Page 46 of Handcuffs and Hexes

Seth had felt a bit like he’d had his mother stolen from under him when he first met Mateo. But he’d since come to terms with the fact that the manticore was here to stay. With the way they bickered, you’d think they’d always been brothers.

And of course, we’d recently found Tansy, Seth’s sister, when she went to Redrock Protective Services out of desperation after finding out that her “mother” wasn’t her mother at all, but a millennia-old spirit who lived forever by taking over new bodies, and she was next.

Currently, Elena was guardian to a ghost-turned-living-teenager named Bella.

“Well, I think that’s really sweet,” Hazel said. “You’re lucky to have family that cares about you.”

“You’ve had the misfortune to meet the other half,” Seth said.

Elena’s posture changed. “You’ve met my husband.”

“Met is overstating it,” Hazel clarified. “We were at a restaurant at the marina and he was there with his friends. I swear, if looks could kill, we’d all be dead. But having one half and found family on top of that is a lot better than having none.”

“Don’t you have any family, girl?”

“Not anymore. Unless you count Chief and my partner. Chief Henderson gets all fatherly on me, and Mike treats me like a sister. Not having much family left is part of the reason why I moved back to Darlington. My grandparents on my dad’s side passed away, and since Dad was gone, I was next of kin. And I have no clue where Mom is now. But my grandad was on the force, so Chief slotted me right in. Mike had another partner at the time, and they’d had to move things around, but it worked out.” She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m rambling.”

“No you’re not, dear. I’m glad they were here for you. Sometimes the found family are the best.”

“If you don’t mind me asking. Why do you still call your ex your husband?”

“Because we never divorced. Those old geezers over at the WEC don’t believe in divorces.”

Seth scoffed. “Like I said, he doesn’t have to believe in it. The law is the law.”

“But I’d have to face him again in court.”

“You might not need to,” Hazel said, “if it’s a simple divorce.”

Elena huffed bitterly. “As if that ass would let it remain simple. Knowing him, he’ll find any reason to force me to face him, just so that he could intimidate me again.”

I reached out and put a soothing hand on Elena’s shoulder. This had been a bone of contention between Seth and his mom for a while now. I understood both sides. Seth wanted any connectionSamuel had with Elena to be severed, but Elena was terrified to even leave Desmon’s estate without Seth along as protection. She’d never be caught dead at a place like the marina.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable doing, Elena,” I assured her.

“You’re a good kid.”

I was no kid, but I took it as a compliment.

Elena reached into her purse, which I didn’t notice until now, and brought out a photo album. We’d tried telling her that most people just use their phones now, but she’d insisted on printing out all her good photos and putting them into an album anyway.

“I don’t have his baby photos since those are all at the old house, but I brought photos of Seth and Liam from when they lived with us. Want to see?”

“Mom!” Seth looked ready to balk, but Hazel was grinning from ear to ear.

“I sure do!”

Chapter 23

Hazel

“I’lltalktoyousoon, Chief,” I said as calmly as I could before hanging up.

I took several deep breaths before making my way out of the spare room, which I’d been using as an office now that Liam and Seth insisted I stay in their bed at night. It had been where I’d sent my daily reports to Chief. But despite telling him that I hadn’t had even a slight hint of a headache for days, he’d failedto schedule me for my patrols. That was why I gave him a call today.

Now I had a bone to pick with Seth. I marched down the stairs to where Seth was sitting on the couch, video game controller in hand. Liam was at his PC gaming station.

I cleared my throat.

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