Page 7

Randy agreed with my sentiments. “Magic is a living, breathing thing. If it wanted these witches to have it, they’d have kept it. What you’re doing is sick.”

A crash came from behind us. I twisted to find a couple had fallen to the floor just outside the area that led to the kitchen. Two guys continued to kiss, and the surrounding area surged in electricity as magic poured from one to the other. The one on the bottom latched his lips to the other and wouldn’t let go. The girl on the couch woke up, her eyes growing round as she watched them.

Ren stomped on the floor. “Take it to a room!”

The guy on top smiled, pulling the other guy up with his hands and taking him right back in through the kitchen to God knows where. No wonder why the witches who didn’t have but a flicker of magic left stayed here. It felt nothing like when I was around the rest of my coven, but you could still taste the magic here, and I imagined if you wanted nothing more than that, you’d be drawn to this place.

“Listen, Enforcer,” Ren said. “I hope you didn’t come here just to pass out judgments.”

There were a lot of things I’d like to do while here but pissing off Ren when we wanted his expertise wouldn’t help us at all. “Listen,” I said, putting my hands on my hips and facing him. “We’re willing to look the other way on what you got going on in here if you can give us some information.”

Ren looked amused. “And what’s that, little star baby?”

Star baby? Creepy fucker. “How much do you know about familiars? As in the demonic kind.”

Ren nudged the woman next to him on the couch who’d fallen asleep again. When she didn’t wake up right away, he nudged her more forcefully. “Find a place to lay and go sleep it off, Jessie.”

She gave him a dirty look and pulled herself off the couch like it took everything inside her just to do that. I moved out of the way as she stumbled past me and made her way into the kitchen, walking like a zombie who hadn’t fed in days.

He eyed her until she was out of earshot. “Why would you think I’d know about that? You can tell yourself I don’t have anything that bad going on in here. If I had, it wouldn’t have taken you this long to come to me. I’d have tipped you off long before. I don’t know about anything that evil.”

“Cut the shit,” Randy snapped. “I know what kind of magical shit goes down in here. No, you may not be doing anything wrong, technically, but you’re treading the line, and that line is getting thin. It’s damn near frayed, Ren, so answer the girl’s question. What do you know about demonic familiars?”

“I haven’t messed with that shit,” Ren said, his jaw tightening. “I don’t play with that evil stuff. Like I already said, if I did, you guys would’ve been called here a hell of a long time ago. I’m clean.”

Ren looked around, his leg jumping up and down. Classic paranoia signs.

“You know people who do, though, don’t you?” Randy continued, inching closer and sizing Ren up. “We need to know everything we can about familiars, but specifically how to call one off, and you’re going to tell us.”

Ren’s eyes widened as he searched every inch of our exposed skin. His eyes lingered near the cut of my shirt and I rolled my eyes. Yeah, there was a familiar in my cleavage. Jackass. “What can you tell us?” I urged, following Randy’s lead and walking forward, boxing the disgusting asshole in.

He shook his hands in front of him. “Nothing. I don’t mess with that. If there’s demon happenings around here, I don’t know anything about it. I stay out of that shit. I have my little situation going on here, but that’s it. You should know that better than anyone, Lacone.”

Randy took another step forward. “I don’t know anything,” he seethed. “I know that you corrupt people, that’s what I know. I know that you cut people down and cut people down until there’s nothing left of them and then they go searching for other ways to get their fix. So, excuse me, if I don’t give a flying fuck about any of your excuses. Talk to me about familiars.”

Ren ran a hand over his buzz cut. His eyes darted around the room as if he was strung out on something. It didn’t convince me he didn’t know anything, it only served my suspicions that he knew a hell of a lot more than he was letting on. Ren shook his head. “Don’t bring me into this. Please. I don’t want any part of this.”

Randy kicked back. The coffee table that was right behind us tipped over, the wood splintering. “Don’t make me fuck this house up even more than it already is.”

Ren jumped, but stayed with his lips firmly shut.

Randy searched the room. I watched as his face bloomed red and the muscles in his arms jumped. He took a beer bottle from the table next to the couch and threw it against the wall. It shattered, and the beer ran down the wallpaper. Now I could put a name to the other disgusting smell in this place. Stale beer. My stomach rolled. This place was a pigsty.

“Alright,” Ren said, standing. His hands came out in front of him and trembled as if he was going through withdrawals. Maybe he was. If he was orchestrating all this, he was a step away from being a coked out magic addict like the rest of them. “I heard of a book once. I heard of a book that talks all about bad magic. What you’re looking for might be in there.”

My heart leapt. “Where is it?” I asked, my voice rising. A surge of hope spreading through my limbs. Maybe we really could help Liam.

Ren shook his head and looked at the nasty floor.

“Damnit, Ren,” I said, at my wit’s end. “We need to know, and we need to know now.”

He shook his head again. “I don’t know, though. I really don’t. It was only a rumor. I tried to get my hands on it once, but the people who have it are scary motherfuckers.”

I nodded toward Randy. “Scarier than him because I’m pretty sure he’s a few seconds away from tearing this place apart and then how can you take advantage of these poor women and men?”

His eyes darted from Randy, then back to me again. “Maybe I can get it for you?”

“Maybeyou can get it for us? Is that a question? It better be a fucking statement,” Randy said. “We’re not playing around. I’ve wanted to demolish this place ever since I found out my dad had made his way here. Just give me a fucking reason, Ren. All I need is one more, and you can kiss your little fucking pussy operation goodbye.”