“Oh.” I hooked a thumb behind me. “Do I have time to change?”
“God no. No way. You’re gorgeous. Every guy in the place will be jealous. Come on.” He stepped aside so I could exit the house.
I stepped out and locked the door behind me. At least it would keep non-vampires out.
J.M.’s midnight-blue Mustang waited at the curb. He clicked his key fob and the lights flashed. I stepped to the passenger door and waited as he walked around to the driver’s side.
“You okay?” he asked, opening the door.
I rolled my eyes at myself. I had to remember J.M. was from a different time than the people I traveled with lately. He wasn’t hung up on opening doors.
“Yup. Sorry, I just needed to check my phone really quickly.” I dove into my handbag, pushed my gun out of the way, and grabbed my cell. There was a message, thankfully, so I totally looked legit.
I opened the door and sat into the car before reading the message from Smokey.A human is watching your house. Nicely dressed. Slicked-back hair. Should I tell Mikey?
I looked around as J.M. pulled away from the curb but didn’t see anyone. Or Smokey.
Did Smokey even sleep? The guy seemed like he was up at all hours.
I texted back,No. Try to get a picture if you can. Even from a distance.I needed a new hobby, and messing with Darius’s people might need to be it.
10-4,came the return message from Smokey.
“So how was your trip?” J.M. asked as he turned the corner.
We talked about pleasantries during the car ride, any holes in the conversation quickly plugged withuseless info. A while later he parked the car across from the brewery in the French Quarter. I’d caught a cab in almost this same location while I was working with Darius.
I blew out a breath as a pang hit my heart. It had been a little over twenty-four hours, and already I missed him. It wasn’t even the glorious nights wrapped in his body, or the witty dialogue we always shared, but the comfort of having him by my side. Content that he had my back, and I had his.
Man, I just wanted to see him again. It was really annoying. Especially since I wasn’t good at reining myself in.
“Reagan?”
“Hmm?” I blinked as J.M. held the door to the restaurant for me. “You okay?”
“Oh yeah. Sorry.” I laughed. “Head in the clouds. It’s been a long week.”
“I’ll say.” He followed me into the restaurant and then up the stairs as the hostess led us to our table. After we were seated, he said, “I heard the case was filed away, but you didn’t bring anyone in. So it was a dead end?”
“Oh.” I stalled, not really sure what to say. Telling him my friends and I had killed the whole lot of them was probably the opposite of my duty as a friendly ear to help him through his transition to the magical world. “It was resolved, but not traditionally. You’ll probablylearn more about that from Sean.”
“He seemed happy enough with the result.” J.M.’s brow furrowed. “If you didn’t bring anyone in, though, I’m not sure how you could call that a win.”
“The crimes will stop. That’s the win.”
He nodded slowly.
“Speaking of, how’s all”—I made a circle with my forefinger—“this going? The magical stuff?”
“We solved that case you helped with.” He beamed.
“Oh yeah?” I looked up from the menu. “Who did it?”
“The daughter.” His grin was triumphant.“We found the sword at her house. She hadn’t even cleaned off the blood.” He shook his head. “She butchered her own father. We’re not sure what she was after yet.”
I tsked and resumed looking over the menu. “I’d find that out before you close the case. If it’s magical in nature, and valuable enough to kill someone over, more people will try to get in on it. Magical people can be ruthless scavengers.”
“Doubt it. It was a family spat.”
