Brush With Death: A Sadie Salt Urban Fantasy (Sadie Salt Series) Read online

  Something akin to anger skates over her features. “Don’t do that, Sadie. No judgment, remember?”

  “It makes me uncomfortable that he’s here all the time and I don’t know him,” I admit.

  She softens just a bit, wipes, and flushes. Washing her hands, Ingrid bumps me with her hip. “Well it makes me feel safer with him here. He’s built like a fighter and after Nash... this is my home, too, and our schedules so rarely line up, you know? So having someone here, someone tough, makes me feel safer.”

  I can’t be upset about that. And I know I’m making a judgment based on his looks, when I’m the one who’s out with vampires and werewolves all night. “Okay. I’ve gotta get to work. Did your lottery ticket work?”

  Her frown is almost comical. “No! I mean, what the hell? The vision was so freaking clear. Twenty one, eleven, thirty five, four, forty, and twelve. Like, why else would I think of and remember those numbers? There’s five bucks I’m not getting back, and twenty three million I’d already spent in my head.”

  “You know you only get a fraction of the pot after taxes, right?”

  “A fraction still beats wads of dollar bills and a bare cooter.”

  The word makes me laugh and she smiles. “Are you dancing tonight?”

  “Yep. Four nights straight, remember?”

  Right. Sleeplessness is really screwing with my head. But it makes me feel better to know that she’ll be out of the apartment, and therefore David will be, too. “See you soon, I hope.”

  “You got it.” She gives my ass a light smack before heading out. I toss my hair into a ponytail and start to head toward the door. At the last minute, I dash back to the room and grab Respect. I’m tempted to look under the bed and see if Benji’s there, but it felt like I’ll be the creepy one, so I skip it.

  The morning is typical of near-autumn in the mountains. The temperature has bite to it, but the air feels fresh and clean in my lungs. Almost as good as a cup of coffee. Almost. The mist is still heavy on the town as I drive, forcing me to turn my low lights on. My engine cranky and sputtering, but it gets me to Tiffany’s.

  The brownie has a large coffee with two shots of espresso ready for me in a flash. She throws a muffin in for free, and hands me some donuts for Dr. Winston. “I’ve been having a toothache,” she says. “Got some time this weekend?”

  Between hunting down another bone witch and the pack after me? Sure. “Give me a call tomorrow morning and I’ll see what I can do.” Because with all this other shit going on, I still have Tee to pay off.

  When Dr. Winston sees me, he rolls his eyes. “Obviously you didn’t sleep after all your bitching.”

  “Something came up.”

  “Trouble?”

  I don’t want to drag him in. I can’t drag him in. “Just that body,” I say, since the last time we spoke was before I went to see Gina Long’s poor, chewed up corpse in Dr. Winston’s place. “Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been moonlighting with the police?”

  He shrugs. “Didn’t seem like something you’d be interested in.”

  He’s wrong. Forensic dentistry sounds interesting and, more importantly, it’s starting to feel like a life skill I need to add if I’m going to be as deep in the paranormal world as I’m getting. “It was cool. Gross, but cool.”

  Dr. Winston grunts in response and takes his donuts, disappearing in his office. That’s my cue, I suppose, so I find my own desk and start sorting the paperwork for the day. A moment later, though, he waltzes in and tosses some heavy books on the desk in front of me. “There you go. There’s a binder of some of the stuff I’ve seen around here. We get some strange ones.” The look he gives me almost seems like, well, like he knows. Knows, knows, you know?

  The question lodges in my throat and I’m unable to ask. Up until the past week, it’s never been hard for me to separate my two lives. There’s the night time dentist gig, where I know all the secrets about the monsters we’re not supposed to believe in, and then the daytime job, where everyone is human and I’m just a small, boring girl who’s struggling to get by. Now, though, all my thoughts are consumed with finding the killer. With my new, bizarre, lovely vampire friend.I’ve seen my uncle for the first time in a while and it didn’t end in a shouting match. Without sleep, the edges are beginning to blur.

