Chapter Nineteen
I missed Joe. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be dark for around six more hours. I parked on the street and walked down the sidewalk toward my office, smiling when I saw that Zach was already there.
He leaned against his car and watched the people walking by him, his arms folded, deceptively relaxed. But I knew him. Zach was on high alert, and as always, he was ready for anything.
I didn’t ask him how he was feeling or if he was fully recovered from his recent fights, and he didn’t ask me. “Jared is sending Sam back to us,” I told him as we walked into the building.
He held open the door to my office, then followed me inside. “Why?”
But as we walked into the outer office, both Max and Gracie Dawn looked up and interrupted our quiet conversation.
They’d been huddled over Max’s computer screen, probably playing a video game or watching a trailer, since that was how they seemed to spend the majority of their time in the office.
Gracie jumped up and squealed as though we held a basket of puppies. “Kait! Zach! Come in, come in!”
“Like we’re visiting her house,” I muttered.
Zach laughed. “She’s different.”
“What are you doing here, Kait?” Max asked, much less exuberant. “You barely come to work when you’re supposed to.” He narrowed his eyes. “You are coming to work tonight, aren’t you?”
“For a little while,” I told him. “I figured I’d start early since I have to leave before midnight.”
“Oh,” Gracie Dawn gushed, “just like Cinderella.”
“Yeah,” I said drily. “Like that.”
“My question stands,” Max said.
“Why are you here so early, Max?”
“I asked you first,” he pointed out.
I walked toward my little private office with Zach. “I have some time to clean houses. I won’t be cleaning after midnight. Send in what you have.”
I’d barely sat down at my desk before he hurried in. “Fine, fine,” he said. “But I know something’s up. Gracie has gone to pick up a late lunch for all of us. So what’s really going on?”
I honestly didn’t know why I’d come to the office instead of scouring the city for Gavin Voss. Maybe because Jared and his wolves were already searching, and I knew that when I saw the Iron Fang alpha again, it would probably be because he’d found me.
I might as well save my energy for that fight.
“I do have some things to say,” I told them. Zach sat on the corner of my desk while Max plopped into one of the chairs. “So first of all—”
Then Sam pushed the door open and walked into the room. He lowered himself into the chair next to Max and didn’t seem to realize he wore a face none of us had seen before. I knew it was Sam, but Zach and Max were taken by surprise.
Max stared at Sam with his eyes widened in his “how dare you” stare. “Um, hello?”
Sam gave him a nod. “Hey, Max. Zach.” Then he looked at me. “Jared says Voss has become an obsessed stalker now that he’s gotten his ass kicked by you. Apparently, the guy’s a masochistic—”
“Sam,” I interrupted. “You’re still wearing someone else’s face.”
“Oh,” he said, almost embarrassed, and immediately and magically and seamlessly became Sam. “Sorry about that.”
Max gaped. “That’s…”
I laughed at him. “I’ve never seen you at a loss for words before, Max.”
He only shook his head and watched Sam, sort of like how a little kid might look at a scary Santa upon whose lap he was forced to perch.
“Anyway,” I said, “I was about to catch Zach and Max up. Also, I’ve been called in to meet with the council tonight.”
“Oh,” Max said, finally looking away from Sam, “so that explains why you can’t clean houses or take clients after midnight.”
“Are they going to cut you loose now that your magic is gone?” Sam asked.
“Fuck ’em,” Zach said. “If they do, they deserve to lose her.”
“I don’t know.” I stared down at my desk. “Maybe they’ll restore it.”
“Could they do that?” Max asked.
“I don’t know,” I murmured again. “But maybe. They’re the council.”
But Sam looked away when I glanced at him, as though he didn’t want me to see either doubt or pity in his eyes.
I swallowed my hope and got up to pace. “Gavin Voss called me earlier. He’s decided to focus on me instead of Jakeston.
He no longer wants Shadowfield. Or Silverwood, for that matter.
He wants to hunt me. He wants me to resist him, to run from him, and he wants to chase me like a hunter after an elusive and magnificent stag. ”
“I knew someone like him before,” Sam said. “Desperate to find the next high, the next thing that would make him feel alive. In the end, he killed himself, because he couldn’t keep that shit up. He couldn’t find anything but fear and darkness.”
No one said anything for a little while.
Max got up from his chair and headed for the door. “So do we have a plan?”
“Jared and his wolves are on their own hunt,” I said. “If they find him, Jared will end him. The vampires are searching, as well, though they can’t do anything until tonight. And if he hasn’t shown himself by the time I’ve met with the council, I’ll join the search.”
“He has magic,” Sam said.
“Yeah,” I told him, “but apparently only when he’s in his…werewolf form, or whatever the hell that thing is.”
“I’m going to do some research,” Max said. “I will help you fix this, as usual.” Then he hurried from the room, his fingers already itching for his computer.
“What do we know for sure?” Sam asked, once Max was gone.
I patted my blade. “I may not have magic, but my blade does, and it has some defenses against his magic. Voss’s magic recoiled when it hit my blade.
