Enacting Revenge Read online

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  After surviving the roller coaster of events lately along with the pressure of angels asking her to save the world, Soraya Devil has decided to use the upcoming tribunal as a chance to cut loose, as she’s in desperate need for some spring break type fun. Meaning she plans to drink too much, make some bad decisions, and have lots of sex… Even for her.

  A lot goes into swinging such an event, and she adds her normal flair to it all while still being annoyed with the investigation of a human murderer trying to frame supes for the kills. With this new wave of anti-supe sentiment, she and the coven are nervous that Chicago is becoming a place they don’t recognize.

  But trouble of a dangerous sort decides to rear its ugly head at the worst time possible and risk the life of someone she cherishes. It explains her recent feelings of doom and gloom, though the question still remains—will she be enough to stop what’s coming?

  The Enchantress is a fast paced ride of sexy fun while balancing the needs of her coven, police investigations, work, supes, and the world that wants so much from her and still trying to move on from the past to find the love we all deserve.

  1

  “Not a shifter kill,” I declared early Monday morning to the chief of police and mayor. I held up my hand to hold off the array of comments I was sure to come, gesturing to what they were seeing after I put my spell down. “The chi is all the same color, and as you have all walked around here and aren’t supes, there is no way for this to be a shifter kill. Sorry to disappoint some of you who hate us, but this one was done by a human as well.”

  “Assuming we can trust you,” one of the cops grumbled.

  I smirked at him. “Oh, don’t pout, darling, you’re too old for that, and I say that as someone who sees you as a child.” I made appear what I’d had ready and walked over to him. “Those are our numbers across the country for the past five years and how many shifters crimes we’ve been in on the investigations and helped catch. I don’t give a shit what someone is. I care if they’re bad people.” I sneered when I saw his aura. “Try it.”

  “Try what?” he asked, glancing from the printout to me.

  “Try caring who the person is and not what they are.” I waved him quiet. “Child, I can see your aura. You cannot lie to me.” I focused on the mayor. “I hate to be rude, Mr. Mayor, but I do have other pressing matters, as I informed your office and filed the notice I’ll be activating the barrier this week.”

  “What’s more important than a murder?” the chief of police demanded.

  I gave him a bored look, done with his attitude too. “Global politics. Unlike humans, country borders don’t always stop us from getting involved, as we all share the planet. A shifter leader in Russia was misbehaving, so we’ll be holding a tribunal to decide his fate.” I moved closer and got in his face. “Because we do punish our own. If a shifter or shifters were doing these killings, I would nail their ass to the wall.

  “But they’re not. Someone is playing you, or there’s something else going on here. I’d start with your fellow supe hating friends. I smell someone trying to spin a conspiracy like this is a regular thing the public will just find out about or some other nonsense. Either way, I made the call. You have a human who killed a human and left some damn fur. Even you should be smart enough to handle that. Hopefully.”

  I gave him a look like I wasn’t sure and popped back to the coven. We were up to the third murder in five days that had been made to look like a shifter had done it… Except the people doing it were stupid. Then again, so were a lot of people when scared.

  Luckily, the news was full at the moment, constantly reporting on the missing plane that had been carrying several prominent US government officials on their way to their vacation. There were a few other national stories that had been all over the news as well, so a few murders in Chicago hadn’t made anyone’s radar.

  So far.

  I arrived at the party room the coven had, which was tribunal central at the moment. I headed over to Helen, Jerome, and Keegan who were handling what we needed, Hunt helping along with Tanesha since they had the shifter perspective that would be beneficial.

  “I agree,” Tanesha said, seeming to harmonize with Helen. “Keep the gift baskets themed. They get an essentials basket when they arrive, everything they could have forgotten from the stores, from extra toothbrushes to fancy whatever, and maybe a candle to help them sleep, as they’re not home if they want. Then the next day have a basket for everything tea or snacks.

  “The next day give them an array of sprays. Let them find stuff they didn’t even know you had. They’re elders, they don’t just run errands and browse the stores. Give them that. If you want to spoil them, give them that, and they can give whatever they don’t want to those in their entourage because they always have an entourage.”

  “I go solo all the time,” I teased her, winking when the others chuckled. “I like the idea.” I listened as they floated a few others, but Tanesha’s sounded the most logical, and they wouldn’t expect it, so we agreed to handle it that way. “What’s next?”

  “Food,” Helen answered, nodding to follow her. I did, and we stopped at a few tables full of nummies, which worked since I’d gotten the call before having breakfast. She chuckled when I plopped down and started eating. “That array is from one of the food trucks we are planning on hiring. We decided for breakfast we’re going to order an array of everything from the dozen bakeries we got samples from.”

