Chapter 25
Julian
The bench in the holding cell was hard, the air stale, and the fluorescent lights overhead buzzed like they were trying to drill into my skull. I didn’t know how long I’d been here, but it was long enough to memorize the cracks in the tile.
And the worst part of it? The cell was demon-proof. That meant I couldn’t phase through the bars or pop off and head home.
An officer finally approached, clipboard in hand. He didn’t look at me when he spoke.
“You’re lucky,” he said. “Some woman’s here willing to post your bail.”
They’d set the bail ridiculously high: almost a quarter of a million dollars.
They probably thought I wouldn’t be able to post it, forcing me to stay behind bars.
They thought I’d rot in here long enough for them to dig through Delerium and twist whatever they found into something damning.
But between me and Gina, we had more than enough.
And if push came to shove, I was sure that Prax would help too. He had a fortune of his own.
“Of course,” the officer added, flipping the page, “there are conditions.” He listed them off in monotone.
I already knew what they were. I was to be fitted with an anti-demon restraint. No phasing, no teleportation. I was basically grounded and on house arrest with daily video check-ins.
The conditions were unusually strict, and I had a feeling they were trying make an example of me. This was about optics, about showing the community that they were doing something about the missing women.
Delerium had always been a target, but now it was a symbol of their investigation. And I was the headline they needed to prove they were cracking down. Never mind that they had no evidence. Never mind that I’d cooperated. They wanted a body in a cage, and mine was convenient.
They led me out through a side door, past a hallway that smelled like burnt coffee and old filing cabinets. Gina was waiting for me, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, her expression unreadable.
She pushed off the wall and walked toward me. “You owe me big time,” she said.
“Don’t I always,” I replied, stepping forward with the clunky anti-magic ankle monitor. It felt like cold iron laced with static. “Thanks for coming.”
I followed her toward the exit, the weight of the restraint already making me feel slower, heavier. But I was out. And that meant I still had a chance to fix this before they made me the villain in their story.
The first thing I noticed when I stepped into my apartment was that Lily was gone, and so was Shadow.
“Before you ask, Lily’s staying with her friend,” Gina said, leaning arms-crossed against my counter. “The one who lives above the coffee shop.”
I nodded, suddenly overwhelmed by how empty my place felt without her and her little black cat. But I hadn’t expected her to stay, had I? She didn’t live here.
Gina rolled her eyes. “You look like a lovesick fool. How about this, I’ll keep an eye out on your little witch until crap is over. And you start figuring out how to get out and disappear if shit keeps going sideways and we can’t clear your name.”
She pointed to a laptop I’d never seen before sitting on my coffee table.
“That right there is protected seven ways to Sunday with both magic and technology. You can search whatever the fuck you want on there and no one will know. Oh, and Lily removed any cameras they might use to spy on you. Just don’t use your regular devices.
They got that shit on lockdown while you’re on house arrest.
“Thank you, Gina. I really do owe you one.”
“Of course you do.” Her look turned sly. “And you know what. I won’t even seduce your witch… unless she wants me to.” Then she was gone in a puff of jasmine-and-sandalwood-scented smoke.
Her words had me thinking of that night with Lily’s friends.
The silence that followed was heavy. I moved through my home, unsure what I was even looking for until I saw my robe tossed over the back of the couch. The one Lily wore so often it still smelled like her.
I tried to blink away the pair of jeans and fitted T-shirt I’d formed around myself earlier so that I could throw the robe on without them, and found that I couldn’t.
Fuck this wretched anti-magic device. I threw the robe on top.
Technically the clothes didn’t really exist anyway because they were just a part of me.
But it still sucked that I’d be stuck wearing the same outfit from now until who knew when.
A soft, insistent pawing at the balcony door caught my attention. I frowned and walked over. There, pressed against the glass, was Shadow, her sleek black body silhouetted against the muted glow of the setting sun.
The moment I slid the door open, she strolled in like she owned the place, rubbing up against my legs with a low purr.
“How did you get here?” I murmured, crouching down.
Lily wouldn’t have left her behind. But then again, Shadow had been an outdoor cat before, and Lily's small apartment probably cramped her style.
Had she come back to check on me? Or had she claimed my rooftop as her turf?
Either way, it was quite a distance to cover to get here.
She stepped back outside onto the balcony, then headed up the stairs.
I followed her to the rooftop and sat on the bench, watching as she began digging around in the flowerbeds.
As she did, I took in the mess around me.
Maybe it was time to finally fix this up and get some cat-friendly plants in and more places for her to explore.
Deep inside, I knew that I was doing this only because I wanted Shadow back here more often. Currently, she was my only link to Lily.
After a while, Shadow sauntered up for one last scratch behind the ears before trotting down the stairs to the lower balcony.
