Death at First Sight (Spero Heights Book 2) Read online

  Dr. Delph watched her a moment, his eyes more perceptive than they had any right to be. “Do you need more time?” he asked, nodding down at the bag in her hands.

  “Yes.” She shook her head, clearing her suspicious mind. “Just five more minutes,” she said, turning for the bathroom.

  “Take your time.”

  Dr. Delph folded his hands behind his back and waited by the door, while Lia quickly brushed her hair and teeth and slicked on some deodorant. It felt weird on her skin. Saunders never bought it for her. She didn’t need to smell fancy for him, he’d say, as if he was doing her a favor by reducing her daily hygiene ritual.

  It was hard to push him out of her mind. He had been the master of her universe for so long. She’d come to rely on the routine they’d established. She knew her lines and what came next. Now what was she supposed to do?

  Every decision that she had to make on her own was terrifying, like her life was an endless madhouse of door A and door B choices. At any moment, she felt like she’d choose the wrong one and fall to her death. Why had she crawled through that hole in the apartment floor and ruined everything?

  Dr. Delph smiled and gave her a once-over when she opened the bathroom door. “I hope you don’t mind the dress, but it’s such a lovely day outside. I thought jeans would be too warm for you.”

  “It’s fine.” Lia tried to smile, but the expression felt awkward on her face. It wasn’t something she was used to doing often.

  Dr. Delph opened the door to the room and motioned her through ahead of him. Lia froze at the threshold and glanced up and down the hall. It was empty.

  “Were you expecting someone?” Dr. Delph asked.

  Lia frowned at him, waiting for his telepathy to kick in.

  “You won’t find any bodybuilding man nurses around here. I’m afraid it’s just me—and a few staff members who take care of the cooking and cleaning.” Dr. Delph nodded down the hallway, inviting her to walk with him toward a pair of double doors at the end. “I’m not in the habit of holding people against their will. Most of my patients check themselves in, and many of them only stay for a few months.”

  “Where do you transfer them?” Lia asked.

  “Transfer?” Dr. Delph blinked. “Nowhere. They usually find work in town and move into one of the surrounding neighborhoods, once they’ve saved enough money.”

  “You cure them?” Lia raised an eyebrow. “All of them?”

  Dr. Delph blew out a long, slow breath. “The only thing many of them needed cured was the way they viewed themselves and their place in the world."

  He stopped in front of the double doors, and Lia lifted a hand up to shield her face from the sunlight streaming through the glass. Her eyes burned from the intensity of it, and her head began to throb again.

  Dr. Delph opened a door along the interior wall of the hallway and pulled a floppy, blue sunhat off a shelf. He set it on her head, and then gently tucked her hair behind her ears. “We’ll stop at the pharmacy first and pick up some ibuprofen.”

  “You’re joking, right?” Lia remembered when Saunders had tried to pacify her with over-the-counter meds. That was before he started rationing them out. He’d left a bottle of acetaminophen in her cupboard. She’d taken them all and spent the rest of the day puking blood. When Saunders showed up the next morning, he was pissed. It was the one time he had hit her.

  Dr. Delph’s hand found hers and squeezed. “You haven’t given me permission to access your medical records or run any tests, so I cannot in good conscience prescribe anything stronger. But—” he added, seeing her dismay, “I’m very well versed in holistic treatments. The best cup of peppermint tea, among other delights, await us.”

  “Peppermint tea?” Lia was skeptical.

  Dr. Delph shrugged and offered her his arm. “What can it hurt?”

  She wondered that herself as she timidly slipped her hand under his arm and rested it on his bicep. Her heart hammered out a foreign tune as she swallowed her fear. Then Dr. Delph opened one of the double doors, and they stepped out into the world.

  Chapter Fourteen

  On the opposite side of Caveat Road, the colossal backside of the Spero Heights Community Center faced Orpheus House. Both buildings took up two full blocks, but the center was significantly larger. The three levels were stacked atop an underground parking garage, leaving only a strip of curbside grass and a narrow sidewalk around the perimeter, whereas Orpheus House was only a single level, sitting far away from the road, surrounded by empty parking lot and overgrown grass.

