Dead Man (Black Magic Outlaw Book 1) by Domino Finn
Authors: Domino Finn
Tags: Suspense, Literature & Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction, Vampires, Contemporary Fiction, Sword & Sorcery, Paranormal & Urban, Superhero, Thrillers & Suspense, Vigilante Justice
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she'd get you into trouble."
"Skip the speech," I warned. "I need answers, not more lectures on spellcraft."
"Why not? Because I'm right? I told you not to play around with that stuff since day one. Remember in school when you used to draw pentagrams and listen to death metal and wear all black?"
"That was just a phase," I said, slightly embarrassed.
"It was black magic, Cisco. Once you started playing with roadkill, you officially lost the right to call it a phase."
"That's different. The early stuff was teenager bullshit. I was a kid, man. But practicing was real. It's not devil magic, and it surprisingly doesn't dictate your choices in music."
Evan scoffed. "Make jokes all you want. Nobody liked it. Nobody liked you hooking up with Martine either."
I rolled my eyes. "Jesus, you sound like Emily now."
He stopped short and jutted his chin out. Whatever my girlfriend believed, Evan knew it wasn't true. My friend shook his head and took a measured breath. "Cisco, the point is that nobody thought what you were doing was safe. You need to own that."
Normally I would've snapped at him for the self-righteous act, but Em was still on my mind. Four years together. Out of my reach now. The last thing I wanted was to put her in danger.
Evan frowned. He hadn't liked Emily a whole lot at first, but I think that was because he thought she broke our crew up. After he got to know her, he understood why I was into her. Beautiful, Australian, she had a lot of experience traveling and knew about varied cultures. Both of us shunned higher education as useless. Maybe it works for other people, but for us it felt like thirteenth and fourteenth grade. One step above day care. We stopped focusing on class and focused on each other, always talking about traveling the world.
"Milena said she's happy now," I chanced.
Evan raised an eyebrow. I wasn't even sure he knew who Milena was. My friend rubbed the back of his head and winced. "Look," he said weakly, "I'm not gonna hide this from you. You're my friend, and I'm just gonna be upfront about this, even if it hurts. Okay?"
My heart stopped.
Evan said, "Emily's my wife now."
Chapter 16
"That's a bad joke," I said to my best friend.
Evan Cross shrugged firmly. "You were gone five years, brother. Emily went out with a couple different guys in that span, real douche bags if you ask me. I always looked out for her, though. You know that. Next thing you know, both of us are single, commiserating, and—"
"I get the picture," I snapped, before he finished the thought. Milena had said Emily was married, but she left out the part about it being to my best friend. I was stunned.
"I... This... How..." I fell back into my seat.
"I'm really sorry to tell you that," he said. "There was a small part of me that thought, if you knew, you'd be happy for us." The bastard even sounded sincere.
Look, I know ten years is a long time. If they held out for five, they weren't dancing on my grave or anything. And I truly couldn't blame Emily for moving on. But with my best friend? It felt unnecessary. Like I'd lost both of them in one fell blow. Life was throwing me yet another beating. Cisco Suarez, the dead horse.
"Let's just change the subject," I said, trying to outpace my self-loathing. "Onward, not backward."
Evan Cross nodded and sat back, but he wasn't relaxed. His jaw was tight. His shoulders were tense. Mine were too. I avoided eye contact as much as possible.
"Look at you," I said in a lighter tone, trying to be happy for him. He was my friend, damn it. "You got your own office. The nameplate on the door says Lieutenant. You've done okay."
He nodded. "I command my own unit. The DROP Team."
"DROP?"
"As in DROP the bad guys."
"Maybe you should DROP the acronym."
His face went sour but he shook it off. "District Risk Overview and Prevention. Miami's divided into five districts, with five city commissioners. This gig's a political appointment."
"Sounds kinda like you have
"Skip the speech," I warned. "I need answers, not more lectures on spellcraft."
"Why not? Because I'm right? I told you not to play around with that stuff since day one. Remember in school when you used to draw pentagrams and listen to death metal and wear all black?"
"That was just a phase," I said, slightly embarrassed.
"It was black magic, Cisco. Once you started playing with roadkill, you officially lost the right to call it a phase."
"That's different. The early stuff was teenager bullshit. I was a kid, man. But practicing was real. It's not devil magic, and it surprisingly doesn't dictate your choices in music."
Evan scoffed. "Make jokes all you want. Nobody liked it. Nobody liked you hooking up with Martine either."
I rolled my eyes. "Jesus, you sound like Emily now."
He stopped short and jutted his chin out. Whatever my girlfriend believed, Evan knew it wasn't true. My friend shook his head and took a measured breath. "Cisco, the point is that nobody thought what you were doing was safe. You need to own that."
Normally I would've snapped at him for the self-righteous act, but Em was still on my mind. Four years together. Out of my reach now. The last thing I wanted was to put her in danger.
Evan frowned. He hadn't liked Emily a whole lot at first, but I think that was because he thought she broke our crew up. After he got to know her, he understood why I was into her. Beautiful, Australian, she had a lot of experience traveling and knew about varied cultures. Both of us shunned higher education as useless. Maybe it works for other people, but for us it felt like thirteenth and fourteenth grade. One step above day care. We stopped focusing on class and focused on each other, always talking about traveling the world.
"Milena said she's happy now," I chanced.
Evan raised an eyebrow. I wasn't even sure he knew who Milena was. My friend rubbed the back of his head and winced. "Look," he said weakly, "I'm not gonna hide this from you. You're my friend, and I'm just gonna be upfront about this, even if it hurts. Okay?"
My heart stopped.
Evan said, "Emily's my wife now."
Chapter 16
"That's a bad joke," I said to my best friend.
Evan Cross shrugged firmly. "You were gone five years, brother. Emily went out with a couple different guys in that span, real douche bags if you ask me. I always looked out for her, though. You know that. Next thing you know, both of us are single, commiserating, and—"
"I get the picture," I snapped, before he finished the thought. Milena had said Emily was married, but she left out the part about it being to my best friend. I was stunned.
"I... This... How..." I fell back into my seat.
"I'm really sorry to tell you that," he said. "There was a small part of me that thought, if you knew, you'd be happy for us." The bastard even sounded sincere.
Look, I know ten years is a long time. If they held out for five, they weren't dancing on my grave or anything. And I truly couldn't blame Emily for moving on. But with my best friend? It felt unnecessary. Like I'd lost both of them in one fell blow. Life was throwing me yet another beating. Cisco Suarez, the dead horse.
"Let's just change the subject," I said, trying to outpace my self-loathing. "Onward, not backward."
Evan Cross nodded and sat back, but he wasn't relaxed. His jaw was tight. His shoulders were tense. Mine were too. I avoided eye contact as much as possible.
"Look at you," I said in a lighter tone, trying to be happy for him. He was my friend, damn it. "You got your own office. The nameplate on the door says Lieutenant. You've done okay."
He nodded. "I command my own unit. The DROP Team."
"DROP?"
"As in DROP the bad guys."
"Maybe you should DROP the acronym."
His face went sour but he shook it off. "District Risk Overview and Prevention. Miami's divided into five districts, with five city commissioners. This gig's a political appointment."
"Sounds kinda like you have
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