Page 44 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“Don’t be dramatic.” She winked. “Did you wrap it up, or should we expect shadow babies soon?”
“Funny, Jackie.”
“Tell me all about him…and did he do anything special while you were with him?”
“No! I thought he was a normal human,” I assured her. “You know I don’t like to mix it up with magical men.”
“What’s with you?” She tapped on her laptop then sucked her teeth, clearly not pleased with what she found. “Only hooking up with human men. Is that because you can control them better with that plant magic?”
“Sort of.” I chewed my lip. “Explains why he seems so damn resistant to my ability. You know how they used to call me a siren? I could play with men whenever I felt like it, and they would just do what I wanted. Raymond isn’t like that. He wants me, but he maintains control.” I could use the connection to the plants to do a lot more, like how the perfume I wore was a blend I created. It was hypnotic to human men and made them my play toys.
“We know how you like to stay in control of everything.” She laughed. “Broke so many hearts because of that.”
“Hush. I don’t need you to get on my case too.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s work.” I waved off the question. “I’m being advised to let Natalie take on more of the workload.”
“She’s competent.” Jackie nodded in agreement. “Why wouldn’t you?”
“We aren’t talking about that. Focus. Shadow walker.”
“Right.” She sighed. “But you brought it up, remember that. Look, if you don’t want to see the man, just walk away—unless you think he will go stalker on you. Is that what you’re worried about?”
“No, honestly, that’s the last thing I worry about when it comes to him.” I didn’t mention I was concerned about him vanishing altogether. That was a new development I had yet to work through in my own head.
“So, what's the problem?”
“The problem is, he doesn’t just work with me. He’s a business partner—a business partner who is apparently from hell and is clearly tied up with some terrible people.” I took a deep breath. “And yeah, I’m still contracted to work with him for a few more months. He talked about dissolving the contract early. Maybe this was why. He knew this shit was about to pop off.”
“HA!” Jackie laughed. “That’s fucking funny!”
“I forgot how much you love to laugh at the pain of others.” I paused. “Help me.”
“Lucky for you, I cleared my schedule to be here. It also gave me an out for a pixie problem.”
“Pixies?” I shuddered.
“Yeah, you know those evil little things! They love any reason to pop off. Apparently, they have beef with some local shifters. When you called, I quickly passed that task to Miguel, who sends his regards, of course.” She laughed. “You should have seen his face! I don’t know why I didn’t think to have my camera out to record!”
“He blamed me, didn’t he?” I shook my head. “How could you do that?”
“Of course he did. You think he had the balls to blame me?” She laughed. “Said you owe him some of your special tea in exchange for his services.”
“I’ll get right on that.” I glanced at my supplies on the counter to see if I had enough to make the blend he preferred. When I looked back at Jackie, there was only one question on my mind. “How is she?”
“Whitney?” she sighed. “I should have known you were going to ask about her. I don’t think I can remember the last time we talked when you didn’t.”
“Yeah, I know. I can’t help it. Besides, we don’t talk that often anymore, so I have to catch up oneverything!”
“Your sister is fine.” Jackie smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m still watching over her, and so is Maverick. He’s gotten so big. I’m pretty sure he’s done growing. It was a thoughtful gift for you to give her. He’s grumpy but looks out for her.”
“You think she will ever be ready to learn about me?” I asked.
“Will you be?” She challenged my question. “You know that goes both ways. Last I checked, you weren’t ready to tell her about your connection.”
“I don’t know. She still doesn’t have any abilities, right?” I sighed. “It’s hard enough to sayhey, I’m the sister you didn’t know about, adoption ripped us apart, but on top of that adding,oh, and we come from a magical bloodline, and you may or may not develop powers of your own one day.”
