“Nothing. Come on, I need to find spring water,” I said, leading him away from the bar to an old artesian fountain a few blocks away. I’d known about the place for a while. It usedto be used as a water fountain, but I doubted anyone wanted to use it for that these days. I stuck my hand under the water and then wiped up and down my entire body, then did the same with Owen.
He didn’t say anything, even when I grabbed his crotch, hoping to lighten the mood. “What?” I asked when I finished removing all the negative spells that clung to us.
“What happened back there?” he asked.
“That’s not a good place, but I didn’t know that until now. We won’t be going back in there anytime soon, because… Let’s just say we aren’t welcome.”
“Me either?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Yeah, sorry, Owen, but you were with me, and the magical entities there would know we are together. You should avoid going in there. In fact, I’m going to discourage Molly from going too.”
Owen chuckled. “I have a feeling you aren’t going to have much luck telling your girlfriend what she can and can’t do.”
That caused me to laugh out loud. “Oh, well, yeah, you’ve got her number. Okay, I’ll treat you to lunch at my next favorite hangout; then you should take a taxi back to work. Do you have the necklace Cary made you?” I asked, and Owen nodded, pulling it out so I could see.
“Good, keep that on. I definitely feel something is going on. I’m not sure what, but it seems to have its roots in the bar we just came from. I’m afraid I walked right into it. Literally.Again, my ignorance seems to have caused me to fuck up. Regardless, I’d rather you be safe than sorry.”
“What are your plans? Are you worried about Molly?” Owen asked, and I nodded.
“Sort of, I mean, we’ve been coming to this bar for ages. I doubt they’ll harm her, but I’ll feel better when I check on her.”
Owen leaned over and kissed me. “Go on, I’ll get that taxi now. I can grab something close to the office, and you can relieve your mind about Molly.”
I smiled. He was such a considerate guy. I kissed him and waited until his taxi showed, hanging out at the park where the fountain was. Once he was gone, I headed toward Molly’s work. I’d start there, and if she wasn’t at work, I’d walk over to her apartment, which wasn’t far.
If something had happened, I’d know soon enough.
Chapter thirty-two
Owen
Ihad texted Cary,telling him I’d be late, mostly because I had wanted to reconnect with Damian and Molly’s friend Shadow. He already knew I was pursuing her as a client, and truth be known, I was just doing paperwork at the office at this point.
If I didn’t round up some clients, I’d be relegated to that from now on. He sent back a thumbs-up, which was a good indication of how much Damian had freaked them out. Cary, even though we were becoming friends, still gave me a lot of shit about being gone from the office, even when I had every reason and excuse.
It was almost like he was one of the partners. Come to think of it, in more ways than not, he was. I might not be a powerful witch or wizard, but I knew my bosses trusted Cary to run the practice.
I rehashed in my mind what had happened. When Damian and I had stepped into the bar, I immediately knew somethingwasn’t right. I might not have magic, but I did have good instincts about people and places. Damian stiffened before we even got inside. He was looking around the bar, and after asking about Molly, he wasted no time getting us out.
The whole spell thing was strange. He led me to a small park not far away and used the well water to wipe away the negativity. I had actually felt the change. I probably wouldn’t have known it had he not told me what was happening, but once we left the bar, I felt heavy. Like I’d put on a heavy jacket or something.
Once he finished with the water spell thing, it was like the jacket had been removed. Subtle, but definitely detectable.
He was worried about Molly. I could tell that, and although he offered to treat me to lunch, I wanted him to check on her as well. I had a feeling something wasn’t right. Maybe that was my own source of intuition, but it was as if the universe was telling me to let him go.
The taxi took me back to my office, and I sidestepped the front door to go to my favorite little restaurant to order a salad. I didn’t get a hundred feet before someone blocked my path. I glanced up to say excuse me when I recognized the man from a few weeks ago who’d left bruises on my arms.
He grabbed me before I could step away, but this time, he pulled his hands back the moment they touched me. His face seemed to waver, and I glimpsed what appeared to be a snake’s face instead of human. “Witch,” I heard him say, although his mouth didn’t move.
I was just about to argue that I wasn’t a witch when I heard footsteps behind me. “Owen, are you okay?” Cary asked.
I turned to nod, but when I glanced back, the weird man was gone. “What the hell just happened?” I asked, surprised by his sudden disappearance.
“Nothing good, that’s for sure,” Mr. Stages said. “Owen, we need you to come back to the office now. Cary, run ahead and ask Mrs. Patterson to prepare the scrying spell. We need to figure out what just attacked Owen.”
Cary nodded and ran back to the office. Mr. Harrison and Mr. Stages both checked me over then. They examined my arms where the man or snake thing, whatever he was, had tried to grab me and looked at one another strangely.
“Have you seen the man before?” Mr. Harrison asked.
