Page 89 of That Mafioso Magic
I entered. “How is she?”
“Doing better. I told her that we were going to give her over to her auntie. She is wondering what happened to her mom and dad.”
I really didn’t want to have to break that news to her. Thank god she had no memory of the demon ripping her family apart, probably laughing gleefully as it did so. The cops could take it from there, as far as I was concerned. I had already done the hard part.
“Let’s get you to your auntie, okay, Lacey?” I said.
She nodded. “Is she coming tonight?”
“Maybe. She has to get on a plane, but she will come once she learns that you’ve been found,” I promised.
“My mom and daddy… did something happen to them?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yes, Something very bad.” I guessed I was going to have to tell her something. Kids could be so inquisitive.
“They aren’t coming for me, are they?” she asked, her voice getting softer as the realization sunk in.
I shook my head. “I’m so sorry, darlin’. They are in heaven now,” I told her. “But they know that you are safe and that your auntie loves you very much. She has been searching for you. She will take care of you from now on.”
The tears began to flow again and Lacey wrapped her arms around Jewel and cried into her shoulder. God, if I could take that pain from her with magic, I would. But this was the part of life’s cruelty that one had to endure in order to survive it and grow stronger from it. Having gone through it myself when I lost both of my parents at a young age, I knew how heartbroken she was. I also knew she’d probably fare a hell of a lot better than I did, because she’d be going into a home that loved her. Whereas, I went into foster care and cruelty. Lacey, I felt, was going to be okay when she had time to heal.
“Let’s go,” I said and led the way through the plane. Sage and Xavier were already off and waiting for us in the car along with Shi, who I was surprised to see.
“Hey. I didn’t know you were here,” I said.
“I wanted to be with you all, but Sage ordered me to keep a lookout. To make sure no one entered the plane while you were working the spell,” Shi explained.
“Ahhh, good. We surely didn’t need any interruptions. Thank you.”
“It looked like it got pretty scary in there,” she said.
“It did, but…” I looked at Sage and took his hand into mine. “We did it.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you thought you saved her the first time,” Shi questioned.
“Shi, it’s done. We saved her,” Sage said in a warning tone.
“It’s okay. It’s not like she was wrong. But back then, I didn’t have the abilities I have now. I know this time, Lacey is saved.” I looked at the sweet child Jewel was still comforting in her arms. No demonic residue was left in her. She was herself again. And it was the first time I’d ever heard of a soul being able to be restored from demonic possession. Especially after the demon had possession of the body for so long.
“So, when do we call the police?” Xavier asked.
“How about now?” I said and pulled out my cell, dialing the familiar number of the one contact on the force who tolerated my ass. “Hi, Brad,” I said when he answered.
“What the fuck, who the fuck is this?” Brad asked, then there was a pause and I assumed he was checking the caller ID. “Ugh, Elias,” he groused. “Do you know what time it is?”
“Yeah, I do. I’m sorry for calling so late. I found Lacey Marshall.”
“You what? You found her? Where… the fuck… where are you?” he asked. And by the tone of his voice going up a few octaves, I could tell that whatever grogginess he had been feeling was long gone.
“On my way to your precinct. You can meet me there.”
“Fuck yeah, I will. See you in twenty,” he said, then hung up.
I slipped my cell back into my pocket. “Brad will be there. He can take this case from here on.”
“We’ll be at the precinct in about forty minutes,” Sage said.
“I might be able to get there in thirty,” Shi smirked. She was driving, so she’d know best.