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  We work in peace. I’m slow, catching myself almost nodding off at the desk more than once. My eyes are itchy and swollen. It’s only after lunch, when the afternoon-snooze impulse is on my back, trying to beat me into napping submission, that something jerks me back into mostly-woke status.

  A call.

  “Dr. Winston’s offic—”

  “Sadie, I think something really bad is about to happen.” Ingrid’s voice is shaking, the tremulous tone instantly making me lurch into panic. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s like... I’m picturing a huge storm and you’re caught in it.”

  Her fear jumpstarts me. “Okay. Should I stay at the office? Dr. Winston’s here, but about to leave for the weekend.”

  “No, I don’t want you alone. Can you make it to your uncle’s?”

  There’s no way my car, barely hanging on, is going to make another trip up the mountain. “No.”

  “Go to the apartment then. I only just hit the border, I’ll call out of work and head home. We can take my car to your uncle’s.”

  “Okay.”

  Even though Ingrid’s visions almost never lead to anything substantial, they also have never caused her to panic. Especially after mentioning bad-vibes, I can only assume my time is up. The bone witch is coming for me. That she is bringing bad enough mojo that even Ingrid can see it.

  Underneath the terror is a small bit of relief. Not knowing why I’ve been spared so far has been weighing on me. There’s curiosity mixed in, too. I’ve known for a while that I was a bone witch (thanks a lot, Tooth Fairy), but only recently have I begun to understand what that means. Seeing another witch, being able to see the addiction, the after-effects...

  Maybe that’ll curb this insane need I still feel for more magic.

  Assuming, of course, I live through this.

  The safest place for me to be is with my uncle. And, until then, in my apartment with Benji. He may still be sleeping, but I can cover all of the windows and wake him up if I think there’s trouble. Feeling better, I go to tell Dr. Winston that I’m leaving for the weekend.

  When he sees me at his office door he just sighs. “Go home. I’m sick of your face. Don’t be late next week and for god’s sake, get some sleep.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  I rush out before he can see the worry I feel, because I don’t know how to explain it to him. My engine reluctantly turns and yet again I’m reminded of how I can’t rely on this machine to keep working if I don’t find the time and money to take care of it. When it’s cold, I won’t have a choice.

  Ingrid’s voice is playing on a loop in my head as I zip along Grimloch’s narrow roads. The shakiness, the fear. I give the car a bit more gas, daring to speed just a little. It shudders and argues and I curse, pushing the pedal harder.

  It decides to fight back in the best way possible.

  My engine shuts off.

  I have just enough momentum to coast to the side of the road and turn on my emergency flashers. The sky is overcast and I sit in my car, watching a giant raindrop plop on my windshield. Then another. The storm moves in fast and soon the metal of my roof is pinging with the rapid rain. Lightning slices the sky and the thunder that follows booms so loudly I feel the rumble in my bones.

  She saw me in a storm.

  Jesus, I could laugh. Ingrid’s prophecy is technically true. The sky is dark now, ominous. The storm is moving fast and pelting Grimloch with all its might. I can’t see five feet out the windshield, it’s coming down so hard. Rubbing my face, I get my cell phone to dial Ingrid and tell her she can still go to work and that her vision was spot on in the worst way
.

  Before I can dial, there’s a tap at my window. A face is looming close, squinting in the rain. Abe. Because of course. I crank down the window.

  “Hey, Abe.”

  “Car trouble?”

  “Yeah. I was about to call Ingrid.”

  “I’ll give you a lift. Come on.”

  Gathering my things, including my baseball bat, I scurry to his police car and get in. The bat earns me a strange look, but Abe’s probably getting used to quirky, because he doesn’t say anything.

  Looking at my phone, I realize I wouldn’t have been able to call anyway—my battery is almost dead. In all the rushing from place to place I haven’t had time to charge it.

  “I’m lucky you came when you did,” I say, holding out the phone. He catches the screen as it goes to black. “No phone means I would’ve had to walk. Thanks for stopping.”

  We’re both drenched and it must be a cold front, because I’m shivering. Abe turns on the heat. “How’s that?” He asks.

  “Better, thanks.”

  “Sadie...” His voice trails off, though. He doesn’t know what to say around me, I guess. I press into the seat and wish I could fade away.