It hit Voss so hard he had to shift to his full wolf and fight without magic.
It seemed to take away his ability to use his power.
Temporary, most likely, but I know I can fight his magic. ”
“He may be afraid to try it on you again,” Zach said.
“He’ll be planning to take your blade,” Sam told me. “He’ll do that before he takes you. And he’s going to draw it out, Kait.”
I nodded. “He came here looking for something different. He doesn’t care about the fact that we got rid of his ‘friend’ Adam Thorne and took his pack. Adam just brought us to his attention.”
“Yeah,” Zach said, going to stand at the window. “If Sam is right, nothing will matter to Voss more than you and the thrill of the chase. He’ll take his time and make it last.”
“He has to know we’re going to end his life,” I said. “Surely he realizes that.”
Sam shrugged. “It’s part of the excitement. He’s exhilarated right now. His mind is occupied by you and his new hunt. The risks. The payoff. Right now, this is all that matters to him.”
“And that makes him very dangerous,” I said. “I get it.” And I really did understand. I wasn’t sure why I understood, but I did. “I don’t think he’d mind dying.”
“He’s not afraid of death,” Zach agreed. “It’s life that scares him.”
“He’s batshit crazy,” Remy Simon said, padding into the room.
He could be quiet as a cat when he wanted, and I hadn’t heard him coming into the outer office.
“He’s a rabid animal, and while all his focus is on Kait, I’ll focus on how to bag myself a quick kill.
” He grinned and dropped into one of the chairs in front of my desk. “Max caught me up.”
“It’s almost enough to make me miss fighting demons,” I muttered.
“Let’s track him down and get this done,” Remy said. “Why are we sitting in the office wasting time?”
“I have to meet with the council at midnight,” I said. “I can’t concentrate on Voss with that hanging over my head.”
“He’ll come to her,” Zach told him. “All we have to do is stick close. He’ll show.”
“And while we’re waiting,” I said, “I’m going to clean some houses. Might as well get some easy work done.”
Gracie hurried into the office, her arms full of takeout bags. Despite the fact that I’d eaten recently, my stomach woke up at the smell of hot, juicy meat.
“Burgers and fries,” Gracie said, as Zach went to help her with the bags. Then she spotted Remy, who looked like he was trying to disappear into his chair. “Remy Simon,” she cried. She dumped the rest of the bags on my desk and ran to Remy. “Kiss my jaw.”
He recoiled and held up his hands to ward her off. “I don’t ‘kiss jaws.’”
“Come on,” she coaxed, leaning over him. “Hug my neck.”
“I don’t do that either. Kait? A little help?”
I laughed so hard I couldn’t speak. The boogeyman scared of a skinny little half-crazy country girl was the most hilarious thing I’d seen in a long time. Apparently, Gracie Dawn had fallen in love with the stone-cold killer when I wasn’t looking.
Finally, I controlled myself and urged her away from him. “Let him eat his lunch so he can work,” I told her. “I need you to call some clients and line me up five or six of them who can see me today.”
The only thing that could get her attention off Remy was doing her job.
“Have Max send the addresses to my phone,” I called as she ran out of the office.
Remy shook his head and grabbed a bag of burgers. “Lord a’mercy,” he said.
For a little while, the pall of my stolen magic, the council, and Gavin Voss was lifted as we laughed and ate and relaxed.
But finally, we finished eating, and the day and all its surprises waited. “Let’s go to work,” I said, gathering up all the trash.
Sam stood, cracking his fingers. “We’re right behind you.”
The four of us piled into my car, and I was halfway down the street when the mayor called. “Mayor Hedrick,” I answered, surprised. “It’s good to hear from you.”
“Kait,” he said, his voice booming. “It’s been a while.
It’s about time we got together to talk about everything that’s going on in our wonderful city.
And,” he added, after a just-barely-there hesitation, “with you. Amy and I would like to have you over for dinner sometime next week. Maybe Friday or Sunday, if either of those works with your schedule. If not, then give me a better time and we’ll make it work. ”
Sundays were always better for me for socializing, because the office was closed. Most clients weren’t too receptive to me doing housecleanings on a Sunday, either, so generally, I was free. “Thanks, Mayor. Sunday next week is good. Can I bring anything?”
“No, no, just yourself. And you’re more than welcome to bring that sweet pup of yours. We love him.”
I wondered if Rick had updated the mayor about the loss of my magic and Gavin Voss. I had a feeling the detective told him a lot. I didn’t ask. “I’ll see you then,” I told him.
“We’re looking forward to it,” he said, then ended the call.
When I went into the first haunted house to deal with the homeowner’s ghost problem, Zach, Remy, and Sam stayed outside. They’d stay on guard, just in case Gavin Voss made an appearance.
I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if he was lurking somewhere in the shadows, tracking me like the brutal, creepy stalker he was.
He’d be watching.
Waiting.
And when he showed himself, we’d be ready for him. I patted my sheathed demon blade.
I would be ready.