Nail in Her Coffin (Devil's Witch Book 1)

It’s a very scary thing to see the woman, the witch, who supposedly is the most powerful of all of us, die in such a human way.

She had a heart attack, they found her in her apartment above her salon. Stella has yet to fill out her paperwork to get her mom’s business in her name. I was surprised the witch included Stella in her will to begin with.

I didn’t think Stella would be so moved by her mother’s death, she grew up hating her mom. Yet, it hit both of us a lot harder then we expected. Will’s parents were disturbed enough by the incident to close down their business and move down to Florida.

The Silvets bought their property in a heartbeat, all of it except the house-which wasn’t for sale. As a precaution, Will’s family had undone and re-warded the portal as crazy as that may sound. Since his family warded it I guess that left him in charge of things, meaning the whole coven. My parents would have felt insulted if they were still alive since their ward was so easily removed. It makes them look bad to the coven. The McCasters shouldn’t have been able to remove it if it was strong enough.

No one else wanted to take Patty’s job, mostly she was a figurehead for the coven since we don’t have much supernatural crime here in Wixton, Alabama.

Except for the case of the necromancer -- who still is on the loose.

Secretly, I’m kind of mad that the McCasters just up and left. They could have all stayed and continued helping with the case. Instead, they decided to avoid the situation altogether and leave it for their son to handle.

It just doesn’t seem like something they would do. Maybe Will didn’t tell me everything.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I glance down at my bed. Debating whether to text Will about my own growing paranoia about his parents being terrified of staying here. They probably think the legend has begun with Patty’s sudden death and all. Darren is still in his coma and the McCasters left with him, promising the coven they would find a way to wake him up. So Crystal left pretty happily along with them, I doubt she would have left if Darren was awake.

That’s what Will told me an hour ago when we were talking about our futures in here. For a blissful minute, I was able to forget about my own fears kissing him. Usually, he asks me before kissing me, but today he seemed more eager than usual. When Stella walked by my room she caught us kissing and our embrace pretty much ended there.

It’s weird standing in here alone when only a couple of days ago a grown man was sharing my room with me.

It’s no secret she doesn’t appreciate Will hanging around the house. She’s been giving him the cold shoulder ever since her mom died. Maybe she wanted someone else to take her mother’s position...maybe she wanted it. She would have told me though if that was true.

Just yesterday, Stella told me she hates having to live two lives-balancing her day job with her allegiance to the coven.

Stella got picked up by Colin to chill at his place about an hour ago. She had asked me to pick up her paperwork at the police station.

I watch my reflection in my bedroom mirror, catching myself double checking my hair to make sure it’s all in place.

It’s just Nick! my mind screams at me with impatience.

Well, I am dressed pretty casually wearing a pair of yoga pants and a plain gray sweater. My hair is braided in pigtails and somehow it makes me feel younger like I really am still nineteen.

To think Nick is probably in his mid-thirties and here I am worrying over my appearance when he’s not even my boyfriend!

What is wrong with me?!

I stow my wallet in the pocket of my hoodie and go downstairs. When I go outside, the crisp fall air greets me, chilling the jittery feeling in my gut. So I begin walking down the sidewalk to head downtown.

My thoughts circle around Will and how he’s going to handle running the coven now. He’s definitely going to be a lot busier, hopefully, he will change the coven for the good. Even though I had hoped he wouldn’t take over for Patty. Being his girlfriend though, I have to support him if it’s something he really wants.

Before I can begin to think about anything else, I find myself already near Wally’s which is right beside the police station.

When I reach the police building, I walk inside the nice and warm lobby.

A waft of coffee passes by me and my stomach grumbles in hunger, I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch.

A middle-aged man stands in front of me in deep conversation with one of the receptionists at the desk. Feeling bored, I scan the room. The walls are bland white and there are a few blue cushioned seats in the waiting area. A fake tree sits on the ground by each side of the front desk.

A big man stands to the left of the front desk, supporting his stance with an elbow propped on the black marble surface of the front desk.

He catches me watching him and stands up straighter like a soldier and I look away.

“Next,” the woman behind the desk tells me. I quickly walk up to her.

Before I can tell her what I came for, she speaks up.

“You go with him,” she tells me in a hesitant voice.

