Chapter 22
Someone knocks on the door and the sound reverberates through the whole house.
I sit up, feeling like I’m suffering from the world’s worst hangover.
Who the fuck is at the door? I sent Jared a message on Facebook with my number, telling him to text me if anything else happens.
He replied with an okay so I know he got it.
I pull my arm out of the covers and grab my phone, making sure I didn’t miss a call or text. I didn’t, and it’s making me even more annoyed. I don’t just want to sleep, I need to sleep. Maybe whoever is here is selling shit I don’t want and will go away.
I roll over, closing my eyes, and they knock again. And then I remember it’s the guy who’s replacing the glass.
“Fucking hell,” I mumble, and push myself up. I grab a pair of yoga pants and pull a sweatshirt over my head. It’s too hot for it, but my nipples show through the light pink cami I’m wearing and I’m much too lazy to mess around with a bra right now.
“Sorry,” I say, and answer the door.
“Didn’t mean to wake you,” Roy says apologetically.
“It’s okay. It’s late, I know. I had a rough night.” I wave my hand in the air and step back, letting him in. Another guy is out by the van, opening the back doors to get the glass out.
“We’ll be in and out a bit,” Roy says, walking to the sitting room. “Do you have any pets we should look out for?”
“Nope.”
He smiles. “That makes it easier for us.”
“Do you guys want coffee or anything?” I rub my forehead and close the door. “I haven’t made any yet, but I plan to. Lord knows I need it.”
“I might take you up on that. We’ll get right to work.”
“Okay, thanks.” I go back upstairs and fall into bed.
I tell myself I’m just going to lie there for a few minutes, but end up dozing off, waking up with a start at the sound of a drill.
I roll over, pulling the blankets up over my head.
My air conditioners will arrive today, and I’m looking forward to my room being ice cold again.
My phone rings, and I assume it’s Gemma by the unknown number.
“Hey, Ace,” she says when I answer. She sounds more like her old self already.
“Hey. How are you feeling?”
“Much, much better. I slept all night. I haven’t slept for more than an hour or two at a time since I left the hospital.”
“Oh, right. That would be hard on you. Have you seen the doctor yet?”
“Not yet, but I was told he’d be in soon. Though you know that could be anywhere from ten minutes to three hours.”
I laugh. “Yeah, soon can be a big time range for them. I’ll come up and see you later. Someone is here fixing a broken window for me, so once they’re done I’ll head up.”
“Did someone try and break in?”
“Something, not someone.” It feels good to have someone to be honest like this with. “I’m guessing it’ll take an hour or two, and then add in another two hours for driving. So I’ll see you after lunch.”
“I kinda feel bad making you drive all the way up here.”
“Don’t. If I didn’t want to drive, I wouldn’t do it.”
“I like that about you. You’re honest and don’t take shit.”
“I’m blunt. Some call it a personality flaw, but I like your take on it.”
“I need to be more like you.”
Yawning, I sit up. “If you hang around me more, I’ll probably rub off on you.”
She laughs. “I can only hope—oh, the doc is here. I’ll see you later. I’m in room four-oh-seven.”
“I’ll see you later. Want me to bring you any food? Hospital food can be iffy.”
“Honestly, yes. Anything from Subway would be amazing. Thinking about getting a BLT got me through my days shackled in the root cellar.”
“I will bring you two.”
“Thanks, girl.”
Me: Don’t do anything stupid.
I send the text to Jared and then pull my seatbelt over my lap. It clicks into place and I fire up the engine, backing up so I can turn around and head out to the hospital. The new window looks great and doesn’t look new at all. Which was the whole point of paying Roy as much as I did.
The air is much cooler today than yesterday, and I put the windows down and enjoy the breeze blowing through. I try to enjoy the music blasting from my favorite 90s station and not think about anything, but of course my mind drifts to the ghost and to what Jac said about needing a coven.
Though my job is risky in itself, I’m not really a risk taker by nature.
I’m smarter than that, and know when to respect my personal limits.
I’ve definitely pushed said limits since finding out I’m a witch, though that was entirely out of necessity.
Being a law-abiding detective and a badass, demon-fighting witch don’t really mesh, and I’ve gone to extremes to keep my two worlds from colliding.
And doing so is exhausting.
But what other choice do I have? I’m a cop. That’s my job, and as I explained to the guys recently, I need a job. No one is going to pay me for catching ghosts and staking vampires.
Halfway to the hospital, my phone vibrates from a text. I glance down at it and see Jared’s name, but I don’t dare open the text while driving. Turning up the radio, I sing along to Nine Inch Nails and try not to think of anything other than what I want to do with Tom and Gil tonight.
