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

think once they realize I have the key, they’ll leave.”

“Problem solves itself.”

“Sometimes, the easiest solution is best.”

“It’s not my favorite.”

“Nor mine.” She opted not rest on the hood. If she did, she was afraid she wouldn’t get back up. “But I can’t deal with them. I’ve already gone through Lucius and Roxxie as shields. That leaves me with Xael, and I’m not ready for that.”

Balnore’s head bobbed up and down as he studied the barn. “Things are as buttoned up here as you can make it.”

“There’s still too many loose ends, but, Bal, I’m not leaving without Dexx.”

He leveled a hard look at her. “He may not make it home. He’s in critical condition. The doctors say he won’t survive the night.”

Paige stared up at the sun high overhead and let the information settle over her. She pressed the fingertips of her empty hand against one eyelid, her heart clenching. “Will you drive me to him? Please. I can’t. I need sleep.”

Balnore gripped her arm. “You do,” he said, his voice a quiet murmur. “Fine. You see him. You say your goodbyes, then we get you and that key to Highland Park and in that fortress Alma calls a home.”

“Agreed.”

Paige remembered getting in the car after placing the key in her pocket. The next thing she knew, the car was still and Balnore was nudging her awake. “We’re here, Peanut.”

She breathed, feeding oxygen into her brain, willing it to wake up. If she were really, really lucky, Sven wouldn’t try anything and the demon population in and around St. Francisville would disappear.

If only she were that lucky.

They exited the elevator on the third floor. Few people walked the wide, bright hall. A woman’s voice called over the intercom, paging a doctor to a room. Otherwise, she couldn’t see or hear anyone.

Balnore led the way to a glass enclosed room with a single bed.

Paige’s breath lodged in her throat. It was so cold. Dexx laid there, tubes and wires coming from his body. Machines beeped all around him, and a single fluorescent light shown on him from the wall above his headboard.

Balnore pressed his arm onto hers, giving her support or a nudge. “Are you ready for this?”

The thought of facing her future without Dexx in it? He’d become a partner she’d never realized she’d needed, a best friend she could tell almost anything to. She shook her head. “When he came here, he was fine.”

“He was.” Balnore released a breath and stepped closer to the bed. “He was talking one moment. I left the room—I was pushed out, actually, and then he flat lined. He’s been a coma ever since.”

Paige couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Dexx might disappear from her life. For good. Forever.

“I’m—” Balnore paused, clasping his hands in front of him. “I’m going to give you some time.”

Paige didn’t hear him leave. He could have evaporated, traveling however demons did, or he could have simply stepped quietly out of the room. She didn’t know. Didn’t care.

Dexx was…gone.

She sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. She was afraid to touch him, though she didn’t know why. Nothing she could do would hurt him.

How was she supposed to say goodbye?

Easy. Just say it. Then walk away.

If only she didn’t care about him. What would it be like to wake up alone? Or to jump into another situation like this one without him as backup? She felt stronger, more confident, more capable with him in her life.

She ran the palm of her hand along his arm. “We never had that epic sex, you know. Seems like a cop out, you leaving like this.” She didn’t really feel the humor. She didn’t want to joke around. She wanted to bring him back. She wanted to talk to him, to touch him, to hear him laugh, to have him make fun of her.

Something caught her eye under the sleeve of his gown. Something white and stark. Raising the sleeve further, she saw a handprint.

Licking her lips, she touched it.

Sven. His name, his purpose swarmed over her.

Paige.

His voice echoed through her mind.

You received my message. I can bring him back.

Her heart paused in its beating.

For a price. Meet me in the courtyard.

Paige knew she shouldn’t consider any offer he might provide. Dexx wouldn’t appreciate knowing that she’d traded—what? Her soul? Her life? Her…what would she be willing to trade for one more moment with Dexx? Not her life. No. She liked him well enough, but her life? When she knew she had to live for Leah? No. She didn’t have that luxury.

She’d at least see what Sven wanted. What was the harm in listening?

A great deal, actually.

Paige took the main doors outside and walked around, looking for the courtyard. She found it. Or at least she thought she did. A group of young, flowering trees huddled within a concrete circle in the bay of three buildings.

“Sven?” she whispered. She wiped her damp palms on her jeans.

A shadow of a man headed toward her from the parking lot, his gait confident. He smiled as he grew closer. “I’m so glad you got my message.”

“Did you do something to him? Are you the reason he’s in a coma?”

“Gave him a virus.” Sven chuckled, well-pleased with himself. “A plague, if you will.”

“Why? What was the point of that?”

“Oh, if only you could see the big picture. You’re bloody brilliant, you know. You really are, but, I gotta say, you’re well off your game this time around.”

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. 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 game, 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 will you 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?”