Thomas asked, “Are you talking about Alexandra Martin, the witch you filed a compliant against?”
“The one and only but she isn’t the only problem I warned Evie about. Alexandra has been getting help from a higher source and when Evie came to follow up about a hinky feeling she got while meeting the Martin family, I told her everything.” Terri wasn’t letting something like age hold her back, she zoned in on Thomas and hadn’t looked away from his face once. If the situation wasn’t so grave, she’d probably be batting her eyelashes at him.
“Can you tell me again, Mrs. Kenneth? I need to find who did this so they can reverse it, the sooner the better.”
“Of course, of course. Let’s have a seat.” She gripped Thomas’ arm and pulled him down next to her on the yellow colored couch. Evangeline stifled a chuckle and sat next to Caleb on the nearby loveseat. “The day before yesterday you came over to discuss why I filed the complaint against the Martin shop and the reason was simple enough at first. I’ve been practicing white earth magic all my life passed down from my grandmamma. When the new shop opened, I decided to check it out and see what they carried in stock. Knowing about the good means also knowing about the evil. I gave that hussy a piece of my mind and when she dared me to do something about it, I did. I went right to the SCF.”
“You mentioned Alexandra wasn’t the only problem you knew of. Something about a higher source?” Evangeline asked, she sat forward as if being closer would bring something magical from the old woman’s mouth.
Mrs. Kenneth leaned forward too and whispered. “A demon of magic straight from the underworld.”
Caleb didn’t like the sound of that. Normally demon’s didn’t have much of a presence in Celestin, except lately he heard whispers of attacks happening with possession demons over taking humans to wear as hosts. It was an ugly situation his pack stayed away from and one wolves normally had no place in, leaving the High Order to handle their archenemies.
That was about to change.
If a demon was the one hurting Evangeline, there was nothing Caleb was willing to stop at to make the bastard pay.
Too determined to fear the creature, Evangeline instead asked, “Do you know where this demon is or who he is?”
“No, sadly I don’t, sweetie. Although I can tell you the first time I told you this, you got a look that said you knew who I was talking about or what to do next. You left pretty quickly and told me you’d be back tomorrow which was yesterday.” The story came all the way back around, some holes were filled but many remained blank with new questions sprouting every second.
With a sigh, Evangeline sat back with a slump of her shoulders. “So the answers are still locked inside my useless head.” She turned to look at Caleb. “Do I know any demons or something about them?”
“Personally? No, but there is someone I think may be able to help us.”
Chapter 8
Ethan Reid wasn’t someone Caleb would consider a friend. He was sure no one called Ethan a friend. He was however an asset worth knowing, just in case, and now was one of those exact moments. Ethan was a fallen angel from the east side of the Underworld. Demons controlled the west. From what Caleb heard, the Underworld was in a constant battle between the demons and the dark fallen angels.
Ethan wasn’t the type of creature you could be too careful around either. Thomas was human and Evangeline didn’t have a strong grasp on her powers. Caleb called his second and close friend, Jake Thompson.
It would be better to leave Jake out of the mix just in case the pack needed him to take leadership in the event of Caleb getting hurt, but right now there was no one he trusted more to have his back. Deep in his heart Jake was a warrior. When he was attacked by the wolf that infected him he should’ve died, his body was a battered mess of bones and ripped muscle and in spite of that, he lived and climbed the ranks quicker than any wolf Caleb had the pleasure of meeting. There was no threat too big to make Jake shy away. He didn’t let fear stand in his way and that made him the perfect beta an alpha could have.
Caleb was back at the cabin with Evangeline. Thomas had other work to catch up on at his motel.
Evangeline was pacing the living room. “Demons. It almost sounds like a joke, a very demented joke. I was kind of hoping this would all turn out to be a new witch that let a spell get away from her and I was just in the way. No harm no foul. When will Jake be getting here?” her words rambled closely together, a sure sign her nerves were getting the best of her.
“It should be another half hour, he has to finish up with his shift at the medical examiner’s office. Is there anything I can get you?”
With a shake of her head, she sat next to him on the long couch. Everything in the cabin ran larger to accommodate the pack and the large gatherings they would have. “You’re a great cook but I’d rather talk to you about something else.”
Caleb knew what the something else was. If she wasn’t trying to solve her own attack, her focus was on the mystery of their relationship. She wanted answers he didn’t have and others he couldn’t admit. “What is it?”
“There’s a memory I’m wrestling with. We were in the hallway outside my bedroom and I was upset about something. I was in a towel and you didn’t have much more on either. I was crying in your arms. What I can’t figure out is why that took place.”
The memory replayed vividly across his eyes. It was that day everything started to change for them. She let him in and confided to him about her deepest fears. She had just killed a coven witch in self defense and didn’t know how to cope. For every tear she cried, he was there to help her wipe them dry. He didn’t care how long it took, he refused to leave her until her anguish ended.
“Caleb? Tell me.”
“Remember how I told you about the coven warlock who came after you?”
“Yes. You said I killed him.”
“What you’re remembering came after that.”
“You’ve been helping me with the conflict with the coven from the beginning.” There wasn’t a question there but he answered anyway.
