This is a body you created using the power of the
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