Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
19
WILLOW
Inwardly, I groaned. Could this day get any worse? Should I open the door for them? Did I dare to not open it?
Reluctantly, I decided I didn’t dare. They were certainly all “packing heat,” to quote one of my Pop-pop’s favorite crime dramas and they could shoot me through the glass windows of the store if I tried to run.
I unlocked the front door again and stepped aside to let them in. All three were wearing impeccable suits, just as they had been the night before, but Big Nicky was giving me a wary look as they filed in.
“Hi, what can I do for you?” I asked, trying to keep my composure. “And please don’t ask me to contact the spirit world again,” I added quickly. “That caused a lot of problems, if you recall.”
Big Nicky frowned at me.
“I do recall that, young lady,” he said sternly. “But I also recall that I didn’t get to talk to my dear mother on my birthday for the first time since she died. She misses me—she wants to know I’m okay. So I’m going to need you to sit in your little room and call her up.”
“You don’t understand,” I said desperately. “When I sent your ex-wife to Hell like you asked, I accidentally opened a portal to The Pit! And it still hasn’t closed. If I try again, who knows what might come out of it?”
The Mob boss’s frown deepened.
“That sounds like a load of horse shit to me! Now, I want to talk to my mom and you’re going to get her for me!”
I thought of how his dead wife had said he was a “mama’s boy”—I tended to agree with her.
“Listen, you don’t understand—” I began.
“I understand you’re going to sit at your little table in your little room and get my mom on the spirit phone right now or you’re going to be sorry, sweetheart!” Big Nicky snapped. “Very sorry. It looks like somebody already worked you over pretty good.” He nodded at the red marks on my neck. “You don’t want my boys to have to finish the job, do you?”
I put a hand to my bruised throat where Carlo had choked me. Goddess, I never should have come home—I couldn’t go two minutes without being threatened or attacked!
“Kael,” I murmured, hoping my protector could hear me even though I wasn’t shouting. “Where are you? I need you again.”
Big Nicky’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Hey—who you talking to?”
“No one. Just…trying to commune with the spirits,” I said weakly. “I just—”
At that moment, the red rip in the fabric of reality began again. But this time it was behind me so I didn’t see the beginning of it. I just saw Nicky and his thugs look over my shoulder when the ripping sound began. Their eyes got wider and wider and when Kael stepped out of the jagged red vertical slash, all three of them took a step back.
“What the actual fuck, Boss?” one of the goons breathed.
“Hell if I know,” Nicky muttered. “What is that thing?” he asked, jerking his head at Kael.
“He’s my protector,” I said, frowning. “He also happens to be a gargoyle so I’d be careful if I were you.”
But this turned out to be the wrong thing to say.
“I don’t care what the fuck that thing is, nobody threatens Big Nicky!” the Mob Boss snarled and all three of them drew their guns.
Kael came up behind me, his wings flexing.
“Is there a problem, Mistress?” he rumbled, staring at Big Nicky and his men. “Are these humans bothering you?”
“They want me to try and contact the other side again,” I explained to him. “But last time I did that, I opened a portal into The Pit and a Hell Hound came out and chased me.”
“Was that the freaky three-headed dog we saw?” one of the goons asked.
“Yes, that’s it,” I said, nodding. “We don’t want any more of those running around The French Quarter, right?”
“No.” The guy shook his head emphatically. “That thing was fucked up!”
“Yes, it was!” I agreed. I turned to Big Nicky. “So now can you see why it’s a bad idea for me to try and contact your mother again?” I asked. “Please, all of you just put down your guns and listen to me.”
The Mob boss got a stubborn look on his face.
“I want to talk to my mother!” he complained. “I miss her and I need to talk to her at least once a year.” He pointed his gun at me. “I don’t care about any fucking Hell Hounds or whatever the fuck you call up—I’m going to count to three and if you haven’t started contacting my mom, the two of you are going to be very fucking sorry. One…two…”
“Oh my Goddess…” My voice went high and tight. “Please—please don’t shoot us!”