“You hid for years and never let your true identity show. You were safe from them and risked that to save me and Jamie.”
“It was just you repaying a debt, nothing more?” She was good, effortlessly she maneuvered them back to that conversation she’d been wanting to have this whole time.
“If I said differently it wouldn’t matter. You’re suffering from amnesia and don’t have your own memories and thoughts. You’re trying to figure out mine when they don’t account for much.” Again it all came down to the bitter truth that’s been staring him down for the last several months, the harsh words that Evangeline herself used on him. “You don’t want me.”
“That’s funny because everything I do feel, says differently.” In a flash of super speed, she cupped her hands around his face and stared deep into the dark blue hue of his eyes. “I don’t know if its being here alone with you or the way you’re helping me, but the only person I remember is you and what I remember is feeling safe and feeling something bigger than words can describe.” Her rushed words told the story of her conflict, the ache she carried to fill in the blanks and sort through her own feelings.
His heart raced to finally hear the words the connection he felt deep in his chest wasn’t one sided. Whatever was there between them, she felt it too. “Evangeline—”
“I remembered you telling me we had sex and you didn’t want me to forget it, well guess what? I haven’t forgotten it. Every time I look at you, I remember it all over again.”
“You weren’t in your right state of mind—”
And just like that she shut him up with a kiss. Her hand slid down his neck and over his shoulders where she gripped him tight, her mouth was soft yet demanding across his own. The kiss was a frenzy of desire and curiosity.
The last time they gave into something this pulsating neither of them were of sound mind. Caleb couldn’t say that now, he knew right from wrong, and
this was wrong.
Her kiss tasted like heaven and her body wrapping around him was an image pulled right from his dreams. Yet, it was still wrong.
Caleb gripped her shoulders, using all his fragile will power he pushed her away. “We can’t do this. You’re not yourself.” He couldn’t take advantage. He wanted all of her, not some version without the full story.
“I don’t have all my memories but I can make my own decisions about what I want.” She ran her delicate hand down his chest. He growled low in his throat. “I know you want this. I realized that the first night in your house.”
Caleb let his eyes drink her in, the pout of her mouth swollen from their kiss, the blush in her cheeks from the same reason, her bluish stormy eyes were open and honest. She wasn’t telling him anything she didn’t believe right now in the moment. But he knew that would change. She wasn’t his. When her memories returned, she’d go back to the life she wanted, the life she fought to keep, the one with no room for him.
Memories of what could’ve been and the stolen moments they shared were all he was destined to have to keep him warm during those lonely nights he lay full of regret. Of all the women in the world, he had to want the one that would always be just out of reach.
He knew he owed her some shred of honesty after this. “When you have all the pieces back and if you still want me, I’m all yours. It can’t be now.” Everything inside of him, man and wolf, protested the words like a sharp knife between his ribs.
Beyond the door into the driveway he heard a car pulling up. With a slight nod, Evangeline stood from the couch. “I’ll get it.”
Chapter 9
Caleb tried to ignore the hostility brewing in the air and it was done in vane. Several times Jake glanced at him with a look that asked questions, and other times Evangeline was glaring at him. How lovely. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. He was trying to be the good guy here and now, because in the end that’s what she’d want. He had to remember she wasn’t herself, not completely anyway, and thus her thoughts were only half complete.
Jake shrugged and put his best game face forward. “Who’s this Ethan guy? Will he help?”
“He owes me a favor.” Caleb paced around the large couch, hoping to ease some of the tension ridding his muscles. Evangeline had him on edge. “He’s fought with his fair share of demons and knows how they work. I don’t want to be caught off guard.”
Jake nodded, “Where are we meeting?” the cabin was meant only for their pack, it was a location only a select few knew.
“It hasn’t been decided yet.”
“It should be neutral ground, no loyalties to either of our kind. I can call Ryan and use the club before they open.” Almost a year ago when vampires became public, Jake assisted Ryan, a master vampire, in getting his sire back. Ryan didn’t like favors and always settled his debts, even if Jake had been there for Zoe’s sake.
Caleb stopped his long stride and found he could still smirk in the mists of this mess. “Wolves and a banished angel walk into a vampire bar?” Ryan’s club, Disputandum, was infamous amongst the supernatural community and when vampires went public, the club gained a wider human following.
“And people say you don’t have a sense of humor. What do you think? Or should we call up a room at La Amour?” Normally the hotel would be the middle ground amongst races.
Caleb glanced at Evangeline, she was standing off the edge of the room, arms crossed, listening intently to the conversation. Her vampire ex-boyfriend and first love, Michael, owned La Amour, and if he caught wind Evangeline wasn’t herself, he’d try to swoop in and take control of the situation. Caleb wasn’t sure of much but he knew every step of the way Evangeline made her choice to stay by his side and accept his assistance. That’s how it was going to stay. “Make the call to Ryan.”
“On it.” Jake stood from his seat on the couch to make the call outside in private, or to get away from the mounting tension in the room. Caleb wasn’t sure which.
Evangeline was quick to fill the air. “We still have to check out the magic shop.” She spoke the words with her eyes trained outside the window, as far away from him as possible.
“It’ll be better to wait until we know more about the demon presence.”
