Chapter 24
Iput my hand on the back of my neck and close my eyes.
I’ve been at the station for hours, and I don’t think I’m going to get out of here any time soon.
Thank God Nick was able to go back to the house with the guys not too long ago and help smooth things over.
I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet to know how he’s holding up, but he’s been sticking to our story and hasn’t cracked yet.
This case will forever be cold, but this time I don’t feel bad about it, even though the feds are involved and there’s a nationwide manhunt for Jason Trent, who’s being portrayed as a batshit crazy cult leader trying to start his own Satanic religion.
I can tell some of my coworkers and superiors don’t really know what to think of everything.
I’ve been involved in a lot of weird cases recently that can’t be explained.
I’m too tired to be bothered by it. And way too worn out to worry about what will happen tomorrow. All I want to focus on is getting my butt home and into bed. Well, after I pay a visit to Mr. Trent, who’s tied up in my basement right now.
“Hey,” I say as I stand, seeing Rachel walk through the police station. She’s been an emotional mess since she got here, and being separated from the children she’s been looking after for the last two years is hard on her. “How are you holding up?”
She wipes away tears and forces a smile. “I think okay. Ben and Joe are going home with relatives. Jessica has family flying in tomorrow, and Ally’s with a social worker. They’re kids, you know, so they’ll be taken care of, right?”
“Right.” She’s not a child, but she won’t be left to fend for herself either. Though I’m not sure what’s been set up for her yet. “What about you?”
She shrugs. “I’m not sure what I’ll do after this.”
“I’ll help you,” I tell her. “Get some rest tonight and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” she says, eyes filling with tears again. I feel bad for her and want to keep talking, but I’m just so emotionally spent right now. I go to my desk, needing a few minutes of silence where I can close my eyes. I get two minutes before I’m called into the captain’s office. Again.
There are two FBI agents in there who have me go over everything again.
One of them seems suspicious on how I got my info, but no one presses too hard.
I’m a good cop who just busted a bad guy and found a bunch of missing children.
They should all be thanking me. And they do…
along with telling me I was reckless and lucky.
Finally, I’m free to go home.
I’m so tired I don’t remember that my car has been totaled until I’m outside, feeling warm summer air on my face. I lean against the side of the building and pull up the Uber app, wanting to get a ride home as fast as I can.
My eyes close and I tip my head up, dreaming already about my bed.
“Excuse me,” a woman says timidly. “Are you Detective Bisset?”
I tip my head down and squint at her, ignoring the massive headache forming. “I am.”
She looks behind her, like she expects someone to run up and attack. Ringing her hands together, she inches closer. “I don’t know where else to turn. But she gave me your name.”
“Who?”
“Lyra Turner.”
“Why would Lyra give you my name?”
The woman steals another glance behind her. “She said you’d be able to help me.”
“Help you with what?”
“I think the ghost of my ex-husband is haunting me. My boyfriend got attacked and I’m so scared Earl is going to hurt him or someone else.”
I look at this woman, terrified and desperate, and suddenly things click into place. “Yes, I can help you. But you don’t have to call me Detective anymore. My name is Acelina.”
“You’re going to wake her up,” Thomas hisses, pulling the blankets up around my shoulders. Gilbert sweeps his hand down over my ass, spooning his body around mine.
“I’m just going to hit him a little,” Hasan presses.
“Save some for Ace,” Gil says, and then nuzzles his face against my neck.
The guys did wake me up, but their conversation about beating up Trent is entertaining enough that I don’t mind.
It has to be around nine a.m., and my guys are still with me.
I knew it would feel good to have them in bed with me in the morning, but it’s better than I imagined.
I was beyond exhausted when I finally came home last night. I showered, ate, and then passed out. The guys have all taken turns keeping watch over Trent, and I know Nick was here late last night too, keeping our stories straight and the law off our back.
Melissa was found two towns over and arrested.
She’s spouting off all sorts of crazy things, like how I’m a witch who lives with four gargoyles.
Totally crazy, right? She’ll have a psych evaluation sometime today.
Pretty sure she’ll be diagnosed with something, because who in their right minds would believe her?
And no, I don’t feel bad for her at all.
“You already did wake me up,” I mumble, sliding my hand over Thomas’s thigh. Both of the twins are in human form, and we fit together in this bed so fucking well. “But shut up so I can go back to sleep.”
“Want some help?” Gilbert asks, and wraps me in a tighter embrace.
I smile and tell him yes, but fall asleep before he can even make a move. The next time I wake up, I’m alone. I stretch out, knowing I’ll be sore the minute I get out of bed. Blinking, I roll over and pull the blankets around me, not wanting to get up just yet.
And then everything from yesterday comes rushing back. And now I really don’t want to get out of bed. I’ve hit the ground running since I found out I’m a witch, and dammit, I’m tired.
So I pull the blankets up over my head and refuse to get up until I have to pee so bad I can’t ignore it. Grumbling, I get up and shuffle to the bathroom. I grimace when I see my reflection. I fell asleep on wet hair, but the rat’s nest on top of my head is the least of my problems.
“Ace?” Gemma calls from the hall. “Are you up?”
“Yeah,” I tell her. “I’ll be right there.” I shut the bathroom door and come back into the room a minute later.
She holds up a steaming cup of very strong-smelling tea. “I made you a healing potion. I think it’s the same one you made me. Only I don’t remember it smelling so, uh, bad.”
I take the cup from her. “Thanks. Did you follow the spell?”
She nods. “Jac helped me make it, so it’s exact. And I mean exact.” She raises her eyebrows and I laugh.
“He’s pretty strict when it comes to magic.”
“He’s strict when it comes to everything.”
I sit on my bed and blow into the cup to help cool it down. “He is. And I think he’ll be even stricter now.”
“Do you think he misses having powers?” Gemma tucks her hair behind her ear and sits next to me on the bed.
I shake my head. “He never wanted powers in the first place. All he wanted was to make the world a little more peaceful.”
“He has, even though the peace is brought on through very violent killing.”
I take a sip of tea. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ve done a lot of good in the short time we’ve been together.”
“You’ll do more.”
I turn to her. “I will, because I’m going to quit my job.”
Gemma’s eyebrows go up. “Quit?”
“I can’t keep lying. It’s only a matter of time before I’m caught, and I’m spreading myself too thin trying to kill demons and be a good cop.”
“What are you going to do?”
“The same thing.”
Gemma tips her head. “Am I missing something?”
“When I was leaving the police station yesterday, a woman came up to me. She said Lyra gave her my information and that she’s being haunted by a violent ghost. She asked if I could help.”
“And?”
“I said yes.”