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Compromise
Shadow
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Church was in full session, and if I could sweat, I’d be in full sweat session.
All eyes on me, I said, “What?”
“You’re the only one here with connections to a witch,” Face said with a grin.
That pissed me off. “Bull-fucking-shit. I’m sure someone here has connections. I sure as fuck don’t.”
“Yes, you do. Fuck, being the operative word,” Kovah said with a grin behind his annoying-ass sunglasses.
I flipped him off. He grinned even wider in return.
Nobody else spoke. They just stared at me expectantly. When I couldn’t take the silence any longer, I said, “So, lemme get this straight. You want me to call a witch, who I’ve fucked once and don’t even speak to, and ask her for a motherfuckin’ favor?”
“Yes,” Viper replied. “Sounds about right.”
I stared at his smug ass, his human mate standing beside him with her slim arm wrapped around his waist.
“You can do it, Shadow,” MyAnna said, smiling genuinely at me with her big brown eyes. “I have faith in you!”
Dammit... I supposed I wasn’t the only one weak to her charms. She was just a tiny human who still believed there was good in the world. I envied her.
“What happened to the lead on the wiccan shop? Who owns it?” I asked in deflection.
Face said, “A woman named Jeanne Coulter. She’s human. Practicing wiccan, like her religion, but told us she doesn’t believe in actual witches.”
A few people laughed.
“It was a dead end,” Viper chimed in.
“But Venom said the witch’s scent stopped there,” I argued.
“Probably a customer. I’m sure many witches use the shop for their supplies,” Face came back.
“Why can’t Theo get that witch who told him a witch was involved in the first place to find this sorceress?” I asked, trying to stall.
“Did you miss the part in the conversation where we determined her to be lying or unreliable? She’s not going to pony up a name without a lot of torture so that’s a very last resort. Not to mention, I’d like to not fuck off Theo’s connections.” Viper lifted his chin.
After scrubbing a hand down my face and over my beard, I looked at Paz. “Go get me the shop phone.”
He nodded and said, “Happy to, but it’s cordless. It won’t work in here. Only in the clubhouse and shop.”
Being that we were in the Cobalt Room, yards away, I knew he was right. “Lead the way,” I told the prospect.
I realized I was grateful the phone didn’t work in the bar. I had a slight more bit of privacy in the smelly bike repair shop.
“Find her number,” I ordered Paz.
He scrolled through the phone’s incoming calls and said, “This is the only one I don’t recognize.”
I looked at the date of the call and it matched the date when she’d called the shop to schedule the witch meeting. I could only assume it was her cell phone.
Truth be told, I had thought several times of coming down here over the past week and getting this number to call her. Bloome had been on my mind way more than I cared to admit, and now that I was actually calling her, I was nervous as shit. And sorta angry. I wanted to contact her on my own timeline. Not because the club was desperate for witch help and I was under duress to do so.
“Hello?”
I took a deep breath and told myself to man the fuck up. “Bloome?”
“Yeah. Who’s this?”
“Shadow. Craig. Is there someplace we can meet A.S.A.P.?”
She paused before responding, “To talk to or to fuck? Since I know you don’t eat. Food.”
Fucking-A! This chick. I had to bite back a smile at her sass. “Well, while I’d love to make you scream my name out again, this time is just to talk. If you’re down with that.”
She gasped, and I grinned that I’d gotten the desired effect. Two could play shock factor games. “First off, I did not scream out your name, you arrogant asshole. Secondly, what the hell do we have to talk about?”
She so did scream out my name. Didn’t she? Knowing she wasn’t the type to argue, I continued, “Witch business.”
“If you’re looking for whoever killed those three vamps, you’re barking up the wrong tree. I don’t know and neither does my coven. We just had a meeting about this, as a matter of fact.”
I glanced at Viper, Phoenix, and Face, who were now in the shop standing next to me. I knew they could hear the other side of the conversation. Viper nodded at me to continue.
“I get it, but we still need to talk,” I said.
“About what?” she asked. Except this time, I detected no sass or attitude. It was my “in.”
“About us. And some other witch stuff. Please, Bloome. Just meet with me.” I hated the desperation in my voice, but answers sometimes required sacrifices in pride.
I could hear her breathing, despite her lack of words. I’d learned over my long life just to be quiet when I needed answers. Humans tended to hate long silences, and since witches were basically humans who knew how to manipulate magic, I had to trust the silent discomfort would work on her.
