Page 20 of Cursed
“What happens when you stop the sacrifice?” Kinsley asked.
“The witch-disciple dies, and his coven loses its power.” Seth didn’t try to sugarcoat the situation.
“You two play for keeps.”
“Gremory’s disciples have been killing people every twelve years or so for a century,” Seth pointed out. “Including my brother and relatives, Evan’s family members, and more. The ritual keeps them immortal, so the deaths would just go on and on. Seems like offing an evil bastard and saving all those people is a good trade.”
Rowan had thought Kinsley would be an ally, but if she was squeamish about the reality of the situation, Seth needed to know before they were in a life-or-death battle.
“Slow your roll,” Kinsley said. “I’m on board. Rowan and Cassidy laid it all out, and witches like Vernon give the rest of us a bad name. I just needed to hear it from you.”
“You’ll help?” Evan asked, looking hopeful.
“Yeah. I want that scum and his monster meat joint out of my city,” Kinsley replied. “I think I’ve got more witches and maybe some muscle to help out too. Plus a friend who’s a necromancer, if that would come in handy. Want to meet for breakfast and plan a war?”
Kinsley suggested a place run by a coven member’s family where she felt they could talk safely without being overheard.Evan noted the address as Seth repeated it, and they thanked Kinsley before hanging up.
“Well, that might be another piece falling into place,” Evan said.
“The sooner, the better.” Seth hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that the clock was ticking on an unknown danger. Dispatching Vernon and leaving town couldn’t happen fast enough to suit him. He didn’t share his sense of foreboding with Evan in case his imagination was running wild, although experience had taught him to trust his hunches. That meant being extra careful.
That evening, Seth cooked tacos while Evan scoured local media sites for anything about Vernon that they might have missed.
“I’ve come across a few articles praising Vernon for how he shuns the limelight and avoids the spotlight for his good deeds,” Evan reported in a wry tone. “That hasn’t stopped him from insinuating himself into the restaurant industry in the city. He turns up everywhere. He just manages to avoid photos most of the time, or makes them blurry.”
“Hard to be a recluse and run a restaurant,” Seth replied without turning away from the stove. “It’s a people business.”
“More so in Vernon’s case maybe than for most,” Evan joked.
“Ew. Don’t spoil my appetite.”
“Sorry. Couldn’t help it.”
“Vernon’s got to have mortal helpers,” Seth said. “Is there any info on who runs the place when he’s not around? Or the head chef, business manager, maître d’?”
Evan nodded. “Yeah. Teag and I found some info. Looks like a very loyal, small group that has been with the restaurant for a long time. Nothing that suggests they have supernatural abilities, at least nothing that would keep them from mingling with regular people and going around in the daylight.”
“No vampires.”
“Can’t guarantee that about the wait staff or the kitchen crew, but not the top people who usually deal with the media when Vernon ‘isn’t available.’” Evan framed the last few words in air quotes.
“I wonder if he has them under a compulsion or just won their everlasting loyalty by bailing them out of a jam,” Seth mused.
“Could be either,” Evan said. “I also texted Nash to see if he was free in the morning before the pub opens. I want to see if he and I could contact the spirits of Pax’s father and the other men who died from the witch-disciples. Maybe they can give us some inside information to help Pax believe us.”
“It’s worth a shot.” Seth put the finishing touches on the tacos. He carried plates to the table as Evan closed down his computer to make room.
“Those smell amazing. Maybe we should think of having a food truck when this is all over,” Evan joked.
Seth gave him a look. “No. Once we deal with the witch-disciples, I’m done with having to haul our home—or our business—around. We’ll pick a place, get a house…and go from there.”
It bothered Seth sometimes that they didn’t have a detailed idea of what to do after their quest was finished. Part of him shied away from making firm plans out of a superstitious fear that doing so might jinx their odds of surviving the task. Earlier in his relationship with Evan, he had worried that planning for a future together might be moving too fast.
Now that they were solidly a couple and had dispatched a majority of the witch-disciples, the possibility of an afterward didn’t seem so far-fetched.
Seth worked as a white-hat hacker for Milo and Toby’s security company when he wasn’t using his skills to break intothe witch-disciples’ accounts. Evan’s passion for photography and his talent for design led to starting his own graphics company, and helped with the occasional need to create fake documents for their hunting.
Evan’s graphic design and Seth’s computer work kept them busy between road trips and paid their living expenses. Getting vengeance on murderous witches provided satisfaction, but it didn’t cover the bills and often required expensive and arcane materials.
