Page 76 of Obsession

“Because I thought Cora might be hiding in that realm the angel took me to,” Bettina says, trembling. Glancing down to her wench costume, I almost feel bad for her, seeing she’s pissed herself. “But I still couldn’t find the bitch.” And I take back the feeling bad part.

Chris notices Bettina’s dress, then looks to his leather couch. He remains icy cool as he says, “Woman, if you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’m going to start by cutting out your venomous tongue. Next will be your weak bladder. Shit on my couch, and you’ll be cradling your entrails in your arms.” Shit. That seems to be the only word I can come up with here lately. Chris silently holds up the picture of Augustus.

“That’s my love, Augustus! Where is he?” Bettina cries.

“Tell us everything you know about Augustus, and if you value your life, you’ll tell the truth. I’ll know if you’re lying,” Chris threatens. Can he really tell when someone is lying or is that just an angelic interrogation technique? Good Goddess, I hope it’s the latter.

“Back when we formed our new coven, we summoned the Angel of Occult Knowledge Augustus. We wanted him to be our patron angel and guide our coven. At first he helped us out with a few spells, going over reasons why he thought some weren’t working for us. That wasn’t enough for our high priestess, though. Lucy wanted a union between the coven and him.”

“What kind of union?” Chris asks.

“A sexual union between Lucy and Augustus,” she sneers.

“Did he take her up on the offer?” I ask, feeling way too much like Vivian.

“He turned her down in front of all of us. It was too good,” she says with a vicious smile.

“So then what happened?” I prompt her.

“After that, we stopped working with Augustus. Lucy encouraged us to switch over to dark magic, spouting some philosophical bullshit. We all knew it was just her wounded ego, but I didn’t care about her reasoning. I wanted to be practicing dark magic from the start. So we began to work with demons, and I thought no more of Augustus. But fate had other plans for me and my love.”

“How so?” I ask.

“He came to me first in my dreams. And then one night he called me to him, and I knew he was my soul mate. We made love, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever experienced. Orgasmic doesn’t begin to describe it.”

“I do not care about your sex life. Get to the point,” Chris commands. I’d have to agree with him on this one.

“It was perfect, but then Cora walked in on us. She went ballistic. She cursed me and ran off. And my love disappeared a moment later. I know it was the work of Cora’s curse.”

“Why would Cora curse you?” I ask. Yeah, I wouldn’t be happy about walking in on my bestie getting it on with a guy, but it would be more, “Hey, respect boundaries and next time lock the door,” not, “I curse you till your dying breath” type situation.

“I don’t know. Everyone in the coven wanted Augustus. I’m sure she was jealous.”

“How did Cora happen to walk in on you?” I try.

“We were in Cora’s bedroom.”

“Why would Augustus have called you there?” Chris asks.

“I had just moved in with Cora, and my bed hadn’t been delivered yet.” What’s up with these roommates from hell? First my best friend, Maddie, gets lured into a death cult by her roommate, Lydia, and now I learn that Mama’s roommate hooked up with a guy in her bed. When the Universe does deliver on my own apartment, the only roommate I’ll be having is of the feline persuasion, thank you very much.

“Was Cora dating anyone at the time?” I try.

“Not that I know of.”

“What kind of curse? What were Cora’s exact words?” I ask.

“‘I curse you, Bettina.’ And that was it. Everyone I love leaves me. Augustus left without a trace. Aunt Mable died. Even my cat took off,” she says bitterly, and I glance at Chris, silently begging him not to mention a certain cat that is now in my possession after visiting Bettina’s apartment. B.B.’s my cat now, and that’s all there is to it. Again, possession is nine-tenths of the law. I swear I catch a hint of laughter in his eyes for just a moment before he returns his icy stare to Bettina. “I have the worst luck,” she cries, and then pauses for a moment. “Aubry, you can break your mama’s curse. Do it and there’ll be no bad blood between us.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Witch, you are now on my radar,” Chris says in a voice so cold it gives me chills. He points his flaming sword at Bettina as his skin shimmers and his eyes glow with fury. He and Bettina disappear.

Nope, I sure wouldn’t want to be on that angel’s radar. I look around the empty house. Fine, so I’m willing to risk being on his radar because I’m nosy.

I give myself the tour of the small two-bedroom house with no personal touches whatsoever. Chris must furnish his place from Menacing Angels Home Design, because everything he owns is either gray or black.

“Broody band it is,” I say, spotting a guitar in his bedroom corner.

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