Damned and Cursed (Book 2): Witch's Kurse (26 page)

"Thanks, Jack."

"Shut up."

"Okay."

Tiffany was indignant, throwing her hands in the air.

"I just can't believe my babysitter is Glinda!"

Kevin's eyes shot open at someone besides Jack using his nickname.
 
Jack leaned over and laughed so hard he had to hold himself up using his knees.
 
Kevin wondered what he'd gotten himself into as he looked back and forth between Jack and Tiffany.

"She calls me Glinda?" he asked.

"Jack always calls you Glinda when he talks about you," Tiffany explained.

"Well, you already know my real name is Kevin—"

"Why couldn't it haven't been Alex?" Tiffany asked.
 
"Alex has wings, and he's a lot cuter than Glinda."

Jack continued to roar with laughter.
 
Kevin crossed his arms, amazed that a nine-year-old was tearing into him.

"Yeah," Jack said between breaths.
 
"Glinda is a bit of a dog, isn't he?"

"I am
not
ugly," Kevin said weakly.

"Call Alex," Tiffany ordered.
 
"Or Aunt Victoria."

"I can't, Tiff.
 
Alex is in Florida.
 
Even if he wasn't, he's got a job, a wife, a new job he's working on.
 
He's a busy man.
 
Victoria's not even in the country.
 
Glinda here, he doesn't have anything happening in his life right now—"

"Alright," Kevin said.
 
"I think we all get the point."

Tiffany's head hung low as she crossed the room and gathered her backpack and homework.

"I'm gonna do my homework in my room."

"Okay, you do that," Jack said.
 
"Glinda and I have a lot to talk about."

Kevin and Jack watched Tiffany as she went upstairs.
 
They heard the door shut as she retreated to her room.

"Wow, I thought she liked you," Jack said.
 
"I guess I was wrong."

"What did I ever do to her?"

"Well, you
are
ugly."

"Hilarious, Jack."

Jack smiled.
 
"Okay, let me show you the house."

Kevin shook out of his coat and set it on the arm of the couch.
 
Jack shook his head.

"What?"

"Do you always carry your witch bullshit everywhere you go?"

"Hey.
 
Never leave home without it."

He gave Kevin the quick tour, and the witch almost felt as if he should have been taking notes.

"I'll be gone a week, maybe two at the most," Jack said.
 
"I'm not asking for much, just keep my damn daughter alive for that long.
 
Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I think I can manage."

"You'll have to take her to school, pick her up, make sure she takes her baths and gets to bed by nine."

"I don't really have a car."
 
He pointed to his coat.
 
"Magic is the way I get around.
 
You want me to drive your car?"

"You will not get near my truck.
 
You will not even look at my truck for longer than four seconds at a time."

Kevin rolled his eyes as he peered through the front window.
 
Like everything with Jack, his vehicle was a surprise.
 
He didn't have a driveway.
 
An old, beat-up pickup truck sat in front of the house by the curb.

"Your truck's older than you are.
 
I see why you don't want me looking at it.
 
It might fall apart.
 
Not even magic could fix that."

"A car will be dropped off.
 
They'll leave the keys through the mail slot."

Kevin looked to Jack, his brow furrowed.
 
"That sounds a little…shady.
 
Do I have to sign for anything?
 
Is it a rental car?"

"It's a rental."

"I don't think that's how they do things."

"It is when I own the rental company."

"Oh, okay.
 
Well, I guess when you own your own car rental company—"

"There's a full bath on each floor."
 
Jack frowned at what he had to say next.
 
"You can use the one I use, here on the first floor.
 
Tiffany has the one all to herself upstairs.
 
Just…try not to get your witch germs all over the place."

Kevin fought a smile.
 
"I'll do my best."

Jack waved around him.
 
"Everything's real simple.
 
Living room, dining room, kitchen.
 
The laundry's downstairs.
 
Follow me."

They went to the second floor.
 
Jack put a finger to his lips, signaling for quiet, and put his ear to Tiffany's door.
 
All they could hear was low music.

"She's fine," Jack said.
 
"Come this way."

Jack led Kevin to his bedroom.
 
Kevin couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as he stood in the doorway.
 
He was looking at the bedroom of a man who hadn't slept in nearly two hundred years.
 
His magic was the reason Jack's bedroom existed now.

Jack reached under the bed and pulled out a small suitcase.
 
He set it on the bed and opened it, revealing several stacks of money.
 
Kevin's eyes lit up.
 
Unease crept over him, like he was doing something wrong.
 
The only time he saw that much money sitting in a suitcase was in mobster movies, and they didn't normally end well.

"What's that?"

"Just twenty grand.
 
All small bills.
 
I figure that should be enough for you to keep things going with Tiffany while I'm gone."

"Jesus, Jack!"

Jack frowned as he sat on the bed.
 
"What?
 
Not enough?"

"Well, that depends.
 
Does Tiffany eat gold-plated Cheerios?"

"Hey, this is new for me, too, so shut your mouth.
 
I figured expenses, and you having to order food—"

"I'll just cook.
 
I don't mind.
 
It's no big deal."

"You won't be cooking in
my
kitchen."

Kevin smirked.
 
"You're still mad that I cook better than you?"

Jack eyed the witch, deep in thought.
 
"You…really
believe
that, don't you?
 
Is mental illness normal with witches?
 
I know all the witches I've killed, they were a little off—"

"Jack," Kevin said, wanting to keep him on track.
 