  The public library claimed the block to the west of the community center, and as they passed it, Lia’s grip tightened on Dr. Delph’s arm. He could hear voices up ahead, and the frantic noise in Lia’s mind told him that she was not looking forward to a crowd.

  “It’s okay.” He patted her hand and slowed his pace. “I promise, these are good people, and no one is going to dig into your past.”

  She snorted. “You mean, no one except you.”

  “Precisely.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “They trust my judgement here. You should too.” He believed that himself most days, before the Fates’ absence had put a chink in his mental armor. But that wasn’t Lia’s concern. She had her own problems to work through, and his self-doubt wasn’t going to help matters.

  When they reached Fanfare Road at the southwest corner of town square, Lia sucked in a sharp breath and pushed the sunhat down further over her head with her free hand.

  A dozen people lounged around the pavilion, some clapping along as a man played guitar. A dog chased a Frisbee across the lawn where Dr. Delph had been practicing yoga that morning, and a small child, too young for school, giggled and splashed in a bubbling fountain. Her mother watched from a bench next to the rose garden, fanning herself with one of the bright fliers from Say Cheese, the gift shop and deli next door to the cheese factory.

  Dr. Delph stole a glance at Lia before following her bewildered look back to the playing child. The girl’s human legs stopped just below the knees, and hairy goat hooves finished her off, clicking gleefully on the concrete as she splashed through the water.

  “It’s not polite to stare,” Dr. Delph said under his breath.

  Lia didn’t even blink. “How is that possible?”

  “I don’t make the rules of polite society. I just follow them.”

  “No, I mean—”

  “I know. I know,” Dr. Delph whispered, directing her down the sidewalk that curled around the community center. “I told you, unique circumstances. This town is full of them.”

  A circular court cut into the front face of the community center, sandwiched between two entrances to the parking garage. It was deserted most of the year. A banner leftover from the Cheese Festival hung above the glass doors that led inside to a central office where a nice skin-walker named Robin ran the place.

  The building’s first level boasted an indoor pool, arcade, and a banquet hall. The remaining two floors consisted of hotel rooms—though they were only used during the festival, when Robin hired a handful of the teens on break to help keep up with the chores.

  At Monroe Street, Dr. Delph pointed Lia left, up the east side of the square. Her breath was growing heavy, and he felt a tug of guilt when he remembered that she wasn’t used to even the mildest forms of physical exertion, being cooped up for as long as she’d been.

  They paused briefly at the tiny pharmacy next door to the post office, just long enough to dash inside and buy a bottle of mild painkillers. Lia took two before they left, washing them down with a sip from a public water fountain. Then they continued north on Monroe.

  “We’ll stop again just up here,” Dr. Delph assured Lia, pointing across the square to Nightshade and Morning Glory.

  Ben’s shop looked like it was in the process of being swallowed by Mother Nature. Vines overflowed from his rooftop garden, making the old brick building look a bit like an unraveled ball of green yarn. Dr. Delph could see Ben in the attached greenhouse, tendi
ng to his produce, as he and Lia walked around the side of the building.

  “Good morning,” he called out, waving them inside the greenhouse with the end of his cane. A basket of fresh herbs hung over his opposite arm. He turned and led them through an open door and into the main building. “I was hoping you’d stop by,” he said, more to Lia than to Dr. Delph. “I like to give all the Spero Heights newcomers a town-warming gift basket.”

  “I’m not—I just—really you don’t—” Lia stammered. She looked up at Dr. Delph nervously.

  “She’s undecided. Today’s just the tour,” he said casually, running his fingers down the back of her arm. He couldn’t seem to stop touching her, but she wasn’t complaining. He considered stealing a quick glance at her thoughts, but he was too anxious about what he might find, so he refrained.

  Ben shrugged and pulled a basket out from behind the checkout counter. “Take it anyway,” he said. “Could be something you need in there.” He winked at Lia and slid the basket toward her. Then he hefted his basket of herbs up onto a stool behind the register.

