Chapter Thirteen
Greginald
My phone’s GPS drew me inexorably toward the center of town to the law offices of Faust and Atmos. As far as I knew, my case was over, but Esmeray’s was only just beginning.
I checked into the front desk and was directed toward the elevator that I moved up through with ease.
The way to Draevus’s office was simple, straight down the hall toward the most ostentatious door, and up to a rather plainly dressed secretary with a stare that could freeze saltwater. “It’s Mage Hawthorne. I need to speak to—”
“He’s expecting you.” She waved me off and I trod into the office, heart racing. I’d only had a moment to speak with him to ask for the appointment the other night, and I wanted time to present my conundrum under the guise of me wanting to branch out to provide for his son better.
“Gre! How are you?”
I smiled and nodded, taking a seat that he directed me to. “Well, all things considered.”
His tasteful office had been spared no expense, all tastefully minimalistic with art that I would never afford myself.
Could? Probably. Would? Absolutely not. The harsh angles of everything gave a sterile appearance that singled me out and made me the focus of his attention.
From my spot, he studied my face with unease.
“Is Esmeray taking the lawsuit harder than I can see?” He dropped the professional air and leaned onto his desk conspiratorially.
“Has Esmeray spoken to you since I called you?” I pursed my lips and earned a hesitant shake of his head.
“Well, we had a meeting with my sponsoring deities, and they dropped some heavy news on us. As you well know, both my patron deities are fertility adjacent…” I waved my hand and gave him a meaningful look that halted him in place.
He pawed a hand over his face with a hiss of unease. He didn’t swear, but it was close to it. The desire to do so was apparent over his every feature. “This is not part of his five-year plan.” He made air quotes as he said it.
“It is not. That’s why I’m here to speak with you.” I sat up straighter. “Esmeray is proud of himself, and I adore that pride as much as I’m learning to adore him. Our mateship is going well and I wish to humble myself and ask a favor of you.”
Draevus blinked in surprise. “I’ll do my best. What is it you need?”
“Esmeray won’t accept any handouts. I’ve been trying to get a rather lucrative contract with the city for some time as they don’t have anyone in special investigations for the mage enforcement department.
I have all the requirements they’re asking for, but you know what holds me back.
” I gestured to my head. “In this case, I won’t think twice about asking for nepotism. ”
Draevus frowned, brow crunched in thought as he processed things. His gleaming dark hair, flicked with the barest first hairs of silver at his temple shone in the bright light of the office. I readied myself for rejection and almost flinched when he burst out laughing. “That’s it?”
“The pay for the position is quite lucrative.” I offered a half smile. “And from there, it’s just a hop and skip away from being elected to a coven head or commissioner.”
“The chances of you being elected to a commissioner position?” He raised a brow.
“Exponentially higher if I have your backing and the support of hell-borne.” I grinned hopefully.
“Absolutely. I’ll work on you two about moving into the estate next door.” Draevus stared at his phone with a half grin as he sent out a text.
“Has Calamisis moved out? I have the money for a home, but I’d need the income to upkeep it.
” There also lay the issue that many banks still had unwritten policies about giving loans to hybrids.
Illegal to do, but hard to prove. “I’d have to pay for it outright, and that would wipe out 80 percent of my savings. ”
“Calamisis? No. I just texted him to get fucked and move out already.” The joy on his face was tangible, and I sincerely hoped I never got on his bad side.
“Too bad the haunted sex house is off the table. I could exorcise it quite easily.” I drummed my fingers. “Keep that home on the table as an option. I’ll find a way to afford it. If I can get the consultant position, I’ll be able to talk Esmeray into it.”
Draevus thumbed through his phone and consulted with something on his computer, giving me a gesture to wait in place.
“I need to make…probably four phone calls, maybe five if I have to threaten someone. But miracles can be done in Satan’s name.” He hummed jovially before making one call, his voice going silken and smooth.
I did my best to tune it out as he spoke with what sounded to be someone fairly high up. The conversation flourished with mild flirtations and reminders of favors long past. Draevus wrote a few notes, his pen flicks sharp and purposeful like Esmeray’s.
He moved on to another call after a minute; this one was much shorter. “I have a recommendation for that open role in the PD. You need a special investigator for the magical department, and I have one with a heavy background with thaumaturgy and a strong bond with two deities.”
