Page 11 of Cursed (Witchbane #8)

SETH

“We’ve figured something out to make it work every time so far,” Seth said. “I honestly think Tony might not be a hard sell, considering how suspicious he was about that creepy guy. I wonder if he has some degree of psychic sensitivity, even if it’s latent.”

“I hope so. It would be a big help to have him on our side to win over Pax,” Evan replied.

As they drove, Seth kept an eye out for the man from the food lot or their attackers, but they seemed to have vanished. “If Vernon has his goon keeping an eye on Pax, then he means to make his move soon,” Seth said. “He’s not going to have someone stand there every day for a year.”

“Yeah, I thought of that,” Evan replied. “Either we got here just in time, or Vernon heard we were coming and moved up his timetable, making it our fault Pax is in danger early.”

“That actually works in our favor. We’re forcing Vernon’s hand, and hurried magic tends to be poorly done,” Seth responded.

They made sure to drive past the food lot again. A different musician played oldies on stage, but Seth caught a glimpse of Tony hanging out around the tables near Pax’s truck.

“While we know where they both are, I thought we could get a look at their house,” Seth said. They followed the GPS and found a tidy bungalow on a quiet side street that looked well-tended, and he pulled over with the pretext of studying directions so they could get a better look.

“They’re renting, so that limits some of the magical protections,” Evan mused. Seth knew that locations that were public—as in, not owned by the person who was the spell’s target—were more difficult to ward because the linkage wasn’t as strong.

“Not to mention that we can’t just hop the fence and start chalking strange sigils everywhere. I’m betting Tony has already made friends with the whole block. Someone would notice.”

They pulled away before their pause drew attention and turned down a side street to get a look at the rear of the house.

“If anybody comes in from the back, he’ll have to go through someone else’s yard to get to Pax and Tony’s,” Evan pointed out as they drove away. “Which requires more magic to avoid notice, and the neighbors’ dogs barking. I also spotted a couple of security cameras.”

“Okay, so Pax is reasonably safe for now,” Seth agreed. “But it will be a lot easier if we can convince both of them to go to a safe house in Charleston and sit out the big fight than trying to lock down a suburban neighborhood.”

“Agreed, but that’s probably going to be a tough sell. There’s no telling whether Pax has someone to cover for him if he can’t cook for a few days. Shutting down the truck means their income takes a hit, and that goes double if Tony isn’t playing,” Evan pointed out.

“Yeah, but we gotta give it a shot.” Seth took a route that drove past Legacy, Vernon’s legitimate restaurant. “Looks like Vernon is doing all right for himself.”

The location looked as upscale as the reviews and menu prices suggested.

“The local foodie blogs gush over how Vernon helps fledgling restaurateurs get their projects off the ground and participates in all kinds of fundraisers and food service education scholarship programs.” Evan looked up from his phone.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already reached out to Pax in some legit way to establish a connection and win his trust.”

Seth wrinkled his nose like he smelled something bad. “That’s just…sick. Like playing with your food.”

Still, it would make sense for Vernon to keep an eye on Pax, knowing that the sacrifice time was growing near.

Getting attention from a local superstar chef would certainly lower any natural wariness Pax might have, especially since the vast difference in their status ruled out any fear of competition.

Providing helpful tips or even dropping positive comments about Pax’s food and the truck would move Vernon from being a total stranger to an acquaintance and make it that much more difficult for Seth and Evan to sell Pax and Tony on wild claims about supernatural danger.

“Turns out I was right,” Evan said as Seth headed back to the RV park. He waggled his phone back and forth since Seth couldn’t look away from the road long enough to see whatever was on the screen.

“You usually are,” Seth conceded with a fond smile. “What now?”

“Articles about Vernon being one of the judges in a Savannah ‘best food trucks’ event, posing with Pax as one of the winners,” Evan replied.

“The prize included media coverage, a cash award, and a mentoring session with one of the judges. But the photo of his face is blurry. There’s another picture where Vernon is standing with Pax next to the truck, and Pax is holding an engraved plaque.

Vernon’s looking away, so it’s not a good image. ”

“Fuck. Vernon isn’t just a local food god, he’s someone Pax has actually met and who did him a couple of good turns,” Seth replied. “That means Vernon’s won his trust, at least a little bit, and demonstrated that he’s not a threat.”

