“That’s why Austin doesn’t want to spread rumors until the Council works out a plan. I don’t have any trouble with the rogues who come into my shop, but I can see how something like this would give someone ideas on how to get away with murder.”
I walked around Trevor and set the box of leftovers near my purse. “Are you ready to head out? I’m done cleaning.”
Evening hours always brought a sense of nostalgia, reminding me of the old days at the candy store when April and I had been a couple of inexperienced girls who couldn’t imagine where our lives would lead. Sometimes I’d close up early to go hang out with April at the candy store, but it wasn’t the same. So much had changed—we had changed.
“Yeah, let’s blow this joint,” he said.
I lifted the box and moved around the counter. “I still think we should hire a Vampire for the night shift. Just imagine how much work they could get done since they don’t have to sleep. My prepping days would be over! Then we could focus on serving customers instead of rushing back and forth between the counter and kitchen.”
He switched off the main lights. “I’m not working with a Vampire. He might charm me into believing he’s not sucking my blood every three hours in the bathroom.”
I laughed. “You’re so…” The words tumbled away, and the floor slipped out from beneath my feet. I wondered if Trevor had switched out the lights, because suddenly I was immersed in darkness and had no sense of anything around me.
“Lexi! Lexi!” I heard Trevor yelling from far away. The sound was muted, similar to being underwater.
When I rolled onto my back, sparks of light began to appear, and then Trevor, hovering over me with panic-stricken eyes.
I blinked, my hearing slowly returning. “I’m… I’m fine. Wow, that was weird.”
“Weird? Jesus, you scared the shit out of me. I know I’m good-looking, but I’m not that good-looking. What happened? One minute you were talking, and the next, bam.”
I took his hand, and he pulled me to a sitting position.
“I don’t know. I blacked out for a minute.” I stared at cookies and cakes strewn across the floor, the box upside down and flipped open.
“You shouldn’t have overworked yourself,” he said, chastising me.
I had to laugh considering I’d spent half the evening sitting on my butt reading a magazine. “I had more exercise on my vacation.” My smile waned. “All that work mopping the floor… and now look at it.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said, staring down at the mess. “I’ll sweep it up in the morning.”
“We can’t leave it like this; it’ll attract roaches.”
The bell jingled on the door, dragging our attention away.
“We’re closed,” Trevor called out.
A shadow of a man stood before us, his beige coat much too long for his modest height. When he stepped forward, one of the track lights from above shone on his face, and I gasped.
“Charlie?”
Trevor brewed a pot of coffee while I locked up the store and seated Charlie at a small table.
“You haven’t changed,” I remarked, noticing his thin hair and spectacles. “Last I heard, you had cancer and died.”
Could he sense the contempt in my voice? Because the tension in the air was palpable.
Charles Langston, my old boss, had always reminded me of a college professor, not just in looks but also his demeanor. He appeared to be in his late fifties, relatively short for a man, unremarkable features, and too pale to live in the South. The lines etched in his forehead weren’t deep, but they were a visible roadmap to the life he must have lived. He had kind eyes brimming with wisdom, and they made you feel like you could open up to a man like him.
He sipped the coffee from his white cup and glanced over his shoulder at Trevor, who was busy sweeping up cookie crumbs. “I’m a Mage. I conceal my light to blend in easily with the humans. Other Breeds think I’m a Relic, and that’s fine by me. Less trouble.”
The sound of my fingers drumming on the table filled the awkward silence that followed. “I don’t know whether to be pissed off at you for making me cry over your death or relieved that you’re alive.”
Charlie added another packet of sugar to his coffee. “The attorney you met is a friend of mine; it’s not the first time he’s helped me wrap things up and fake my death. So I slowly withdrew, made people think I had an illness, and drafted up some documents with my lawyer regarding the company and my finances. I did business on the human side of town, so I needed to make it look real with my neighbors, the legal system—everyone. A female friend of mine drove down and set me up with a new identity.”
“You also skipped town on a loan shark without settling your debts.”
He set down his paper cup, steam rising from the top, and put his hands in his lap. “So you know about that.”
All I knew was what Reno had mentioned years ago. Charlie owed Maddox, but he didn’t say why.