Page 5 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
"He's starting back at Valentine's. Just a few days per week at first, but he's planning to work up to full-time."
Valentine's was Logan's pride and joy. He'd started the restaurant from scratch and it was one of Carlton City's best rated. In my opinion, Logan was lucky his assistant manager had kept the wheels on while he was missing. Another employee might have closed shop.
"That's good news," I said. "Logan needs somewhere to focus his energy."
"You mean on something other than you."
"No," I said defensively. "I mean on something other than the pain of his recovery." Logan had been in a coma for almost a month after a truck plowed into him on his bike. He'd been damaged bad enough to knock his soul out of his body and leave him unrecognizable to his rescuers. It was sheer coincidence he ended up in the hospital where I worked as a nurse and serendipity that I was the one who could put his soul back into his body. His recovery had been a long, hard journey.
"So, you're saying that Logan hasn't tried to rekindle those old romantic feelings now that he has a body?"
"What Logan felt when he was a ghost was just a misunderstood metaphysical attraction to me as his soul sorter."
"Nice story. How do you explain what you felt for him?"
"Logan knows I'm with Rick now."
"Yeah," she drawled. Her eyes drilled into me.
I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say. Rick was part of my job description. He was my caretaker, the immortal vessel for my soul between lifetimes. Hundreds of years ago, the first me, Isabella Lockhart, had made Rick her caretaker. At the moment of her death, she stored a piece of her soul inside of him, which he'd returned to her when she was reincarnated. I was a reincarnation of that same witch, and I'd taken back the immortal part of my soul from Rick in a ceremony that included blood, magic-and sex.
Pursuing anything with Logan didn't make sense for a number of reasons. Aside from the superhuman level of understanding it would require of him to allow me to continue to be the witch, having sex with Rick as needed, my feelings for him had changed since he was reunited with his body. As far as I was concerned, the night we shared when he was a ghost had been an accident. I was seeking comfort, and he'd accidentally slipped inside my body and given me an orgasm. Ancient history.
"Logan's my friend. That's all." To signal I was done with this particular avenue of conversation, I flattened my page with my palm and returned to typing vigorously on my laptop.
Michelle raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips inquisitively. "How is Caretaker Rick anyway? You guys still trying to start a fire by rubbing your crotches together?"
I fought a smile but only half of my mouth obeyed my command. "Nice, Michelle. You know, it's not like it's tawdry or anything. We have to do it. It strengthens our powers."
"Power sex. Right. He gets all charged up and you get..."
"Multiple orgasms and sometimes his blood."
"Yum." She grimaced.
"It heals me. Last week, we were bringing in a vamp we caught feeding on a human at a strip club in the city. The thing practically bit though my arm before I sentenced it to Hell. A little sip of Rick and the wound healed right up. It's nothing short of miraculous."
Michelle shook her head and took another gulp of coffee as if she could rinse the taste of blood from her mouth. The TMI convo was enough to make her turn back to her work. She focused on the page closest to her and poised her fingers over the keyboard.
"Hey, here's something interesting," she said.
"What?"
"It's a spell to call a familiar."
"A what?"
Michelle scooted closer to the book and read to me. "Familiar, Spell to Call. A familiar can be summoned to amplify a Hecate's power by performing the following spell. A willing spirit will arrive in the form of an animal possessing those traits the current incarnation is deficient in and supporting optimum natural balance. Through mutual respect and bonding, a familiar can become a trusted and powerful companion."
"Cool. Like a black cat or what not."
"Or maybe you'll get an owl like Harry Potter!"
"Oh yeah, those things are wicked awesome." I stood and leaned over the book to get a good look at the spell.
Michelle tapped the yellowing page. "Hey, there are some notes here in the margin. Tabitha 1701, Abraham 1823, Gertrude 1898. Grateful, I think this is a list of past familiars. There's a half dozen here. Is that how many times you've lived before?"
I shrugged.