  “This whole week has been a disaster,” I say, more to myself than to him. “A horrible disaster.”

  “You’re telling me. No one knows where Nash Kincaid is.”

  “I’m not surprised.”

  “No?”

  “Would you leave a note if you murdered your girlfriend and disappeared?” Or was killed while strapped to a magic chair?

  “He didn’t take anything, though. No clothes, no cash. Not even his car. Teenage boys don’t just run with nothing.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” is all I can offer. We pull into my parking lot. Ms. Nickles is standing on her porch on the first floor, my balcony acting as a cover. She’s smoking a cigarette and glaring at us. “Maybe you should make it look like I’m in trouble,” I joke. “That’ll satisfy the old crank.”

  It’s then that I see a light flick on in my apartment. My heart stops. Scanning the parking lot, I look for Ingrid’s car, even knowing there’s no way she’s back by now. “Someone’s in my home, Abe. Ingrid’s car isn’t here and she was still in South Carolina a half hour ago.”

  He stiffens beside me. “Who do you think it is?”

  “Maybe her new boyfriend, but—”

  “You want me to come up with you?”

  He offers it so freely that I want to cry. For a moment, just a moment, it’s like before. He’s the nice, normal guy who just likes saving people and then joking with them after. I’m just the little girl in love with him and with no courage to do anything about it. “Yes, please.”

  “Okay.”

  We get out and run toward the staircase. My bat feels good in my hand, but having Abe near feels better. As we get closer, Ms. Nickles calls out, “I’ve got some words for you, Sadie Salt.” She sounds just as cranky and cantankerous as usual and I don’t have time.

  ‘Well, right them all in a letter and shove them in your ass,’ is what I want to say. Instead I just mumble something like “Now’s not a good time,” and dart up the stairs. At the top, in front of my door, I don’t miss Abe undoing the snap of his gun holster, though he doesn’t draw it.

  He takes my key from me and unlocks the door, opening it a hair. We listen, but can’t hear anything. Abe motions to me to step back. He pushes it open and moves his body in front of me.

  He steps inside and I follow. “Hello? Sheriff, here.” His voice calls out and in the tense weight of the moment it scares me enough to jump.

  “A little warning, Abe.”

  There’s a scuffle and some shuffling that comes from the hallway. Near my room. We walk toward it and Abe calls out another greeting. I, on the other hand, grab my bat with two hands and am ready to swing hard. He looks over his shoulder for a moment with a glare that says put down the bat before you hurt yourself. Oh, how little you know, Abe.

  David comes out of my room. My room. Where Benji is sleeping.

  “Hey, Sadie! Didn’t expect you home so early.” Two things irritate the shit out of me about this statement. One is that he is plainly saying ‘I didn’t expect you here to interrupt my snooping.’ The second is how he says ‘home,’ like it’s a space we all share. I don’t care if he has a magic stick in his pants, Ingrid’s gonna have to let him go.

  “Why were you in my room?”

  “Oh! Well, I needed a pen, and I couldn’t find one, and I thought—”

  “You thought it was okay to just go and look through a lady’s things?” Abe cuts in, sounding incredulous. Two points to Abe. “That’s not cool at all.” He steps toward David. “I don’t recognize you.”

  “I don’t live in Grimloch. I’m just—”

  “Making yourself entirely too comfortable in my home. I think you should go, David.”

  His hands go up as he shrugs in defense. “Hey, sorry, sorry. I’ve overstepped some bounds. I get it. I’ll just get my things and go.”

  But Abe shakes his head. “Why don’t you wait here a second while Sadie goes to look at her things and Ingrid’s. Make sure everything’s where it should be.”

  Something scary shadows David’s face. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a thief.” He starts to take a step toward the door.

  Abe moves to block him. “Sir, I’m a Sheriff, and I’m saying wait a minute while Sadie makes sure. There going to be a problem? Because I can just arrest you now, if you don’t want to wait.”

  David growls, “I’ll wait.”

