Revelations (Evie Cortez Book 3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

It felt like a kick in the teeth, how easily I could find myself in such a situation with no control and no escape. I tried not to seem too embarrassed while I thanked Rebecca for all her help. She had seen a lot of dark parts of my memories, secrets too, many of which I never wanted known. Worse were the memories of my time with amnesia. I sure made a fool out of myself. Such a fool, that I couldn’t look at Caleb for even a split second without my heart racing wildly.

I needed to get out of there, I needed to get home and process these last few days, but Bess wasn’t letting me off the hook that quick.

Wearing a polite smile, Rebecca made her exit out of the office, leaving me with one less buffer between me and Caleb. Bess asked, “What’s your next move? I want to be kept in the loop every step of the way.” I was standing in front of her desk, with her eyes paying attention to mine, I glanced back at Caleb with a question she understood. “Caleb is temporarily working with the SCF to help close the file on the Martin witches. You’re going to be partnered for the extent of the investigation.” 

I kept my mouth shut and didn’t curse like I wanted to. My body gave me away instead. My shoulders tensed and my back turned into a taut wire pole. “Thomas is my partner.”

“Thomas is good at what he does but he’s also human and I don’t want anymore of my team being taken advantage of.”

Caleb’s shoes moved with no sound on the carpet, stopping close to where I stood. I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t know the feel of his shadow encroaching, covering my senses until I felt only him. “Ethan managed to find out the Martins have a spell they use to control humans and lower level supernatural races. We suspect they tried to use it on Evangeline, and instead wiped her memory clean as a result.”

Bess sighed. “That just further proves my point. Evie, we can’t have anymore mishaps and you need a partner those witches can’t manipulate.”

I started to panic. Just hours ago I told Caleb truths that should’ve never been uttered. I kissed him too. “The SCF is made up of people the witches don’t stand a chance against.” I didn’t like to second guess her, I didn’t like to appear desperate either.

“Jake is working his own case, Zoe is throwing herself deep into her work at the CPD, Rebecca has to catch up at her firm, and I’m stuck here.”

“What about Matthew?” Bess’ boss, Matthew Stevens, was a scary guy but even he was better than Caleb; the alpha wolf I threw myself at just hours ago. Just a fool, yup, that was me.

“He’s in Washington. You and Caleb work well together, you trusted him to keep you safe throughout this ordeal and that’s exactly what I want him to keep doing. The decision has been made. What I need from you are constant updates, on this case and any others you work in the future. Tell me from the beginning how the Martin witches came into play.” Bess sat down behind her desk, crossing her hands over one another, and waiting.

I agreed to all of this when I took her deal. I knew I couldn’t bail because it got too messy with Caleb in the mix. Bess knew it too. I sank my butt into one of the visitor’s chairs. I had to stop pouting and remember I still decided now my destiny would end.

Nothing I admitted to Caleb had to change anything, I could feign stupidity and weasel myself out of my errors. Except, that wouldn’t be the truth. With no memory and nowhere to turn, I clung to Caleb like a lifeline because my heart knew to trust him. Scared and alone, there was nothing more I wanted than to stay with him. The scary part was that, I had my magic and my memories, I wasn’t helpless anymore, and I still wanted to stay wrapped up in him.