It doesn’t match what I expected her to sound like. She looks intimidating like she did wrestling or bodybuilding. I wasn’t thinking she would sound so soft, plus she is a vampire.

How do they know what I’m here for anyway?

At any rate, I follow the vampire policeman down the oddly vacant hallway. I shouldn’t have come so late, no wonder barely anyone is here they are all probably home or patrolling the streets. It’s after eight pm, I should have just waited and came tomorrow morning.

It’s kind of eerie in here with the big building so empty.

We don’t walk very far from the lobby when the policeman opens a door. He opens it too quickly for me to catch the name engraved on the front of the door.

An industrial lamp hangs over a large black desk in the office. The room smells very clean, like the inside of a new car. It is almost nauseating though and underneath the odor seems to be something more pungent. Almost as if the room were sprayed to cover up the scent.

The small office is cold and I hug my arms, staring at the unoccupied leather chair behind the desk.

“Um, I need to pick up my friend’s will from-” I begin to explain feeling confused by being taken here.

However, when I turn around to talk to the officer, I find him gone. He must have used his vampire powers and transported himself out of the room he shut us in.

Seconds later, the door of the office opens behind me and in walks Nick.

“How are you doing, Ms. Parway?” he asks me sounding formal.

Nick walks around me and instead of reclining in his chair, he decides on sitting down on the edge of his desk like a schoolkid.

“I didn’t know you were the police chief here,” I deadpan, reading the silver nameplate on his desk. Also, taking note of his last name, Dupont, it must be french or something.

“Titles are meaningless to me.”

He looks down his nose at me. I squirm under his steady stare and fidget with my hands rethinking me coming here. He probably won’t be legally allowed to give me Patty’s will.

However, without a word, he gets up from his seat on the desk and walks around to a filing cabinet. He opens up a drawer and walks over with a packet of papers to me. After confirming it to be Patricia Gild’s will, I thank him.

An uncomfortable silence fills the room then, as I consider how to excuse myself without sounding rude. I should really make sure he’s doing okay with his shifting. There’s something else that I’ve been meaning to ask him though. If he’s found anything out about the necromancer.

“You can have some if you desire,” he offers, but I’m not entirely sure he’s just talking about the bowl of candy I’ve been eyeing on his desk.

I walk over and grasp a small handful of the sweet morsels, looking up at him from under my lashes in the process.

From under the shadows of his police hat, his downward gaze is hooded as he licks his lips and my stomach flips. I jerk my handful of candy to my side and hastily, step backward getting a weird feeling between us.

“Th-thanks. I’m going to head home.”

“Did ya drive over?” he asks slowly, in his deep southern drawl.

“No,” I answer with a blush.

Nick walks around me and guides me out of his office. In the process, I almost bump into the same cop who showed me down here which makes me nearly jump out of my skin. He was standing out here the entire time?

“Goodnight, Heinrich,” Nick tells the vampire officer.

The officer, Heinrich, makes a grunting sound and tips his hat at me. I give him a hesitant smile and scurry after Nick.

The lady behind the front desk is gone, as well is everyone else in here too, seeing as we ran into no one else besides Heinrich.

When Nick strides out the automatic sliding glass doors, my heart pounds heavily against my chest and I stop in my tracks. Will lives just two blocks over, maybe he’ll be up for a walk and can walk home with me.

Nick crosses his arms and comes back inside the police station seeing me not following him.

I dial Will’s number and a small smile forms on my face when he answers after the first ring.

“Hey! Sorry, I know it’s short notice, but would you mind walking me home? I’m in town,” I ask, biting my lip.

“Val, I’m in a meeting right now. I’m really sorry, maybe you could call a cab?” Will suggests.

I hear a woman giggle in the background. My face hardens and I pull my head away from the phone looking down at the screen, listening.

Nick goes back outside looking bored.

“Val? Val, are you there?” Will asks me.

I put the phone back up to my ear, watching officer Nick get in his police cruiser. It's parked right out front of the police station, straight ahead of me.

“Yeah. I just thought I heard something. I’ll be calling a cab then. Love you,” I say feeling uneasy.

“Love you too,” he replies sounding distracted, then he hangs up.

I’m not going to be the crazy paranoid girlfriend, so I stash my phone back in my hoodie pocket. I really can’t afford to call a cab either. Disappointed, I sluggishly exit the warm building and head out into the cold night.