Chapter 21
Iput my car in park and kill the engine, getting out and racing up the steps.
Hasan is standing on the porch with the concealment amulet around his neck and the spear the ghoul stabbed Jacques with in one hand.
I do a double take, seeing him without wings for the first time.
He’s tall and muscular, with a strong, masculine face and battle scars showcasing his time spent in battle.
Even without the wings, he’s intimidating.
“Is everyone okay?” I ask, taking the steps two at a time. Hasan hooks his arm around me, lifting me up the last step. He moves in front of me, ready to guard and protect me if need be.
“Yes,” he says, not taking his eyes off the yard. “You should get inside, Ace.”
The porch lights illuminate the tattoos of his wings on his back. “No way. I’m not going to leave you out here alone. What if whoever was here is still out there.”
He turns his head slightly and I see his eyes glimmer. “I hope they are. Get inside. We think they were looking for you.”
“Fine, but only to get my gun.” I step forward and put my hand on his shoulder, feeling my heart lurch. “Be careful.”
He reaches up, putting his hand over mine. “I will.”
I go inside, finding the others in the living room. They appear more relaxed, and the TV is turned on but muted to give the illusion someone is home.
“Hey,” Jacques says as soon as he sees me. The gauze is off his chest, and there’s only a small scar where the wound was. My heart does a weird skip-a-beat thing when our eyes meet. “How was the movie?”
“It was good. You all are okay? Did anyone see you?”
“Breathe, Ace,” Thomas says, moving away from the window. He puts his hands on my shoulders and leads me to the couch. “You did a good job covering the windows in the library, so I don’t think so.”
“So what happened?”
“We heard someone at the door as soon as we woke up,” Thomas starts. “At first we thought it was someone trying to break in, but then they started walking around the house, looking in the windows. We could see them, but they couldn’t see us in the dark.”
“Right. You guys have night vision. So they just looked around?”
“One looked in the house and the other went to the pile of ashes in the front yard.”
“The ghoul ashes.”
Thomas nods and flicks his eyes to Gilbert. “Hasan was about ready to rip their heads off, but we recognized them as human.”
“Specifically, as a human we saw last night,” Gilbert finishes.
“Last night?”
“We saw your friend—the one you went to the movie with today—at the park last night,” Thomas goes on.
“Yeah, but she was with me.”
Gil shakes his head. “We didn’t see her. It was the older woman who was with her last night.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Gil sits next to me. “And last night, you said you thought she looked at us and knew we weren’t human.”
“Right. And she did.” Anxiety builds in my chest and I look up at Jacques, needing him to say something wise and comforting right about now. “Which seems even more likely now since she fucking showed up at my house.”
“Which is another reason we stayed out of sight. If she was looking for something paranormal, she didn’t find it.”
“How did you get her to leave?”
“We turned on a light,” Thomas says with a smirk. “Easy but effective.”
I run my hands through my hair, mind racing. “So she comes here, not thinking anyone was home,” I think out loud. “She has to be looking for you guys, trying to figure out what you are.”
“Whatever she was doing, she didn’t want to get caught.” Gil puts his hands on my shoulders, massaging my muscles. “She drove away fast once the lights turned on.”
“I should look around the house. If she left in a hurry, she might have left something behind.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jacques offers. “In case something is out there.”
Thomas picks up the other concealment amulet. “You should wear this. If they’re looking for monsters, they’ll have to try harder.”
Jacques takes the amulet and slips it over his head.
His wings glow blue for a split second and then disappear.
I haven’t seen him without wings, and the sight of him looking human makes me feel like I’m looking into my dream again, and we’re about ready to go out and have a normal evening together without worrying about people spying and demons attacking.
He looks behind him, flexing his shoulders.
“You did an excellent job on the spell, Ace.”
“Thanks. I still need to make two more. I’ll pick up more crystals tomorrow.” I push up off the couch and make it a few feet before my phone rings. It’s work.
“Dammit,” I grumble, and hurry to get my phone from my purse. “Bisset,” I answer.
“Hey, Ace,” Officer Nick Beasley says. “I got something for you.”
“Another body?”
“Even better. Your killer attacked a girl, and she got away.”
“I was going to my car for my break,” Anna Webber, the most recent victim, says.
She’s sitting in the back of an ambulance, blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders.
Physically, she’s fine, having escaped with a few scratches and bruises.
“He was crouching down behind it and jumped me before I knew what was happening. Once he grabbed me, I went into autopilot or something.” Her eyes, which are heavily lined in black, fill with tears.
“My dad’s a Marine and taught me martial arts as soon as I could walk. ”
“Did you hurt him?” I ask. “Anything significant that might make him seek medical attention?”
“I twisted his arm, but I don’t think it broke. I kneed him in the dick and that’s how I was able to get away.”
“Do you take your breaks around the same time every night?”
“Yeah. Whenever I’m working that shift.”
“And you usually go to your car?”
She nods, black hair falling into her face. If you were going on stereotypes, Anna fits what one might paint a modern-day witch to look like. “Yeah. It’s quiet out there.”
“You said you didn’t see his face since he was wearing a mask, but is there anything else you remember that could help us identify him?”
She closes her eyes. “He’s white, and didn’t feel much taller than me. He smelled like cigarettes. Sorry I can’t help more.”
“That’s a big help right there.”
“There’s one more thing,” she says, hands trembling. “He called me a sinner.”
“Do you identify as a Wiccan?”
She opens her eyes. “I consider myself more Pagan.”
“Are you open about it?”
Reaching inside the blanket, she pulls out a necklace with a large triple moon symbol engraved on a silver circle. “Yeah.”
I question her a while more, then look around the scene of the attack.
The killer watched her long enough to learn her patterns, to know she comes out here alone at night.
I find cigarette butts on the parking lot near a dumpster.
Bagging them for evidence, I’m willing to bet the killer stood here waiting, lighting up one after another to kill the time.
I have my team go around the area, checking for surveillance footage from nearby businesses to this minimart.
I go back to the station and spend a few hours at my desk, trying to see if there are any connections between Lily, Josh, and Anna that could let me know how the killer is picking his victims. He knew they were all Wiccan or Pagan, and went after them when he knew they’d be alone.
His first murder went according to plan. He wasn’t able to stage the second, and his third got away. If he feels like he has to complete a ritual or is doing God’s work by ridding the world of sinners, he’s feeling pretty desperate right now and will strike again.
It’s nearly dawn by the time I get back to the house. Nothing eventful happened while I was away, thankfully, and Jacques said he walked around the house looking for anything out of the ordinary, and didn’t find anything.
“I should take a look too,” I tell him. “I’m a detective, after all.”
“You’re a tired detective,” Jacques reminds me. “You need to sleep while we’re still here and you’re protected.”
“I know, and you’re right. But it bugs me to leave things unsettled like this.”
“It’s not unsettled. We’re here.”
His words bring comfort, and I go upstairs, strip out of my clothes, and brush my teeth.
I lazily remove the makeup I put on, reminded of why I don’t usually wear it, and then fall into bed.
Jac comes in, and he’s wearing the amulet again.
He gets in bed with me, wrapping me in his embrace.
It’s easier to cuddle without the wings, and I’m sure it’s way more comfortable without them.
“I moved the runes to the basement.” Jacques brushes my hair over my shoulder. “Just in case someone comes around again.”
“Thanks. It’s safer down there.”
“It is. Get some sleep now, Ace.”
“Night, Jac. I love you.”
He kisses my cheek. “I love you, too.”