My mouth hung to the floor in astonishment. Since the night of the Gala, Ian had a plan that I knew nothing about. Sure, I knew there was something he was hiding, but I didn’t think it involved me.
“First off,” I started, talking slowly. “who is Louis? And what exactly does he want from me?” I watched as Aiden stood up and paced my small kitchen, thoughts running wild in his eyes.
“Louis is my friend from Chicago, the one I told you was sending me the sample of brew,” Aiden replied, shooting daggers at Ian with his eyes. “I know for a fact, I did not mention anything about Gwen to anyone.” Ian shrugged his shoulders. “The first time drinking brew is much like a human being drunk, you don’t always remember what you do or say.”
“You’re drinking witches’ blood?” Micah said with disgust. Great, the last person I wanted to know about Aiden’s stroll down brew alley, was the FPD.
“No, he is not. He drank it twice and that’s because Louis made him,” I said in Aiden’s defense.
Aiden held up a hand to say that it was okay. “Yes, I drank witches’ blood because Louis made me, but afterwards I wanted it. It’s highly addictive and because of Gwen, I’m getting over my addiction.” Micah snorted and shook his head.
“You’re one of the last spirit walkers, Gwen, what do you think Louis wants from you?” Ian said. I
shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, at a loss for what a vampire in Chicago would want with me. “My blood?” It seemed like the obvious answer. Ian laughed and shook his head.
“I’m sure he’d love to taste you, but he has more permanent plans. You’re very rare and he’d love to claim you as his.” Ian watched me with an emotion I didn’t understand, nor did I care to. I laughed bitterly.
“So what, I’m like a collector’s item to him?”
“Perhaps,” Ian said. “I don’t claim to know his reasoning. I only tell you what I know.” I eyed him and tried to decide if he was telling the truth or feeding me another story. I could have laced my words with magic, a spell to make him tell the truth, but somehow I thought he’d be able to dodge it, using the magic he’d already learned.
“So, Louis is the big man behind the brew distribution? Why do you want to take him out if you’re working for him?” I asked. Aiden stopped pacing and crossed his arms across his muscular chest, curious at Ian’s answer. Micah shifted so that he was sitting sideways and could watch Ian. It had only been a little over a week since Amy Harper was killed, but it seemed like it’d been forever. I knew I was ready to put all of this to bed and, from the look on Micah’s face, so was he.
“Louis is most definitely untrustworthy but he is not the man responsible for the witches’ deaths, nor is he responsible for the distribution. The man who I have reason to believe is responsible is Liam Fawns. As to why I want to stop him, let’s just say I have my own reasons.” Micah, Aidan and I all looked at Ian like he’d lost his mind. Liam Fawns was a major bigwig and one of the founders of our town. He’s also a warlock.
“What’s your evidence?” Micah asked, voicing the question we were all wondering. A grin lifted the corners of Ian’s face and he leaned back in his chair, propping one leg atop his knee. He was devilishly handsome. His blue eyes seemed to twinkle with the information they held. He took so long to answer, enjoying our suspense that I finally motioned with my hands to “get on with it already.”
“You’re not the only ones who’ve been trying to find him. The brew distribution is just like any other drug world. There are heavy hitters who want to take over the drug running.”
“You?” Aiden asked.
Ian laughed and shook his head. “No.”
I rolled my neck as I felt my magic tingle against my skin from my anger. I could feel it travel all the way down my arms until a bright blue glow emanated from my palm. I stood up quickly and raised my hand out towards Ian. I threw my built-up energy right at his chest. Ian anticipated the magic and jumped out of the way. The orb of magic smashed into my cabinet and left a dark brown scorch mark.
“What was that for?” Ian asked, leaning against my refrigerator. My magic was still revved up and I worked on controlling my anger so that I could extinguish it.
“I’m tired of listening to all of this. You talk as if brew is something as simple as a human drug; it’s not! Witches are being murdered for their blood and you act like it’s nothing. Add to the fact that you, yourself, are a brew user and now you want us to help you take out Liam so ‘someone’ can take over his drug business?”
Fiona rushed down the hallway and into the kitchen, no doubt having heard my magic crashing into our cabinet. “What happened? I heard a cracking and yelling?” she asked me. My magic instantly went out and I took a few deep breaths to calm my anxious nerves.
“Sorry I woke you; everything’s fine,” I told her. Her eyes found the scorch mark on the cabinet and she gawked at me like I had gone crazy.
