Home > Cursed Moon (Prospero's War #2)(16)

Cursed Moon (Prospero's War #2)(16)
Author: Jaye Wells

“We lost ’em,” Morales called.

I stopped running and bent over with my hands on my knee. “Damn it! What the hell was that about?”

Morales put his hands on his hips. “Guess they weren’t in the mood to talk.”

I rose and cast one last annoyed glance at the bus’s rear end as it grew smaller in the distance. “Something’s going on.”

He shot me an ironic look. “This is the Cauldron, Cupcake. Something’s always going on. C’mon, let’s grab some grub before we get an update from Mez on the evidence he gathered at the temple.”

I stood watching the space where the bus had been a few moments earlier. Even with the Blue Moon fast approaching, my day thus far had been… strange. Given I worked in a magical slum, that was saying a lot.

Chapter Seven

Several hours later I was dragging my tired ass toward the house and groaning with each step like an unoiled hinge. Despite my exhaustion, I hadn’t wanted to leave the office. But Gardner had all but kicked me out about half an hour earlier. “You’re not going to break this case tonight,” she said. “Go home.”

At the time, I’d considered arguing, but she’d been right. After our aborted attempt to talk to LM and Mary, Morales and I had headed back to the gym and hit one brick wall after another on the case. Mez had been called away to assist in a crime scene on the other side of town, which meant he didn’t have time to process the evidence from the temple. I’d made several fruitless calls to other snitches, but no one knew anything—or else they weren’t in a talking mood. I’d also called some old patrol colleagues to see if they’d heard of any crimes similar to the MO of Aphrodite’s robbery and got a whole lot of nothing. So I’d packed up and headed out, promising the team I’d see them early the next morning.

Halfway to the front door, a sense of foreboding scratched at the back of my scalp. Nothing concrete, really, just a tingle of awareness. Pausing at the base of the porch steps, I peered back down the street. The neighborhood was dark, and except for a couple of dogs barking a few streets over, there weren’t any discernible noises. No unusual vehicles were parked along the curb. I chewed on my bottom lip and tried to put my finger on what was different. I swiveled my head back toward the door. That’s when it hit me.

The house was dark.

It was almost seven, which meant Danny should have been up and watching TV with Baba in the den. But every light in the place was extinguished. It wasn’t just quiet and dark—it was ominously quiet and dark, as if the house were holding its breath.

My holster dangled from my hand. I removed the weapon and laid the leather rig on the porch. Crouching low, I tested the doorknob and found it unlocked. The door swung in quietly, and I stopped it before it could bump off the wall. With cautious steps I crept inside, careful to avoid the squeaky parts of the old linoleum. A quick scan of the kitchen revealed nothing but the usual shadows. I placed a hand on the oven and found it warm. Someone had been cooking. Baba often cooked dinner for Danny. But if she’d been cooking, where were they both now?

Behind me, the sound of a car door closing filtered in from the street.

I skirted the bistro table and headed toward the opening that led to the den off the kitchen. My left hand gripped the gun tighter with each step, but I tried to stay calm. Freaking out and imagining all sorts of horrible things wouldn’t help. Best to stay focused on one foot in front of the other and keeping my senses open for clues. Closer to the opening now, I heard a slight intake of breath. Not a gasp. Just a stifled breath.

I paused, gun at the ready, and opened my mouth to issue an order to stand down. But before the words could leave my mouth, light flared like a sun in the room. I squinted and fell back a step. Shapes moved in the light, and noise emerged from the forms. “Surprise!”

It all happened so fast it took my brain a couple of seconds to register what I was hearing and seeing.

At about the same moment I realized I’d walked in on a party, the couple of dozen people in my den realized I was holding them at gunpoint. I froze. They froze.

“Jeez, Kate.” Danny emerged from the crowd and frowned at me like I’d just embarrassed him. “Put the gun away.”

My cheeks heating, I lowered the weapon to my side. “What the hell’s going on?”

Pen came to join my little brother. She looked more amused than alarmed.

“Surprise!” Pen said. “We knew you’d never agree to an official group celebration so we brought one to you.”

“For what?” I frowned, praying it wasn’t for my Arcane Anonymous anniversary.

“Your ten-year anniversary of sobriety!” Danny announced. He thrust a can of soda in the hand that had held a gun.

The words entered my ears and promptly sank to the bottom of my gut where they corroded in my stomach acid. I bit my tongue to keep from uttering a curse that would make a hardened criminal blush.

Danny bounced on the balls of his feet like a little kid at a birthday party. The pride in his face at pulling off the surprise made me keep my expression neutral. But inside I was raging. Instead of taking that out on the kid, who didn’t know better than to ambush me with a party I didn’t want, I glared at my best friend.

She grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug. “Smile,” she hissed into my ear, “they put a lot of work into this.”

Before I could tell her where to shove that suggestion, a warm hand landed on my shoulder. I pulled away from my best friend and rounded to find Morales standing behind me wearing a gotcha smile.

“You knew about this?” I snapped.

Shadi walked up behind him, with Mez and Gardner not far behind.

My partner shot me a guilty grin and nodded. “We were sworn to secrecy.”

Shadi laughed. “I really thought I screwed the pooch this morning when I mentioned tonight.”

My mouth fell open. “Wait, this is what you were talking about?”

She tipped her head. “Yeah, what’d you think I meant?”

Morales cleared his throat, a subtle reminder of the stupid question I’d asked about the nature of their relationship. Ignoring him, I said, “I wasn’t sure.”

She moved on to go say hi to Pen and Danny. Morales hung back. “So you really were surprised?”

I made an angry sound deep in my throat.

“Whoa. Not a fan of surprises, then?”

“Ambush, you mean.”

“Well,” he said, “you stopped using magic, but you obviously haven’t given up bitchcraft.”

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