Once I get into Lancaster, I pull over and get out my phone to find a Subway closest to the hospital. I get Gemma two of the sandwiches she wanted as well as one for myself. Just a few minutes later, I’m parking and heading into the hospital.
Gemma is sitting up in bed watching TV and looks a million times better than she did yesterday. Her face lights up when she sees me.
“I bring sustenance,” I say, holding up the Subway bag.
“Oh my god, I freaking love you.” She rolls the bedside table over and pushes a book to the side. I set the bag down and reach into my purse, pulling out a little glass bottle filled with tea-colored liquid.
“What’s this?” She picks up the jar, turning it over and watching the chunks of herbs float around.
“A healing potion. It’ll knock you out, so you should eat your sandwich first.”
“For real?”
“Yeah, though I’m not sure how well it’ll work with sicknesses. It helped me recover the day after we got out of that warehouse.” I pull a chair up to the bed and take one of the sandwiches out. It’s been a long time since I ordered a sub, and it looks delicious.
“I have so many questions,” Gemma says, and then takes a bite.
“I’m sure you do. I’ll answer what I can.”
Nodding, Gemma holds up her hand to let me know she’s going to finish chewing before she talks. “You told me you didn’t believe in magic when I first met you.”
“That’s not a question,” I tease. “And I didn’t.”
“How can you not believe in magic?”
“I only found out about all this recently.”
She lets out a snort of laughter. “I bet that was a real shocker.”
“You’re telling me. I mean, I guess I’ve always been a witch, but I didn’t know I had powers.”
“And your…your boyfriends…they’re all alike?”
“Yes,” I say, knowing what she’s asking. “All four of them.”
“Four?”
I nod and take another bite of food.
“I can’t even get one lousy guy to date me. You’re giving me relationship advice once I’m out of here, you know.”
I laugh. “I’m not good with relationships.”
“Says the girl who has four boyfriends. I’ve seen three of the four, and they’re all drop dead gorgeous. And have accents. Wait…four boyfriends. Four? Do you sleep with all of them?”
“Yes.”
“At the same time?”
“No, not all four. But two at a time, yeah…I’ve done that a few times.”
“I don’t know if I should be jealous or in awe of you. Given the fact that you’ve saved my life twice now, I think I’m going with awe.” Gemma picks up her water. “I want to be you when I grow up.”
“I come with my fair amount of issues, trust me.”
“How did that come about? Did you guys discuss things beforehand? Do they know about each other?”
“Slow down. It just kind of happened. Given what they are, their situation is unique.” I shake my head, not really sure how else to explain it. “It’s just what works for us.”
“And they don’t get jealous of each other?”
“Not really. Out of the four, I think only Jacques—the one you met last night—would want to settle down in a monogamous relationship.”
“Do you have a favorite? I know you’re not supposed to pick favorites, but we all know even moms have that one kid they love just a little more than the others.”
“I feel for them all the same. Though I’d say Jac and I connect on a deeper level.”
“It’s so unfair, you know.” She stares at me for a few seconds and then goes back to eating. She only makes it through half the sandwich before she’s full. Being starved does that to a person. Wrapping the remaining sub up, she trades it for the potion.
“I just drink this?”
“Best do it like a shot. It tastes like shit.”
She unscrews the lid.
“Wait.” I lean forward. “Do you have allergies to anything?”
“Certain types of food dye and cheap makeup, and I don’t mean that in a sarcastic way. Talc in makeup makes me break out in hives.”
“That’s it?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Neither are in that, so you’re good.”
She sniffs the potion and makes a face. “Bottoms up.”
“Ace?” Gemma’s hand lands on my shoulder. I blink awake, having to remind myself where I am.
“Shit. I fell asleep.”
“Not surprisingly after the night you had.”
“Right?” I sit up, stretching my arms over my head. After Gemma drank the potion, I told her about Jared and the ghost, and then said I’d stay for a while after she passed out to make sure the potion didn’t poison her or anything. “How long was I out?”
“Almost two hours. I just got more blood drawn so I had to get up.”
“How do you feel?”
“Amazing. I’m not totally better, but I’ve gone from feeling like I can hardly breathe to a slight cold. That stuff is amazing, Ace.”
“I can’t take credit for it. I just followed a spell in my family’s book.”
“They knew their stuff.”
“Seems like it. Now I just need to learn it.”
A nurse knocks on the door and comes in, starting her shift with an assessment.
“You were admitted with pneumonia?” the nurse asks, listening to Gemma’s lungs.