“Not a threat right then,” Evan agreed. “Kind of like an assassin cozying up to the target, who has no idea there’s been a hit ordered.”

The Mob analogy was a little too close to the mark for Seth’s comfort, given the dysfunctional family of the witch-disciples. Memories of stopping the first disciple from killing Evan still haunted Seth’s dreams.

“Anything interesting about Legacy?” Seth asked.

“If we talk Nash and Caden into going there to scout for the anchor, we ought to pay for their meal—and it won’t be cheap,” Evan observed.

“Vernon also has a thing for old-fashioned ships’ wheels.

He used a fake one on his sign, and one is printed on the menu and all his ads.

He was a ship’s captain back in the day.

That pendant he wears is probably his amulet.

Do you think a wheel might be his anchor? ”

Seth considered the suggestion. “Maybe. But would he keep it in his restaurant? Seems like people would notice if it disappeared from time to time.”

“Worth checking, but I agree,” Evan replied. “On another topic, I’ve been poking around some of the seamier corners of the internet to see if I could find anything about the underground restaurant beyond what Teag discovered.”

“How seamy?”

“Dark Web stuff. Definitely bad online neighborhood sort of thing,” Evan replied. Their research often took them to questionable locations—real and online—to find occult and arcane information.

“Anyhow, I found a food blog that was either written by someone in the supernatural know or who wasn’t exactly human.

It could have been completely made up, but it didn’t feel that way,” Evan said.

“The reviews were stomach-turning, but if any of it was true, then Savannah’s reputation holds true for monsters.

And Vernon’s secret restaurant is top of the heap. ”

“Restaurants come and go all the time,” Seth mused as they parked next to the RV.

“It would be a perfect business for someone to drop out of sight every twenty years or so and reinvent themselves. In his case, he could launch a new restaurant and lay low for a while to not be recognized, and no one would think it was strange.” He paused. “Did it have a ship’s wheel logo?”

“Not that I saw. It had very little online presence. It barely had a name, ‘Our Place,’”

“Catchy and bland. I guess the creatures who need to know already do.” Evan frowned as he scrolled on his phone.

“Here’s something: Vernon is accepting an award at a public event tomorrow night for innovative restaurant leaders.

If we hid in the audience and didn’t try to get close to him, maybe he wouldn’t notice.

” He smirked. “You could always wear a fake mustache.”

“Funny. Not,” Seth replied, but couldn’t help smiling. “I guess it depends on whether he is on alert for us to show up. If he’s not looking for us, and we don’t attract attention, it might work. And he’s hardly going to strike us with a bolt of lightning in front of a whole room full of witnesses.”

“You hope,” Evan replied. “But I think it’s worth the risk. Even with today’s media, he manages to avoid a lot of photos or video, and what does exist is always out of focus.”

One of the difficulties with immortality lay in keeping others from noticing, especially if the witch wanted to stay in the same general location.

Gremory’s witch-disciples had all staked out their territories and built businesses that sustained their wealth in those places.

In the old days, evading pictures was easier.

Now, the witches tended to rely on magic to smudge the evidence and make it more difficult for someone to recognize them, assuming anyone aside from Seth and Evan knew to look.

Seth’s phone pinged. Evan checked it since Seth was driving. “You got a text from Kinsley, Rowan’s witch friend.”

Seth nodded. “Good. I was hoping we’d hear from her soon. Let’s get inside and I’ll call her.”

They drove back to where the RV was parked and made a thorough check, but none of their protections had been disturbed. Seth wasn’t sure whether that meant Vernon didn’t know where they were or if he just chose not to tip his hand just yet.

Once they were inside, Seth returned Kinsley’s call. “Hi! This is Seth Tanner, returning your call. Okay if I put you on speaker so my partner, Evan Malone, can hear too?”

“Hi, Seth and Evan. Yes, speaker is fine.” Kinsley’s voice filled the kitchen, deeper and smokier than Seth had expected.

“Rowan has told me a lot about the two of you and your…project. Gotta say, I’m intrigued.

Everyone in Savannah has heard about Sterling Vernon.

People who get that kind of success usually have a bit of magic to them, acknowledged or not.

But I did not realize he was a witch of power or had his unfortunate side business. ”

Her phrasing made Evan snort and Seth chuckled. “That’s one way to put it,” Seth replied.