Chapter 28
MONDAY
IN WHICH DESSA CONTINUES TO HATE MONDAYS
Dessa tried to make coffee like she hadn’t woken up with Jamison in her apartment. Like she hadn’t liked waking up with Jamison in her apartment. Like he hadn’t walked over to the Brew to get them donuts, in part, so that it didn’t look so weird for him to come downstairs and straight into work.
But at the same time, she couldn’t help humming to herself, a stubborn smile curving her lips as she danced in the break room. Her phone chimed with a message from Aiden, but she deleted it without even looking. Then on second thought, she blocked his number.
After all, there was no going back. Not to New York and not to him.
She’d meant what she’d said last night, and after she’d said it aloud, she couldn’t take it back.
A stray breeze from the window circled through the room, and a scrap of paper flew off the table.
Dessa bent to pick it up and throw it away when her eyes caught on the message.
This is your last warning.
She paused on it for only a moment before crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash.
Honestly, did this troll expect her not to do her job?
He obviously didn’t know her. By the time she walked out into the office, Arthur was at his desk typing away.
She greeted him with a cheerful smile, but he didn’t look up.
“Sean Kane is outside,” he said.
Jamison’s dad? Now that made Dessa stop. “Is he waiting for Jamison?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
Mercy grant me strength. Dessa sighed and strode to the door, hoping this meeting would go better than the one with Jamison’s mother.
What was it about their office that made it a Kane-magnet?
At this rate, they were liable to host a whole Kane family reunion.
She poked her head out of the door, and sure enough, Sean Kane stood there in a tailored navy suit, his brown hair combed, and his wiry frame leaning against the brick siding as he stared at his phone.
“Mr. Kane?” she asked.
He jumped off the wall, only relaxing an inch when he saw her. “Yes?”
“Um, I’m Dessa McKinney. I work at the AzRIO.” She pointed to the sign as if he didn’t know exactly which building he was in front of. “Is there something you need?”
Sean swallowed and shoved his hands in his pockets, a taut energy vibrating off him. “Well, yes, I suppose I do have matters to discuss with you. I just wasn’t sure when you officially open.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure either.” Dessa’s lips tugged upward. “Come on in.”
Sean stepped in reluctantly, looking over his shoulder as though worried someone might notice. Inside, he frowned at the large windows and then at Arthur. “Is there somewhere we can speak more privately?”
“Of course.” Dessa’s curiosity only heightened as she took him into Brad’s office across from the break room. She closed the door and took a seat across the desk from him. “What would you like to talk about?”
Sean Kane stood as quickly as he sat down, pacing the room with a nervous jitter to his movements—the peppery scent of his curse flooding the air.
“Look, I hate to say this, because I know Jamison has been enjoying his time here, and I understand why he took this job, but you really need to keep your distance from him.”
Dessa reared back, and she couldn’t keep the dry skepticism from her voice. “Well, that would be kind of hard since we work together.”
“Not that.” Sean continued pacing, not meeting her gaze. “I know he spent the night here.”
Dessa willed her face not to heat as she raised her chin, striving for casual. “And? Last I checked, he’s twenty-three. I think he’s a bit old for a curfew.”
Sean stopped, finally looking at her—his green eyes studying her with an earnest frenzy.
Though he was freshly shaved, there was a leanness to his face, and shadows that clung to his eyes that spoke of many sleepless nights.
“Listen, I’m not trying to offend you. If this had happened last year, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
Hell, I would’ve barely been keeping an eye on him at all.
” His lips tightened as if holding in words he wanted to say but couldn’t.
“Things are different now. You don’t know what you’re getting into. ”
Dessa relaxed back in her chair, trying to read between the lines. The peppery scent wafting off Sean was even thicker than Jamison’s. “You’re talking about the curse.”
His eyes widened, and Dessa pressed on. “I’m an Uncanny, I can sense the magic in you. The same that runs through Xavier, Jamison, and Noah.”
“Do you know what it does?” Sean asked, desperation ratcheting his voice like a wire ready to snap.
“I don’t.” Dessa frowned. “But I’m betting it has something to do with those three women dying last year.”
The tension in Sean’s face melted into a slack grief, but still he held her gaze. “My wife, Jamison’s girlfriend, and the third who I just confirmed was my father’s mistress.”
Oh. He wasn’t trying to keep Jamison away because he didn’t like her, he was trying to keep Jamison away because he thought his son was putting her in danger. “Do you think Jamison would hurt me?”
