Demon Debacle: A Witches of Abaddon’s Gate Mystery Page 3

  Shane nodded. "Yeah, that's what I heard. She’s been in here a couple times with Michael, but I didn’t feel right askin’ questions. Rumor has it they took her wings and denied her access to Celestial City, but I don't know that for sure. I also heard her family kicked her out and that she doesn't have any backup at all to get the souls back."

  I sighed, unwilling to share the details, but not wanting inaccurate information to be passed around, either. ""They didn't take her wings, but they did shrink them, which means she can't get into the city. She does have somebody helping her, and from what I understand she also has the support of a couple of the higher-ups and has connections with them in case she needs help. They didn't just toss her out in the cold. They did lay the responsibility on her shoulders, though. She feels terrible about the whole thing, and personally, I don't think it's right that they punished her for something her mother did."

  “Her name’s Kira, right?” he asked as he refilled the beer I’d chugged like it was water. Speaking of, he slid a glass of that in front of me, too.

  I nodded right as the cook rang the bell and slid our burgers onto the sill between the kitchen and bar.

  Shane held up a meaty finger, indicating he’d be right back. In four big strides, he was at the window, and I smiled at how he carried all three plates balanced on one arm and grabbed a little caddy with ketchup, mustard, salt, and pepper in the other on his way back to us.

  I moved my beer so he could put my plate down.

  “Yep, that's her,” April said as she squirted a blob of ketchup onto her plate. “She's kinda gruff when you first meet her, but she’s super nice and really is taking the situation seriously.”

  A group of rambunctious faeries rumbled through the door. "If you ladies will excuse me," Shane said, watching them progress to the two pool tables, "I need to go see what they need.”

  "We’re good," I replied, waving a hand at him. “Go do your thing. Oh, wait if you see Michael or Kira, will you tell them to call me?”

  He nodded as he strolled away. “Yeah, and you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to fill them in, too.”

  We were about halfway through our cheeseburgers when the front door opened. I squinted to see who it was, but with the bright light shining through the door behind the person, I couldn't make out any features. It was definitely a man, though, and the form looked familiar. I watched him as the door closed and smiled when I saw Aaron, a guy Michael had introduced me to when he’d informed me that I’d have a bodyguard for the duration of the time I was helping him and Kira a few weeks ago.

  I did my best to ignore that my belly did a little flip. Aaron worked for the Bureau just like Michael did, and the last thing I wanted was to be attracted to somebody who might be married to his work. April waggled her eyebrows and nudged me with her elbow while Calamity took advantage of my distraction to snatch an onion ring off my plate. I scowled at both of them for different reasons. "Knock it off, you two. We’re just friends. Now shush; he's on his way this direction."

  I smiled at him as he approached and took a seat on the stool next to me.

  "Hey, ladies, what’re you into today?" A hank of dark hair had fallen over his forehead, and I resisted the urge to brush it off, annoyed at myself. "Not a whole lot. We spent the day shopping and then decided it was time for a burger and a beer."

  "Yeah," Calamity said, hopping from her stool into my lap so she could get closer to him. "Since we don't have anything else to do this evening, we might go see a movie or something."

  Her tail was out of his line of vision, so I gave it a yank. "What Calamity meant–"

  She dug her claws into my leg in response to me yanking her tail and cut her eyes at me. "What I said is exactly what I meant. Maybe Aaron would like to join us."

  I was going to kill her we got home. For now, though, all I could do was smile.

  April grinned at him. "Yeah, you should come with us. Were going to go see that new action film. It starts in an hour.”

  We’d discussed it, but hadn’t cemented it, or at least not until now, when they’d teamed up against me. Or for me, depending on your point of view.

  “Et tu, Brute?” I asked under my breath, but it looked like I was either in or out. I smiled at him. "Yeah, if you're not doing anything you should join us. It'll be fun."

  He turned his smile up to a notch that was almost blinding. “That would be awesome! Thanks for inviting me, and the popcorn's on me."

