Damned and Cursed (Book 2): Witch's Kurse (27 page)

"You got it.
 
Nothing supernatural.
 
There was just, uh, one more question I wanted to ask…."

Jack waited, but Kevin had trouble with the words.

"If you could form a complete sentence?
 
What
, Glinda?"

"Would it be alright if I brought Leese and Oscar over?"

Jack frowned.
 
"Who the hell is Oscar?"

"My cat.
 
And you know Leese, my girlfriend."

Jack wrinkled his face in exasperation and irritation.
 
"A damn cat.
 
Christ, what next?
 
I don't care, whatever.
 
Just make sure it doesn't shed all over the house.
 
Are you and the blonde smacking skin yet?"

The question came out of nowhere.
 
Kevin's face turned red as images of Leese from two nights ago flashed through his mind, in his bedroom.
 
Those images transitioned to the things they did at Leese's apartment, when her roommate was away.

"Uhhh…."

"That's a yes.
 
You want to show your woman your broomstick while Tiffany's in school, go for it.
 
Obviously the bedrooms are all off-limits.
 
And the kitchen.
 
Oh, and the bathrooms, too."

Kevin laughed.
 
"That leaves the couch and laundry room."

"No, not the couch.
 
Tiffany and I watch TV there, you sick bastard.
 
I'm not going to sit in a pool of your witch jizz."

"Okay.
 
The laundry room, then."

"Have fun.
 
Watch out for the spiders down there.
 
You got any other stupid questions?"

"No, but…thanks, Jack.
 
For trusting me with this."

"You weren't my first choice.
 
Andee's in high school, so she was out."

Kevin shook his head at Jack's version of
You're welcome
.
 
"Like I said.
 
Thanks so much."

"You weren't my second or third, either.
 
The best thing you had going for you was that you're unemployed."

"Okay, okay.
 
Point taken.
 
And I do have a job."

"No shit?
 
No more middle of the mall crap?"

"No shit."

"Doing what?"

Kevin hesitated.
 
He wasn't proud of it, but he was making money once again doing something he was good at.

"I…write papers for first year college students.
 
Basic English crap."

Jack nodded.
 
"Glinda's Magic and English Papers, Inc.
 
It has a nice ring to it."

"Oh, shut up."
 
Kevin glanced out the window to the limousine.
 
"Are you going to miss your flight?"

"Nope.
 
I own the jet, too."

"Ah, who doesn't?
 
Good thing I don't need a jet.
 
You want to save some time?
 
Print off a picture of where you're going, and I'll send you right there."

"Tempting, but the flight's just what I need.
 
Give me some time to think."
 
He took a deep breath and walked to the bottom of the stairs.
 
"And now for the not-so-fun part.
 
Tiffany!"

The little girl opened the door to her room and poked her head out.
 
"What?"

"I'm getting ready to leave, partner.
 
Glinda will finish cooking dinner."

Tiffany ran down the stairs so fast Kevin thought she'd fall.
 
She leapt from the third step into her father's arms.
 
Kevin was amazed at the sight.
 
Jack truly disliked the world, but loved his daughter.

"I don't want you to go," Tiffany said.
 
"But I'll be good until you get back."

"I know you will.
 
Don't give Glinda too much of a hard time."

"I'll bring your roller-bag out to the car."

She pulled the luggage through the front door and down the steps, all on her own.
 
Kevin and Jack were on the porch when the witch realized something.

"Your pocket-watch.
 
You forgot it.
 
It's still upstairs in your room."

Jack shook his head.
 
"With the trip I'm going on, sleep will be the last thing on my mind."

A driver emerged and took the bag from Tiffany.
 
She stood next to Kevin on the sidewalk.
 
Jack hugged his daughter one last time and acknowledged Kevin with a nod.
 
He paused as the driver opened the rear door.

"I'll call you tomorrow," he told Tiffany.
 
"And Glinda…thank you for watching my daughter."

Kevin smiled and filed the moment away.
 
A
thank you
from Jack.

"Oh, one last thing.
 
Don't make any plans for Friday night."

"I won't make any plans.
 
I'm here watching things.
 
What am I going to do?
 
Run out to a club or the beach?"

Jack said nothing.
 
He just smiled before ducking into the limousine.
 
Tiffany ran out to the middle of the street as it drove away, waving frantically.

She walked past Kevin without looking up.
 
Some of the finer details of what Kevin agreed to dawned on him.
 
He knew nothing about nine-year-old girls.
 
He didn't know what their hobbies were, what they liked to talk about, what they liked to eat.
 
The main reason he agreed to Jack's request was that he was tired of looking at his bedroom day in and out.
 
A change of scenery would do him good.
 
The scent of the beach in the air was certainly nice.
 
Refresh the soul, maybe inspire some new magic.
 
Now he wasn't so sure.

Kevin forced himself to calm down.
 
Watching a young girl, how hard could it be?

"Hey Tiffany," he called behind her.
 
"I'll finish making dinner.
 
Was he putting together a pizza?
 
I can cook a mean pizza."

"Don't worry about it.
 
I'm not hungry."

"You said you were starving before."

"Well I'm not starving now.
 
And you don't cook as good as my Dad."

He stopped as he watched the girl go back in the house.
 
A terrifying thought crept up on him.