“Not on purpose.” Sean’s gaze held hers, serious and steady.
Dessa leaned back in her chair, her muscles relaxing with understanding. “Sounds like a problem that needs solving. I don’t know if you know this, but we’re pretty good at solving problems around here.”
His face fell ever so slightly as he turned toward the door. “Well, at least I can say I tried to warn you.”
“Do you have such little faith in us, Mr. Kane?” Dessa asked.
“I don’t operate on faith, Ms. McKinney. I operate on evidence, and I haven’t seen a lot of that.” There was no malice in his tone, but the words stung all the same. Each one like a stab to her ego.
“Well, while you’re here.” Dessa rose, trying to keep him for just a moment longer. “How often do you deal with Hexxers?”
A shadow darkened his face. “I try to stay away from them, as should you. But then again, I try to stay away from everything that has to do with this world. I don’t know why you came back, Dessa McKinney, but I think you would do best to return to wherever you first escaped to while you can.
” With that, Sean Kane opened the door and walked out.
Dessa blew out a frustrated breath and scrubbed a hand over her face.
Was it possible that Sean was the one who’d sent her the threatening messages?
Had their curse come from the Hexxers? Was that really why he wanted her to stay away from Jamison?
Once again, she only seemed to have more questions and no answers.
By the time she’d collected herself enough to step out into the working room, Sean Kane had already breezed out the door and down the walk.
“I’m guessing that wasn’t a very productive meeting?” Arthur raised a fuzzy eyebrow at her from his desk.
Dessa mirrored the skeptical expression back at him before lowering herself into her chair. “You were raised on the Hexxer compound, Arthur; why does it seem like they’re behind all the trouble in this town?”
Arthur’s expression flattened. “Because they have little regard for others.”
“Have you ever heard of a Hexxer cursing people?” Dessa asked.
Arthur frowned, his forehead wrinkling as he thought. “Yes. It’s common enough.”
Dessa cocked her head. “But then why don’t I see a lot of people coming in with complaints about being cursed?”
Arthur shrugged. “Well, Hexxer curses are usually temporary. In general, Hexxer magic isn’t as powerful as the Magickers’.” He glared at her sideways. “But don’t tell them I said that.”
So much for Dessa’s budding theory that their current rogue Hexxer might be the same one who cursed the Kanes. “Okay, well, have you ever heard of Hexxers kidnapping people for their, um, paranormal parts?”
Arthur’s fingers began to tap at his keyboard. “Need I remind you again, Dessa McKinney, that this is the Azalea Springs Records and Intermediary Office, and we do not provide investigative services?”
“And remind me of who does investigative services in A-Springs?” Dessa leaned back and tapped her chin, pretending to think.
“Oh, wait, we can’t get anyone to fill that position because they keep getting killed, so right now we have an eighty-six-year-old Cog and his secretary who only venture out for half-price lunch on Tuesdays. You think they’ll figure this out?”
Arthur gave her another cold side-eye, his fingers pausing for only a moment before he let out his usual bored sigh.
“Look, Hexxers are manipulative, but they generally don’t use violence.
They’re too snobbish for that. And they certainly don’t like dealing with Vampires and Werewolves.
They’re harder to manipulate, harder to hex, and in general, they consider them tainted by uncontrollable magic.
Hexxers are also paranoid about them poaching their people for their own clan or pack. ”
Dessa wrinkled her nose, the frustration bubbling up in earnest now. “Okay, good points, but then who would kill Jean Marc? If it’s not the Vampires, Werewolves, or Hexxers, then you think it’s the Magickers? The Cogs?”
“Could be anyone with paranormal influence, probably someone who’s used to avoiding both paranormal and Nescient authorities.” Arthur sniffed and adjusted his black-rimmed glasses. “But I’m just a legal analyst, not an investigator.”
Dessa opened her mouth to reply when the door jangled with cheer and Melba, Richard, Jamison, and Noah all crowded in together in a lump of noise.
From the tangle of voices, they were deep in some argument about the benefits of different enchanted coffee brews, while Noah loudly attested that the magic took away from the flavor of coffee beans.
Jamison shot her a pained look, a silent plea for help, and Dessa smiled, taking pity on him. “Hey Melba and Jamison, can we have a quick meeting? I have some questions about the paperwork we filed yesterday.”