  “But then we thought that was falling flat,” Keegan said as he sat down too, grabbing one of the coffees sitting in the trays. “So we thought that the huge party room there has a very large terrace. We bring in the trucks, and people can get some fresh morning air before court. Have tables outsides as well as the ones inside, whatever people want. Their entourages can eat after the elders are busy and send them back.”

  I nodded as he handed me a tablet with images of the ones they were thinking of. All of them were sharp looking, fun options from the donut truck to the espresso and coffee drinks one that was painted like a cup of coffee, and several hearty ones. For sure I voted for whichever I was currently eating from, as it was delicious.

  “How many have we confirmed?” I asked.

  “Thirty-two,” Helen told me, nodding when I winced. That would put us close to max capacity at The Resort with all they normally brought in their entourages. “Five have sent their regrets and have valid reasons, so it’s not a snub. They wanted that made clear so there was no risk they didn’t get asked next time.”

  “So what
do we have confirmed for breakfast Wednesday through brunch Sunday?” I looked at Helen. “They’ve confirmed they’re coming here Wednesday morning and we’ll start the trial while their people get settled?”

  “Yes, they all agreed they know the procedure. We have a schedule of who is being picked up when. They’ve all agreed to the show of arriving and then we will bring them to The Resort.” She waited until I nodded. “We were also very clear that there could not be any humans in their parties, as your date wasn’t someone humans could look upon. To say that interested them would be an understatement.”

  “Nicely played,” I chuckled, shaking my head when she smirked. Yeah, nice to lead up with that one, but it was true. Plus, Brax wasn’t as awesome if he had to tone down his angel goodness.

  “So we have all of breakfast covered, and we plan on one super fun truck each day,” Keegan said, turning the conversation back. “Donuts Wednesday because they can take a bunch into court. We’ve got crepes and French Toast and—it’s covered if you approve.”

  “Do it,” I agreed, already on my next plate from wherever. “This is fantastic. Wherever this truck is from, see if they’ll do once a month too so we can give the kitchen staff off once in a while. They’ve been working too hard, and we’ve not hired any more but added to the coven.”

  Helen nodded as Keegan took down notes. “Upon arriving, they will be given several menu cards. Wednesday will be soba for lunch from your new friend who is making—”

  “Wait, just soba?” Tanesha asked quietly, giving a worried look.

  I waved off the others, knowing what was missing. “We don’t stop court for lunch. Think of boxed lunches brought in and a working lunch. It helps get us to the fun earlier, which is really why they come.”

  She and Hunt nodded, and Helen continued.

  “He will make for the elders and then more for everyone else,” Helen said. “Along with tuna salad sandwiches with the tuna you’re going to get. They will let us know how much of both, but we will have extras ready, as it’s the first day. Court ends at three-thirty, and a proper English tea with repast will be delivered to their rooms at four.”

  “With security this time,” I reminded her, glancing at Tanesha. “If you could get with people and make that happen since you’ll be watching the kids.”

  “Why does security need to deliver tea and cucumber sandwiches?” she asked, frowning.

  “Last time someone thought the one delivering it was part of the package,” Helen grumbled. “They thought it was tea and a hooker basically, which I’ve never heard of before.”

  I blinked at her with big eyes. “But you promised in room services!”

  “Gods, what an asshole,” she bitched, shaking her head at the excuse we’d gotten. “Maybe we get more security given so many are coming.”

  “The problem is they answer to their elders,” I reminded her.

  She shrugged. “We don’t send cats to cat elders and whatnot. Tanesha and her pride are more loyal to you than a random elf elder. So we get a few different types.”

  “Good, smart. What’s next?”

  “Sushi and more sushi from the huge tunas you’re going to get. They’re sending several people to make a pre-dinner show of it that we have on the schedule.” She slid over a tablet. “That’s what we have so far including performances. They’re not doing huge, full sets, and with the stage lights blinding them already, Brax didn’t seem worried, but he will be careful.”

  “Yeah, hire more security,” I agreed. “Whoever we can get. This is a huge juggling act, and I want people focused on their tasks, not trying to cover multiple roles and wearing too many hats.” I checked out the schedule, nodding at what I saw. Things were well spaced out, so like we were also having sushi burritos one lunch but not the day after sushi dinner. There weren’t sandwiches every day and whatnot.

  There were too many gaps though, which worried me.

  “I know an awesome shawarma street food vendor that could do one of the lunches, and building on your food truck ideas, get some from New England for one lunch. Lobster rolls are always a hit. How about some Brazilian steakhouses for this dinner after the baked pasta lunches? Get a meat heavy dinner that has the flare of our people carving right at their table?”

  “Good, yes, we can do that,” Helen agreed, looking a bit wiped. “Okay, we need some more performers. Who do you want to go visit?”

