Page 28 of Viper

He hesitated. “Jacques. Look, I don’t know why … Wait, what are you doing?”

Having pulled out her cell phone, she scrolled through her list of contacts. “I’m going to call a friend of mine. I feel for you, kid, I do. But you can’t stay here, and I think you know that.”

It took a few rings before Levi answered simply, “Hey.” The reaper wasn’t what you’d call chatty.

“Listen, I have an imp situation. But I don’t have a way to personally contact Jolene Wallis. I was hoping you might, what with Harper being her granddaughter.”

“What kind of situation?” Levi asked.

She elaborated, watching Jacques’ flush deepen in what seemed to be embarrassment.

“Imps,” said the reaper with a disgruntled sigh. “I’ll get word to Jolene. She’ll probably send someone to pick the kid up.”

“Thanks.” Not wanting to bring more imps here—mostly because she didn’t trust that they wouldn’t nab some antiques to take with them—Ella gave him the location of the coffee shop on the corner of the street. “We’ll wait for them there.” She rounded up the conversation and tucked away her phone.

Sulkily, Jacques folded his arms. “My family’s gonna lose their mind.”

“Maybe, but they’ll also be relieved to have you back. Now, I’m going to go tell the humans who own this house that it’s no longer plagued by ghosts, since I can’t exactly tell them the truth. You are going to sneak out of here. I’ll meet you at the coffee shop. Ignore any temptation you have to make a run for it. Such a move won’t end well for you.”

He mumbled something under his breath but nodded in acquiescence.

In the backyard, she had a quick chat with the humans, informing them that ‘the spirits’ were at peace and had moved on. They were beyond relieved.

As she was walking to her car, her step faltered and her stomach dropped. Because something was tucked under her windscreen wiper.

Scanning her surroundings, Ella registered nothing suspicious as she crossed to her car. She snatched what turned out to be a folded slip of crinkled paper from under the wiper. Opening up the slip, she frowned. It read:You know what happened to the curious cat.

Like with the previous note, the ink shimmered with power. Another snare.

Ella bit back a curse, angry sparks yo-yoing around her belly. Her demon prowled to the forefront of her consciousness, tense and braced for battle.

Whether this was the work of whoever psychically assaulted her, Ella didn’t know. But it definitely wasn’t someone playing a simple prank—you didn’t follow a person around just to play jokes on them.

Fucker.

What bothered herwaymore than the note itself was that he’d touched her vehicle again. He’d been physically far too close to Ella twice. And she hadn’t known.

Gnashing her teeth together, she tore the note in two, deactivating the snare. Shesodidn’t have time for this right now.

Putting a pin in the matter, she drove to the coffee shop, half-expecting to find no sign of Jacques. But he was sulkily slumped on a chair at one of the outdoor tables. Once she’d parked her car, Ella joined him at the table.

It was no more than thirty seconds later that two familiar imps from Jolene’s lair came striding out of the nearby alley. Ellawas guessing one of them could teleport, because no cars had driven down there, and it was a dead-end.

The siblings—who were also Jolene’s grandchildren—greeted her with chin-tips and then moved to stand in front of Jacques, their faces molding into masks of disappointment. He all but shrank under the weight of their disapproval.

Khloë shook her head. “Dude, I’m all for rebelling. But imps don’t run. We stir shit, we break bones, we set fires, we bathe in the blood of our enemies. But running? Never.”

Jacques grimaced. “I know. Sorry.”

“Great pep talk,” Ella deadpanned.

Khloë smiled, smug. “I thought so. Thanks for bringing this little matter to my lair’s attention.”

“No problem.”

“Jacques, over here,” Ciaran ordered.

The teenager didn’t hesitate to obey, his metaphorical tail tucked between his legs.

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