Colors by You

Chapter 2

Kim answered my pounding on her front door by tugging it open. "Can't wait the 2 seconds?"

"Sorry," I breathed.

She gave me a once over with a squinted gaze. With her maroon-rimmed glasses and pinched ruby lips, the look struck extra sharp. Most of the things about Kim came with an edge. Her smile, her quips, but especially her glare. Years of practice had dulled some of its effect, but I still knew better than to push it.

"I said come as soon as possible, but you can drop the urgency once you get here," she huffed, finally sidestepping.

I immediately went into the living room, standing at the corner of the bay windows. The blinds were half shut and I peaked through a pair, gazing out into the street. "I said sorry, didn't I?"

"Not like you meant it," she trailed. I turned, finding her waiting with her arms crossed. "You gonna tell me why you look like that?"

"What?"

"A deer that got locked on by a hunter's rifle."

"I don't," I said quickly. Her brow arched. "I was making sure my car lights are off," I amended.

"Mm hm."

I moved into the house, running my palms over my jeans. Kim had a sixth sense for bullshit and little tolerance for letting it slide. If this was a regular house call she'd have the time to pick the truth out of me. Thankfully, it wasn't.

"Are we gonna work or what?"

"Come on," she led us to the dining room. Across one end of the table was an open laptop and some printed pages. The titles were news headlines typed in bold: 3 DEAD DEAL A PD MYSTERY.

"They still don't have any leads?"

"No. How would you try to explain 3 bodies dropping dead without a cause? No gas leak, no bad food, no forced entry. Just all that coughed up blood and gore." She settled in a chair, picking up a green mug with wiggly white cats dotting the surface. A gift from one of her nieces. "Not like they thought to look for hex bags."

I flipped through the pages. There were no pictures of the crime scene, just the obituary photos of the victims. "Are you sure this was a witch?"

"I know a witch's work when I see one. You should be able to recognize the handiwork of your own kind too."

"I'd rather not if it's anything like this."

She sighed. "Can't say I blame you. It's the downside to being a benevolent witch. We have to watch the stupidity of the vast majority." I scoffed quietly at her words. Benevolent felt like a high and mighty way to describe our lifestyle choices. Sure we didn't use our powers for evil, but that didn't mean we went around granting wishes like invisible fairy godmothers.

I'd known Kim for a long time. She didn't hesitate to help me learn how to use my powers when they awakened. She was also the one to give me a much needed run down on the world that existed beyond my human one. Ghouls, demons, vampires, werewolves. I'd never realized how many shades of monsters existed.

"I know I said I'd come check this out, but what do you expect us to do here?" I asked.

"We're going to put down the witch."

"I'm sorry, put down?" I echoed, incredulous. "I am not committing murder for you."

She rolled her eyes. "Killing is how hunters handle things. We can stop the murder spree without taking her head."

I sat back in my chair, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes. It was just one thing after another today. "This is out of my field."

"The hell it is. What about that vampire you told me about? She could have sucked that poor sucker dry if you didn't get involved."