Chatter on the other end escaped my hearing, and he grumbled before giving my name and telling him that I’d be the pick.
The Neck-romancer? The voice on the other end hitched, and Draevus locked eyes with me.
“My son-in-law.” A hoarse growl made its way into Draevus’s voice.
Muttered apologies and a guarantee that I’d be chosen issued. Draevus chuckled darkly. “Good.”
My phone rang shortly after, and I answered it, my security company on the other end.
I shot Draevus a look of apologetic concern and answered to hear the polite voice on the other end informing me there was a fire detected at my home.
I thanked her and checked the cameras, seeing all of them were offline.
I made a call to my home only to get an automated note about the number I had called, which was not connected.
My heart thundered in my chest. “Draevus, something’s happened t—”
The door to Draevus’s office flew open, Esmeray in the doorway wild-eyed and furious. “Father!”
His gaze flicked to me, and utter relief washed over his face as he flew into my arms. “Gre!”
“Esmeray? What’s going on?”
“Check the news.” He ushered his phone into my hands, fingers twitching as we watched live footage of Hemming Way, where my home was nothing more than an empty, smoking gap between an exotic lingerie store and an antique store that was likely a drug money front.
It was never open, never sold anything, and paid all its dues on time.
“No…”
“I was so worried you were at home…” Esmeray accidentally dropped his phone and hugged me tight, burying his face in my chest with a shudder.
“No, I had an appointment with your father.” I patted his back a few times as Draevus ended his call and shot a fierce gaze our way.
“You’re moving in with me, immediately. I will not take no for an answer.” He pointed at us. “Because I’m not putting my grandchild in danger.”
“You told him?” Esmeray glared at me, and I held my hands up defensively.
Draevus stood to full height. “You two go home. My driver will pick you up. Leave your cars in the lot, and I’ll have them checked for explosives.”
We turned around and headed out, with Esmeray whispering to me. “What the fuck, Gre?”
“I had business to attend to!” I hissed back and earned a shove from his shoulder that I absolutely wouldn’t reciprocate. Instead, I scooped him up in my arms bridal style and held him there for a moment, struggling. Shifter strength had its advantages.
“Let go of me! What business? Don’t make deals with demons; that’s like mage business 101!” Esmeray growled, and I held fast until he calmed. Then, I sat him down ever so gently.
“You may be too good to accept his handouts, but I’m not.
You wanted to move up the corporate ladder, and I have to too, now, and it’s not that easy for an omega or a hybrid!
” I kept going once it became clear he was letting me speak.
“I’ve been applying for a position for months with the police force as a consultant.
Nice paycheck. They don’t have anyone who can investigate magic and are hiring outside contractors.
I guess you know why I am being passed over, seeing as I’m one of the most educated mages in the area. ”
Esmeray’s face softened. “You’ve earned that spot…”
“And I have to cheat the system to get what I earned. Now, with that financial windfall, I can afford to be the kind of partner you need, supporting you to succeed. Your father won’t rest until we take the house next to him, and this will allow us to do so, regardless of your own income.
We’re one. If there’s an imbalance, it’s only because you’re doing something extraordinarily taxing and worth everything I own.
And in time, I know you’ll outpace me.” I offered Esmeray my biggest smile and brushed fingers through his hair.
For such a refined young male, one who submitted to me, bound to me, and let me have my way—he could flip on me in a heartbeat.
“Now, would you mind walking? I’m still sore from… ”
He reached up to cover my mouth with a hiss. “Okay! Not like we asked someone to blow up the store anyw—”
Horror melted over his face. “Vincenzo!”
We both ran.
The car was waiting for us as promised, people around the office watching us with worry. Some like they knew, others that had missed the whispers.
We rode in deafening silence, both of us nervous wrecks as the car stopped at the end of the street cordoned off.
We peeled out of the car, the driver sliding out behind us, a bulky male with a utility belt full of spicy and sparky things.
And from the scent of sulfur coming off him, a demon in mortal guise.
We jumped the tape cordoning off the road and wove around milling officers, escaping their grasp as we approached despite their warnings.
“Unstable!”
“Poltergeist!”
From the faint glow about the area and the hover of detritus surrounding an area of the building that used to be our kitchen, I balked at a rather frazzled Vincenzo, hands up, power coursing through his spectral form. “Gre!”
