Chapter 13
Felix stared into the darkening twilight as the Jeep crossed the tracks and headed back into town. No question, this was a date. He was going on a date with Liam Montgomery, and they were doing it in public. Public. Felix glanced over at the were and covertly pinched himself. Nope. Not dreaming.
Snaps was just off Main Street on the far side of town.
They passed town hall, the elementary school, and the library, before turning onto Dale.
With the holiday weekend, the parking lot was even more packed than usual, but there were a few of spots left on the street.
Liam pulled into one and cut the engine.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to Felix. “You okay?”
“Yeah, why?” he asked, unlatching his own.
Liam shrugged. “You were really quiet on the way over. You still want to do this?”
“Do I—of course I do.” Felix’s brows furrowed, a pit forming in his stomach. “Do you?”
Liam wet his lips and glanced back at the restaurant. Felix braced himself, already hearing Liam backing out— “Who the hell is that?”
A woman in a short, tight dress and a motorcycle jacket was sauntering down the center of the road. Her lean silhouette was elongated by ridiculously high stiletto heels, and the glow of Christmas lights from the main drag backlit her, throwing a spike of shadow in her path.
“Since when does Havers have hookers on Main Street?” Liam murmured.
“Technically, we’re on Dale, but we don’t, as far as I know.
” And if it did, they’d be down in the waterfront district where The Blue Parrot was—aka The Dirty Bird—the town’s only establishment of ill repute.
Or so Felix had been told. Jena wasn’t exactly welcome down there, thanks to her father, and Felix’d never had any desire to visit the strip club solo.
That, and the possibility of running into his sister there wasn’t a risk he was willing to take for curiosity’s sake.
The woman strolled up to the driver’s side window, and knocked on the glass. Liam hesitated before rolling it down.
“Well, hello, boys,” she said, crossing her arms on the sill, a flask in one hand, and leaned inside. She wore heavy makeup, and her light brown hair was slicked back. “Nice ride.”
“Um, thanks. Can we help you?” Liam asked.
She smiled at Felix. “Not you, champ, but freckles over there can.” Her dark red lips tipped up to show wickedly pointed fangs.
Felix’s stomach dropped. No fucking way. “Ophelia?” She looked like an extra from a Robert Palmer video.
“Bingo.” She took a hit off her flask. “We need to talk about that lawsuit, and we need to do it now.”
“You know her?” Liam asked incredulously.
“Um. Sort of.” Felix’s throat bobbed. “She’s the town’s new attorney.”
Liam looked at him like he was crazy, and Felix couldn’t disagree.
“Not quite,” Ophelia frowned. “I still need to clear up some paperwork before I can get to work. Lucky for you, Thaddeus pulled a bunch of strings, and that should be sorted out by Monday. So, are you going to invite me in, or do I have to stand out here while we do this?”
Felix and Liam exchanged glances.
“Christ. Look, BYOB,” she said, waggling the flask at them.
That didn’t exactly make Felix feel any better.
He was positive the second “B” didn’t stand for “booze.” “I’m all but topped off, and even if I wasn’t, neither one of you are doing it for me.
I’m not into dark and angsty or pale and fabulous.
Now, your big blond friend the other night—”
“Is married to his fated mate, who’s also the guardian of the node,” Felix snapped at her.
Ophelia rolled her dark, kohl-lined eyes. “Well, la de frickin’ da.”
Felix’s brow arched in response. “Jena will kill you.”
“Ghandi, I hope so,” the vamp muttered. “Now open the fucking door and invite me in.”
Felix and Liam exchanged another glance. Felix shrugged. It was better than inviting her to join them at Snaps, though she’d probably be really good at trivia.
“Fine,” Liam said, stepping out of the Jeep and flipping up the seat. “Come on in.”
“Why, thank you, kind sir.” She batted her lashes at him and simpered before climbing in the back.
“How are you even here?” Felix asked. “The last time I saw you, you looked like death warmed over.”
“Aww. Flattery will get you everywhere, and believe it or not, I’m just as shocked as you, but whatever’s in the water out here, sucking on you cows is like mainlining high test. If I had to guess, that node’s probably got something to do with it.
It’s no wonder Thaddeus has always been so stingy letting other vamps into his territory.
” She flippantly tipped up her flask and smacked her lips loudly.
“On to brass tacks. How much of that complaint did you read?”
Felix felt his cheeks heat. “Honestly? I got through the subject line and quit. I know nothing about lawsuits and that was like three inches thick, which I’m assuming means we’re in deep shit.”
