Revelations (Evie Cortez Book 3)

Chapter 8

“Sam Constance helps out the pack when a patch up job isn’t enough.  These were what he suggested for poison. I think the spell stopped it from going farther into your bloodstream but your own magic did the rest.” Caleb didn’t want to take any credit where he felt it wasn’t due. He was a good guy that thought anyone around would’ve helped me in the same way.

“You’re probably right. I didn’t know you knew the first thing about how magic worked.” I spun the bottle around in my hand, the liquid shimmed into different colors with every movement it made.

“A witch came around and stirred my interest.”

I kept my eyes on the little clear spell bottle. “Since when? You didn’t like her every much before you learned she was a witch.” I didn’t want to say those words. I wanted to take his offer and leave this conversation for another day but the words left me anyway.

“That’s not true. We stood on opposites sides of a complicated line but if I didn’t like you, or trust you, I never would’ve allowed you around Jamie. If anything, it was you who didn’t like me.” Caleb spoke easily about a subject he wasn’t wrestling with; he didn’t have the same worries I did.

“I didn’t like how you thought less of me because I carry the vampire virus or because I worked for them. If I didn’t shift on your front lawn, I doubt you would’ve seen me as anything more.” I didn’t realize until the words left my mouth that I feared they were true. I didn’t want to wake up one morning and learn I was just a novelty prize Caleb wanted to get his hands on. I wanted to mean more.

“It’s much more complicated than that, Evangeline. If I wanted a wolf, I have a whole pack at my disposal. Do you want to have this conversation now?” There was no malice to his voice or anything to suggest he wanted to get it over with. Caleb was sure about what he felt and what he had to say, so much so that it scared me, and he was willing to wait because nothing was going to change. Yeah, I suddenly felt like I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I shook my head. “We need to get going.” It didn’t matter what Caleb did or didn’t tell me, not yet anyway, because there was nothing I could do with the information. The timing was all wrong. It took a great effort to get my heart rate to stay steady after that exchange. I didn’t want the alpha picking up on my unsteady thoughts.

I was the first one out the door and at the car.

I declined when Caleb offered to stop by my house for a change of clothes. I was wearing one of his t-shirts, the dark material made the white of the gauze appear almost neon, making it impossible to hide the fact I was hurt. I didn’t care though. I was going head to head with a powerful bitch with a demon on her side, not a date.

I also declined when he mentioned grabbing something to eat. He gave me a sideways look that almost made me laugh. He didn’t listen to me on that one and soon we were pulling into a drive-thru.

I was well fed by the time he pulled into the SCF’s parking lot.

Bess was in her office setting up a whiteboard when we joined her. “You’re early.”

“I’ve been waiting to finish this since it started. I never want to hear Alexandra Martin’s name again. Her demon minion paid me a visit today and I got the feeling he isn’t her only one.”

Bess visibly paled. “That isn’t a good sign. What happened?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle. It didn’t seem to hold the power we’ve been hearing about, I got the feeling he worked for the Martins and not with them. He was reserved, he could’ve really hurt me and didn’t.” I still felt the weight of the attack weighing my bones down. I took a seat on the couch before my ass called the floor home. “Did Chase know anything about how to protect ourselves against some demons?”

“There’s a spectrum of demons and each one is unique to what does and doesn’t hurt it. There’s no way to pin it down until we know exactly what type of demon we’re dealing with. Ethan should know more.” Bess turned back to her board, a black marker open in her hand. On one side of the board, she had everything we knew about the Martins and on the other side, she had the names of everyone involved in trying to put the case to rest.

“He’ll be here.” Caleb said of the dark angel. “He and Lorelei should be able to take out any demon at the shop.”

It wasn’t long after that Ethan came through the office door. His dark hair was tied back tonight to reveal the full extent of his yellow eyes and a very impressive jaw line. I carefully watched him as he stared at Bess. The chemistry between them crackled. I really wanted to grill her about the new creature in her life. As far as I knew, her heart belonged to Chase Thompson.

My thoughts took a drastic shift when Caleb suddenly sat next to me. I realized he didn’t want anyone else claiming the seat. I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t so nervous about tonight. The Martins already gained the upper hand, I had to make sure it didn’t happen again while I also feared what they had planned.

“Is Lorelei coming?” Bess asked, never turning around to face her newest guest. 

“She’ll be here.” Ethan said nothing more.

Jake and Jared were the next to arrive. at exactly four o’clock just like they promised their alpha they would. Lorelei was last and I wondered if she wanted to make an entrance. She stepped into the office and all eyes were on her, or more especially her outfit, she wore tight leather pants and a corset that looked taken off the runway of a fashion show.

Whatever the woman expected wasn’t what she received. Her green eyes widened at the sight of all the male guests in attendance. She never met the wolves before tonight. Her eyes lingered longer on Jake. “Ethan, you’re trying to get me in trouble.”

If Bess wasn’t careful, steam might actually fly out her ears. “Now that everyone is here, let’s get on with this. Some of us have other jobs to get to.”

Lorelei didn’t look fazed by much. She winked at Bess and welcomed the other woman’s anger. “You’ve grown a spine since we last saw each other.”

I stood before something drastically wrong broke out between the more intense guests at my little party. “You’re all here because there’s a nasty witch and her demon friends trying to wreck havoc on Celestin. The witch is expecting me at eight o’clock to hand myself over. We need a plan to put an end to her reign of terror before it starts.”