His ghostly voice wailed toward us, and I waved the officers back, promising him the poltergeist was stable.
“Vincenzo! What happened?” I waved an officer over to follow me and spoke over my shoulder. “I need two officers at least to confirm what he says.”
Two eyed me nervously before nodding and sidling up cautiously, wary of the hovering debris.
“It’s The Church! I couldn’t stop the man. I tried and, I’m so sorry.” Vincenco’s voice echoed from walls that no longer existed as he spoke, words zipping through the air like twanging wires and static.
“It’s okay. You managed to save your anchor. I can—” I glanced over at the old stove, and my heart squeezed in my chest. Nothing but crumpled metal remained, and my sigils were fading from it fast.
“It’s okay, Gre. My recipes still live on. In a metal box inside the planters out front. Dig down under the hydrangeas. Another chef will come along. Part of me will live on in my food. It’s been a long time, and I’m due my place in hell.” He smiled.
“I cannot change the punishment for your deeds, but give them my name. Tell them Esmeray Faust, son of Draevus Faust, is in debt to your cooking. Perhaps they can give you reprieve. Or let you pursue your passion wherever your soul goes.” Esmeray passed me and held his hands out, taking Vincenzo’s hands. “Just tell me who did this?”
“What’s left of him is splattered and burned up the foyer wall.
I tried to stop him while he was setting the explosives in the stairwell.
” A mangled wallet and cracked phone fell from the floating field of debris.
Vincenzo gestured toward it. “I pray that helps. And take care, mage. Your mate and your bambino will need all the help you can get. They won’t stop. ”
The creak of metal preceded a hiss of magic, a piece falling from the old stove.
“Maybe I can reinforce—” I reached out, and Vincenzo smiled.
“It’s my time. Live a good life.” The poltergeist opened his arms, dropped his field as debris rained around them, not endangering a soul.
A sound like a train rushing too hard far in the distance put pressure over my ears, and the oven collapsed.
In a breath and whisp, Vincenzo floated away.
A whisper on the breeze left a chuckle. “I was able to protect the extensions.”
“He… Mercy on his name,” Esmeray huffed a half laugh.
“He did good in the end. Shit life, though.” I rubbed at my stinging eyes.
“What’d he do?” Esmeray glanced over as a cop cleared his throat.
“Killed his wife and served her to patrons.” The cop’s ready answer made me tense up as Esmeray gave me a WTF look.
“Free. Cook.” I enunciated the words.
Esmeray thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I can’t do shit for him in hell, but maybe they’ll let him cook sometime?”
We both stared at the last sparkling remains of the poltergeist. Esmeray spoke a few moments later. “Want me to dig up the recipe book?”
“I got it.” I strode over and drew a sigil in the dirt to search and lift metal from within, and the box rose to the surface with a clank. “Now let’s get somewhere I can link my portals to and get our belongings. We only have a few hours before space lines up and we lose everything inside.”
“You put my books in your office, didn’t you?” Esmeray asked as he groaned.
“I finished the expansion charms this morning after you left… Technically my office and our closets survived.” I scratched the back of my head and huffed a laugh.
“You lost the shop…” Esmeray knelt down and sifted his fingers through broken glass, what had once been an apothecary jar.
“All the more imperative I get that job.” I leaned against him and sighed. “Let’s get back to your father’s estate and plan ahead.”
Esmeray nodded. “Go ahead. And if we take Calamisis’s estate, be prepared to have to deal with Father coming to visit every day.”
“So, no walking about in the nude?” I raised a brow, and Esmeray mirrored my expression.
“Actually, that may lessen his frequent visits…” Esmeray gave my groin a quick glance. “Or increase them. My father is a cad.”
“Demon.” One of the officers nearby grunted, having been close to our personal conversation.
We both glanced over at the officer, who glanced about nervously before pointing toward the charred remains of our would-be assassin. “Look at that! A body. Excuse me.”
We both eyed him as he left, and we strode away with an ever-lengthening list of things to do.
“I’m hungry.” Esmeray sighed in dismay.
“Italian?” I offered. It was what I had most nights. What we had.
The silence stretched on, and Esmeray leaned his head into my side. “I think I’m feeling tacos.”
“Tacos it is.”