Would he possibly be spending the next two weeks with a miniature version of Jack?

"This is going to be so much fun."

Marie didn't like cemeteries.
 
She didn't imagine many living creatures did, with the exception of the odd, twisted vampire she knew was out there.
 
She'd once heard of a vampire that thought sleeping in a coffin in the cemetery would grant great power.
 
All it granted was moist dirt and worms.

Her reasons for dislike were different than humans.
 
There was certainly the heavy air that seemed to surround a cemetery, the overwhelming melancholy.
 
For Marie, it was the scent that made her shiver.
 
Old death mixed with new, maggots feasting on flesh, human bone and tissue, mahogany caskets and marble headstones.
 
None of that blended for a pleasant smell.

She sat in her car, watching the men put Erica Hernandez in the ground from a distance.
 
There was no service, no man reading words from the Bible as family and friends gathered.
 
Only Marie came, watching from as far away as her vision would allow.
 
She was surprised when no family or friends contacted the bar, Erica's last place of employment.

Last place of employment.
 
The thought brought ache to Marie's heart.

She was the one who bought the casket and headstone.

Marie didn't consider Erica a best friend, but had a feeling they were on their way, before fate decided to step in.
 
It might not have been a good idea for an employer and employee to strike a friendship, but they'd spent time over each other's apartments after work.
 
She'd helped Erica bring in a new dresser for her bedroom.
 
The common ground of starting over was strong, and Erica was a genuinely nice person that Marie enjoyed spending time with.

Marie didn't think anything of it when Erica didn't show up on time for work that night.
 
Her car was still giving her problems.
 
But when being late turned into not showing up, Marie worried something might be wrong.
 
She stopped by Erica's apartment after closing the bar.
 
Erica wasn't home, and her car was in the lot.

Her body was found the next day.
 
A man walking his dog found her in an alley next to a dumpster.
 
She was strangled and her purse was taken.
 
The police suspected Erica went for a walk and caught the attention of a mugger.
 
She fought back, and was killed.

The men finished their work and left the site.
 
Marie had the intention of leaving, but instead found herself opening the car door and stepping out.
 
She crossed the grass and stood to the side of the headstone.
 
It was nothing elaborate, simply Erica Hernandez with the relevant dates.
 
Thirty-three years old.
 
Much too short of a life.

Marie wiped a tear from under her eye.
 
She would have liked to know Erica better, but was thankful that in her eighty years, she had the chance to know her at all.

"Goodbye, Erica."

She decided to make one last stop before leaving.
 
Her stride seemed to shorten as she made her way across the cemetery, her pace slowing.
 
It'd been far too long since she visited them.
 
She planned on stopping by when she first came back to town, but life took over.
 
Settling in, restoring the bar, and her own reluctance to face painful memories.

It took the death of someone else to push her along.

She stopped in front of the simple grave markers.

"Hi Mom, Dad."

The pain rushed back, along with the hate and anger.
 
Emotions she'd fought and hid from over time.
 
There were times she thought she was at peace with the strange course her life had taken, but as she stood there crying at her parents' grave, peace was the furthest thing from her mind.
 
She wanted to change right there and then, under the glow of the sun.
 
She wanted to run through the woods, hunt anything that moved, run from the pain, like only a werewolf could.

Marie didn't change.
 
She just cried and told her parents how much she missed them.

As she spoke to them, the anger faded away.
 
The pain eased somewhat, the tears stopped.
 
She thought about the good times with her family, and how they took care of her.

"Stop by the bar whenever you want," Marie told them.
 
"You'd like what I've done to the place."

Despite the emotional onslaught, she left her parents with a smile on her face.
 
She loved her parents.
 
It was good to know that even though she was no longer human, she could still feel.

A sight she didn't expect froze her in place as she went back through the cemetery.

Someone stood at Erica's grave.

It was a man Marie hadn't seen before.
 
A physically attractive man, broad shoulders, nicely dressed.
 
He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking down at Erica's headstone.
 
His face was unreadable.

Not only his looks caught her attention, but his scent finally touched her nose.
 
For a moment, Marie forgot she was in a cemetery.
 
Chocolate mixed with roses, with perhaps a bit of cherry as well.
 
She didn't believe it was possible for a human to smell so divine, but when he shifted, so did the scent.

He reached out and touched the gravestone, tapping it a few times, before turning around and walking away.

Marie's curiosity piqued.
 
She nearly called out to the man, but decided against it.
 
She was a distance away; he didn't notice her.
 
How did he know Erica?
 
Did she meet him in town?
 
She certainly didn't mention a man she was seeing.
 
Was he family?
 
Probably not, as their scents weren't related.
 
How did his parents pass along that wonderful smell?

She watched him leave the cemetery as she headed for her car, letting him drift from her mind.
 
Her thoughts shifted to the bar, out of necessity as well as for a distraction.
 
The place was doing well.
 
She'd hired a few more people, two of which Erica trained herself, and had a rotation going.
 
Everything was working out smoothly, although one of the bartenders complained about Nia having a juicy schedule, due to her high volume of tips.
 
What the new bartender failed to realize was that Nia was a young, lively, beautiful woman.
 
Men who drank alcohol at a bar liked being in the company of such a woman.
 
Nia was simply a tip magnet.