“I had business to attend to!” I hissed back and earned a shove from his shoulder that I absolutely wouldn’t reciprocate. Instead, I scooped him up in my arms bridal style and held him there for a moment, struggling. Shifter strength had its advantages.
“Let go of me! What business? Don’t make deals with demons; that’s like mage business 101!” Esmeray growled, and I held fast until he calmed. Then, I sat him down ever so gently.
“You may be too good to accept his handouts, but I’m not. You wanted to move up the corporate ladder, and I have to too, now, and it’s not that easy for an omegaora hybrid!” I kept going once it became clear he was letting me speak. “I’ve been applying for a position for months with the police force as a consultant. Nice paycheck. They don’t have anyone who can investigate magic and are hiring outside contractors. I guess you know why I am being passed over, seeing as I’m one of the most educated mages in the area.”
Esmeray’s face softened. “You’ve earned that spot…”
“And I have to cheat the system to get what I earned. Now, with that financial windfall, I can afford to be the kindof partner you need, supporting you to succeed. Your father won’t rest until we take the house next to him, and this will allow us to do so, regardless of your own income. We’re one. If there’s an imbalance, it’s only because you’re doing something extraordinarily taxing and worth everything I own. And in time, I know you’ll outpace me.” I offered Esmeray my biggest smile and brushed fingers through his hair. For such a refined young male, one who submitted to me, bound to me, and let me have my way—he could flip on me in a heartbeat. “Now, would you mind walking? I’m still sore from…”
He reached up to cover my mouth with a hiss. “Okay! Not like we asked someone to blow up the store anyw—”
Horror melted over his face. “Vincenzo!”
We both ran.
The car was waiting for us as promised, people around the office watching us with worry. Some like they knew, others that had missed the whispers.
We rode in deafening silence, both of us nervous wrecks as the car stopped at the end of the street cordoned off. We peeled out of the car, the driver sliding out behind us, a bulky male with a utility belt full of spicy and sparky things. And from the scent of sulfur coming off him, a demon in mortal guise.
We jumped the tape cordoning off the road and wove around milling officers, escaping their grasp as we approached despite their warnings.
“Unstable!”
“Poltergeist!”
From the faint glow about the area and the hover of detritus surrounding an area of the building that used to be our kitchen, I balked at a rather frazzled Vincenzo, hands up, power coursing through his spectral form. “Gre!”
His ghostly voice wailed toward us, and I waved the officers back, promising him the poltergeist was stable.
“Vincenzo! What happened?” I waved an officer over to follow me and spoke over my shoulder. “I need two officers at least to confirm what he says.”
Two eyed me nervously before nodding and sidling up cautiously, wary of the hovering debris.
“It’s The Church! I couldn’t stop the man. I tried and, I’m so sorry.” Vincenco’s voice echoed from walls that no longer existed as he spoke, words zipping through the air like twanging wires and static.
“It’s okay. You managed to save your anchor. I can—” I glanced over at the old stove, and my heart squeezed in my chest. Nothing but crumpled metal remained, and my sigils were fading from it fast.
“It’s okay, Gre. My recipes still live on. In a metal box inside the planters out front. Dig down under the hydrangeas. Another chef will come along. Part of me will live on in my food. It’s been a long time, and I’m due my place in hell.” He smiled.
“I cannot change the punishment for your deeds, but give them my name. Tell them Esmeray Faust, son of Draevus Faust, is in debt to your cooking. Perhaps they can give you reprieve. Or let you pursue your passion wherever your soul goes.” Esmeray passed me and held his hands out, taking Vincenzo’s hands. “Just tell me who did this?”
“What’s left of him is splattered and burned up the foyer wall. I tried to stop him while he was setting the explosives in the stairwell.” A mangled wallet and cracked phone fell from the floating field of debris. Vincenzo gestured toward it. “I pray that helps. And take care, mage. Your mate and your bambino will need all the help you can get. They won’t stop.”
The creak of metal preceded a hiss of magic, a piece falling from the old stove.
“Maybe I can reinforce—” I reached out, and Vincenzo smiled.
“It’s my time. Live a good life.” The poltergeist opened his arms, dropped his field as debris rained around them, not endangering a soul. A sound like a train rushing too hard far in the distance put pressure over my ears, and the oven collapsed. In a breath and whisp, Vincenzo floated away. A whisper on the breeze left a chuckle. “I was able to protect the extensions.”
“He… Mercy on his name,” Esmeray huffed a half laugh.
“He did good in the end. Shit life, though.” I rubbed at my stinging eyes.
“What’d he do?” Esmeray glanced over as a cop cleared his throat.
“Killed his wife and served her to patrons.” The cop’s ready answer made me tense up as Esmeray gave me aWTFlook.
“Free. Cook.” I enunciated the words.