  “Thank you,” Lia said, timidly looping the gift basket over her arm.

  Ben nodded. “Take a look around the store while I fix some tea. Do you have a preference?” he asked, fingering through the fresh herbs.

  “Peppermint,” Dr. Delph answered. “Lia suffers from migraines.” He left it at that, especially seeing the way she tensed as he shared the slightest detail about her.

  Ben separated out a few bundles of leaves with his knobby fingers before making his way over to a small sink beside a wood stove. He filled a kettle and put it on a burner before setting to work rinsing the herbs.

  Dr. Delph nudged Lia around the shop, encouraging her to take in the rare goods. There was a display case full of gems and crystals, and endless wicker baskets full of pungent incense and bundles of dried herbs. Ben’s store also had a library that rivaled Dr. Delph’s own collection, though the old gnome was less finicky about the condition of his shelves. The volumes were arranged without rhyme or reason, some haphazardly stacked on their sides to fill a tight space. A fluffy white cat lay across a high shelf, swishing its tail lazily as Lia stopped to pet it.

  When the tea was ready, Ben waved them over to a small table just beyond a parted curtain. He groaned as he sat down.

  Dr. Delph pulled out a chair for Lia before seating himself. “No new prospects on the room rental?” he asked.

  “None.” Ben sighed. “First the palm reader split, and then the crystal ball gazer insisted she had to answer to a grander calling out in Hollywood.” He rolled his eyes. “Let me tell you, subletting to amateur psychics is not for the faint of heart.”

  Lia raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as she took the cup of tea Ben offered. Her eyebrow rose again after taking her first drink.

  “This is really good,” she said, glancing down at the floating leaves in her cup. Dr. Delph sipped at his own tea and nodded in agreement.

  Ben waved off the compliments and then slapped a hand against a wood-paneled wall of the small room. “I might just set it up as another herb drying station,” he said, his bushy brows crinkling thoughtfully. “And I may need an extra set of hands, especially if Selena continues to need my help with the pups.”

  “How did they do for you last night?” Dr. Delph asked, setting his teacup down on the table.

  “Oh, they were wonderful.” Ben beamed, looking every bit a doting grandfather. “And Selena made me an apple pie,” he whispered with a comic note in his voice. “Did you know she could bake?”

  Dr. Delph chuckled. “She just doesn’t like to. Consider yourself lucky.”

  “I do. That pie was delicious.” Ben pressed a hand to the side of his belly. “I ate the whole thing!”

  “She makes a decent green bean casserole too,” Dr. Delph said, remembering their dinner from the night before.

  Lia gave him a strange look, but she didn’t say anything until after they had finished their tea and said goodbye to Ben. Once they were moving down the sidewalk again, her hand tucked under his arm, she took a deep breath and glanced up at him.

  “So your wife is a dog breeder?”

  Dr. Delph nearly tripped over the curb. “Excuse me?”

  “Selena, was it? The one with the pups.” She looked uncomfortable bringing it up.

  Dr. Delph shook with laughter. “Selena is as far from being my wife as a woman can get.”

  Lia blushed. “But she cooks for you?”

  “Not out of affection, I can assure you. We’re both on the city council, and we occasionally have meetings over dinner,” he explained. “And the pups are baby werewolves, like Selena. She adopted them.” He left off the more sensitive details of the situation. No need to expose her to the ugly side of Spero Heights just yet. She looked like she was having enough trouble accepting anything more supernatural than she was.

  They stopped in front of Say Cheese, and a bell above the door jingled as they stepped inside. A wall partitioned off the gift shop section, but the small deli was crammed with tourist trinkets too. While they waited in line behind another couple, Dr. Delph fingered through a rack of postcards until he found one with an aerial picture of the town.

  Lia leaned in closer to him to take a look, the flowery scent of her hair momentarily smothering out the smell of fresh bread and sharp cheese. When she glanced up and caught him staring at her, he nodded toward the posted menu on the wall behind the counter.

