James grabbed the envelope and stormed out of the office.
“Thank you, Weston.” I took off running after James. I barely made it inside the elevator before it closed.
My heart was pounding. “James...J.T...talk to me.”
Nothing. He stared at the floor levels while they dinged our downward descent.
My eyes burned. I pulled off the fake eyelashes before the wetness made me look like a soggy clown. “I understand you are upset with me. That is the norm for us. But I don’t get it. This is what you wanted. You can go anywhere you want to now. You can vote. Hell, you can own a firearm if you wanted.”
When I said ‘hell’ he finally made eye contact with me. “Why would you do this for someone you never met?”
I stepped closer to him and cupped his cheek. “Because it isn’t fair for someone as special as you to be given such a raw deal in life. You should be leading covens, not wasting time behind bars. I had the means and opportunity to give that to you. As I said earlier, even if you decided not to help Ethel, we already planned on purging your records.”
“No one has ever believed in me like this before. Especially a stranger.” James leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. Even though both of our mouths were closed, this was the most intimate kiss I have ever had. We stood there, mouth to mouth, in silence.
He was the first one to step back. “I just don’t like surprises.”
“Understood,” I said through laughter as I wiped my purple lipstick off his lips. The elevator door dinged open and we walked out of the office building hand in hand.
I had no more surprises for James. I was who I was, and I hoped beyond hope with him seeing me exposed wide-open that I was good enough for him.
Chapter Fifteen
James
I’d never know why Violet had joked about dragging me into the parole office. I’d never know why Ethel had gone along with it either. It was hard enough following them in all their connections, secret language, code words, and even forms than to try to get why a woman did the things they did. I was only a man. Death Seer or not, I was human no matter what Violet said.
What I did know was that I no longer needed either of them. I’d have been lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind to take the papers out of Violet’s hand and take off. But the way we’d kissed had been the most honest—most sincere—since Jenn. The few chicks I’d hooked up with hadn’t even asked to be kissed. They’d been there for the same reasons I’d been: quick screw, a few hits, nothing more and nothing less. No commitment. Those one-night stands whose names I didn’t care to get were nothing compared to what I felt around Violet.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I said, wishing Violet would cool it. The last thing I needed was a hard on. What I really needed was to think.
She’d offered me the papers the moment we hit her truck. But I’d told her to hang on to them. Now, they sat tucked up under the visor of her truck. Part of me wanted to look at them just to be sure. I still felt like this was a trick. But the attorney had gone as far as to explain the entire process. Right down to the circle-shaped ring of the notary with its raised bumps by the state seal and governor’s signature, it was good enough for me. Even if this was a joke, I’d be able to hand that to a judge and tell him or her I’d believed it. Besides, it wasn’t like I had any intention of breaking the law now. The shit I’d done was in the past. And now, I had the ability to turn the curse on and off. I wondered what an average person would think of my skeleton mask. That’s how they’d see it. Instead of being the guy with the curse, the ex con or any of that, I’d be the whack job with the mask. I was good with that.
“What? I’m not looking at you. I’m driving. I’m looking at the road.”
“Get a room, you two,” Ethel said from the backseat.
Again, I wanted her to get a room—or a life—of her own. The single moment alone in the club bathroom felt like ages ago. I was glad Cat Girl couldn’t read my mind.
A life of her own.
“Okay. You did my thing. It’s your turn now. What do we need to do to save Ethel? We know who kills her. Now what do we do to prevent it or alter the course of her death, if you will?”
“James! I am so proud.”
I cleared my throat. “J.T.”
In truth, I didn’t give three fucks what she called me. I was a free man now. I’d been locked up for what seemed like a decade and missed being with a woman.
“Yeah, yeah, what do we do now?”
“Okay. Remember what I was saying about death?”
Death was still chasing me. I wanted to jump out of the truck. Instead, I grabbed the handle bar and winced as I spat out the words, “What part?”
“Death has the ability to yank evil creatures from this layer to the Dry Lakes—the layer of true death. Death is the more powerful of the two and has the ability to change forms. Life has the ability see true intentions and life deeds. Life comes with Death Flames. When together, they have the ability to summon Odin.”
“Yep. That nonsense. What about it?”
“Oh, J.T., just have faith. We got your papers, didn’t we?”
I’d give her that.
“Yep.”
“So in this case, the evil creature is Ethel’s adoptive mom.”
“Big Nose?”
“If he’s not going to take this seriously, why is he here?” Ethel barked from the back. Out of the rearview mirror I watched her nostrils flare and lips flatten into a resting bitch face. I had no idea what the attorney saw in her. The longer I was around her, all I could see was a snappy, bossy ‘tude that didn’t look good on either human or cat.
“Give him a chance. This is new to him,” Violet said. I could practically hear the ‘right, honey?’ she neglected to say out loud as she slid her hand over the center console to rest it on my thigh.
Groaning, I pulled my weight away from her side of the truck.
“So we need to kill Big Nose and throw her in the Dry Lake?”
“Well, that’s one way, I suppose. But it sounds pretty severe.”
“What’s the other option?”
“We combine our powers and summon Odin.”
“Oh.”
The idea of seeing portal guy again was about as appetizing as another ten minutes on the George Washington bridge with Ethel moaning about the sexual tension between me and Violet. But if that would do it, I was game. At least it meant answers that would get Ethel out of our way. Hell, we could drop her off at the lawyer’s office. My best guess is it would do a lot of good for Ethel to get laid.
“I mean, there are other ways too.”
“I’m thinking two. I’d rather not kill right away if we can avoid it. For once, I’m clean.”
Violet smiled. She gave my thigh a gentle squeeze as Ethel groaned in the back seat. “That’s my guy.”
I couldn’t help it. My stomach flipped and in came the butterflies. For as much as Violet wasn’t my type, spoke a language I could hardly follow, and had fucked illusions of ridiculous gods, I was starting to buy it – even the whole part about being the perfect complement to one another. Now, it made sense why she’d come on so strong. She’d known way before I had that our fates were destined to be joined. Even as blank slates to each other’s destinies, there was a feeling neither of us could avoid nor explain to our third wheel in the back seat. Whatever the reasons were, the layers, the voids, and even the Dry Lake, Violet and me were meant to be.