Finally, she replied, but was sure she had food in her mouth as she mumbled around it, “Fine, where?”
“Cobalt Room. Right now, sweetheart.” I hung up.
“Wow, harsh,” Face said, laughing.
I glared at him, then looked at Venom. “She was eating. I have no patience for that shit.”
“Wow, harsh,” Venom mimicked Face a split-second before he shoved what I thought was an orange and black cupcake into his mouth.
I made a face. “Halloween cupcakes? Ew.”
He swiped his hand over his beard and licked his lips. “Fucking delicious. Why would you fuckers ever choose blood over actual food? Sugar... nectar of the gods.”
I pointed at his six-pack stomach hiding under his tee. “I don’t know how the fuck you eat that shit and keep that physique.”
“It’s a wolf thing. You wouldn’t understand,” he said, grinning while licking white icing from his fingers.
I shook my head. “Nor would I want to. We didn’t eat that garbage in the nineteen fifties when I was turned.”
“Fuck, you’re old!” Venom quipped, unwrapping another treat he’d somehow pulled out of nowhere. He bit into a pink and white pastry that made me want to gag at the sight.
I could barely remember eating human food... and what was it? Burgers, fries, and shakes at the local soda shoppe. Pork chops and applesauce at home growing up. Fried chicken and baked potatoes at the summer picnics and rodeos. A homemade apple pie or peach pie for a treat. None of that pre-packaged crap Venom was currently shoving into his maw.
And why was he called Venom, anyway? I still hadn’t gotten the answer to that and made a mental note to ask him one day.
Without a look back, I snapped my fingers and found myself in the Cobalt Room at my favorite table. The ability to move from one place to another without walking was a weird fucking ability, but I’d grown used to it. Not by my own choice, but I’d embraced it just the same.
Her milky, freckled skin and defiant gaze had my dick twitching behind my pants. Fuck... I loved a woman with an attitude.
“Well, what do you want?” she asked.
“I hope we didn’t interrupt your dinner,” I replied, thinking about how she had been eating when I’d called.
She brought the wine glass to her lips that Ally had just delivered to our table inside the Cobalt Room. “Actually, you did. I was enjoying a nice shrimp etouffee when you called.”
“From Mulate’s?” I asked, somehow knowing that particular restaurant made the best etouffee.
“No,” Bloome deadpanned. “My roommate is a hell of a cook. Better than any restaurant around.”
“I find that hard to believe,” MyAnna chimed in. I didn’t even realize she was here until she spoke.
Bloome narrowed her eyes at the petite brunette. “Like I would take culinary advice from a vampire anyway.”
“I’m human,” MyAnna replied defensively. “And I used to work there.”
I watched as Bloome licked her teeth behind closed lips and flicked her gaze between Viper and his mate. She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes at MyAnna. “For now.”
Before Viper snapped, I sighed audibly and said, “Bloome, please. We need your help. To find a witch. How much power do you have?”
She grinned before setting her wine glass down. “How much money do you have?”
“So money equates to power?” I asked rhetorically, folding my arms across my cut. “I already knew that, sweetheart. I’m asking you a genuine question. We have cash and you have power so how much do we get for, say, ten grand?”
Her blue eyes went wide for a split second before she recovered. “Depends. What do you need to know?”
“Stop with the fucking games,” Viper chimed in, scrubbing an exasperated hand down his face. “You gonna help us find this vampire-murdering witch or not?”
Bloome didn’t break eye contact with my best friend. Which I’d give her credit for. Viper could be an intimidating sonofabitch when he needed to be. “Yes, I’ll help, but I have conditions.”
“What are they?” I quickly asked.
Bloome moved her gaze back to mine. “Complete anonymity. Nobody—and I mean nobody—knows that I helped you guys. The coven’ll have my head if they find out I sided with the vamps. But I need the cash and I also believe in justice. So don’t ask me any more fucking questions about my intentions and I’m down to help you find this witch.”
I was good with that and hoped my club brothers were as well. I stared at them collectively and they all gave me slight nods of agreement.
“Well, now that that’s settled, let’s get down to it,” I said, staring at the redhead who had already stolen my heart, even though I knew I could never have her. After all, love for a lifetime clearly wasn’t in the cards for me and never would be. And I’d accepted that, as much as I didn’t want to.