Page 66 of Friends With the Monsters
Her eyebrows lift as her lips tighten. “I think it’s the recent influx of desperate clientele that may be bringing the place down.”
Calix moves up to my side. “You think so?” I tap my chin and kick out my hip to the side. “I’m not so convinced. I think it has more to do with whatever fucked up rituals you’ve been performing here, if you ask me.”
Vanessa’s eyes dart to Gunnar again, then back to me. “I have no idea what you’re blathering about. And it’s obvious neither do you. Being born Charmed is wasted on someone like you,” she hisses defensively.
“Is that so? Is that why you crave our magic so badly, because you were born without an ounce of power?” I know I’m ruffling her feathers by the way she’s shooting daggers at me.
“I earned every lick of power I’ve ever gotten. Can you say the same?” Vanessa’s voice is low, fused with indignant rage.
Everyone left in the club is watching us. There are several witches inching closer to her—even a few of the security team—while the others stand stock still, waiting to see what will happen next. You can feel the building tension for violence in the air. I drag in the essence and my body sings from it, like having fuel thrown on my fire.
“Want to know a secret?” I waggle my eyebrows at her as I take another step closer to the bottom of the stairs.
Vanessa puffs out a breath. “What could you possibly know that I don’t already? You’re nothing but an ignorant child compared to us.”
She waves her hand like she’s encompassing the entire room and everyone but me in it. Including my guys. That raises my hackles.
A slow, evil grin forms on my lips as I grab hold of the metal handrail for the staircase. “Maybe you do know my secrets,” I lean my torso forward and lower my voice to a whisper, “but I know yours, too.”
Vanessa licks her lips as commotion at the front door has most of the people positioned around us looking in that direction, but I don’t break our stare.
“Fire Department! Clear the building!” is repeated a few times, as men and women in full firefighter gear stomp through the door, ready to put out the nonexistent fire—and the metaphorical one that was flaring between us.
“Be seeing ya,” I announce to Vanessa with a cheerful lilt. Grim and Calix flank my sides, urging me to the door the firefighters came through. I look over my shoulder to see Vanessa and Gunnar in a similar standoff to the one we just shared.
“Don’t open the club back up for business until I can perform a thorough investigation. If you do, it will be grounds for the immediate stripping of your title, with prejudice,” Gunnar states, and it’s clear he’s not talking about the night club, he is speaking about Vanessa’s coven.
Vanessa doesn’t verbally respond, but her anger is written all over her face.
Chapter 21
I’m bouncing on my toes and throwing jabs in the air like a boxer after we clear the rescue personnel. “That was amazing! I want to kick her ass! I was like, you suck, and she was like…blah, blah, blah.” I stick my tongue out and make an ugly face.
Calix lays his hand over mine and guides it down to my side. “Okay, simmer down, killer.”
“We should go back in there and wait for those guys to leave, then we could…” I drag my thumb across my neck.
Gunnar lets out a bark of laughter, then schools his features quickly. “This isn’t a joke,” he chastises me.
“I know it’s not a joke. She’s killing off monsters, or Charmed ones, or whatever the hell you guys call us. We have to put a stop to it,” I demand, still pumped up.
“We will, but we don’t need these humans hearing you threaten to kill her. It’s inconvenient.” Grim rests his hand on my shoulder.
“Fine, whatever.” I cross my arms over my chest in a slight pout. “What are we supposed to do now? She knows we’re on to her. We can’t just let her go. She’ll probably try to disappear.”
“She can’t just disappear, Dami,” Calix corrects, urging me to walk even farther away from all the fire trucks and ambulances. There are still quite a few people from inside the club milling about too.
“She’s going to try to cover her tracks,” I warn them.
“She’ll try. I have a few of my men watching her, and they’ll report back to me if she does anything out of her norm.” Gunnar has his arms crossed over his chest and his legs spread wide as he glares at the building we just left.
I scoff, “What good will that do? She’s obviously been doing bad shit all along and nobody caught on.”
Gunnar slowly turns his head and glowers at me.
“What?” I throw my hands in the air. “Tell me I’m wrong. Someone died in there tonight. I could feel it, who knows how long it’s been going on.” I’m sorry if the truth hurts his feelings, but putting a stop to Vanessa’s killing is more important.
“Because now we know what we’re looking for.” Gunnar’s shoulders puff up a little along with his chest. It’s as if he takes a deep inhale and never lets the air go. I watch his mouth and jaw to see if his face will shift too.
