Don't Hex and Drive (Stay a Spell #2) - Juliette Cross Page 0,18

Now that was interesting. I scribbled on my pad again. “I’ve never met one before.”

“Yes, you have.” Her brows rose in accusation. She looked so much like our mother in that moment I almost laughed. Until I realized who she meant. Which knocked the smile right off my face.

I glanced out the wall of windows that faced the side of our neighbor’s house, my mouth falling open in shock. I dropped the spoon in my bowl, the metal clinking against the glass.

“That conceited, materialistic man is a Stygorn?”

Jules frowned, obviously not on board with my blatant character assassination.

“From those I spoke with, he’s one of the best. His reputation is stellar in the field. He’s never failed to find his quarry.”

Picking up my spoon, I took a bite, crunching my granola angrily. “You vetted him?” I asked around a mouthful before shaking my head to myself. “Of course, you did. What was I thinking?”

Jules was extremely efficient and competent as an Enforcer of the supernaturals in our district. Not that my other sisters weren’t good at what they did, but Jules took her job to another level. Since Enforcers held a power greater than vampires, she was in charge of keeping the lot of us in line here in New Orleans. And she took her job very seriously.

“So you trust Ruben to lead the investigation?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

She didn’t snap the question but the steadiness of her voice was a little too forced, too measured. I wasn’t going to answer her with the truth, because that would open up another conversation I knew she wasn’t ready to have yet. Maybe not ever.

A fleeting image from last Christmas popped into my head. Jules wasted out of her mind on JJ’s special eggnog at our sisters’ birthday party, her head halfway in the toilet while I held a cool rag and mouthwash at the ready.

Her slurred angry words echoed in the toilet bowl. “Does he think I’m an idiot?” When I asked who she was talking about and wiped her face with the cloth, she mumbled, “You know who. Everyone does.”

When I put her to bed, she rolled over and looked up at me, stormy eyes glassy with emotion. “But it doesn’t matter, Is’dora.” She gave me a sad, sad smile. One that pierced straight through my heart. “Not anymore.”

When I picked her phone off the bathroom floor, I couldn’t help but notice who she’d been texting at the party before she’d guzzled too much of that Bourbon-spiked eggnog. I also couldn’t help seeing that one glimpse of texts exchanged between them before I turned her phone off and set it on her nightstand.

After finishing my last bite of yogurt and granola, I took my bowl to the sink without answering. No need to dredge up that night. She’d pretend it never happened. Or maybe she was so drunk she couldn’t remember what she’d said. Anyway, best to leave it alone.

I rinsed my bowl and spoon, then loaded them in the dishwasher. “I just thought you might take the lead since this is a bigger problem than the norm. I mean, we could be talking about murdered women, Jules.”

She walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself another cup. “Possibly. But Ruben is keeping me updated on the progress, and he’s being vigilant. He has more access to the vampire world, of course, so it makes sense for him to continue. Plus, he’s the one who hired the services of a Stygorn.”

“Right,” I agreed, finishing my orange juice and loading my glass into the dishwasher. “Had you met this Stygorn before?”

“Devraj Kumar?”

“Yes.” I cleared my throat. I reached over to the table and ripped the list off my Steno pad, intending to throw it away. “Him.”

His name sparked a frantic, fluttery sensation in my stomach. I’d sensed he was powerful, but I hadn’t suspected he was one of the Stygorn. A vampire born of one of the ancients whose level of intuition, gift of glamour, strength, and speed was unparalleled by any other supernatural. The only one with more power than the Stygorn was a Siphon witch like Jules. Except the Stygorn’s level of power also gave them the ability to evade and/or harm Siphons by stealth. Fortunately, most took their gift of advanced magic responsibly. To belong to the Stygorn Guild was an elite class all its own, and they kept each other in line.

She leaned back against the countertop, one hand propped on the butcher block. “No, not personally. Ruben