Cursed: Out of Ash and Flame by E.C. Farrell (epub e ink reader .txt) 📕

what I mean.” I drop my voice lower. “Have you ever used it like your mom? Used it to do something bad enough for there to be a bounty on your head?”

Max extends his fingers, rubbing his palms on his jeans. “I thought you said it wasn’t your business.”

“Max.”

“Never,” he says softly, gaze still intent on Iris, pupils dilated. “I saw what her magic did to people, to the ones she brought home, and ... I never wanted to be like that.”

I swallow, temples pounding. “And were you using them on me last night?”

Max lets out a slow sigh and meets my gaze as he says, “I don’t know if you’ll believe this or not, but no. No, I wasn’t.”

Squeezing my eyes shut for a single moment, I gulp down air and force my brain into emergency strategy mode. If I’m going to do this, I have to play it smart, lay the groundwork for a good lie. The pieces click into place quickly.

I dig my hand into a pocket and grab my keys. “Hold on.” Raising my voice so Iris can hear me, I say “I’m going to need confirmation you are who you say you are.”

“Excuse me?” Iris’ face hardens.

“ID, please.” I fold my arms over my chest and cock out a hip with a confidence I don’t feel. “We’ve had an eventful few days, got attacked on the way here and shifters are everywhere. Not to mention the fact that there’s been all sorts of trouble with this bounty. Wouldn’t want to give him up to a rival hunter on accident. As a Tribunal Member, surely you would understand the need for caution.”

“How dare you waste my time?” Iris sneers. “I’ve been waiting for this bounty for years. Give him to me now.”

Good enough.

Teeth set, I force the shield at Iris, knocking her backward as I drag Max toward the car. The second his door shuts, I slam on the gas, speeding down the road and out of Memphis. This will almost definitely get me kicked out of the guild, but this is one contract I can’t honor. Not if Max is innocent.

9.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Max asks, mashing the bottoms of his shoes into the floorboard to brace himself.

“Going to find some barbecue, I hear Memphis is pretty famous for it.”

“Fee...” Max draws out my name slowly.

I run a red light. “What does it look like?”

“Auditioning for the next Fast and Furious movie? What number are we on now? 27?”

Freaked or not, I laugh, making a sharp right turn away from the Tribunal Building. “That would probably end better than this is going to. Yaritza is going to kill me ... then let me come back and kill me again until the end of time. Like in that earth myth with what’s-his-name? Prometheus?”

Max makes a choking sound in his throat and grips the door handle. “You’re breaking the contract?”

“Don’t make me regret it, water spirit.” The steering wheel slides through my hands. “Or at least not any more than I already do.”

“Hold on.” Max shakes his head. “Why? What made you change your mind?”

“Let’s have that conversation later. Right now, I need to know what happened to your mom’s boyfriend, Joel.”

Screwing up his face, Max shrugs. “I have no idea. She kept him around for a few years and then one morning he was just gone. That was pretty normal. Most of her boyfriends left without a goodbye eventually. I didn’t really think about it. Other than being bummed out because he was one of the cooler guys she’d brought home.”

That followed, considering he’d gone missing. Does that mean Max’s mom killed him? My insides tumble uncomfortably. It’s an ugly question, but why else would he have disappeared? Did Max’s mom feed off the energy of her victims? Did she kill them?

The article Hank sent might have more answers. As soon as we can stop, I’ll be able to read it. Then do my own research.

“And her boyfriends all just disappeared like that?” I ask veering around a slow driver.

Max’s brows pinch together, and he rubs the back of his neck. “I mean, I never heard from any of them again.” He swallows so the tendons along his jaw stand out. “Is it Joel’s family who’s after me?”

I nod. “Iris. She’s his sister apparently.”

Max blinks rapidly as if this will help him process better.

“I had Hank look into it when we were at the rest stop.” I speed back on to I-55, dragging my lower lip through my teeth, gathering my scattered thoughts into something semi-cohesive. “What he found was enough to convince me you’ve been telling the truth. We need to figure out what happened to your mom’s boyfriends. Which means we may need to try and talk to her.”

Groaning quietly, Max mashes his palms into his eyes.

A corner of my mouth hooks into a grimace. “I know you don’t have an awesome relationship with her, and believe me, I get it, but that might be the only way to clear your name. Unless you have a better idea about where to start?”

“It’s not that,” Max says. “It’s that I have no idea where she is or how to get in contact with her. We haven’t seen each other in four years. Plus, she’s always on the move and ditches her phone whenever she ...” He trails as color ebbs out of his face.

Green tinges his skin.

“What? Did you think of something?”

Breathing in slowly through his nose, then out through his mouth, Max drops his head onto a fist. “I always knew something was weird about the way my mom’s boyfriends just vanished, and that we never stayed in the same place for long, but I guess I never really let myself think about why. Which makes me sound like the biggest moron who’s ever existed.”

I suck in my lower lip, then let it pop out again when I find the words I want. “You probably did realize what was happening, but you were just