Page 71 of Midnight Witch

Nikolai arched an eyebrow. “It won’t?”

“Give me a moment.”

A cool breeze swirled around the kitchen as the Reaper Queen transformed.

Mrs. Son-Ha sucked in air. It was her first time seeing Alicia’s true form. Her dogs whimpered and bolted behind her, bodies quivering and tails drooping.

Alicia manifested her scythe and touched the list of names with the sharp end of her weapon. Crimson flared in her orbits.

Mae’s mouth went dry. Some of the lines on the paper were brightening with an eerie, white light while others turned a fiery black. Only one name did not change.

Alicia tapped it with a bony finger. “There’s your suspect.”

“Do you think you can find this person?” Mae asked hopefully.

Alicia shifted back to her human form. “Like I said before, needle, haystack. Unless they’re on death’s door and about to cross over, neither I nor my reapers can locate their soul.”

“That wasn’t creepy at all, by the way,” Jared told Alicia leadenly.

The Reaper Queen rolled her orbits. She caught Mrs. Son-Ha’s bright stare. “What?”

“Can you teach me how to do that?” their host said zealously.

Jared took his cell out while the Reaper Queen explained to the Shaman why that would be a bad idea. He brought up a number, hit dial, and met Mae’s puzzled stare with a frown. “Between Howard and Jordan, we should have a location in a couple of hours.”

Mae stepped out into the back yard a while later, too tense to stay in the house. Mrs. Son-Ha had assured her the barrier would keep them hidden from curious eyes. She shivered a little as she leaned her elbows on the rear porch railing.

The temperature had started to drop. Autumn would soon give way to winter.

Something in the sky caught her eye.

The Harvest Moon was already visible, an orange hue lighting up its southern hemisphere. Mae chewed her lip and wondered if its presence would make Nikolai’s magic stronger.

The door clattered open behind her. Nikolai crossed the porch and propped his elbows on the railing next to her.

A companionable silence settled between them.

“You reckon those white and dark lights Alicia raised with her scythe meant Heaven and Hell?” the sorcerer said after a while.

Mae grimaced. “Probably.”

She turned and leaned backward on the railing.

“What you did back in East Brunswick? That was pretty incredible,” he said quietly.

Mae glanced at him. “That was on both of us. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Nikolai smiled faintly. “We make a good team.”

Her mouth curved. “We do.”

The silence between them thickened. Mae shivered, this time for a whole other reason. The desire that lay ever dormant between them sparked the air. Nikolai turned and closed the distance between them with a single step, his heated gaze raking her face as if he were looking for an answer to a question only he knew.

Mae’s breath quickened when he lifted a hand and caressed her cheek with his knuckles.

“Choose me,” he whispered. “I will make you happy.”

Mae swallowed. Her gaze dropped to his lips.

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