  I shrugged. “Give me who’s popular and would make a splash. I’ll get them even if it’s just for a few songs. We really just want them to perform during dinner, as after that the games get a bit much for any humans to be around.”

  Next, we moved onto decorations and table settings, which of course had to be different every evening while normal and subdued for breakfast and lunch were fine. Tanesha just shook her head as Keegan went over the options and when they were thinking for what.

  “It’s like a fucking wedding reception every night,” she said, explaining her reaction.

  “Yes,” I agreed with a shrug. “During the day it’s like a conference where the elders are in court and the rest have to be babysat and distracted or they might get into trouble. At night, it’s like the Met Gala and every night has to be that same level but not the same. The weekend will be more like spring break for people who seriously need to cut loose and don’t get to.

  “They will drink too much and make bad decisions after putting one of their own to death. There will be at least half a dozen scandals, and you will absolutely see two of the last people you’d expect fucking at the pool or something. The private rooms off the main ballroom we will designate for ‘gambling’ or whatever you do not want to go into, as we’re not just playing poker, and the stakes are high.”

  “Like what are we talking for real?” Tanesha asked, Hunt looking curious as well.

  I shrugged. “Brax is my date, and Hunt is going as my pet. Most of the elders have some sort of ‘pet’ or mistress or whatever you want to call them. Consort. I think most call them their consorts, as they’re special enough to have them. Most times it’s bets and thrills and people ‘sharing’ to show how special they are.”

  I sighed when they wanted a specific example.

  “I cut my hand and bled on the table, and the first two vamp elders to break and lick it up, calling ‘uncle’ or whatever, had to fuck each other for us to watch. They bring a lot of eye candy and the best they have to ‘offer’ and seduce other elders with. Another time we played in a garden maze, and I was ‘it’ and any who caught me before I got out got to fuck me, and I was popping them all away but on the property.”

  They both gave me shocked looks, and the others snorted. They were used to the crazy and trouble elders got into.

  I included myself in that one, as I’d suggested a lot over the years.

  We wrapped the meeting, Keegan and a few of his teams going to The Resort after the group there now left and cleaning it top to bottom to start all the fun.

  I tied Hunt’s collar back to me, and I popped over to the warehouse, bringing food with for calories. I spent the next hour stuffing my face and bespelling as much as I could to get us a jump on what was needed since I’d be busy starting Wednesday. The whole time Hunt was teleporting back and forth to bring me more food or coffee or talking to Helen about something I said while updating my calendar or lists.

  Then it was on to one of the factories we were temporarily using to make gobs of the mixture for the border spell we were using on my new land in Peru. I worked the spell on two huge vats that would have to cook down, but we already had enough to really get started, which was good progress. I thanked everyone, and then Hunt told me the list of who Helen wanted me to visit.

  I popped to the first, not having met them, but I was a fan of her music and how the young woman handled herself in such a cruel world and even harsher industry. I really didn’t expect to find her crying and terrified in a chair at her apartment.

  “People normally get scared when I appear, not before I a
rrive,” I worried, letting her know we were there. I swore under my breath when her eyes went wide and she started feeling funny. I rushed over to her and touched her arm, calming her nerves. “Darling, I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to ask you to come sing some songs for an event. I’m Soraya Devil, and this is my associate, Remy Hunt. He’s a cop.”

  She glanced between us. “Can you help me? I think at least one of my security is dirty, and I’m scared. Someone got in my apartment. They’re terrorizing me. I’ll sing wherever you want.”

  “Yes, of course I’ll help,” I promised. I had her grab her purse and pack a quick bag before I brought her back to the coven, Tommy meeting us at the front desk after I sent him a text. “Check everything and everyone in her circle. Also, have a healer sit with her. She’s not been sleeping and panicked. Get a PI team to handle it since the shifters or vamps will know who’s lying and we can’t send them for interrogations.”

  “Done,” he promised. “A few of my guys will take her across the street to get what she needs from the store and see the healer there.”

  I nodded, focusing back on the human with a smile. “I personally know everyone with my coven. You are safe here, and they will protect you and fix this. We’ll have you stay at one of our apartments. Do you want to have some friends stay with you?”

  “Yes, please,” she whispered, glancing around with fear. Honestly, it was the lack of sleep. I could tell from her aura she’d not had more than a few hours’ sleep the past week or more. She looked like she’d been running on fear and caffeine.

  “I advised Helen we not call any hawks in for extra security given it’s their elder on trial,” Tommy told me quietly. “Not to say they would be a problem, but there’s no need. It’s a difficult situation.”

  “Agreed, good. Let me know if I need to get involved.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  We popped over to the next performer, and I had met him before. I almost laughed that he was feeding his new baby when last time I’d found him naked with two women. His eyes flashed shock but then he held up his finger to his lips. I nodded, understanding he was trying to get her to sleep.