Chapter 4
Julian
We stepped out of my car and crossed the lot in silence, the mid-morning sun heating the cool pavement.
Lily walked a step ahead, her gaze locked on the entrance to her building.
I followed, scanning the building for anything out of place.
Sensing nothing, I let myself focus on the tantalizing woman before me and the mesmerizing sway of her hips.
Lily had toned down her outfit so it looked like she was coming from work, except for the shoes. She still wore those sexy strappy heels from last night, and while she was banking on others not noticing, I did. How could I not when they accentuated the curve of her calves almost indecently?
Mr. Kim was already waiting inside the cramped foyer, looking tense, tired, and two seconds away from chewing someone out. In other words, exactly as I’d expect a man to look after someone kicked in one of his tenant’s doors. He was in his late fifties, with salt-and-pepper hair parted to one side.
“You’re okay. Thank goodness.”
Lily gave him a curt nod. “I’m fine. What happened?”
“They kicked in your door,” he said. “Your neighbor called the cops. They came, saw the mess, took a report. They just left. Said they can’t really do anything if they didn’t take anything of value, and to contact them if anything’s missing. Completely useless if you ask me.”
It was only now that he noticed me standing several steps behind Lily.
I stepped forward and offered my hand. “Julian. I’m a friend of Lily’s.”
He shook it, eyes flicking to me with the kind of look that said I hope you’re more useful than the idiots who just left. “Mr. Kim. I own the building and live on the top floor.”
“I saw the camera out front,” I said. “Did it catch anything?”
Mr. Kim snorted.
It was Lily who replied. “That camera has been on the fritz since last week.”
“Yes. They’re supposed to come in to fix it today.
” Mr. Kim shook his head. “I’m sorry again.
Your place is a mess. I didn’t touch anything.
I thought you should see it first, but I did call someone to fix the door jamb and put in a new lock for you.
They’re on their way. I’ll stay to watch the place so you can get back to work.
But take a look and see if anything’s missing.
Jen said they ran out empty-handed when she set off the alarm. ”
“Thanks, Mr. Kim.” Lily started up the stairs, and I followed behind, my senses on high alert. But again, I felt no immediate danger.
Her door, the first one on the right, hung crooked on its hinges, the wood around the lock splintered and useless. I stepped in behind her, and the shift hit instantly.
The apartment was a mess, just like Mr. Kim had said. The furniture was overturned, and Lily’s belongings were scattered about like someone had been searching for something. But it wasn’t just the mess. The air was charged with magic; it clung to the walls, sharp and invasive.
Lily wrinkled her nose. “Something about this feels familiar. But I can’t place it.”
“Is there anything they might be interested in besides you? They were looking for something else too.”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure they were looking to take anything.
” She pointed to a table where a prettily painted bowl lay cracked, and several candles were broken in half.
On the floor in front of it were shards of crystals that looked like someone had taken a hammer to them.
Then she turned and looked at the area above her front door; the hook there was empty, and several bells lay on the floor.
“What am I seeing?” There was something important here, but it was over my head.
“They destroyed my shrine and my protection. My wards are down, and I hadn’t even noticed until now.” She looked shaken. “First my job. Now this?”
Lily went around her place, and while things were broken, nothing was missing.
It was almost like they smashed one of her computer monitors and tossed her speakers clear across the room, just so it wouldn’t look like they’d come only for the magical artifacts.
By the time we got to her bedroom, she was fuming and anger was curling off her aura in hot pink smoke.
“My shoes!” She ran to a wall of cubbies and the pile of footwear littered around it. Damn, there were plenty more where the pair she wore came from. One pair lay on the floor, heels snapped and the leather scratched.
My eyes drifted to the colorful, but broken, glass orbs and suncatchers on the floor by the window. More of her protective magic destroyed. I’d seen enough. This was definitely connected to last night.
“They targeted anything that might protect you. You are not staying here alone. Pack the essentials. You’re staying with me.”
“But I need to get this place cleaned.”
“I’ll send someone.”
“To go through my stuff?” She cocked a hip. “Hell no!”
“Okay, then we'll come back and do it later. But you’re not staying here.”
She looked like she was about to argue, so I pulled the coven card. I took out my phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Prax, since I don’t have Penny’s number. We can let your coven decide.”
She deflated. “Okay, okay. Fine! I already know what they’re going to say.
” Her looks turned sly. “And besides, I told them I’m still working on the ‘asking for it’ part.
” She winked and stepped over a pile of shoes to get to her closet, where she pulled out a piece of rolling luggage.
As she bent to pick it up, the hem of her dress shortened considerably. She grinned back at me.
The little cock tease. “Careful, Lily. I’m not the kind of demon you tease unless you’re ready to face the consequences.” I sent a smoky tendril of my soulstuff over to her, wrapping it around her legs.
It earned me a sharp intake of breath as lust filled the air between us.
“Who says I’m not?” She reached for a jacket, arching her back as she did.
My fingers itched to trace the line of her spine. Instead, I stayed where I was and furtively slid the tendril higher up her leg, teasing at the edge of her underwear.
She bent again, deliberately, and I swore under my breath as her magic shimmered, and the hem of her dress shortened until it barely covered her ass. The little minx knew she was playing with fire.
And it was working. The primal part of me, the part that still remembered dancing and fornicating under the full moon with a bevy of witches, demanded I bury my face in her well of sexual energy and take a good, long drink.
But somehow that rose-tinted memory seemed to pale next to the reality that was standing before me.
She turned, her lips curled into a smile that promised trouble. “You keep staring like that, and I’m going to think you want me right now.”
