Page 69 of Obsession

“Chris, that isn’t fair.” I turn to Damion. “Chris, Azrael, and I are going to dinner to discuss a case.” Well, it was just me and Chris, until Azrael invited himself. Whatever, it’s his wings.

“So an all-powerful Dominions needs a human consult? Aubry, can’t you see he’s just trying to get close to you?” he says with glowing eyes.

“Damion, please don’t insult me.”

The door chimes and in walks Azrael, dressed in his signature seersucker suit and pink bow tie. He whistles. “Boy, it’s a sausage party in here! Damion, so nice to see you again,” he says, falling over himself.

“Azrael, you too. Glad you and Aubry found your scythe,” Damion says with his usual charming smile, back in control of his temper.

“Whew, me too. I’ve been working killer overtime hours, but I’ve finally taken care of the backlog of souls.”

“Your death humor still disturbs me,” I inform him.

Damion and Chris stare each other down one last time before Damion looks over to me, touching my cheek tenderly. “We’ll talk another time.” I nod, and he vanishes.

I feel so conflicted as we walk to a Mexican restaurant a few blocks over. Things aren’t right between me and Damion, and I don’t know what to do about it. Entering the restaurant, we take a seat in a booth near the back, Azrael beside me and Chris across from us.

We order, and the Angel of Death begins conversing with our server in rapid Spanish; the gentleman smiles and returns to the kitchen. “I was stationed in Mexico City before I was transferred here. Now there’s a town that knows how to celebrate the dead.” Azrael takes a sip of his margarita and continues, “So, Chris, whom I shall never again refer to as tasty morsel, to what do we owe the dinner invitation?”

“I don’t recall inviting you, angel,” Chris says with an icy tone. Better Azrael than me.

Azrael pauses and looks up at the ceiling, muttering something under his breath.

“Problem?” I ask.

“Oh, nothing, other than I’m never allowed to finish a meal,” Azrael bemoans. “If you two will excuse me, heat waves and crime waves go together like chips and salsa, which sadly I won’t be partaking of tonight.” He sighs dramatically and walks out of the restaurant.

Our server returns with chips and salsa. “Our friend had to leave. Can you box up his order to go, please?” I ask. Dipping a chip into the salsa and taking a bite, I try not to moan. “Azrael really is missing out. This is the best Mexican restaurant in town,” I tell Chris.

Ignoring my small talk, he produces a file. “Recognize her?” He holds up a photo and I take it from him.

“Lucy Parks,” I say, surprised. “She was the high priestess of the coven my mama and Bettina were members of, the same Bettina who hexed my relationship with Damion.” I hand the picture back to him. “Tell me why you’re asking about Lucy.”

“Tell me what you know about Lucy,” he counters.

“You show me yours and I’ll show you mine,” I say sweetly. His lips quirk up just a fraction of an inch. One day, I promise to myself, I’ll get this hard-ass angel to crack a smile.

“I’m working a cold case. Augustus went missing nearly twenty-five years ago. According to my CI, Augustus was involved with a coven around the time he disappeared."

“Who’s your CI?” I wonder.

“Confidential informant means just that—confidential.” I wonder if his CI is a demon? I’m guessing Zazel would frown upon a demon snitching to the angelic police, and that’s putting it mildly. “Care to guess which coven?”

“Now you want to play the ‘care to guess’ game?” I mock.

“Dark Moon Coven. Your mother’s former coven,” he says, ignoring my attitude.

“Involved with the coven in what way?” I have a very bad feeling about this.

“I’ve showed you mine. Let’s see yours,” he commands.

“That’s all you’ve got?” I huff. The server brings out our food and I assemble the fajita ingredients in my tortilla and take a bite. “My mama, Cora Brooks, moved from Memphis to New Orleans when she turned eighteen. Bettina’s mama was the original priestess, but she passed away.” Before Damion became a jackass, he confirmed Bettina’s mom passed away from cancer. “Lucy took over the coven. They dabbled in angelology and then moved over to dark magic. They worked with several demons for a few years. According to Lucy, it was Bettina who got them into dark magic. Bettina claims it was Lucy. There was some kind of feud.”

“What kind of feud?”

“I don’t know exactly. Bettina and Lucy are pointing fingers at each other. But something happened causing the coven to fall apart. Bettina moved to Natchez to live with her aunt. Lucy and Delilah moved to West Memphis, where Delilah had just inherited a farm. As for Delilah, she’s dead. My circle channeled her, but she was less than cooperative. She sounded scared, but I don’t know why.”

“And your mother?”

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