Chapter Four #4
“Tomorrow we’ll work on how Wynter got caught up in all of this,” Julian stated. “But tonight, I want us all locked down where we, and our dead, are safe. I don’t know where this lunatic is.”
Avalon was honest.
“It’s silent in the static. This person isn’t making himself known. Likely, he’s laying low or getting ready for the next assault on us. He could even be watching and enjoying what he’s done, or this could have drained him, and he’s regrouping.”
Well, that was good to know.
And bad to know.
Yeah, this whole thing was going to be a pain in their asses.
Call it a hunch.
At that moment, everyone needed to be hyper-aware of their surroundings for the time being.
That meant one thing for the Littlemoons.
“We’ll also be buddied up. No one is going to be alone for now,” Julian stated. “You guys need to make that sure no one goes anywhere without a partner.”
Well, ask and receive because they were all willing to do just that.
The Marines had been listening.
“Well, if you guys can find this person, Jagger and I can handle it,” Maura stated. “We specialize in covert handling of ‘special’ situations, if you know what I mean. How about we leave it at that?”
Except one of them couldn’t take that hint.
Tori lifted a brow.
“Handle?” she asked, going there. She needed to know what that meant, because it sounded like something they absolutely couldn’t ignore.
At the question, Maura didn’t take it personally. She liked the Littlemoons, from what she knew of them.
She nodded.
“That’s what I meant. HANDLE. I think we’re all adults here, and you know exactly what I mean.”
Yeah, Tori’s face said it all.
“I don’t like that.”
Well, that was neither here nor there. They weren’t there to play Scrabble and have a pizza party. Whoever was doing this had a shelf life, and that expiry would come up at some point.
If they were all lucky it would be before any of their own ones did.
Oracle called them back for a reason, and it wasn’t to just smile and look pretty.
That wasn’t the kind of soldiers they were, and for this to work, it would take investigators, psychics, and them.
To help them understand better, Maura went there.
“How are you arresting a psychic killer who is talking people into taking their own lives from a distance telepathically? Do you think a jury is going to be good with that and actually lock them up?”
Well, shit.
She had a very valid point.
There was no way to arrest someone on those kinds of charges because who was believing this mess?
Immediately, Tori closed her mouth.
It was clear that wasn’t happening because it wasn’t a logical answer.
Lucian, their resident lawyer, answered for them.
“There is no way a DA is going to be able to present a case to a judge and jury of peers where the arrest is homicide by psychic abilities. If this person is rich and has a semi-decent attorney, they are flipping the script and suing for LARGE amounts of money after the fact. It won’t happen.
Not even I can make those charges stick because we can’t prove it. ”
Maura thought as much.
“Exactly. We’re not here to investigate or to protect as much as we’re here to ‘handle’ it.”
Jagger agreed.
“Let’s be honest here, folks. There are investigators, and there are psychics here. We’re the clean-up crew. You find them, and we’ll ‘FIND’ them.”
Oh, and that find was definitely different than the first one. No one there doubted that.
As the only current cop in the room, Bishop sighed.
“I’m definitely going to have to hand in my badge after this. Now, I’m an accomplice to what is going to go down.”
Lucian laughed.
“You’re married to a lawyer. May I suggest you forget everything you hear while here?”
That was the plan.
Not far away, Nate tried to help by putting it into perspective for the cop. While he understood, he didn’t think she really UNDERSTOOD.
“Or we can let this person kill Lucian. I’m sure that’s a better option, right?”
And that horrified her.
Well, this cop’s mind was made up.
“Fuck no. I’ll handle this person. Point ME at them. Wynter was my friend, and Ridge is my husband’s boyfriend. I know. Don’t ask me how that works. I’m on a brand-new path,” she said.
Everyone stared at Lucian like they were curious and also wanted an explanation.
Yeah, this was awkward for them—him, not so much.
“Uh, don’t ask me,” he said. “I’m on that same path. I didn’t ever think I’d be having this conversation regarding my sex life with my co-workers, or the fact some faceless monster was trying to kill me.”
