66: Which Witch is which? – Pt. 1

“Are you sure about this, Vik?” Mike asked, sliding out of his pickup truck as he approached the security fence with her. They stood outside of Brad Devereux’s large mansion, staring up at the door and waiting on someone to answer their call.

“Positive. One thing those trials taught me is that I’m not as ready as I’d like to be. If there is a chance that I will come up against any supernatural being I’ve no experience with, I need to at least try and prepare.”

“Yes but, how is talking to this guy gonna help you?”

Victoria sighed and turned her back to the intercom before responding. “There was a trickster demon at the event. He got into my head, Mike. Made me relive some of my darkest sins. He used them against me, attempting to trap me in my mind. I need Brad’s help to replicate that and maybe, just maybe, show me a little more.”

“And is there any particular reason why you didn’t ask Derrick to come with? I mean, why me?”

“Brad’s not so fond of Derrick.”

“Yeah? Well last I checked, he and I weren’t chatting it up on Facebook either. The guy all but told me I was not welcomed company when we had him in interrogation, remember?”

“Yeah, but, you’re human. He can tolerate you a little more than a vampire and I didn’t want to come alone.”

“Hello?” a throaty voice sounded over the metal speaker.

“FINALLY!” Victoria exclaimed. “Hi there. Detective Victoria Carson here to speak with Brad Devereux. Is he in?”

“Mr. Devereux is not entertaining guests at this time. Please…”

“He’ll see me. Why don’t you go ask, I’ll wait,” Victoria said, interrupting the obnoxious voice before he dismissed her.

“Please wait a moment.” Victoria shook her head and stood erect on her tiptoes to try and peer through the fence. Moments later, the grating sound of the chain pulley made her jerk back as the gate slowly opened to allow them inside. Brad’s butler, the same voice from the speaker, opened the door for them. “Mr. Devereux is in the study. Follow me, please.”

“Victoria,” Brad smiled as the door opened. “Fortune smiles upon me at your presence.” He stepped from around his desk to greet her, taking her hand in his as he softly kissed her knuckles. The soft scent of caramel wafted from the man and she had a sense of why. “Always a pleasure.” His eyes then moved over to Mike and the visible smile slowly dissolved as he straightened his back. “And, Detective…”

“Rizzitello,” Mike finished.

“Yes, I remember.” Brad’s lip curled in a sneer and Mike glanced over at Victoria as he cleared his throat.

“Brad?” she said, regaining his attention. He again met her with a warm smile, all traces of his disdain vanished.

“Victoria, it’s not that I’m not thrilled to see you again, I am, over the moon; ecstatic!” he replied, his voice raising a few octaves as he spoke. “Yet, I fear you’ve caught me at a slight disadvantage. What I mean to say is, I don’t exactly know why it is you’re here.”

“Yes, I was just getting to that.”

“Please,” he offered her a seat as he again moved around his desk in front of her. Victoria watched as his hand slipped inside his top most drawer and heard the sound of a candy wrapper and smiled to herself.

“Brad, I want to apologize first for just dropping in unannounced but, I need your help.”

“Of course. As I told you before, I am at your disposal.”

“Great! That’s good to hear because what I want to ask is a little…unorthodox.” Victoria noticed the way Brad’s eyes darted to Mike’s and back to hers. He appeared to want to say something but, she quickly redirected. “It’s ok, Mike knows about me and I may have also told him about you.”

“Indeed,” Brad replied. It was the closest she’d ever come to getting an actual confession from the man about his true nature. “Well, this truly is unorthodox, as you say.”

“Trust me, it gets better,” Mike offered.

“Yes, uh…the ask,” Victoria took a breath and leaned forward. “I need you to trick me.”

“Come again? You need me to ‘trick’ you?”

“Well, I don’t exactly know what you call it.” Victoria closed her eyes briefly as she thought over the best way to explain her point. “You know about the Dawning, right?” Brad nodded and Victoria continued. “I was recently subjected to the trial and during my mental test…”

“Ah,” Brad interrupted, finally understanding. “You want me to reproduce this ‘trial’ for you, am I right?”

“Ding, ding, ding.”

“Victoria, surely you recognized how—dangerous that particular event was. So my question is why on earth would you purposely submit yourself to the will of a…” Brad again met Mike’s eyes and cleared his throat as he sucked on his Werther’s hard candy. “Why would you want to go through something so horrifying?”

“To learn how to fight it. To better my craft. That…man made me feel weak and helpless. And while I hate the idea of experiencing all of that again, I need to know how to handle it if I’m ever placed in that situation again.”

“Ah. Understood. Well, Victoria, I will do whatever I can to accommodate your educational endeavor.”

“Thank you.”

“However, there is a small favor I would ask in return.”

“And there it is!” Mike exclaimed. “I knew you weren’t the type to give without taking.”

Brad smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes and he placed his hands directly in front of him before he began speaking again. “As I was saying, Victoria, I would ask of you a small favor.”

“Of course.”

“Well, two things. You and I can work on something first thing tomorrow morning but first, I ask that you come alone,” he said, looking right in Mike’s direction. “And secondly, that you look into a small matter for me.”

“Uh…”

“I understand you are no longer with the Avondale Police Department and that you’ve opened up your very own detective agency, brava to you I say, good job on being so enterprising.”