“Huh. You’re smarter than you look,” she said, taking another swig from her flask.
“Gee, thanks for the compliment.”
“Don’t get used to it.” She popped her lips.
“So, the complaint is essentially that Havers knowingly withheld magical resources and went to great lengths to divert the leyline, fully aware of what that would do to Fayet. It further contends that the town is incapable of administrating the node. This isn’t just about collecting damages.
They’re building a case to annex Havers-by-the-Sea. ”
Felix’s vision tunneled, and he put a hand to his chest, ill. “They want the town? Can they even do that?”
“Unfortunately, there’s precedent,” Liam murmured. “If that’s their goal, I’m assuming Fayet’s lawyer’s basing his argument on Bellveiw vs. Longmatta?”
The vamp’s eyes narrowed at Liam. “Yeah. They cited that case in the complaint.”
Felix looked between the two of them. “What’s Bellveiw vs. Longmatta?”
Liam ran a hand over his jaw. By his expression, his thoughts were somewhere else.
He’d gotten the same gleam in his eye that used to mean he was going to disappear, hyper-focused on something.
“It’s a case that set a lot of precedent for arcane law.
The initial complaint was based on a portal, not a node, but the court ruled that the town’s leadership be disbanded in the best interest of its residents after it failed to prevent an unseelie incursion in 1905.
” He chewed his lip, oblivious to the fact that Felix was gaping at him.
Where the hell was he pulling all this out of?
Liam shook his head like something about what he’d just said bothered him.
“But it doesn’t…I don’t understand where Sperry’s gonna go with it…
the crux of that case was that Longmatta’s elected officials held a vote the week prior rejecting the local coven’s pleas to ward the area.
That was cited as proof of willful negligence and ultimately won the case for them.
From what I understand, everything that went down here was all behind closed doors, and no one knew Chambers swapped out the material in those turbines. ”
Ophelia stared at him. “Who the hell is this guy?” she asked.
Felix shook his head. “Not a clue.”
Liam’s head snapped up at Felix’s voice, and that gleam snuffed out. His shoulders slumped, and he pressed his lips together, tight.
The vamp sucked her teeth at his silence. “Well, whoever he is, he has a law degree. Civs don’t just pull cases out of their asses like that.”
Felix blanched. Holy shit. That’d been what he’d been doing out West?
It would certainly explain how he’d paid to fix up his Jeep and get Felix’s car out of hock, but Liam?
“You’re a lawyer? How is that possible?” Felix squeaked.
Granted, he hadn’t exactly kept tabs on the were after high school, but you’d think him being a lawyer would’ve gotten around.
Liam dragged a heavy hand over his face. “Through a lot of student loans. I got my law degree to help my pack administer the land around the node. You know how much I hate logging, and being a mechanic didn’t pay the bills.”
Okay, so the Eastside pack’s involvement with the node had been super hush-hush, but this was surreal.
Liam? Felix pinched himself again. Damn it, still here.
“Why didn’t you say anything when you knew we were looking for a lawyer?
” He was too shocked to even be pissed about it.
Liam was the last person on earth he’d expect to go into law.
He sighed, shaking his head. “For one, I practiced arcane law, not civil, and two, I hate it. It’s not something I want to do anymore.”
Okay, that Felix could see, but…Liam? A lawyer? Really? Felix put a hand to his temple, his eyelids fluttering. Later, he’d try to make sense of it later. “Okay…but forgive me for thinking that what you just rattled off sounds like it might be pertinent to our current situation.”
“He’s got you there, champ,” the vamp said, sprawled out in the back, sipping from her flask.
“You get blood on my back seat, and I will stake you.” Liam glowered at her, obviously rattled by his admission. Felix was, too. What else didn’t he know about Liam Montgomery?
Ophelia licked her teeth. “Such a tease.”
Liam shook his head. “Look, off the record I’d be happy to advise your main counsel, but I can’t represent you. I can’t…I can’t go back into a courtroom.”
Felix’s brow furrowed, there was something else Liam wasn’t saying, but he wasn’t about to press him on it with Ophelia in the back. Felix’s phone pinged. Shit, Jena wanted to know where they were.
“Okay, put a pin all of that.” He turned to the vamp. “What do you need from me right now?”
“A preliminary game plan. Thaddeus said Westside’s old alpha and his buddy Malcom are dead, but Chambers and the attorney who filed for all of those grants are still alive, right?”
Felix nodded. “Yes, but the coven turned Chambers into a weasel. He’s in the ferret cage in my office.”
She snorted. “What about the attorney?”