“Do you really believe this shit you're spewing?”
He took a step closer, his gaze running over me like I was meat on the hoof. “It’s how things work. I could teach you a thing or two about pleasing your man.”
“No thanks. There’s not enough acid in the world to clean your foul touch off me.”
Just at that moment, Jen returned. “They’ll be here in a minute,” she told me, then shifted her attention to Flannery. “Do you suppose he has a tiny dick and he’s doing all this to compensate?”
“Most likely,” I replied. “Lorraine, what do you think?”
She stepped out of the shadows, still holding my phone up and recording. “Seems reasonable,” she said. “His pants certainly have plenty of room in the crotch, like he doesn’t have much to fill them”
Flannery scowled. “Who are you talking to?” His gaze ran over Jen and Lorraine and slid past like he didn’t see them.
Right. The glamour. Wasn’t a lot of use for it anymore. I decided to dissolve it. I brushed a finger over Lorraine’s shoulder and then across Jen’s wrist, pulling the magic back inside me.
“Where did she come from?” Flannery demanded, now that he was able to focus on Lorraine. “And her. Who are they? What are they doing here? Why are they dressed like cat burglars?”
I’ll admit I laughed at that one. “They dressed for success,” I said.
“What the fuck does that mean? And who’s coming?” He scowled at Lorraine, who was still recording. “Put that damned phone down. I’ll sue your asses from here to China and back for breach of privacy, trespassing, and everything else I can think of. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be broke in a gutter and wishing you’d never met me.”
“We already wish we’d never met you,” Jen said. “In answer to your question, the police are on their way.”
He smiled with a certainty that made me want to punch it right off his face. “Good. Saves me the trouble.”
“Mr. Flannery? Is everything all right? What—?” The maid had regained consciousness and now stood just inside the bathroom. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open as she took in the scene. “What’s going on?” She whispered finally.
“Your boss is a psychopath,” Jen told her. “And a wife-beater, not to mention an asshole. He’s going to be going to jail, so you may want to look for another job.”
“Police are on their way,” I told her. Mikey was probably waiting for backup. “Why don’t you go escort them up?”
She nodded and slowly backed out of the doorway.
I waited until she was gone before addressing Flannery. “There are just one or two things we’ve got to take care of before the police arrive. You see, I don’t entirely trust the cops to do the right thing. Sometimes the law ties their hands; sometimes they can’t find the evidence they need; sometimes they just fuck up. So I’m going to punish you, just like you were going to punish Lydia. You don’t have to agree to it, either. Just know that you’ve been found guilty and given a life sentence.”
“Sure, do your worst,” he said with a smirk.
Even Lorraine putting away my phone didn’t shake his cockiness. So what if we didn’t want the next bit recorded? In his shoes, I probably would have felt the same. What could I possibly do to him? Put sugar in his gas tank? Pour motor oil on his lawn? Toilet paper his house?
I’d originally planned a hellish inconvenience for him. I was going to curse him so that any clothes or shoes he put on would instantly shrink a size. He’d perpetually have to deal with too small clothes. That was before, when I thought he was just a nuisance. That wasn’t going to cut it now. He needed to learn a lesson and I was going to teach it to him.
I collected my thoughts, focused, and released my magic.
ChapterTen
It was remarkably satisfyingto watch the smirk slide off Flannery’s face, replaced by confusion. While he sorted through what was happening to him, I sliced through Lydia’s leg shackles with magic.
I strode over to her. “Hi Lydia. I’m Beck. I’m a friend of Stacey’s from the club. I’m going to release you, but I don’t want to hurt you. Will you be able to stand on your own?”
Her body shifted. She straightened and lifted her head, looking at me through the tangle of her hair. Her pale brown eyes glittered with anger. I stared. She’d been so wilted and destroyed, the sudden shift caught me off guard.
“If you let me down, I’ll kill him,” she said in a stone-hard voice, completely opposite to the helpless weeping woman she’d appeared to be just moments before.
“No, you won’t,” I said. “You’re not going to let him win, and he will if you go to jail for murder.”
“He deserves to be dead,” she spat.
“Preaching to the choir, but you don’t deserve to pay for it. Are you ready? I’m going to cut the ropes.” I waited for her nod, and then she was free.
