Page 43 of Cheater Slicks

“Me too.” She massaged the base of her neck. “I’m not in a great place for a relationship anyway.”

Armie had dealt her pride and self-esteem a devastating blow. But, luckily, she hadn’t loved him as more than a friend in a long time. If she ever had seen him as more. With Josie, it was hard to say. She loved falling in love, the rush and excitement of it, but staying that way hadn’t happened yet.

Had Carter caved to her charms sooner, or put her foot down harder, their situationship might have already fizzled out. As dead set as Carter was against pursuing Josie, we would never know either way.

As we entered Rollo’s bedroom, Kierce rose from a chair and Jean-Claude straightened from his lean.

“You all right?” The good doctor swept his gaze over me, a pinch in his lips. “Need anything?”

“She needs to get me out of this damn circle.” Rollo tossed his sheets aside. “I have business to attend to, and I can’t do it from this bed.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I’m fully recovered.”

Judging by the flush staining his cheeks, he was either feverish or mortified I had seen his inner sanctum. Gaudy as his wannabe Louis XIV decor was, I couldn’t say I blamed him for locking and bolting his door.

“What business do you have that’s more important than telling us everything that happened to you?” I let him read in my expression that I was fine with leaving him in there until he gave us the details. “You survived the Midnight Parade. Now we need you to tell us how you ended up there so we can get the others out.”

With him, the enchantment hadn’t sunk its claws too deep, and it had still been a near thing.

For Vi, and especially Matty, we needed a clearer idea of how it was happening in order to stop it.

“I don’t recall.” His legs dangling from his tall bed reminded me of when he was a gangly youth, a few years younger than me, sitting on the stools where we took our lessons. “I was in my office. I had an invoice in my hand. Then I was here, waking up in bed.”

No mention of the glass he claimed to have been holding when I found him in the parade, but we hadn’t found any evidence he had drank from his, so I let it go.

“He remembered more, earlier.” Kierce came to stand beside me. “I did my best to get as much information as possible, but either the enchantment or the trauma has wiped the details from his memory.”

Ah. That would explain it. No memory, no glass.

“Do you think it’s safe to let him out?” I lamented the loss of my earlier hope, even though I had known it was a long shot. “I don’t want his soul to wander back to the parade.”

“I’m tired of being cooped up in my room,” Rollo growled, “and stared at like a tiger in a cage.”

“Oh, please.” Josie snickered at his harrumphing. “You’re a monkey at best.”

With the mood he was in, I might as well stick to my guns and keep him where I could question him. “What do you know about a funeral Vi attended prior to her illness?”

“She didn’t attend a funeral.” He quirked a brow. “She did ask for fifty thousand in cash, though.”

“Incash?” Josie’s eyes bulged out of her head. “Who does that?”

“Vi does.” I padded closer to Rollo. “Every time she attends an auction.” I dared to let hope pay me another visit, but I didn’t let it take its shoes off at the door. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“Jean-Claude gave you my list. I been hitting the streets to find anyone who might have been there, who might have seen Mamaw, but everyone I knew to try had already come down with the affliction.”

“So, the funeral wasn’t a funeral.” Josie vibrated with excitement. “It was an auction.” She scrunched up her face. “The attendees must have shared a cover story with their families in case of an emergency.”

“Most people involved in auctions keep their loved ones as far from the action as possible.” Even telling them about the “funeral” and its location, barring any last-minute tweaks, was a risk. “So, that tracks.”

“I wasn’t sitting on the evidence for funsies. I wanted to be certain before involving more people who’ll figure out Mamaw is…” he set his jaw, “…not well. With her enemies on the spirit plane, we can’t afford to let folks know her body is sitting empty and ripe for the plucking.”

“I understand.” I wasn’t happy about it, but I got it. “Do you know if she bought anything?”

A handy relic or artifact that we could smash and break the curse along with it would be nice.

“She didn’t say.” He cut me a look that dared me to think less of him. “You know how she gets when she wants to protect us. Like you, I figured the money was for an auction, but she didn’t share any details.”

“As dangerous as it is to carry that much cash,” Josie asked, “and she didn’t give you a heads-up?”

“That’s not how it works,cher.” He gentled his voice for her. “Locations aren’t static. They can shift minutes beforehand if the address is compromised by uninvited guests.” His lips twitched once before he remembered to scowl. “They aren’t exactly legal, yeah?”

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