“Were you purposely trying to burn down our apartment?” She sounded like she was scolding a child. I eyed Ian with ire and Fiona gasped as she realized that I had actually been trying to burn Ian down.
“What has he ever done to you? We’ve only known him for a couple of days, geez Gwen,” Fiona rushed to Ian’s side to look him over for any injuries. The anger I thought I had gotten under control spiked back up. Fiona’s fascination with Ian irked me.
“Listen I don’t wanna fight with you but, from what I’ve learned in those couple days, Ian deserved that and much more. I don’t fire my magic off willy-nilly Fiona.” I told her, keeping my voice as calm as my anger would allow. A thought suddenly dawned on me as I looked between Ian and Fiona. “Did you glamour her? Is that why she’s all gaga over you?” Fiona gasped from embarrassment and gave me a look of anger. I wasn’t trying to embarrass her though. I’d known Fiona for ten years and she had never acted this involved with a guy, especially one she’d only known for a couple days.
“That’s ridiculous, vampires can’t glamour witches, Gwen,” Fiona said sarcastically. I dragged my gaze away from her angry eyes and to Ian. He had a thin-lipped smile but didn’t say anything.
“Well, did you?” I asked him. He looked down at Fiona and then back at me, releasing a heavy sigh.
“I had to, I needed to get closer to you, to find out if you really were a spirit
walker and I knew you wouldn’t see me otherwise.” Fiona’s hurt was apparent as she considered his words and I walked over to comfort her, but she shrugged off my embrace.
“Undo it,” I told Ian. I was hoping that once Ian’s glamour was lifted, Fiona would be back to her normal diva self.
“Look at me,” he told Fiona. She lifted her eyes from the floor and met his unwillingly. I couldn’t imagine what having a glamour put on me would do but I doubted I’d like it. I could tell that Fiona really thought she liked him, even without having any reason to. No one is that hard up for a person they just met. I worried that once the glamour was lifted, Fiona would be heartbroken, but in the end, I knew it was the best thing for her. Ian Despereaux was bad news.
“I release you,” Ian said as he stared into Fiona’s eyes. A tear slowly started to travel down her pink cheek but as soon as Ian spoke those magical words, Fiona’s hurt disappeared. She blinked a of couple times at Ian and then looked around the kitchen, as if wondering what was going on. She looked back at Ian again and then turned and went down the hallway, slamming her bedroom door.
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked.
“She’ll be fine, she’s pissed off, but otherwise okay. Now, can we get started on capturing Liam or would anyone else like to take a crack at me?” Ian said. I pursed my lips as I considered taking him up on that offer.
21
Hiding out in brush wasn’t the smartest idea. I had stumbled over my stilettos and grabbed onto a thorn bush to steady myself. A stinging sensation cut into my palm as the thorns dug into my flesh. I cursed under my breath and shook my hand, as if that would make the pain go away. Aiden grabbed my hand and his tongue licked the length of my palm. I was about to yell at him for drinking my blood, but, when the stinging sensation waned, I realized he was only trying to heal me. I mouthed the words “thank you” and settled in for our stake out.
Liam’s home was a very large Victorian style that looked like it’d come straight out of the pages of Better Homes and Garden magazine. Wood siding, painted white, covered the entirety of the house. Arched windows lined the whole front of his home. A large wooden wrap-around porch hugged the front of his house. Intricate detailing along the dormers and porch lent a gingerbread feel. Liam Fawns seemed more of the modern type, not the homey kind. I had only met him twice and our conversations had never lasted more than five minutes. Still, when I had spoken with him, I never imagined his home to have a white picket fence. His lawn was perfectly manicured, not one piece of nature out of place.
“This is so stupid, there’s no way Liam is responsible for the witches’ deaths,” I said to Micah and Aiden, my stakeout partners. We’d gone along with Ian’s plan to visit Liam’s home while he went inside, outfitted with a recorder. I trusted Ian Despereaux about as far as I could throw him, which wasn’t far.
“Gwen, I’ll follow any leads at this point. Whoever is responsible is good at covering their tracks. The most we have on this guy is what you’ve told us and that isn’t much,” Micah said.
My feet were killing me so I abandoned my crouching pose and sat on my butt in the dewy grass in Liam’s backyard. I honestly couldn’t believe that Micah was going along with this. First of all, Micah was a hell of a detective and took his job seriously. He wasn’t one who followed crazy ideas without proof. Second, we were in the middle of staking out one of the founders of our town, a major bigwig who could have Micah’s job should he find out what we were up to. It wasn’t like Micah had gotten a warrant.