Hot Blooded (Jessica McClain) - By Amanda Carlson Page 0,20

peered into the backseat and took a few more sniffs to be sure.

“Yes. It’s not ideal, but I couldn’t kill him,” I said. “It might be my weak human side talking, but my dad says if he can assimilate, he lives. I know he’s dogged me for years, but other than his being a hard ass, I can’t find any real reason to end his life.”

“You’re not weak,” Nick replied, his voice filled with confidence. “I view your humanness as a gift. In our world compassion is rare. I admire it.” Nick slipped off the backpack he was wearing and set it on the ground. “I took the liberty of gathering some things I thought would be useful. At Tyler’s request, I bought these.” He pulled out a small black box with a sturdy handle. There was a main lever on the side and a bunch of metal buttons across the top. “There are four satellite phones in here”—he pointed to the backpack—“along with this docking kit. They’re all wired with remote GPS, fully charged and ready to use.” He set the box on the ground, then unzipped the front pouch and pulled out a soft black cloth tied with a thick satin ribbon. “I also procured several throwing darts, loaded with various spells. There’re a few for sleep and a couple freezers—no kills, just in case they happen to land in the wrong target.” He untied the ribbon, carefully unrolling the concoctions. The spells were in thick glass vials attached to sharp metal tips, hooked in the carrying case by two elastic bands apiece, each potion shining a different vibrant color. “Marcy and I didn’t think her spells would be strong enough for a goddess, so we paid Tally for them. Well, Marcy did anyway, with funds from the firm. She said, because she was family, she was able to get us a two percent discount.” He chuckled. Witches never gave away anything; everything had a cost. It was how their system worked.

“Wow.” I reached out to take the bundle Nick was offering. I cradled the package carefully in my hands. Spells on the whole were incredibly expensive, and Tally’s spells would break the bank, but they would also be super powerful. “I don’t want to know how much you spent, because I’m grateful as hell and I don’t want to ruin my happiness high knowing we won’t have two nickels to rub together when I get home.” We used potion darts on a regular basis, because supes were wild and unpredictable and getting them down was half the battle. Marcy did most of ours for the firm, and they worked fine, but she was only a minor witch. Tallulah Talbot, her aunt, was another story. Tally ran the supernatural community here—and by “ran” I mean ruled. I’d never laid eyes on her, but we were extremely lucky Marcy worked for us, because Tally didn’t sell her power to just anyone. Having a witch of that magnitude in our corner was like having the Terminator as backup.

I rolled up the cloth and handed it back to Nick. He placed it back in the backpack along with the phone kit and lifted it all carefully into the trunk.

When he was done, I reached over for a goodbye hug. My eyes misted without my permission, an unfamiliar experience for me. I hadn’t had many goodbyes since I’d left the Compound seven years ago. “The spells will be invaluable. Thank you,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him. “I’ll be in touch when I can.”

“There are a few other little surprises inside the bag too,” Nick said as he gripped my back hard. “Please, just do me one favor and don’t get killed, okay? I don’t think I can handle the world without you in it.”

“I promise I’ll do my best.” I pulled back, breaking our contact. “I love you.”

He nodded and stepped out of the way to make way for my next goodbye. “I love you too, Jess. Stay safe.”

“Hello, Jessica.” James came up and planted a chaste kiss on my cheek. “I came to see you off and wish you well on your quest.”

I hadn’t seen him since we’d gotten back from New Orleans. “Thank you, James. But we both know the real reason you came—so you could report back that all looked well and good.” My father and I had said our goodbyes privately before I’d left the office. If he’d shown up here and had a