“There’s also Bess’ psychic friend. I’m going to call her and find out where we are on that. Hopefully she can dig the answers out and this can all be over with tonight.” She didn’t wait for a reply, hastily opening the front door, she opted to follow Jake’s lead and talk outside.
Caleb sighed and sank back onto the couch. It didn’t take much at all to see she was upset and it was his fault. Being the good guy felt awfully like a kick to the teeth. It would’ve been so easy to kept kissing her and letting their desires call the shots into the blissful afterglow her body would provide. Except, the memory would be tarnished. The first time they slept together she wasn’t herself and she hated him for it afterward, Caleb didn’t want to live through that again.
After the meeting place was set, Caleb called Ethan and informed him to settle on a time not long from now. After the meeting, Caleb would take Evangeline to the SCF headquarters where Bess and Rebecca would be waiting. If everything went according to plan, by tonight she’d have her memories back and a solid lead to follow in closing the SCF investigation.
Thomas called to explain he went by the Martin’s magic shop and found it closed. A neighboring shop owner said the Martin’s hadn’t been around in nearly two days. The same time Evangeline lost her memory. There weren’t coincidences this big. There was no more doubt the Martin’s and their demon companion were responsible for her memory loss and the attacks since.
Whatever Evangeline knew had to be bigger than wanting to close down their shop or any hinky feelings Mrs. Kenneth had. The proof was the old lady was safe at home, while the Martin’s fury was aimed at Evangeline. They weren’t going to stop coming until they got what they wanted or they killed her.
Caleb was vigilant in keeping his eyes open for any type of threat. If it was up to him, she wouldn’t be out in the open like this, hell he even suggested she get to the SCF building and sit with Bess until Rebecca arrived but the shapeshifting witch was having none of it.
“This meeting has to do with me and my life. I’m going and that’s final.” She seethed the words at him minutes before they got inside the car and took off toward Disputandum. Jake stifled a laugh and climbed in the back seat, the pissed off woman also called shotgun minutes earlier.
It was nearing six o’clock, the sunlight dimming and the nightlife waiting to come out and play. If you stopped to think about all the supernatural races, many wanting to do harm, it was staggering what you could find. Vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, angels, all just the tip of the cornerstone. A little more than a decade ago he packed it up and left Celestin, his hometown, in search of something. Something he never found.
For awhile he settled in marriage and had his beautiful daughter, Jamie, but even then something was missing, something he thought he had to flee from home to find. Returning to Celestin was one of his best decisions, being alpha to the Grayson Pack was the closest thing to a calling out there for him.
Disputandum sat as a shell of its nighttime glory. The large building had no flashing lights on to draw crowds, no guards littering the entrance and exits. The parking lot had four cars belonging to the staff and no more.
Inside, Ryan was waiting for them. “Have a seat.” he said to Jake and motioned to Caleb. “Let’s have a word, alpha.”
Caleb knew he didn’t have to tell Jake to keep an eye on Evangeline but he still gave his second a look to reinforce the thought. He followed Ryan over to the bar and signaled for the vampire to get on with it.
“Is it right to guess Michael doesn’t know anything about this?” the vampire glanced over at Evangeline.
“I don’t make it a habit to report to him and from what I know, neither do you.” It was common knowledge Ryan was
older than Michael and also came from Lucas’ bloodline. Lucas trumped all in vampire politics, being the third oldest undead creature to walk the earth had its perks.
“There’s still respect amongst our ranks and under immortal law he turned Evie and owns ownership over her. If she’s in trouble, he should at least be made aware of it.” They were both being careful not to speak loudly, the conversation was private and neither wanted it to be overheard by the staff or guests.
“I’m not telling him a damn thing if that’s what you’re hoping for. You want to? Feel free but remember this; Evangeline and Michael ceased ties a long time ago and she would never accept anyone claiming to be her master, sire, whatever you want to call it. She’s been deciding how she wants to handle this, whether its right or wrong.” Caleb wasn’t fooling himself, had she wanted to call Michael he would’ve honored that wish. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know about the guy and some of their history. Hell, for all Caleb knew, she even had some memories back about the guy.
Ryan held up his hands. “I’m staying out of it. This situation stinks of a mess and I like to stay away from those. Consider it a fair warning because Michael will find out, and he’s not as easygoing…but then again you know that. Vampires and wolves have managed to keep peace and I would hate to see that change because boys don’t know when to share.” The vampire shrugged his shoulders and walked away to his office located in the back space.
Caleb didn’t pay much attention to the vampire’s warning. If Michael wanted a fight he was willing to give him one.
“Everything ok?” Jake asked.
Caleb pulled a chair out. “Fine. Ryan had a question he needed answered.”
When the entrance of the club opened again it was Ethan, perpetrating every bad guy stereotype by dressing in a black suit, long black coat, and his hair, yes black, was long to his shoulders. The only color came from his eyes; a yellow not unlike a wolves. “What can I do for you?” he pulled out a chair and sat.
“We’re looking for a demon.”
“They’re insufferable bastards to track, especially if he jumps from body to body.” Ethan spoke from experience. “Do you know what class the fucker belongs to?”