Page 10 of A Hunter Cursed
Keegan nodded thoughtfully. “She’s a mirror.”
“What?”
“I had a friend in high school who used to be like that. With every new boyfriend, she’d recreate herself in his image, start listening to the music he liked, was suddenly interested in things she’d never even mentioned before just because they were things that interested him. Like a mirror, reflecting what she thought she needed to be to hold onto him. I’m no therapist, but I always thought it stemmed from low self-esteem.”
Jeremiah considered that, but while Cara had fit the mirror definition Keegan had offered, she sure as shit didn’t have low self-esteem. No, what she had been, was greedy and manipulative. Her recreating herself in Jeremiah’s image had been an attempt to make him fall in love with her so she could get her hands on his money.
Cara Novak had been a manager at one of the banks where he did business, but considering all his checks were direct deposited and any withdrawals were done at an ATM, she’d had no business looking into his accounts. Hell, they hadn’t even met at the bank. They’d met at a barbecue given by a client in celebration of the house the pack had remodeled for him. Cara had been a friend of the man’s wife and Jeremiah, having found her quite attractive with her sleek platinum blonde hair and jade green eyes, had struck up a conversation with her. Nothing deep, idle chit chat at best. He’d assumed she was out of his league considering how fancily she was dressed for a casual barbecue, but he’d given it a shot. He could tell almost immediately that she hadn’t been interested in him. After an initial once over with her eyes, he’d gotten the impression she’d been merely humoring him until she could move on without offending him. When he’d asked her at one point what she did for work, he’d made the mistake of telling her that that bank was where he did business.
The Monday following the barbecue, Archer had approached Jeremiah all smiles telling him that their client had just called him wondering if he could get Jeremiah’s number for his wife’s friend who was interested in him. Jeremiah hadn’t hesitated, justifying the unexpected about-face with the excuse that maybe the woman had been shy, though she hadn’t seemed it, and he’d misinterpreted the signals she’d been sending out. What a crock of shit.
As it turned out, she must have looked into him as soon as she’d gone back to work, looked into his accounts, and decided there were enough zeros in there to make him acceptable to her. Oh, she’d been subtle at first, occasionally mentioning how wonderful it would be for them to get away together to some resort at a tropical destination, or steering him toward a jewelry store window and pointing out all the things she thought were pretty and expressing how she wished she could afford them. But he’d begun noticing the disgruntled looks on her face she hadn’t been quick enough to hide when he failed to rush right out and fulfill her wishes.
The truth finally came out the night Cara had called him with car trouble. As soon as he’d arrived, she’d pouted and said, “Oh, how I wish I could get a new car. This thing has been nothing but a drain on my account, one repair after another. I’m scared to death it’s going to leave me stranded one of these nights.”
In response, Jeremiah had told her with a grin, “Well, it’s your lucky night.”
Her answering smile had been beaming. “Really?” she’d asked, practically breathless with excitement.
“Yup. If I can keep that old Suburban of mine running like a dream for all these years, I can certainly get your car back in tip-top shape.”
Her response had been an angry scream, her face mottled with red rage. “You fucking cheap bastard! You have money! Lots of it! And you deny meeverything!”
He’d stood there like an idiot, mouth hanging open, as the sweet, beautiful woman he’d thought he was falling in love with had ranted like a demented shrew, calling him every name in the book. As the realization of what she must have done to have learned what she had about his finances solidified in his mind, anger started a slow churn in his belly until he was close to losing control of his wolf.
Turning away, he’d walked as calmly as he could to his Suburban, only to feel one of her high heels smack him in the back. He’d almost lost it. Instead, he took a deep breath, got in his rig, and drove away.
He did have money in the bank, that was true, and wouldn’t she have shit a brick if she’d known hers wasn’t the only bank he had money in. But he never spent any of it because he didn’t want it. He’d inherited it from an aunt, an aunt long since separated from the pack when she’d chosen to deny her animal to marry a wealthy human. She had even gone so far as to take medication to suppress her wolf, smothering it, killing it for greed. As far as he was concerned, that money had come at the expense of his aunt’s very nature and it was tainted. The only reason he even kept it instead of withdrawing it and burning the whole lot, was because he thought of his pack’s needs first. If ever there came a day when they needed more money than they could earn, he’d be ready.
Warm fingers brushed lightly over the back of his hand and Jeremiah blinked, clearing the haze of memory from his eyes.
“You went so far away,” Keegan said softly.
Flipping his hand over to catch her fingers in his, Jeremiah gave her a little squeeze and smiled. “Just promise me you’ll always be you.” His smile spread into a full grin. “Friends do that, right? They share the good, the bad, even the ugly.”
Her lopsided grin was adorable as she used her free hand to make an X over her chest. “Cross my heart and hope that nobody dies.”
Chapter Six
Keegan was at the training facility going through the files she’d been given on her students. To create an appropriate curriculum, she needed to know each of their magical aptitudes. She also had a list from Morgan of what a Hunter team might require of a witch and couldn’t help but laugh at some of the notes the vampire had written. Things like:That spell Jourdain uses to stop bullets – super cool shit right there, andTracking spells would be the bomb. She’d also put:Can protective charms be made that Hunter’s can wear? Is that even a thing?
All of those things were doable, though she still wanted to meet with Morgan and get a better idea of what a typical hunt entailed. Her students, Keegan was pleased to note, were all mid-level or higher which made deciding which spells were best to teach a bit easier. Also, they were all relatively young enough where they wouldn’t be insulted by the age of their instructor. She had worried about that. An older witch might not appreciate someone younger than them telling them what to do.
Her phone buzzed, dancing across her desk since she’d set it to vibrate and Keegan frowned as she saw Jeremiah’s name pop up on the screen. For a moment, she debated about letting it go to voicemail. She still wasn’t sure about getting involved with him, even as a friend. She liked him way too much and the thought of anything happening to him because of her…
Keegan groaned. She couldn’t resist. Snatching up the phone, she answered with a hurried, “Hello?”
“Hello, friend.”
Keegan closed her eyes. Damn, but his voice was sexy. Shaking herself, she cleared her throat and informed him primly, “Friends don’t call. They text.”
Jeremiah’s laughter was warm and rich, the sound of it unleashing a flurry of butterflies in her belly. You certainly couldn’t get that from a text message, so on second thought, maybe calling wasn’t so bad.
“Should I hang up and text instead?” he asked.
And lose the sound of that thrilling voice? Keegan feigned a beleaguered sigh. “Too late now.”
Another chuckle from him had Keegan closing her eyes as she savored the sound.