By the time I got there, she’d already leaped onto the light post, then over to the fence.
With one last look over at me, she sashayed away like she had somewhere better to be.
And considering she was probably heading back home to Lily, I had to agree.
I glared at the infernal contraption strapped to my ankle, wishing I could tear the thing off and send it to the ninth ring of hell where it belonged.
Centuries. I’d spent literal centuries roaming this earth, avoiding every wizard, warlock, and wannabe sorcerer who thought they could bind me. I’d never been bound by anything.
Until now.
This thing was basically a jail cell for demons. I couldn’t phase. Couldn’t shift. Couldn’t even pop through a damn wall. I had to walk. Like a normal fucking person. With my feet.
I hated it. It was insulting and humiliating.
It had only been two damn days of wearing it, and I was losing my fucking mind. It didn’t help that I wasn’t allowed out of my house. And I had to rely on Gina to bring me everything.
To make things worse, I couldn’t even call Lily because I was forbidden to contact any known witches. They were allowed to contact me, though, so I kept looking at my phone like a lovesick loser hoping she’d call. She never did.
And even though Gina had explained that it was because she worried they’d use further contact with known witches against me, it didn’t make it any easier.
I wanted her here. I wanted her in my home, waking in my bed.
I wanted her where I could see her, talk to her, touch her.
But what was I supposed to do? Break my bail conditions and beg her to come back?
That bordered on crazy, and with suspicion already circling me like vultures, I couldn’t afford to add more fuel to the fire.
They already thought I was behind the disappearance of three witches; me acting all obsessive over another one was going to get me locked up for good. Which was exactly what they wanted.
My mind kept replaying our time together. The last words she mumbled to me at the club kept barging into my brain.
“You mean now that you’ve already shown me off.”
Was that why her mood had dipped? Was she upset that I’d crossed the line, putting a claim on her like she was mine when we’d agreed to less?
But I couldn’t even deny it. That was exactly what I’d been doing.
Except it wasn’t only because I didn’t want anyone else touching her; I also did it so everyone would know I wasn’t available.
I should’ve talked to her first, told her how I felt. Told her that I wanted something more with her than what we’d originally agreed on. Something I’d never wanted with anyone else before.
But I hadn’t been sure then. I hadn’t recognized it fully. How could I when I’d never felt anything like it before? I still didn’t know it for sure now, but what else could it be?
I hadn’t wanted anyone since that night a few weeks ago when we’d first danced. Lily was all I ever thought about. For someone whose motto for centuries has been “variety was the spice of life,” that was huge. I still craved variety, but I only wanted variations of Lily.
Lily on her back. Lily on her knees. Lily riding me into oblivion.
Now I might never have the chance to tell her how I really feel. What if they fabricated evidence and pinned this all on me, and I got locked up forever? Perhaps it was for the best she didn’t know, so she could keep living her life and just remember me as that special friend she once had.
I found myself on my rooftop patio, mindlessly cleaning up one of the flower beds, and waiting for Shadow to show up. The cat had come not just the first evening around sunset, but yesterday as well.
It wasn’t my feline friend but Gina who showed up in a swirl of smoke, one of the wild vines draped over her shoulders.
“How are you holding up, buddy?”
“I’m not your buddy.”
“Oh, come on. Stop sulking.”
“You try wearing this piece of shit on your ankle and not sulk.” I stuck my foot out.
She put her hands up in surrender. “Fine. I’ll just leave you alone then and not tell you what Lily’s doing.”
I took the bait. “What is she doing?”
She formed a giant mitt with her hand and placed it over my phone, which was resting on the edge of the flower bed.
“While you’re here sulking like a pussy, she’s been pulling every string she can to prove your innocence. And she’s doing it subtly enough that those on the case have no idea. She is quite a lady.”
“You’ve managed to tell me a whole lot without telling me anything.”
She laughed. “Our friendly neighborhood Roman researcher dropped by Witch’s Brew for a cup of coffee today.
So did Nathan. I don’t know exactly what they’re talking about since they figured out someone was listening and booted me.
” She rubbed her bottom like she’d been physically booted out, and it still hurt.
“The thing is, I’ve been spending some time with Lily and she hasn’t told me any details, so this must be something they don’t want me, or you, to know about. ”
I made a fist and punched the dirt in the flower bed. Hard. Oww! Damn it, I forgot I felt pain like mere mortals because of the ankle monitor too. I hated being made so completely and utterly useless.
“But you must have made quite an impression on her, because she’s more worried about clearing your name than about the magical threads wrapped around her body messing with her magic.”
Magical threads? This was the first time I’d heard about them. “What magical threads?”
There was no reply. I looked up, and Gina was gone.
I growled. It was just like her to drop a bomb like that and leave.