  We chatted for the couple more minutes it took us to finish our burgers, and by that point, his hadn’t even arrived.

  “Tell you what,” I said, motioning for the tab. “Why don't we run over and drop off our bags, and you can meet us at my place?" I didn't want to haul everything with us to the theater, and we were running tight on time. Plus, I was sweaty and gross from walking all afternoon, and didn’t want to go to the movies, especially with him, when there was a probability that my Right Guard had swung left.

  Shane slid his cheese steak and fries in front of him, and he reached over for the ketchup and mustard caddy. "That sounds like a plan. It won't take me long here, so I'll see you in just a little bit."

  Once we made it outside, I gave April and Calamity a piece of my mind. "Believe it or not, you two are not Cupids. And I'm perfectly capable of managing my own love life." I shifted my bag from one hand to the other and sidestepped when Calamity tried to jump onto my shoulder. If she wanted to throw me under the bus, she could walk. It wasn't that I didn't want to go to the movie or minded Aaron going with us, but I felt like they were forcing the situation.

  "I think the phrase you're looking for," April said casting me a sideways glance as we stepped into the street, “is thank you. So you're welcome."

  I sighed. Trying to manage the two of them once they’d gotten something into their heads was like trying to herd cats, and I did have to admit to myself that I was glad Aaron was going. The only time we’d spent much time together was when he was working with me to help solve one of Kira’s cases, so it would be nice to hang out with him when somebody wasn’t trying to kill us or possess the people around us. After all, it was a movie. What could go wrong, right?

  4

  After I cleaned up, I found myself adding some eyeshadow and eyeliner to the mascara and lip gloss I would've normally worn. I wasn't sure I was ready to date anybody, but I did like Aaron. However, I wasn't sure if he felt the same about me, so I figured at this point, we were playing it by ear. The action movie we’d planned to see was sold out when we got there, so we opted to watch a comedy instead. It turned out to be a good call; I hadn't laughed like that in a while, and it kind of took my mind off the whole thing that had happened that morning. At least for a while.

  We were right in the middle of the biggest fight scene so far in the movie when a shower of popcorn rained down on us. Annoyed, I looked behind me to see who to curse.

  A middle-aged brunette woman was standing up with an empty popcorn bucket in her hand, laughing like an idiot. Before I could tell her what a jerk she was being, she snatched the full bucket from the person sitting beside her and threw it up in the air too. She ran down the row, knocking over sodas, throwing skittles, and upending more popcorn. Before it could even sink in what she was doing, she bolted down the stairs and out the exit with security hot on her heels.

  I started to get up and chase her, but Aaron put his hand on my arm and shook his head. "Just leave it. Security will catch them on the way out.”

  I frowned, undecided. Sure, people could be like that on purpose, but given the recent events, I wasn't prone to think that was the case now. “What if they weren’t just being like that? I mean, given what's been going on, don't you think it's a lot more likely that it's related to the other two weird things?"

  He shrugged. "Maybe so, but what can we do about it? I'm sure security will catch him on the way out and turn her over to the powers that be. You’re not living in a human city, Mila. Even security people here know what to look out for.
”

  "Yeah," Calamity whisper-yelled, reaching her paw into April's popcorn. “So sit down. We’re missin’ the movie.”

  I sat back down but wasn't completely comfortable doing it. I pulled my phone from my pocket, afraid I'd missed an incoming text from Michael or Kira. No new messages. I sighed and settled back into my seat, though the rest of the movie was pretty much ruined for me.

  "I could really go for some ice cream," Aaron said once we were outside the theater. "Anybody with me?"

  It was still humid out, and that sounded great. I knew April was a night owl who never turned down ice cream. Since it was only eight o'clock, I was sure she'd be all in, so I thought I was answering for all of us when I agreed.

  “Actually," April said, looking at her phone while making a point not to look at me, “I had some new books come in today, and I need to get them on the shelves. You guys go ahead, though."