"I can't shove fast food into Tiffany every day while you're gone.
 
I'll need to cook."

Kevin held in laughter as he watched the pain play across his face.
 
Jack's fists opened and closed as he debated internally.

"If you fuck that kitchen up—"

"I'm not going to mess it up.
 
It's a
kitchen
.
 
And I promise, I won't make any weird potions."

Jack's eyes were full of panic.
 
"Weird potions—?"

"I'm a witch.
 
It's what I do, make potions—"

"Yeah, but not
cures
."

Kevin ignored him.
 
He was terrified of Jack when they first met, and was still leery around him.
 
But the terror was gone.

"All common household crap.
 
Don't worry.
 
Man, if you weren't cursed, you'd have fifty ulcers."

"Fine!
 
Fine.
 
Make your potions, whatever."
 
Jack let out a breath and gestured to the money.
 
"Anyway, that's also your fee.
 
Babysitters need to get paid, too.
 
Whatever's left over when I get back is yours."

He thought Jack was joking.
 
The man had an odd sense of humor and biting sarcasm.
 
Jack's face didn't twitch; there was no hint of a smile.
 
He was serious.

"Look…I'm not watching Tiffany for money."

"Oh?
 
For our strong friendship, then?
 
Our unbreakable bond?"

"It's just a favor.
 
You know what that is, right?"

Jack didn't look convinced.
 
Kevin rolled his eyes, and his gaze fell on the pocket-watch, the magical trinket he gave Jack.
 
It sat on the nightstand.

"It's just like the pocket-watch there," he said, pointing.
 
"Sometimes it's just cool to do something nice for someone."

Jack glanced back and forth between the trinket and Kevin.

"You're an idiot," he finally said.
 
"But, speaking of the pocket-watch…."

He opened a drawer on the nightstand and pulled out a check.

"What's this?" Kevin asked.

"It's a check for a million dollars.
 
I've kept it here since the first night I fell asleep.
 
Payment for the trinket.
 
It's not a cure, but I told you I'd make it worth your while."

Kevin's hand shook as he glanced over the check.
 
He looked at the dollar amount, and Jack's signature.

"A million dollars," he whispered.

"Six zeroes before the decimal, two after.
 
You can read."

"I…can't take this."

"Of course you can.
 
That pocket-watch has changed my life.
 
I figure that check will change yours.
 
We're even."

"It's not about being even."

Kevin could see Jack waiting for further explanation.
 
He didn't know what to say.
 
How did he explain the feeling of a good deed to someone like Jack?

"Is this that unbreakable bond thing again?" Jack asked.

"Just forget it."
 
He handed the check back to Jack, surprised at how difficult the action was.
 
"I don't need a million dollars."

"No one
needs
a million dollars."
 
Jack waved the check like a lure.
 
"But imagine how many cats you could buy with that much money."

"Funny."
 
Kevin was embarrassed to admit the money was tempting.
 
"Can we move on, please?"

He shrugged.
 
"Whatever.
 
I won't tear it up just yet."
 
He put the check back into the nightstand, and waved around him.
 
"Obviously, this is my bedroom.
 
You won't be sleeping in here."

"Where will I be sleeping?
 
You have a guest bedroom?"

"No.
 
But there is a couch downstairs."

Kevin frowned.
 
It'd been over a year since he'd slept on a couch, ever since Victoria gave his sister and him a house.
 
He had to admit, his own bedroom spoiled him.

"A couch?"

"Hey, buy a bed and set it up.
 
I don't care.
 
The most important thing to remember is you're not sleeping in my bed."

"Alright, I got it.
 
No sleeping in Jack's bed."

Jack grabbed a piece of luggage on wheels and went back downstairs.
 
Kevin noticed a limousine in front of the house with its lights off.

"Is he waiting for you?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, that's my ride.
 
And he'll wait for as long as I want."
 
Jack clapped his hands together.
 
"Okay, are there any questions?"

Kevin's mouth fell open.
 
He suddenly felt overwhelmed.
 
Jack's simple request of house-sitting and babysitting over the phone suddenly seemed like so much more.

"Uh, yeah, just a few."

"Of course you do," Jack said with a sigh.
 
"What?"

"Where are you going?"

"That's my business.
 
Not yours."

"I'm just thinking about like an emergency contact number or something.
 
A hotel or whatever."

"You are one of five people that have my personal cell number.
 
That's
your emergency contact."

Kevin smiled.
 
He felt like he was a part of a special group.

"Really?
 
One of five?"

"Don't let it go to your head."

"No, no.
 
Listen, about Tiffany…how much does she know?
 
She does run around school bragging about how her father can't die, and she knows a witch?"

Jack's shoulders slumped as he sat on the arm of the couch.
 
He looked up at the stairs.
 
In that moment, Kevin could see how much Jack cared about Tiffany, and how protective he was of her.

Tiffany had seen Jack and his circle of supernatural acquaintances in action one time before.
 
She'd seen demons, a vampire, whatever it was Alex was.
 
She'd even seen Kevin throwing potions to the ground.
 
He hoped she didn't truly understand what she saw, and that it didn't scar the child.
 
The last thing he wanted to do was talk about witchcraft if she didn't know it was real.

"She doesn't know much.
 
The only thing that really sticks out in her mind is Alex.
 
I guess it's kind of hard to forget about demon wings.
 
And of course, how cute he is.
 
She doesn't know about the rest of us.
 
I'd like to keep it that way, so please, no magic talk.
 
She…still has nightmares sometimes."