Chapter 13 #2
“Chase said he thinks Patrick is in Galleon Falls,” Liam frowned. “But as soon as he catches wind of the lawsuit, I’d put money on him disappearing.”
“Then I suggest you keep a close eye on that weasel and figure out if it’s possible for the coven to turn him back into a human,” Ophelia said, leaning forward between the seats.
“Best-case scenario, they can, and we get the case dismissed on the grounds that Chambers acted without the town’s knowledge, putting full responsibility on him.
If we have a patsy, there’s a chance they’ll drop the case.
I’ll file our response as soon as I’m cleared by the bar, but we need to be prepared for this to go to trial. ”
Felix huffed out his cheeks, not even a little tempted to ask what the worst-case scenario was. The thought of Havers’s being swallowed by Fayet was bad enough to keep him up at night. “Okay. Anything else?”
“Yeah, after your date, stop by town hall to invite me in. I need to go through the records to see if there’s anything that can help our case. Now let me out, I’ve got shit to do.”
Liam opened the door and cold flooded the Jeep as he slid out. Felix shivered, but the vamp didn’t so much as twitch. Did the undead feel cold? Her heels clicked onto the asphalt, and she fixed her skimpy skirt. Didn’t seem like it.
“For future reference,” she said to Liam, “you’re gonna want to rescind your invitation. Otherwise, I might feel compelled to take this beautiful machine of yours out for a joyride.”
His eyes narrowed at her. “Invite revoked. Stay out of my Jeep.”
“Oooh, the menace,” she winced, clutching her chest, then grinned. “That’s the spirit. I’ll see you boys around. Don’t forget about the invite!”
Felix got out and joined Liam at the driver’s side, watching her saunter back the way she’d come.
“I don’t like her,” Liam said.
She flipped them off over her shoulder and lit a cigarette.
“She certainly doesn’t make it easy.” Felix’s phone buzzed again. “Shit, we’re missing trivia.” Liam locked up the Jeep, and they hurried down the street.
Felix glanced at him askance. “So…a lawyer.”
Liam grunted, jamming his hands deeper into his pockets. Okay. Guess he didn’t want to talk about it. Way to start their date.
Ahead, light spilled from the little cantina’s frost-rimed windows onto the sidewalk. Liam held the door open for Felix, and they stepped inside, heat hitting them like a fist.
Felix unzipped his parka, abruptly too hot as he scanned the crowded room for Jena and Chase.
Ah, there they were. They’d managed to get a booth in the far corner.
Felix wended through the packed space, the rafters festooned with festive lights and colorful little flags.
Spanish holiday music competed with the clamor, and the trivia crowd was more than a little tipsy.
Liam helped Felix with his parka before he’d asked and hung it on a hook with his own at the side of the booth. A boy could get used to that.
“Hey!” Jena smiled at them as they sat and slid over a pair of menus featuring mariachi Chihuahuas above the specials.
“You guys just missed the waitress. Hurry up and figure out what you want.” She glanced at Felix and tapped a pencil against the table.
The first three trivia questions were already filled in on the sheet in front of her. “Nice sweater.”
“Isn’t it?” He smoothed a hand down its front. “It was the last one at Chatarue’s black Friday sale. I had to dive through a display of mistletoe thongs to beat out someone else, but there was no way I was leaving without it.”
Jena nodded. “Clearly action had to be taken.”
Chase blinked at him. “Mistletoe thongs? Like with a printed pattern or an actual—”
“Sprig front and center? Yes, that,” Felix said brightly.
“I looked for one in your size, but no dice. Shame, we could’ve been twinning tonight, and it’s awfully comfortable.
Kind of woodsy. Seemed like something you’d like.
” Chase looked like he was trying to figure out if Felix was kidding or not, and Jena started laughing.
Liam shook his head and picked up a menu, in a definite mood. “Sorry we’re late. You guys already order?”
“Yep. We got one of everything,” Jena said, grinning at Chase. “I’ve been ravenous, and he worked through lunch again.”
“So I heard.” Felix pretended to peruse the menu, humming the Meow Medley commercial jingle under his breath. This date might be a bust, but messing with Chase was like his third favorite activity. Might as well salvage the night somehow.
“Dude.” Chase narrowed his eyes, and Felix laughed.
Jena looked between them. “Do you know what that’s about?” she asked Liam.
“Nope.” He stuffed the menu into the holder next to the wall, and she raised her brow, her eyes flicking to Felix. “What’s his deal?” written all over her face.
