Chapter 11
Ophelia stood in the doorway of the drafty kitchen in the apartment above the Witchery.
It was in the midst of renovation, and everything behind her draped in plastic, save for the stove Jena had uncovered when they’d arrived.
Ophelia sniffed, running a hand under her nose at the weird chemical tang in the air.
“Sorry, that’s the paint stripper,” Jena said, handing her a cup of tea as she joined her and gestured at the convex tin ceiling above them.
“Chase did the tiles this weekend, and we all had to clear out. I had no idea how thick the crap on them was. He had to remove the windows to air the place out. We’ve been staying at Felix’s. You know, because of the fumes.”
“Oh, yeah.” Ophelia turned to look, not having a clue what Jena was talking about, but she’d promised to be less bitchy, right? Still, it was a ceiling. She raised her mug and took a sip. “Neat.”
Jena rolled her eyes. “I’m assuming renovation’s not your thing?”
“No. Shoe shopping is my thing.” Her eyes flicked to Jena’s All Stars. “But like, good shoe shopping.”
The little witch fell back with a hand over her heart. “Wow. I really don’t like you.”
Ophelia batted her lashes. “I’m glad, especially since you blabbed all my business to the entire town.”
“It wasn’t the entire town,” Jena said, her face red. “It was just to Chase. Okay, and to Felix…and he probably told Liam, but they’re not going to say anything to anyone else.”
“Oh. Cool.” Ophelia nodded, plastering a smile on her face. “That’s so much better. Remind me to tell you more things in confidence.” She scowled.
The curvy little woman fidgeted. “Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, it’s just…no one knows anything about you, and here you are, responsible for saving the entire town. Can you really blame any of us for wanting to know what your deal is?”
“Yes.”
Jena sighed. “Yeah, all right, I’d be pissed too. It won’t happen again.” She made a weird gesture with her hand. “Witches’ honor.”
Ophelia frowned, shooting her a side-eye and wondering if whatever that had been was the equivalent of a pinky promise or closer to a gang sign.
“So, what’s with the Chase clone?” Jena asked, recovering enough to jerk her head in Gideon’s direction.
He sat in one of the overstuffed chairs in the other room, stroking his lip and lost in thought.
He hadn’t said anything on the drive over to the Witchery, which meant whatever he’d found out from Patrick, something about it bothered him, and he’d be insufferable until he figured it out.
“What about him?” Ophelia raised her mug again, sorely tempted to do something to annoy him.
On second thought, better take a rain check.
Present company was bound to do that soon enough.
She paused before she took a sip. “And technically, Gideon’s way older than Chase, so that would make him the original. ”
Jena’s brows furrowed. “Um, okay…well, Felix said you’d been engaged but you left Gideon at the altar? I’m assuming that’s because of what you said about not being able to leave the Citadel?”
Ophelia glanced at the little witch, she was seriously pushing her luck, but—Ghandi. It wasn’t like she didn’t already know most of it. “Yeah. The whole thing was an accident, and I sure as fuck didn’t have any idea he was working out here.”
“You know…” Jena hummed, tapping her teeth. “One of the coven members who was at your summoning said something about your manifesting here balancing karma.”
Yeah, right. Ophelia rolled her eyes and took another sip of tea. “Why does everything with you turn metaphysical?”
“Um, witch, hello? And I wouldn’t discount it. Sweets thought it had to do with evening out Mr. Brock’s scales, and then I thought maybe it had to do with Liam getting Kremlyn’s brother locked up, but maybe…maybe the universe was trying to right a wrong and brought you and Gideon back together.”
And that was entirely too close to what Gideon had said earlier. Ophelia cocked her head, her tea mug clasped to her chest. “Aww. That’s so sweet. Should I throw up now, or do you think there will be time to do it later?”
“God, you’re miserable.” Jena snorted. “Whatever, maybe it’s a three-fer.
And as for you hitting on Chase, I get it now.
For the record, my ex was a knock-off too,” she said, eyeing the big man as he came up from downstairs.
“Chase and I didn’t exactly part on amicable terms before I left for college, but second chances are legit.
Things between you and Gideon could still work out if you want them to. I mean, it seems like he does.”
He did, and she did too, but— Damn it, she wasn’t doing this. “I’m gonna bet that no matter how bad the dorm rooms were, the Citadel had them beat,” Ophelia muttered.
“No arguments there,” Jena said, still eyeing her man. “We should get started. Grab a seat.”
She slipped by Ophelia and sat on the big corduroy couch amidst the jumble of mismatched furniture around the living room.
A seat? Yeah, that wasn’t happening. Ophelia glanced at an overstuffed chair beside one of the long floor-to-ceiling windows, her skin crawling, and went to sit on a bare scrap of linoleum by Gideon’s feet.
