Rowan called for a specialized ambulance—one from a local clinic that focused on witchblood. As she explained the circumstances to the paramedics, Ari and I dropped onto the sofa, exhausted.
I turned to my best buddy. “What the hell?”
“I didn’t expect this when I got up this morning. I’m not sure what I expected to play out, but I had no clue we were going to be fighting a shadow man.” Ari glanced around the room. “So how long was she been attached to that thing?”
“Well, the article I read about her said she first vanished on September 4. So…two and a half months? And somehow, in that time, she’s built Majikoil to the size it is now. What’s going to happen to the company?”
Rowan sat down beside us. “I’m headed to the hospital in a few minutes to help them sort out what is going on with her, but I would say that if she wants to turn it into a legitimate business, we’ll help her do that. I had no idea she was possessed.”
“Why do you think that the shadow person didn’t start siphoning energy off of people right and left? Why did he go this roundabout way?”
“Because he was smart. If he had started leeching energy randomly, like some rogue vampire might choose victims off the street, Sheryl would have been noticed right away and the situation would have been taken care of then and there.”
Ari stood up and started looking through Sheryl’s desk. “From what I see here—according to the dates—Sheryl has been planning on opening a magical oil business for some time now. The shadow person figured how to parlay that into the biggest feast ever.”
“True,” Rowan said. “It gained a lot by not pushing her fully against her nature. If she wanted to do something like this anyway, it made it easier for the thing to take over her entire life.”
I thought for a moment. “Well, that would explain matters. That’s one thing I know about shadow people—if they try to force a person to do something they normally wouldn’t, it takes far more energy than if you play into the person’s strengths and goals. Path of least resistance sort of thing. She would have protested if the shadow creature had started killing her recruits, so creating a cult was much easier.”
It made perfect sense. “And this way, she would be making enough money to support herself in style so she could keep on going, and the shadow person was guaranteed a comfortable host for a long, long time. Damned creature could see a return down the road, as long as it didn’t try to gratify its needs all at once. What will happen to the recruits who have already been preyed upon?”
“The Court Magika will help her make restitution, at least on the onboarding fees, since this wasn’t her fault,” one of the men said. He held out his hand to me. He was handsome, tall and dark with rich brown skin and box braids that came down to his waist. “How’d you do, by the way. We haven’t had a chance to be introduced. I’m Justice Tarrington.”
“January Jaxson, I’m Rowan’s granddaughter. And this is my best friend, Ari Wheeler.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Justice said with a smooth smile. “This is Parker Conway. We’re both part of the paramilitary branch of the Court Magika.”
Suitably impressed, Ari and I grabbed our coats and filed out of the house, and headed back home while Rowan, Justice, and Parker headed for the hospital with Sheryl.
Thanksgiving dawned with icy cold temperatures and the fall of snowflakes. I padded over to the window to stare out at the ever-whitening world, wrapped in my bathrobe. I was still tired, but it was six-thirty, time to get up and start the day.
All over the country, women—and more than a few men—were getting up to prepare dinner for their families. Outside, the flakes continued to fall, big and fat, splattering with soft wet hisses against the window. There was a skiff of snow on the ground, and while the weather predicted that it would only stay for a couple days, I was grateful to see it.
“Awake so soon?” Killian asked. He slid out of bed, pulling on his own robe as he joined me at the window, encircling my waist with his arms. He leaned down, kissing my neck.
“Today’s Thanksgiving,” I said. “It’s our first Thanksgiving together,” I added, placing my hands over his as he held me against him. I leaned my head back and he kissed me. Sure, we had morning breath, but we had it together and it didn’t deter us from showing our love. “Are you going to get up and help me?”
“It’s six-thirty in the morning. I tell you what. I’ll get up and do whatever you need me to do if you give me another half hour in the bed.”
I caught my breath, pressing back against his warm chest. I could feel him harden as he pressed against my thigh.
“Morning sex is always so comfortable,” I said, turning around and letting my robe slide off onto the floor. I was naked beneath it, and I reached up and pushed his robe off his shoulders.
He wrapped his arms around me, squeezing my butt as he walked me back toward the bed. I leaned back against the pillows, still sleepy and tired, but sometimes that made for the best sex—that drowsy, half-awake tumble into bed sex.
The passion was quiet, but the warm embrace more than made up for it, and as Killian slid beneath the covers and hooked his arms underneath my thighs, I reached up and clutched the pillow beneath my head, biting my lip as he went down on me. The morning was starting off with a bang, in the very best of ways.
By one, everyone had gathered. Even Alicia, from down the street. The house was full and bustling, with people mingling. The air was rich with the smell of roasting turkey and stuffing. My mouth watered. Usually, when I cooked up a storm I wasn’t hungry by the time dinner came, but I had a feeling that I’d have plenty of room today.
Teran had brought cheesecake and a nut platter for us to snack on until dinner was ready. Tally had brought sparkling cider, and Alicia, wine and ham.
In the corner, the tree glowed, filled with ornaments from both my parents’ lives and from my own. Tally had curled up in the rocking chair, and now was dozing lightly as people mingled around her. Killian told me that pregnancy made shifters extremely sleepy. I thought that was true for humans and witchblood as well, but he assured me that shifters had it worse.
I tapped him on the shoulder. “Maybe you should take her up to the guest room. We’ve got plenty of time before dinner.”
Killian nodded, heading toward his sister.
I turned to find Rowan and Tarvish standing near me. “Tarvish, how are you doing?”
“Actually quite well, thank you. I just wanted to apologize for startling you when I first appeared in your house, but I’m grateful. This past week has been an experience, one I don’t think I’d want to give up. It’s nice not having to run around cold dungeons and be covered with blood and gore all the time.” Tarvish beamed at me, and then handed me a bouquet of flowers. “Rowan says we need to bring hostess gifts when we go to a party.”
As I stared at my grandmother, who was beaming up at the Funtime demon, I had a sudden glimpse that I quickly wiped away. I really didn’t want that image in my mind.
“Thank you, Tarvish. Rowan, have you talked to Sheryl?”
“Yes, I have,” my grandmother said. “Justice is taking her under his wing and he’s helping her figure out some way to make restitution of both the energy drain and the buy-in fees. They’re working on revamping the company into an actual business instead of a pyramid scheme. The Court Magika thinks there’s a portal in that section of the Mystic Wood that shadow people can come through, so we’re going to need to find it and shut it down. It’s not going to be easy.”