“Thank you.”

“This matter in question is something of a personal nature and very time-sensitive.”

“Well, get me the details and I’ll get to it immediately.”

“Excellent. I knew I could count on you, Victoria.”

 “I don’t trust that guy,” Mike said as they were once again in his truck and driving back to Moonlight.

“He’s ok, Mike, really.”

“No, he’s…off. Maybe it’s the supernatural thing, I don’t know but, he really rubs me the wrong way. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

“Absolutely. If all goes as planned, he may even be able to train me for more than just tricksters. Before you know it, I’ll be a certified bad-ass.”

“You’re already certified as a bad-ass in my book. You gave me my legs back! You throw yourself head first into one scary situation after the next and never once expect a thank you. You’re a fucking witch! You conjured an apple out of thin air in the middle of my living room. It doesn’t get any more bad-ass than that.”

“I love you too, Mikey.”

He smiled over at her before turning into the parking lot of their agency. “All I’m saying is you shouldn’t trust this man. He could be up to anything. And I’m really not comfortable with you going back there alone.”

“Going back where?” Derrick asked as the two rounded the corner. He was perched outside their front door, waiting patiently for the dual detectives to return.

“Derrick,” Mike said and tossed an apologetic look towards Victoria. “Didn’t see you there.”

He waved a hello before glancing at Victoria. “Going back where?” he repeated. “No, absolutely not!” Derrick nearly shouted as he followed her into the building. She’d explained her and Mike’s meeting with Brad Devereux and as expected, Derrick was not on board; even after she pointed out the theory she had worked out.

“Well, Derrick, I guess it’s a good thing I wasn’t asking for permission.”

“Victoria…”

“No. You and Rowan had me thrown to the wolves…literally. And the only thing it taught me is that I need to ramp up my training. Derrick, I felt something in that place. Something very ancient and very evil. There is NO way I can take that on without a little wet work. ”

“Whoa, what do you mean you ‘felt’ something?”

“I don’t know, I just did. Maybe it’s similar to how you know when you’re in the presence of another supernatural person or maybe it’s nothing like that I don’t know. All I do know is whatever was there was extremely powerful, Derrick, and it scared the hell out of me. Your Elders and everyone else expects that I’ll be the one to take care of whatever is coming and in order to do that, I need to do this.”

 He thought for a moment, briefly closing his eyes as he leaned against the wall beside her. “Fine. Alright, if you’re doing this then I’m coming with.”

“Can’t. Brad wants her to come alone,” Mike inserted and Victoria shot him a look.

Derrick looked back at him and then to Victoria and shook his head vigorously. “No, hell no, abso-fucking-lutely not. Anything could happen there and you need…”

“Supervision? What am I 6?”

“Victoria, you’re talking about someone playing in your head. Not just any someone but a trickster of all demons. Do you know how many ways that can go wrong? Hell, I had worries you weren’t going to pull through the first time.”

“Thanks, Derrick, nice to have your vote of confidence.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do, Derrick, and I appreciate the concern but, I’ll be fine. I’m not exactly walking in there unarmed.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m putting a few backups in place, in the event everything doesn’t go as planned.”

“An anchor,” he replied with a sigh. “Good, that’s smart.”

“Yeah, like I said. I’m not new,” she grinned, drawing a smile from him and he caught her arm as she started for her desk.

“Hey, if at any time something feels off…”

“You’ll be the first to know,” she said pointing at her bracelet and he shook his head. “Great. Now that we have that settled, I need to ask a favor.” Derrick gave her a shrug and she continued. “Brad asked me to look into something for him and since I’ll be a little…tied up, I was hoping you could check it out with Mike?”

“Oh, so you’re too old for a babysitter but, I’m not?” Mike asked, feigning offense.

“I just want to make sure you come home in one piece. Besides, you said you didn’t like the feel of Devereux. I wouldn’t want you doing something you’re not comfortable with.”

“Uh huh…sure. So you think sticking me with the fangy one will ease those concerns?”

“Well, it’s a start, Michael Sean Rizzitello. Excuse me for not wanting to be responsible for Aria’s sorrow.”

“And yours.”

“Excuse me?”

“What? Not five minutes ago you were telling me how much you love me. Are you saying you wouldn’t be sad if I died? Especially when it’s due to investigating something for some weird ass philanthropist doing you a favor.”

“Alright, alright, I get the point. Geez. Aria better be sure she knows what she’s getting into.”

“Guilt. I learned it well from my Catholic mother,” he said with a smile.

Derrick laughed to himself watching the two argue back and forth before interrupting. “What’s the case?”

“External threat investigation,” Victoria replied.

“What does that mean?” he shrugged with a sigh.

“It means the guy apparently pissed someone off, shocker, and now that someone is fucking with him. He wants us to figure out the who and put a stop to it,” Mike explained.

“I take it you got the not-so-pleasant version of Devereux too?” Derrick asked, crossing his arms into his chest.

“I don’t think the guy likes anyone other than Victoria. She tells me you didn’t quite make his Christmas list either.”

“I’m not on many people’s Christmas lists. Comes with the fangs,” Derrick again shrugged before crossing the room to Mike’s desk. “Alright. Where do we start?”

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