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“The bishop is going to send more men because we were outnumbered and there was some massive property damage. We’re going to have to find a place to meet that they don’t find out about it. I know most of those men and they would not be well behaved at this café.”
“Is there magic in the coffee? Because it was delicious and I wouldn’t mind another one,” Saul said.
Saul on caffeine and sugar was much more insufferable than when he partook of marijuana, though sometimes, the marijuana made him load up on caffeine and sugar. He was always sober for jobs. I was also interested in the answer.
“The owner is a kitchen witch. She’s good at combining spices and baking. A lot of magic is nature based. Pumpkin spice is technically a protection spell. There are not just good witches and bad witches. For instance, if you want answers about the hex I heard you have, you’ll want to see a hedge witch. Though, if you got it killing an innocent witch, they might just give you another one.”
Fascinating. We didn’t know this at all.
“The witch who hexed me was doing blood magic to make children sick.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a wicked witch. Blood magic is like a drug and corrupts a witch. The witch who came out of that house and talked about the Yellow King has clearly been using it for a while. Witches don’t like blood magic users. Makes them look bad. They either handle them themselves or call us. A hedge witch might help you if you saw the error in your ways of hurting all witches.”
The witch was thin with jaundiced skin. Both the one who hexed me and the one at the house. We were told it was demonic corruption, but Logan’s explanation made sense.
“How do you tell a good witch from a bad witch? We were taught they are all bad.”
“You were taught they sold their soul to Satan, and that isn’t true. They don’t acknowledge him and they avoid even the decent demons because of the connotation you started. Most magic isn’t good or evil, it’s the intent behind it. There are some forms of magic that are just bad and you can tell because it takes a toll on someone. It’s like you’re watching someone decay because that’s what it does.”
We were getting off topic because we really needed to find a place to meet without tipping off the new team the bishop was going to send. But this was like learning about supernatural for the first time all over again.
“Where does their magic come from if it’s not the devil? I know you explained shifters and vampires is just a virus.”
“Where does your magic come from? You’ve got chanting, talismans, candles, incense, and potions. You basically borrowed two holidays from these people and slapped a Jesus sticker on them. You’re doing magic the same way they do and acting like it’s different because of whose name you’re using.”
Huh. That was a lot to take in. And I’d have to think on it more at a later time. The bishop would be expecting a report and would send people if I didn’t check in. He’d send people either way, but I’d like to get ahead of it and control how it happened.
“Do you have a place we can meet that will protect all of us? You aren’t exactly popular with Venatio Daemonum.”
“Oh, no. I’m going to cry into a tub of Ben and Jerrys when I get home because I’m not popular with people I can’t stand. My uncle has a safe house on Dauphine. No one knows about it. I’ll text Saul the address but it’s the only neon green house on the street. Rainer has no problem with me using it if I need it but we’d both prefer Venatio Daemonum not know about it. I’m trusting you to be sneaky, princess.”
That shouldn’t be a problem. They’d probably send William and his men. I’d known William since elementary school. He was a bully and a zealot. We were in seminary school at the same time. I joined the Church because I wanted to move it forward. He wanted to move it backwards.
William had been intent on driving me out. He wanted to be Pope, and he thought I did too. I didn’t. I never did. He’d been sabotaging me for as long as I could remember. I nipped that in the bud as soon as I found out he was keeping a woman on the side.
I hadn’t reported him because I honestly thought that rule was outdated and she would have suffered for it. He was paying her mortgage and insurance. If he stopped, I didn’t know what would happen to her.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to lord it over his head to get him off my back. He’d been avoiding me since. I just grinned.
“I can definitely do that.”
“Good. I’ll drop Saul a pin, but you can’t miss the house. All the houses on Dauphine are colorful, but this one is bright green. I’ll gather my lore books and you’re probably going to have to deal with my uncle.”
Honestly, I didn’t care. We probably needed as many eyes on this as we could.
It wasn’t late on my terms, but now that Rainer was older and retired, you’d better be dying if you walked over after eight at night. My trunk was usually full of all kinds of fake IDs and badges. Rainer was my wingman and his number was on those cards. If someone needed to speak to my boss, they talked to Rainer.
“You only hunt monsters during the day, Logan. They can see better than you at night.”
That’s what he drilled into me when he was training me and it was mostly my religion. I didn’t have superpowers, strength, or speed. If I was going to fight those people, I wasn’t going to walk into a fight where they had another upper hand.
“Dude, what the fuck? You look like I should be threatening to send you to Shady Pines.”
My gruff, butch uncle was wearing a robe and slippers and appeared to be wearing some kind of green skincare mask.
“You shut your mouth, Logan. Sasha gave me this and told me it would give me the best sleep I’ve ever gotten.”
Sasha was a green witch who ran a skincare shop, and she’d had a crush on my uncle since they were kids. She could probably walk up to him stark naked and tell him she was into him and he still wouldn’t notice.
