Page 59 of Bewitching Her Monsters

Mal grumbles, “You know I’m a softie when it comes to jerky exes, so if this is a ploy—”

“Even if it was a ploy, I only come to you when I’m worried. And I don’t worry about much.”

She looks me up and down—all six-feet-five of me—and nods. “Ugh. Fine.” She waves me to come in, and behind us, she locks five different bolts for the industrial door. “Remember to stay away from our gear.”

“I know the routine.” I must stand almost all the way across the room to keep their computer equipment safe from my magic.

“There are rumors, Maxum,” she says quietly as we take the metal stairs. “ASO is upping their attacks. Osen was probably the first of many supes who will be taken down.”

Mal and her husband are part of the small population of humans who know about supes, magical beings, and the existence of other realms. Approximately five percent of the population knows about us, and most of them end up as the supernatural’s intermediaries to the mortal realm when we aren’t able to cover up our magic. These humans span the cross-section of society—from hackers and thieves to government officials and first responders like cops and EMTs. They help keep the secret safe from the general population.

“I’ve heard the same rumors,” I acknowledge her concern. “Unfortunately, I believe it’s true. I’m going to be dragged into another war.”

“Shit.” She shoves open a door and reveals Dwayne typing away at his console.

“Really, man?” He shakes his head. “You better not have been followed.”

“I wasn’t, and I have a full payment.” I pull a huge roll of hundreds from my pocket.

Mal’s eyes widen, then she narrows them. “I thought you said this was a basic background check.”

“I don’t know how deep it goes,” I explain. “I suspect this dickhead might be connected to the supe world or ASO, or maybe he’s just a solo dickhead warlock.”

I hand her the cash, Rob’s name and details, and sit on a worn-out couch, waiting for my answers.

“Maxum.” Mal shakes her head. “Is a woman really in danger?”

“Yeah. She’s in danger from me if she turns out to be an ASO or Witch Council spy. Or she could be in danger because her ex-boyfriend is an abusive asshat and a possible magic user. I hope she is in danger because she’s ignorant of her witchy nature. Because that’s an easy fix. I just tell her what she is.”

“I don’t think that will go over very well,” Dwayne says as he takes the note and picture from Mal and types in the info. “Humans don’t react well knowing there is all this magic shit.”

He’s right. I’ve seen it a thousand times. I can’t even count how many times I’ve outed the magical world to a norm. They deny it no matter how I reveal it to them. I’ve even removed my glamour right in front of them and shown them my true form. And they somehow block it out or claim it’s a trick.

Humans are magical in that way. They can section off their brains to believe any belief they want to hold on to. If it doesn’t belong in their worldview, it doesn’t exist. They can be amazing as well as frightening.

“Hmm,” Dwayne says as he crinkles his brow while squinting at the computer screen. It isn’t a small screen, so this piques my interest. “Robert Holden doesn’t exist… not in this area. And the ones in this state don’t match the picture here. I’m expanding my search country wide. But my guess is that he gave her a fake name.”

Arran’s photograph has come in handy.

“What about police reports? I believe she filed a restraining order.”

“Nada. Zip. He doesn’t exist under that name in any local records. I tried all the variations of his name, too.”

“Okay. So what now?” I ask.

“Even this picture doesn’t help much. Sure, I could run an image reversal search. But that’s time-consuming and rarely delivers results without something else to narrow it down. Besides, this picture is half destroyed.” Dwayne pushes away his keyboard and spins his office chair to look at me. “It’s a dead end until I have something more from you.” He grabs the wad of cash I had just paid and tosses it back to me. “No fee for this.”

“No. Keep it.” I catch the bundle and toss it on the coffee table in front of me before I get up. “Buy some protection spells from my contact. Do whatever you need to keep yourselves safe. If I find something more on this guy, I’ll be back.”

I storm down the warehouse’s stairs and hear the little human female following me with her light steps.

“Maxum, hey?” Mal calls to slow me down since I’m able to take two steps at a time.

“What?” I toss over my shoulder but don’t slow.

I’m pissed. Arran was right to be concerned. I hate it when that mutt is right.

He’s going to rub it in my face.

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