  I resisted the urge to glare at her because I knew I was smelling a rat. I glanced at Aaron, and if I hadn’t known better, I would've sworn his smile got a little wider.

  "Okay,” I said, trying to make my smile bright, “It looks like it's just me, you, and Calamity." There was no way my little fox would turn to ice cream. It was one of her favorite treats.

  "Actually, the little traitor said, faking a yawn, "I'm really tired from all the cleaning we did today, so I think I'm just going to go home, too."

  My jaw about hit the floor when she said that, considering the most work she'd done all day was complain about how long it was taking me to do it. Aaron glanced from me to everyone else. "Well, I still really have a craving for ice cream, and it's always better to have good company. I'm still game if you are."

  There was no real way to gracefully bow out, and I wasn't sure I wanted to anyway.

  "Then I guess it's just the two of us. I could go for some butter pecan myself." I held my elbow out and he linked his arm through mine, smiling down at me. It didn't take it degree in psychology to understand I’d just been set up, but strangely enough, I was okay with it. Aaron and I were friends, or at least we were getting there, and if nothing else, it would be nice to get to know him a little better. And eat ice cream.

  The shop was only a block or so from the movie theater, and it was in the direction of my apartment. That meant even if I did eat a ton and get a sugar high, I'd be able to make it home without a wheelbarrow.

  When we got there, we ordered and took a seat at a picnic table outside under an oak tree. It had finally cooled down a little, and he cast a spell around us to repel the mosquitoes. While we ate, we chatted about a little bit of everything, including our families. I wasn't surprised to learn that he was the oldest out of five or that he was the only boy in the mix. I also wasn't surprised that he been raised by a single mother. For some reason, he just had that feel about him, and I could tell there'd been a lot of female influence in his life. For example, he'd complemented me on my chartreuse tank top and my espadrilles. I hadn’t even known chartreuse was lime green.

  Of course, there was always the chance that he was into fashion, but that didn't jive with his low-maintenance haircut, his preference for goofy T-shirts rather than designer polos, or his beat-up sneakers that had seen better days. Since I knew he had a good job that paid well, that only left sisters and/or a mother he’d spent a lot of time with growing up.

  It was just starting to get dark as we headed out of the ice cream shop. I’d gone overboard and had a scoop of black cherry along with my butter pecan, so I was glad I'd worn my stretchy jeans as we strolled in the direction of my place.

  One of the things I liked best about Abaddon's Gate was that it was a wonderful mix of new and old. Two of my favorite examples of that were the cobblestone streets and old-fashioned oil street lamps. A leprechaun named Timothy had been the lamplighter since way before I’d moved here, and I always thought it was cool to watch him as he went around and lit each one individually. He was hard at work as we strolled up the street, and I stopped to say hello.

  "Timothy," I said, smiling at him as he used magic to raise the glass, then touched a long-handled torch to the wick, "I'd like for you to meet my friend Aaron. He's new to the Gate."

  Timothy's ruddy face lit with pleasure, and he stuck out his hand, wiping it on his green overalls before he did. "It's a pleasure to meet you, for sure. My Mila’s a good lass, so you make sure she makes it home safe." His voice still carried an Irish lilt and his way of speaking was a little antiquated, which fit him to a T.

  "It's nice to meet you, too, Timothy. How long have you lived here?"

  “More years than I’m willin’ to admit to,” he replied with a wink as he walked with us to the next light post. "I moved here from Ireland when I was just a lad. In fact, the street lamps were new back then. I helped install ‘em meself, I did." Sadness washed over his face. "I don't know that I'll be here much longer, though. The city council’s decided it's time to move on and get electric lights. They say they're more efficient. Nobody cares about tradition anymore."

  "That's terrible," I said, disappointed about the situation and sad for him. The street lamps were one of my favorite features of the city, and it was a shame that they were getting rid of them.

