Free Paint it Black: 4 (The Black Knight Chronicles) by John G Hartness Page B

done. I grabbed his wrist and squeezed, hard. The snapping of a couple of bones brought the slovenly asshat to instant sobriety, and I pulled him even closer. I looked deep into his eyes, and spoke with all the power of my mojo behind me.
    “You can only be aroused by fetish porn of women over the age of seventy dressed up in animal costumes. This fascination with furry GILFs will continue for seven days from right now. You will find nothing appealing about any woman who isn’t old enough to drink Ensure for every meal until the week is up. Now get out of my way and learn some manners.” I shoved him back into his chair and made it the rest of the way to the door without incident.
    “Man, that was harsh,” Greg said as he joined me at the door.
    “Grandmas need love, too.”
    “Yeah. But that wasn’t a punishment for him, it was a punishment for them . Now the town’s going to be full of old ladies getting perved on.”
    “Only for a week. Just be glad I didn’t take away his attraction to women altogether.”
    “Can we do that? Make somebody switch teams like that?”
    “Of course not, bro. Being gay is a choice, remember? Don’t you watch Fox News?” Greg stared at me for a minute, then we both cracked up.
    Sabrina walked up just then, her sidearm in her hand. “Jesus! I thought I was going to have to shoot my way through there. I haven’t been groped that much since I wandered into a mosh pit in college.”
    “Glad somebody got lucky tonight,” I grumbled. I waved the valet over and mojo’d him into getting Abby’s car without the ticket. I wanted to hit the road, and if the blonde bimboshell was going to get all cozy with an immortal pseudo-succubus, she might have to find another ride home unless she surfaced pronto. I didn’t have to feel badly for stranding her. Abby sauntered out well before the Escalade made its way around.
    “What was all that about?” I asked.
    “None of your business,” was the flat reply.
    “I think it might be, Abby. Lilith is dangerous, way more than you know.”
    “I don’t think you know anything about her, and you don’t know much more about me. So why don’t you just crawl back inside a bottle and leave me alone.” I jerked my head back like I’d been slapped. That one actually stung a little. I got in the backseat of the Escalade without saying another word, just trying to figure out what I’d done to get Abby so upset.

Chapter 9
     
    IT WAS A QUIET ride back to our place, but when she pulled up in front of the house, Abby didn’t turn the engine off. “Everybody out,” she declared, putting the SUV in reverse and holding it in place with the brake.
    “Where are you going?” Greg asked.
    “Don’t worry, Greggy, I’ll be home before dawn this time. I promise. But I’ve got a couple of errands to run, so I’ll see you later, okay?” She was at least still being nice to Greg.
    I tried to let it slide, but it’s not in my nature, so of course I opened my mouth before I had any idea what I was going to say. “Errands for Lilith?”
    “Errands. If I want you to know more, I’ll tell you. Now are you getting out or do you want to ride along and watch?” I opened the back door and stepped out to stand by Greg and Sabrina. We stood in our front yard and watched Abby slam the Escalade into gear and peel out onto the highway, slinging a little gravel in my direction as she did so.
    I watched her go, feeling uncomfortably like the parent who just let his prom queen daughter go to her first rock concert unescorted. After a few seconds of brooding, I yanked my mind back to the problem at hand, namely this mysterious Goblin Market and somebody selling human jawbones there. I walked up the steps to the house, in past Greg, and headed down the stairs to the den. Sabrina was already there, leaning over the tabletop computer thingy and working her Google-fu. I grabbed a beer and gestured with it at her, but she waved me off. Silly sense of duty and