Felix shot her a look he hoped she translated as “Later.” By her eye roll, she got the message. “So, you’ll never guess who we ran into outside,” he said, drawing a glyph on the tabletop to invoke a cone of silence. “Ophelia.”
“What?” Jena gaped at him. “She’s out? Already?”
“Mmm. Something about the node supercharging our blood.” He frowned, totally grossed out. “And from what she was wearing, primed to moonlight as a hooker. Long story short, Fayet is using this lawsuit to try and take over the town and claim the node—”
“What?!” Jena hissed, halfway out of her seat, her irises crackling emerald.
“—which is why we need to keep Chambers where he is so he can take the fall instead of the town. In a perfect world, your brother would be with him,” Felix finished.
“I’ll drag that motherfucker in myself!”
“No, you won’t.” Chase pulled Jena down next to him. “If Patrick knows people are looking for him, he’ll go to ground.”
“Then we get Matilda to scry for him,” Jena seethed.
Felix swept away the glyph as the waitress came back over with their drinks and two orders of chips and salsa for the table.
She glanced at Jena. “Everything all right over here?”
“Peachy,” Felix said, batting his lashes.
“Okay then.” The waitress pulled out her book of guest checks. “You ready to order?”
He blew out his cheeks. “House margarita, nachos with an extra side of guacamole, and the ceviche, please.”
“Okay, and you?” she asked Liam.
“I’ll have whatever’s dark that’s on tap and the burrito combo plate,” he muttered unenthusiastically. “Can I get an order of beef empanadas with that, too?”
“You got it.”
“Thanks.” He pushed back in his seat, and Jena shot Felix another look.
A woman by the bar tapped a microphone, then read out the next trivia question.
“Captain Nemo,” Felix said.
Jena glowered at him, but picked up her pencil. “Like the fish?”
“More vengeful, I’m sure you can relate.
” He chomped into a chip. “Even if Matilda found Patrick, we’d still need to haul him back, and I can’t say hunting down a rogue were in the middle of winter sounds particularly doable at the moment.
” Or at all. There were miles of forest out there.
If he shifted, Matilda scrying or not, they’d never catch him.
“Not necessarily,” Liam sighed. “I know a guy we might be able to get to serve him papers. Then it’s on the courts to haul him in.”
“Oh,” Felix said, chomping a chip. “Fun fact, Liam’s an attorney.”
Fuck. Liam’s stomach dropped, squirming at Jena and Chase staring at him like he’d suddenly grown another head. Damn it. He knew he’d screwed himself opening his mouth like that in the Jeep, but it’d just bubbled up before he’d thought about the implications.
And he was back on that fucking country club patio all over again.
Felix chomped another chip, side-eying him, and Liam had the abrupt urge to crawl under a rock. He didn’t want to lie to them, but… He scrubbed his hands over his face. Fuck. He wasn’t medicated enough for this.
“For real?” Chase asked.
“Yeah, but it’s not something…” Liam thanked the waitress delivering Jena and Chase’s food and their drinks. He passed the margarita to Felix and took a hefty swallow of his beer. How the hell did he even begin to explain? “Being in a courtroom messes with me,” Liam said as the waitress left.
“Messes with you how?” Jena repeated like she thought he was full of shit.
“I turn into a serious dick,” he said, pushing back against the booth’s seat. “And I’m tired of kicking myself about it after the fact.” More like hating himself, but they didn’t need to know that.
Jena laughed. “Sorry, but not for nothing, Liam, you’re one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. I don’t see it. You being a dick or a lawyer.”
And thank God for that. He flicked a finger across the ring of condensation his beer had left on the table.
“Yeah, well, it’s not something I’m particularly proud of.
” Though he had while he’d been in Los Huego, which was part of the problem.
He’d totally given into that alpha part of himself that got off on dominating everyone and everything.
“I just…I dunno. Being in a courtroom, it flips a switch, and I get hyper-focused on winning. It’s why I didn’t play sports in high school.
I don’t have to worry about that with engines.
” Competition, being challenged, it did something to him, and it wasn’t pretty.
“I’d wondered about that,” Chase murmured. “Coach Gray was always trying to get you to try out for something.”
“Don’t remind me.” Liam’s dad’d had to go in and explain in no uncertain terms to leave him the hell alone before someone got hurt.
Too bad he hadn’t been in Los Huego with him.
Liam shook that memory away. “When I first got my degree, I was working as a law clerk. I didn’t get into the trial aspect until I took a position out West.” He frowned, and if he’d known how that was going to pan out, he never would’ve taken it.
“Anyway, when Jenny filed for divorce, it made me reevaluate a bunch of things. I didn’t want to be that guy anymore. ”