  Aaron frowned. "Are they planning to move you to a new division? What will you do?"

  Sadness crept into Timothy’s dark eyes, and his swarthy face crinkled a little. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "To be honest, I'm not sure what they have planned for me. Abaddon's Gate’s me home, and me family’s scattered hither and yon. Besides, we were never really close anyway. I know this town better’n most anybody. I helped to build it.”

  That meant he’d been there for at least a few hundred years because the town had been founded in 1653. Before I could say anything else, I noticed a tall dark-haired man a block down extinguishing the lamp that Timothy had just lit. His movements were jerky and reminded me of the man who'd run into me that morning. I'd barely managed to process what I was seeing when he jumped and blew out another one. I wasn’t sure which surprised me the most—the impressive height that he jumped, or what he was doing.

  "Hey, knock that off!" I moved around Aaron and ran down the street toward him. People could be such jerks, and I wasn't going to tolerate him making poor Timothy's life even harder than it already was. Again, he jumped higher than a normal person would've been able to and blew out another lamp before he looked at me, cackled, then darted across the street.

  Unfortunately for him, he ran right out in front of a horse and carriage, and before the cabby could stop, it was too late. I rushed toward the man as the driver—a large shifter of some sort if my magical radar was right—did everything he could to bring the horses to a halt. As soon as he had them under control, he vaulted down off of his seat and dashed to where the man was lying in the middle of the street, still. He checked for a pulse, and I held my breath. When he glanced up, his face was pale as ash, and he shook his head.

  My stomach threatened to send my ice cream back up, and I rushed forward to start CPR. I was only a couple steps away when a black smoke rose from the man's body and floated toward the sewer grate where it disappeared.

  Aaron put his hand out toward me and shook his head. "Don't get too close. You have no idea what that was, and I don't think there's anything you can do to help the man at this point anyway.”

  The driver pushed to his feet and brushed his hands off, then turned to us. “What the hell was that?"

  I thought for a minute that he was talking about the smoke, but he didn’t even mention it. He was breathing hard and looking around as if trying to figure out where the guy had come from. "I didn't even see him until it was too late.”

  “What’s going on?” A shrill voice called from the coach. “We’re going to be late for the theater, and you guaranteed you could get us there on time!”

  I turned to see a heavily made-up woman with dark hair swept into a fancy updo sticking her head out the window, and I scowled at he
r. “There’s been an accident. He’ll have you back on your way as soon as he can.”

  “We have fifteen minutes,” she snapped, and rather than say what I really thought she could do with her timeline, I shot her a look of disgust and flapped my hand at her in dismissal. The scent of burnt vanilla wafted toward me and I crinkled my nose. The woman didn’t even have good taste in perfume.

  Aaron placed his hand on the large man’s back and led him a few feet away from the body. "Yeah man, there wasn't anything you could have done there. He ran right out in front of you, and there's no way you could've gotten the horses stopped in time. " He turned to me. "What did you see? I know you were rushing toward him before the whole thing happened."

  I swallowed as I realized I might have played a part in his death. Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him, but I didn't know what else to do. “He was blowing out the lamps. All I did was shout for him to stop, and he laughed and then threw himself into the street."

  Aaron sighed and pressed his lips together, then put his arm around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze. "You can't honestly think any of this is your fault. I think there were other things at work."

  "What do you mean by that?" the driver asked. It seemed he really hadn’t seen the black smoke because that was definitely a clue that all was not as it seemed.

  I tilted my head, curious. “You didn't see anything strange?"

  “Strange, how?” he asked, patting the nearest horse on the shoulder. The large bay was calmer, but he was still keeping a wary eye on the body.

  Aaron hadn’t taken his arm from my shoulder, and he squeezed it again. When I glanced up at him, he gave me another small warning shake of his head as he glanced at the healers. I got what he was saying immediately, because I was worried about the same thing. I didn't know how much detail Michael would want the general public to know.