  It’s hard to turn my back on them. They’re staring each other down like some wild west gunfight, though Abe hasn’t drawn his weapon. His hand’s not far from it, though. But my largest concern isn’t whether David tried to steal anything.

  It’s Benji.

  Rushing to my room, I gasp and drop my bat. My drawers have been emptied, my books opened and thrown on the floor. And Benji’s on the floor, dragged out from under the bed, his eyes wide open and red and he’s wheezing. Even in the darkness provided by the storm, he’s slowly dying. It’s just taking longer. David’s opened all of the windows to make sure Benji can’t escape the day.

  Grabbing my bedsheet, I toss it over Benji’s body. Tears are streaming down my face as I kneel beside him. There’s a smell like roasting pork and my stomach heaves. Twisting, I vomit beside my bed, missing Benji. It takes a moment of sobbing and swallowing down my stomach’s rebellion before I am able to react again.

  Getting up, I shut the blinds tight. Already I can hear Benji’s breathing even.

  “What do you need?”

  “Blood.”

  “I don’t have any cats nearby—” Oh, right. Duh. Walking blood bag here. Dropping beside him, I pull down the sheet so his head is uncovered. “What do I need to do?”

  “Wedge...” He shuts his eyes with pain. “Wrist... in... my mouth.”

  Pulling up the sleeve to my hoodie, I take a deep breath and do as he asks. His teeth do the rest. The initial puncture hurts, but then my wrist goes numb. It isn’t euphoric, like in those sexy vampire books Ingrid likes to read. I can feel the tug of his mouth and it’s a little icky, but not any less pleasant than getting an IV or giving blood to the Red Cross.

  I don’t know how much he needs and I don’t get a chance to find out.

  “Get your wrist out of that thing’s mouth.”

  David’s in the doorway, and he’s boiling over with black rage.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The first thing I see is the gun in his hand. With care, I have to pry my wrist from Benji’s mouth. A deep, mourning groan issues from his throat, but he’s still too weak to stop me, or even get up. I move to cover him with the sheet again, but David says, “No, take the sheet off. I want the vamp to die slowly, burning away like the monster he is.”

  When I don’t move, he cocks the gun and aims it at me. “I’m not supposed to shoot you, Sadie, but I will, because
I honestly don’t give a fuck.” There’s something chilling in his words, and even my bones feel iced. He means it, he doesn’t care at all about my life. So I uncover my friend, hating myself for not being able to stand up to David who, as far as I can tell, is a human. I’m a bone witch, even if I’m a novice, and I should be able to take him without a second thought. Except you keep trying to be good and not keeping around any bones, baby, so this is what happens. I guess there is a second thought, and it’s the bone addiction speaking, and damn, it’s being nasty.

  Benji moans in pain as the last of the sheet is pulled off. The rain is softening outside and the dark, oppressive clouds are moving out, leaving a brighter gray. It’s possible that the storm will blow completely over before night, exposing him to direct sunlight. The thought makes me sick.

  “Okay, move away from him,” David orders. I try hard not to look at my baseball bat, but I do crawl toward it. It’s on the floor close to David. Maybe I can grab it and swing before he catches on to—

  He spots what I’m heading for and toes the bat. “Stay where you are.” Gun still trained on me, he stoops and tries to pick up the bat. He smirks when he feels its weight. “Huh. This yours?”

  I don’t respond. He reaches in his coat pocket with the hand not holding the gun and pulls out a small bag of powder. As soon as it’s opened, I can feel the magic pulsing from within. Every nerve in my body lurches, aching for that powder, which David snorts in front of me. His pupils dilate and the smirk becomes a ferocious smile. “Goddamn, that’s good. That’s the only thing keeping me from just killing you and walking away from the job right now.”

  He just sniffed bone powder into his nose. “You’re the witch?” I guess, shocked.

  David grabs the bat and, while he’s still not holding it with ease, he has the strength to hold it up now. “Wrong tree you’re barking up, missy. Bone witches can only be women.”

  That is useful information Benji or my uncle could have told me before now. The horror flocking through me is so great that I can’t feel irritated; there’s simply no capacity for any emotions beyond shock and fear. “I didn’t know,” is all I can say. Stupid.