Page 13 of A Hunter Cursed
Thrusting his arms out with his two middle fingers extended, Jeremiah turned a slow circle, looking up at the windows of the buildings on either side of him, and yelled, “Very funny, asshole.”
Shaking his head, he angrily strode the remainder of the way through the alley. As soon as he reached his Suburban, he yanked off his T-shirt and threw it way in the back. Despite that, he still needed to roll his windows down. God, that shit stunk. In the enclosed vehicle it had practically had him gagging and it wasn’t even from the shirt. The reek was coming from his fingers. He was tempted to stop at a store and grab some lemons to rub on his skin, but the stench of him would probably make any other shoppers hurl.
Once he got back to the bayou, Jeremiah walked around to the back of the old Suburban and popped the rear hatch to grab out his shirt. The beast would have to be aired out, so he didn’t bother to close the hatch. Contemplating whether he should try and wash it or go through with his original plan to burn the thing, Jeremiah glanced at the hem where the black smudge should have been. There was nothing there. Assuming he was holding it backward, he held it up and turned it around and then around again. While the stain remained on his fingers, it had disappeared from his shirt.
Okay. Someone was definitely fucking with him. As far as he knew, he hadn’t pissed off any witches. Hell, the only witch he really even knew was Keegan. Unless… unless maybe one of her exes had seen them together and was fucking with Jeremiah out of jealousy? That made sense. Pulling out his phone, he called Keegan.
“Wow. That was quick,” she said as soon as the phone connected, laughter in her voice. “Already missing my sparkling personality, huh?”
If Jeremiah hadn’t been feeling rather freaked out by this point, he would have laughed as well, perhaps suggested teasingly that he had sensed she had wanted him to call and he hated to keep a lady hanging. Instead, his voice was rather snarly and clipped as he told her, “I think someone’s messing with me. Using magic.”
“What happened?” Keegan asked, her voice now stripped of its previous levity.
He thought about giving her the full details, but he was sure she’d attribute whatever this was to her curse and freak out thinking he was going to die. The bare minimum would be better, he decided. “I saw something in the alley, hell, I even touched it so I know it was real, and then it was just gone. Poof.”
He glanced at the stain still marring his fingertips, proof that the ooze hadn’t been a figment of his imagination, not to mention the smell he was almost afraid no amount of washing could erase. “But it was real, it was there, I can still smell it for Christ’s sake.”
Keegan let out a thoughtful hum. “Could be illusion magic, but if you can still smell it, that means it was someone powerful who cast it. I can think of maybe two people off the top of my head who are capable of that kind of power, but I can check with Destin. He knows the coven better than me.”
“Would one of those two be an ex-boyfriend of yours?” Jeremiah growled, the words out of his mouth before he could bite them back and think of a more diplomatic way of asking – or, at least, a less growly way.
In the beat of silence that followed, he was tempted to punch himself in the head. What the fuck was wrong with him? Nothing would kill the progress he’d made like an unwarranted jealous tirade. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “That came out wrong.”
“It’s fine,” she replied, though there was definitely an unmistakable edge to her voice. “And to answer your question, no. If you’ll recall, all my exes are dead.”
Fuuuuuuuck. So much for keeping her curse from entering her mind. The kid in the alley had been right. He really was a dip shit. The thought of exes had popped into his head and it had made so much sense he hadn’t bothered to think harder on it, he’d just run with it – and potentially destroyed all the headway he’d recently made with Keegan.
“Shit. I’m sorry. My head’s all messed up right now.”
“I’m sure it is,” was her clipped-out reply.
Swiping his hand through his hair in frustration, Jeremiah attempted to shift the conversation away from his epic fail. “Why would someone be targeting me?”
He heard Keegan blow out a long breath before she suggested in a noticeably warmer voice, “You specifically may not have been a target. You might have just been convenient when someone was practicing.”
“Wrong place, wrong time?” Jeremiah grumbled.
“Exactly.”
It made sense and definitely made him feel better – at least on that score. “Well, it stinks, that’s for sure.”
Keegan’s laughter went even further in lightening Jeremiah’s mood. Hoping that she’d forgive him for his stupidity, he suggested, “Listen, I need a shower, but maybe later we can get together again so I can apologize in person for being a dumb ass just now.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“But I want to. It was a stupid thing to ask. I was thoughtless and I’m sorry. Please? Dinner and maybe a movie after?”
“As friends?”
“Of course.”
There was a moment of silence as Keegan considered her answer before she asked, “Do I get to pick the movie?”
“Are you going to pick one of your girly rom-coms?” he teased, grateful she was even considering the offer after his spectacular display of stupidity. Hell, if she asked him to, he’d watch every rom-com ever made if it meant they could be together.
Keegan laughed. “What’s wrong with rom-coms? They’re awesome.”
“I’ll admit they have some merit,” he grudgingly conceded though he was smiling. He tried for a beleaguered sigh and most likely failed, his heart too full of hope to pull it off properly as he told her, “I suppose I can survive if that’s what you choose.”
