Page 5 of Witch Unexpected
“You pay me, and I’m there.”
She grinned. “Of course. It’s not like you love this gig.”
I grinned back. “Oh, I love it all right, but if you must know, I’ve been on a date.”
She winced. “Yeah, I know. Keith came back to HQ spooked as fuck.”
Now I looked like a dick. “He said he could handle it. I guess he’s all biceps, warm smiles, and no spine.”
Okay, so maybe that was a little cruel, but fuck it. I’d warned him about Jasper. Heck, I’d tried to warn him off, but he’d insisted on a date anyway.
Ursula looked at me with pity.
Hell, no. “Do you want me to claw your eyes out?”
She shook her head. “There is a guy out there for you, Cora. One who’ll be able to take on Jasper.”
I nodded and smiled thinly because, as much as I wanted to believe it, experience was piling on evidence to suggest otherwise. Keith wasn’t the first guy claiming to be up to the Jasper challenge then running for the hills.
A face came to mind—chiseled, handsome, and kind. His name was Dean, a Loup Garou. A shifter and a beta. He’d wanted me.
Until he hadn’t.
Fuck it. Morose thoughts were for late nights with a bottle of whiskey and a pizza. “What we working with tonight, Urs?”
She rolled her eyes. “How many times have I asked you not to call meUrs? It sounds like—”
“Arse. I know.” I shot her a wicked smile.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Fine, I don’t.” She glanced over my shoulder, and I registered the purr of an engine. “Our ride’s here.”
An unremarkable Ford idled across the road. Magiguard issue driven by a low-level employee.
“Are you going to tell me what the gig is?”
“It’ll be easier if I show you.”
Color me intrigued.
* * *
The red brickprimary school sat dark and deserted across the asphalt playground that was surrounded by iron bars. Schools always reminded me of prisons, with the bars and the timed outdoor activities and pee breaks, but the fact we were here meant there was something causing danger to these children.
“What’s messing with the kids, Urs?”
This time she didn’t pull me up on the use of her nickname. “Three children went missing from the kindergarten two days ago. A search party was set up, and the whole area was combed for hours. Then a janitor went in to clean the classroom and found them sitting in the dark. The parents are ecstatic to have them back, of course, but their teacher is an independent witch and noticed some strange things about them over the last two days.”
“Go on.”
“They refused to eat anything at lunch, but she caught one of them eating a beetle at recess and another munching on flowers.”
“Don’t human kids do shit like that?”
Ursula nodded. “Of course, but our contact said that when she tried to stop them, they hissed at her and their eyes bled to black.”