I growled low, the sound vibrating in my chest. “Want you? Sweetheart, all you have to do is say the word. I did make a promise to your coven sisters not to take advantage of you unless you asked for it. And a promise is a promise.”
She blinked, then laughed. “Take advantage? Of me? That’s cute. More like I’ll be using you.”
I stepped closer, crowding her space until her back hit the closet door. Her breath hitched, but she didn’t back down. Brave little mortal. Or maybe just reckless. Either way, I liked it.
“We could use each other.”
A pink tongue darted out. “We could do that. But I’m not one of your incubus-chasing ladies.”
“No, you’re not. You’re Prax’s friend and therefore my friend.”
“Friends… with benefits?” Her brow raised.
“Works for me, Vixen.”
But as much as I wanted to have some fun with my little witch right now and distract her from the sudden spell of bad luck she’d been having, I also wanted to get her somewhere safe first. Her home wasn’t safe anymore. And not to mention Mr. Kim was pacing the building hallway.
I leaned in, just enough for her breath to ghost across my lips. “Later,” I murmured, letting the promise hang between us.
She rolled her eyes, but her pupils were blown wide with lust. “You better not be bluffing.”
“Sweetheart, do I look like someone who bluffs?”
Her laugh was breathless this time, and she pushed past me with a shake of her head. “Come on, before Mr. Kim comes to check on us.”
She finished packing quickly, bringing all the essentials including all her electronics, which took up another whole backpack. A large one. Who needed this many devices?
“One more thing,” she said, heading toward the balcony.
I swiped the broken pair of red-soled shoes from the floor and followed her. I found her topping up the water and food in a set of bowls.
“You have a cat?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. Shadow’s a stray I’ve been feeding. She’s barely older than a kitten, and I was hoping the cat distribution system would let me adopt her.”
I frowned as she closed the crate door. “But how would she reach the food?”
“Like I said, she’s still pretty small. She can get through the bars and eat, but the bigger cats can’t.”
“Oh, that’s smart.”
“Thanks.” She noticed the pair of heels in my hands. “Those were my favorite pair. I destroyed them yesterday on the way home. Why are you holding them?”
“I thought maybe I could fix them.”
She raised a brow.
“I was a cobbler in another life. It was honest work to hide what I was,” I admitted.
“Huh, I would’ve never guessed.”
Mr. Kim was still pacing in the hallway, muttering under his breath about broken locks and bad omens when we stepped out of Lily’s apartment. Lily’s landlord must know a thing or two about witchcraft, because he paled when she pointed out the broken charms and talismans.
“Could it be...” He trailed off, eyes darting to me.
Lily waved her hand. “He knows about the missing witches.”
Mr. Kim was more than he seemed to be. But that wasn’t uncommon here in Darlington.
Seeing the confused look on my face, Mr. Kim laughed, the first lighthearted sound he’d made this whole time. “My wife is a mudang. Think of it like a Korean shaman.”
“That’s how I found the place,” Lily explained. “I met Mrs. Kim on the Let’s Talk About Hex forum.”
Ah, that explained why the unassuming older man was privy to things happening to witches.
Lily motioned to her rolling bag. “I’m going to stay with Julian for a while until we can get everything cleaned up and my wards back in place.”
“Yes,” I said, solemnly. “I’ve got her. My place is well-warded.”
That seemed to settle Mr. Kim. He nodded. “Good, good. I will message you when your door is fixed.”
Lily took one last glance at her home. “Thanks for checking on me, Mr. Kim.”
Then we were back in my vehicle, and heading home.
Trouble found us in front of my club in the form of a police cruiser and two boys in blue. It was the same pair who had visited on Monday. If I recalled correctly, the taller one played the good cop, and the shorter with the lobster sunburn was the asshole.
They’d parked in front of my garage door, blocking my entrance, so I parked in one of the external parking spots instead. I owned the whole building anyway; it didn’t matter where I parked.
“What the hell?” Lily asked.
Shit. I’d told her I knew about the witches going missing, but I hadn’t said anything about the cops showing up. I quickly caught her up. Then I went to the trunk to grab her bag as she quickly wove a spell. Or at least that was what I thought the mumbling of words were.
Lobster Face spoke first as we got out of the vehicle.
“There he is with the missing woman.” He crossed his arms over his chest, a smug look on his face.
“I knew you had something to do with it. You incubuses are always up to no good. Never had a doubt. Ain’t no denying it now. We caught you red-handed.”
I flipped my palms up next to my hips to show that I was not armed. I knew full well that my video cameras were pointed this way and there would be no claiming that I had a weapon. Not that a demon like me needed a separate weapon. I was the weapon.
The idiot didn’t seem to grasp that though as he stomped toward me, insufferable cocky smirk on his face.
But I didn’t get a chance to stand up more for myself because Lily was already stepping in front of me.
“A missing woman?” she asked innocently. “Who went missing?” Then she blinked twice, looking for all the world like the fake dumb blonde, or was that dumb pink, she was going for.
The two officers shared a glance.
“Me?” she asked with a gasp. “But I’m right here. I’m not missing.”
Lobster Face seemed at a loss for words. So his partner spoke instead.
“Miss,” he started with a slight nod.
“It’s Lily.” Lily stuck out a hand before he could continue. She batted her eyelashes at him, and was it just me or did her clothes look a little tighter than before?
The moment her hand touched his, something happened. I didn’t quite know what though. I was too busy trying to resist the urge to growl at the man for shaking her hand. Lily was a conquest. Conquests came and went. There was no need to get all possessive over her. This wasn’t like me.
But as Lily leaned in, pouring on the charm, I recognized the insidious feeling growing in my chest. There was no doubt about it. I was jealous.