  “Order whatever you like. My treat.”

  Lia bit her lip. “I haven’t ordered anything from a restaurant since I was a kid. Before… before.” Her face hardened at his pitying frown. “But sometimes… he brought me leftover Chinese or pizza.”

  Saunders. Lia didn’t have to say his name. Dr. Delph had caught it enough times, flitting through her thoughts, tinged with panic and despair. That bastard needed to be taught a lesson, and he had half a mind to track him down and play teacher.

  If Graham returned—when Graham returned, he would talk to the vampire about what could be done. He couldn’t send Selena. She was Spero Heights’ first defense, and she had her hands full with the twins. This was definitely a Graham request.

  “Can I take your order?” a cheerful young man behind the counter asked. Dr. Delph recognized him as the human son of a warlock he’d treated two years back.

  Not all of Spero Heights’ residents were supernatural, though the few humans accepted into the community were usually tagalongs with some close connection to a supernatural in need.

  Lia chewed her bottom lip again and turned her eyes up at Dr. Delph. He smiled and pressed his hand over hers where it rested on the swell of his arm.

  “We’ll take the variety sampler plate and two lemonades,” he said.

  “You got it, Dr. D.”

  The deli only held three booths and two mismatched tables. The larger one seated six and it filled the center of the dining area. Dr. Delph led Lia to the smaller table set for two under the front window.

  Lia took off her sun hat and tucked it inside the gift basket Ben had given her before setting it under the table. She shot a nervous glance out at the street and the town square beyond as she sat down.

  Dr. Delph followed her gaze. “We can sit in one of the booths if you’d prefer,” he said.

  “No.” Lia gave him a small smile. “It’s fine.”

  He reached across the table and took her hand. “You know you’re safe here, right?”

  A painful expression creased Lia’s face, but then it slipped away beneath a guarded façade. It happened so fast, Dr. Delph didn’t have time to search her thoughts. It seemed to distress her when he did, so he’d forced himself to refrain. He was beginning to wonder how normal people suffered the constant secrecy, and he sent up silent gratitude to the Fates for not stripping him of that gift as well.

  Lia’s eyes drifted back to the window, and Dr. Delph gave in to temptation, reaching into her mind with abandon.

  …I’ll nev
er be safe. He’ll hunt me down like an animal, and he’ll kill anyone in his path… I should leave before it’s too late… But where am I supposed to go? Mom probably thinks I’m dead, and she hates me anyway… I don’t have any money, and I can’t take on a legitimate job without leaving Saunders a paper trail… I should just walk out into traffic and end this now. Everyone would be better off—

  “Don’t.” Dr. Delph squeezed her hand tighter. “Don’t even think that. There’s more than enough work here in Spero Heights, and plenty of it is under the table.”

  Lia gave him a cross look and withdrew her hand. Red splotches tinted her cheeks. “Would you stop that,” she hissed under her breath. “I can think whatever I want. It doesn’t mean I’m going to actually do anything that stupid.”

  An uncomfortable silence settled between them, and before Dr. Delph retracted from Lia’s mind, he caught a second, vague undertone of guilt and indecision. Those thoughts were more guarded, and he knew she wouldn’t give them up without a fight. She needed space and time.

  “Do a lot of people come for the Cheese Festival?” Lia asked. He could tell she was trying to keep his probing at bay.

  Dr. Delph smiled, pleased with the change of subject. “Yes. It’s quite the ordeal. We just celebrated the festival’s ten-year anniversary, and it drew over eight thousand. But it’s just for one weekend a year,” he quickly added, seeing her growing anxiety. “Many of Spero Heights’ more special residents stay in or travel to visit family during the festival.”

  “Oh.” Lia glanced across the dining room to where the couple who had been in front of them in line sat in a booth, feeding each other bits of cheese and grapes.

  “Sorceress and werewolf,” he answered without having to read her thoughts. The look on her face told him she didn’t quite believe that, but then her expression shifted with revelation.

  “She was a werewolf,” Lia whispered.