Waking the Witch (Otherworld 11)

"I'm probably half his age. I'd be worried if he didn't flirt back."

A muffled snort made me glance down the hall. A guy a couple of years older than me leaned out of the stairwell doorway. Light hair just past his collar, denim jacket, boots, and a pair of snug-fitting worn blue jeans. He lifted a finger to his lips, shushing me, and I tried not to stare even if he was definitely stare-worthy.

I turned back to Tina. "That guy who wanted to speak to Lucas. Did you let him in?"

"Certainly not." She lowered her voice. "He looked a little dodgy."

"Was he in his midtwenties? Dark blond hair? Looks like he lost contact with his razor a few days ago?"

The guy arched his brows, mock-indignant.

"Yes, that's him," Tina said. "Now about my job offer ..."

"Spend the money on a shopping spree at Victoria's Secret and make sure he's too exhausted to look at twenty-year-olds."

Before she recovered from that suggestion, I took off.

The guy waited until she was safely in her office, then strolled to meet me.

"Dodgy?" he said. "I'm not the one wanting a hot chick to try seducing my new boyfriend." He extended his hand. "Jesse Aanes."

I'd heard of him. A half-demon PI out of Seattle who'd worked with Lucas a few times. Lucas said he was a good guy, which was the only seal of approval I needed.

"What brings you to Portland?" I asked.

"Cases. One that I'm working now and a new one I wanted to run past Lucas. Two birds, one stone. I left him a message, but he hasn't returned it, which isn't like him."

"He's on vacation with Paige. I confiscated their cell phones and the only messages I'm passing on are well wishes and death notices."

He laughed. "Good idea. They can use the break. Did that woman say Adam isn't around either?"

"He's at a conference. It's just me for the rest of the week."

Jesse hesitated and I knew what he was thinking--he needed help, but I wasn't what he had in mind.

"Why don't you come up to the office," I said. "Tell me what you've got."

I used my key card to unlock the stairwell door. Yes, we have key card entry everywhere, plus

a shitload of protective spells for the second floor. I undid them under my breath as we walked.

As Tina said, we don't get a lot of drop-in clients. We don't want to. While we rarely turn away paying human customers, our clientele is almost exclusively supernatural and they don't need an ad in the Yellow Pages to find us. Given that Lucas is heir to the Cortez Cabal, though, not everyone who finds us wants to hire us. Hence the heavy security.

Jesse followed me up the stairs. "I guess the daughter of Eve Levine and Kristof Nast doesn't need to worry about strangers attacking her in an empty office."

"If they do, I can always use them for my next ritual sacrifice. Volunteers are so hard to come by."

It's not the sort of crack you should make when you have a notorious dark witch for a mother and an equally notorious cutthroat sorcerer for a father. It was a test of sorts, and Jesse passed, just laughing and saying, "I'll watch my step then."

"So what's your power? I know you're a half-demon."

"Agito."

Telekinesis, then. Agito was the second of the three levels, meaning he had mediocre abilities. Having dealt with a high-level Volo before, I was much more comfortable with an Agito.

His powers explained how he'd snuck past Tina. Using telekinesis, he'd caught the door before it closed. I'd have to talk to Lucas about that. Yet another argument against human tenants.

I led Jesse into the meeting room. He didn't sit down--didn't even take off his jacket--just strode straight to the table and pulled files from his satchel.