“Right, so what did the prick have to say?” Chase asked, dropping down onto the couch beside Jena.
Gideon’s eyes flicked up, and as anticipated, was obviously annoyed by the interruption. “It wasn’t him,” he said curtly.
“Bullshit,” Chase spat.
“Perhaps,” Gideon sighed, “but in Patrick’s rendition of events, he was brought on after the fact with the promise of support for Alpha.
He seems to think that Malcom was responsible for the materials being swapped out, but said that Chambers was the main contact with the Vampire Court, which, incidentally, was responsible for the grant becoming available in the first place.
He also insinuated that they weren’t to only ones Chambers was beholden to. ”
“There’s no way,” Chase laughed. “Chambers is a fucking idiot—”
“That said, Patrick was going to plead guilty,” Gideon interrupted. “If I may…” He pulled out his phone and played the recording he’d taken in back at the station.
Ophelia perked up when it’d concluded. “They’ll have to dismiss this case and open a new one.”
“Perhaps. When Thackett came in, I said Patrick was pleading ‘not guilty.’ Whether or not he took the out remains to be seen.”
Everyone in the room stared at him, and Gideon shrugged.
“I highly doubt the statement will be admissible, and if Patrick maintains the same guilty plea to Thackett, the odds of him living long enough to have it put in the record are nil. Despite my defection, a plea of not guilty will ensure the Vampire Court thinks everything else with the case is status quo. That should buy us time for that witch to change Chambers back.”
“Um, yeah, small problem,” Jena said. “We kind of lost him.”
“Excuse me?” Gideon sat forward, his eyes narrowed.
Ophelia sighed. “Chambers escaped. He’s somewhere in the sewers below Havers, and the lesser fae aren’t letting us down there.”
“How do you know that?” Jena asked.
“Oh, I dunno,” Ophelia moued. “Maybe someone texted me.”
The witch scowled at her.
“This information would’ve been more helpful about an hour ago,” Gideon growled, running a hand over his face.
“Noted, but I what I wanna know is what the hell the vampires have to do with any of it,” Chase said. “I thought it was Fayet who’s suing us.”
“They’re being bankrolled by the Vampire Court and given that they provided the grant, I’m positive that they’ve orchestrated your current position,” Gideon muttered, his finger stroking his lips again.
“And you would know this because…?”
“Because I’m currently on their retainer,” Gideon growled at Chase. “Do try and keep up.”
“Then why—”
“I’ll explain later,” Jena murmured, a hand against the big were’s chest. Huh. Guess she didn’t tell him everything. “Okay, so what do we do now? If they won’t let us into the Below, we’re screwed.”
“Yeah, and apparently the pixies are really pissed about it,” Ophelia muttered.
Chase’s eyes flicked to her. “Are they?”
“I guess.” Ophelia shrugged. “The brownie that cleans Thaddeus’s lair said it was like the only thing she’s seen the harems agree on ever, and the entire Below sounds like it’s full of pissed off bees.”
“You need to talk to them,” Chase said to Jena. “Dangle enough coconuts, and I bet they’d sneak us in.”
Gideon pinched across his temples. “Dear God, please tell me that’s not a euphemism.”
“What? No, they’ve got a thing for them,” Jena murmured. She turned to Chase. “You think that would work?”
He nodded and got to his feet, heading for the door. “I think it’s worth trying. Give me a couple minutes and we’ll find out. I’m pretty sure I saw a harem hanging around the dumpster when we came in.”
“Coconuts?” Ophelia asked as the door closed behind him.
“Yeah. We’ve got no idea what they do with them, but for whatever reason, pixies go crazy when you offer one up.
” Jena sighed, running a hand over her stomach, then laughed.
“God, even if they do agree to sneak us in, I have no idea how I’m gonna be much help.
I can’t even touch my toes, never mind catch a weasel. ”
“I still can’t believe you lost him,” Gideon muttered. “Wasn’t he in a cage?”
“Right up until the moment one of Felix’s kids let him out,” Ophelia said. “Apparently, whatever kind of supe she is, she can ‘reach’ through solid matter.”
“Poe’s two,” Jena tsked. “She didn’t understand what she was doing.”
“Oh, well then, no harm no foul,” Ophelia said, rolling her eyes.
Gideon scowled. He stared at Jena for a long moment, pensive again. “So, you’re the node’s guardian.”
She gave a little wave. “Yep, that’s me.”
“How long has it been sentient?”
She stared at him blankly. “Umm…”
He took a breath. “How long has it spoken to your line?” he asked slowly, as if to a child.