Only, one of those situations scared him far more.
The first one.
It still shocked the shit out of him that he’d had sex with both of the two other people on that path, on this plane.
Well, he had.
Now, he was betting Bishop was done with him once she found out his dick had been enthusiastically in Ridge’s ass, and he suspected that he’d liked it.
A LOT.
For now, though, Lucian looked over and changed the subject PDQ.
Pretty.
Damn.
Quick.
“Where are you and Avalon staying?” he asked, willing to let them stay with him.
Nate shrugged.
“I have no clue. We’re also winging shit. I’m going to likely find a hotel outside of Salem. It needs to be a place where she’s safest. I need sleep, and I can’t rest until I know she’s safe,” he admitted, knowing every single husband there would understand where he was coming from on this one.
Raven raised his hand.
“You both can stay with Bex and myself. My home is warded to the Goddesses. You’re not going to be detected there. It’s keeping the dead safe, and it will keep you safe too, if you’ll trust me.”
Nate looked infinitely calmer after the offer. Honestly, he’d been worried about his wife, and how close this monster would get to her.
“Thank you,” he said. “We would love to stay with you and your wife.”
The dead?
He let that one go.
Nate knew it was the living who could hurt you, not the dead.
Avalon agreed.
“We appreciate it, Raven.”
To him, he’d rather have them there, so he could make sure they were all safe, than not there. While he trusted Lucian, this person needed to earn his trust.
Raven had been burned by people before, and he liked to make up his own mind regarding a person and their intentions.
Again, it kept them safe.
Plus, once they crossed the threshold—if they could cross it—he’d know if they were good or bad because evil couldn’t enter his sacred space.
That would be his determining factor as to if he trusted them, or he outed them for their bad intentions.
Julian was curious about the two Marines.
“We can put you with us.”
Bishop stopped him.
“They’ll stay at our place. I’m going to need help babysitting a pair of men who seem to have gotten their asses into trouble.”
She stared at her husband.
How was he topping that?
It wasn’t like she wasn’t right. Since starting this mess, he and Ridge had gotten into a lot of craziness.
The Marines didn’t care where they slept. They could sleep in a corner if need be. Granted, near Avalon was better, but Lucian was also in danger, so…
“Sleep over at the Monroes. This reminds us of old times. They were terrible, and we’re glad they aren’t back,” Jagger said, not hesitating or mincing words.
Oh, he loved Avalon and Nate, but he loved his new life more with The Hunters. They had a place of their own, and a tribe that loved them.
NOLA was home, sweet home, in a hellish ‘die by the sword’ kind of a way.
Oh, and they weren’t dealing with woo-woo shit there like they were here. Jagger knew exactly why Elizabeth hated it.
He.
Did.
Too.
Give him predictable any day of the week, and he was a happy captain.
From where they sat, both Bishop and Lucian laughed.
No one else got it, but that was probably a good thing. At this point, who knew what that meant?
Just as Lucian was about to say something, he paused and stood up.
Everyone stared at him, including the Marines who instinctually went for their guns, as if something was kicking in the door.
“WHAT?” Julian asked, looking around.
He shared.
“Ridge needs me. Stay here!” he said, racing up the stairs not far away to get to his other partner.
What the hell?
It was clear that something had happened, and his wife wasn’t willing to let her husband handle it alone.
Bishop stood.
“I’ll go make sure they’re safe,” she stated. “Everyone stay on Avalon,” she said. “She’s the end game for this mess. I’ve got Lucian, and I’m willing to shoot first and hope Maura and Jagger can hide a body really well,” she stated.
And sadly, she wasn’t wrong.
They could.
As for the rest of the people in the room, Julian would start sending them home to a safe place where their witches had protected those spaces, too.
The bottom line was that tomorrow would be a rough day for all of them.
Or so his gut said.
The way the man hauled ass out of there worried him.
Because Lucian didn’t run for just anyone. This would be the second time he’d be making a mad dash tonight.
This was far from over.
Unfortunately.