Page 16 of You Can't Fight Lightning
Z would be gone, just a memory, when my shifts started next week, and everything would be back to normal.
Even though all part of me wanted was to lie on the couch and do nothing, I heaved myself up and went to prepare my bath and tonic water. I knew I’d feel better before I went to bed.
Which was all I needed.
Unfortunately, all my dreams were of a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed man gently stroking my cheek and gazing at me with love. If I slept, I couldn’t tell. I was lost in the blue eyes of the man next to me.
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, the wrong side of the county, wrong side of the state, wrong side of the universe.
Hopefully, there would be no bumps in the road during my shift today.
Because there was a warpath between my apartment and Pete’s, and my name was all over it.
Chapter Six
Z
Ienjoyed the hotel recommendation. It was a little pricey for the dusty atmosphere of Bisbee, but it had a wonderful tub, and the bed was comfortable, which wasn’t always the case. I’d learned this on my road trip down here to Bisbee.
I did not enjoy the fact that my offer to Roxy had been turned down. It was brunch. Who doesn’t like brunch? Even Nyx liked brunch. Which meant something that I didn’t want to consider—that her refusal had to do with me.
Too restless to sit still, I headed out to see the rest of the town. Bisbee had a reputation as being quirky, unique, and full of interest. I needed something to distract me. Because not only had I been turned down, I didn’t know how to proceed.
This sucked.
I left the hotel, heading south on OK Street. When I hit Tombstone Canyon, I took a right, and headed up the street, taking my time to look in the windows. There was a lot of art on display here. I could appreciate that, even though art was more Apollo’s department.
At 82 Tombstone Canyon, I stopped. There was… something here. Something not entirely human. You got used to humans, and anything different rang an internal warning bell.
It was a worn brick building. There was a neon sign in the window.
Mostly Open Investigations.
I stepped back, and could see that the garage, on the other side of the office space, held an older vehicle, a classic four wheel type of some sort. There was also a motorcycle along the back wall. While I peered inside, the sound of a bike behind me revving the engine made me take a couple of steps away from the open garage door.
A woman with long dark hair, warning in her eyes, and some kind of magic swirling around her like a cloud, gave me a once, then a twice over as she pulled into the garage, parking next to the car. She got off the bike, shaking her hair.
As she did, I could feel the power radiating off her.
What was she? A witch? I’d say yes. But there was something else. Not just a witch. More than one kind of supernatural. But what?
A movement to my right made me look in the window of the investigation agency. A pale shadow, the barest movement of light, shifted through the darkness of the office behind the neon sign.
There was someone, or something, also magical, in the building.
What was going on here?
“Can I help you?” The dark haired woman appeared next to me almost without me knowing it.
“I like your bike.” It was the first thing I could think of. I mean, here I was, king of the gods, strolling around a small town in Arizona. It made sense that witches lived out in the open as well.
“1948 Indian Chief. It’s great.” Her expression indicated both her pride and love in the bike. “Anything else, pal?”
“What are you?” I lowered my voice.
“I’m a PI. If you’re trying to find something, I can help you. Otherwise, I’ll ask you to let me move along.” The hard edge in her voice was clear.
“How to make a mortal fall in love.”
