by Lexi Ostrow
Now I wait.
He could leave, he’d seen what he needed to see. Leaving wouldn’t ensure the hex ran its course. Nor would it ensure they died so they could not turn him in when it was done. No, he needed to do that.
The thought floated through his mind as instinct to the gator. Kill what threatened him.
A shot rang out, drawing him to need to poke his eyes above the water.
The warlock was down, bleeding profusely from a wound in his stomach – self-inflicted it seemed based on the terrified statements ringing out from their little crew of friends.
Deidre raced toward Jonathon, one hand still casting the beautiful djinn magic that worked with the wish in the spell. Remy had prepared for them to isolate themselves from casting items. They shouldn’t have underestimated him, but it was okay.
Vibration moved through the water, and Remy skidded to the side. A car drove, dumb fuck driver out in the flash storm, and created a tidal wave. Suddenly, he wasn’t alone underwater. Fear took hold of the predator, even the gator understood the danger of being caught.
Remy swam up the flooded porch and in through the open door. A sickening crunching sound screamed overhead, and when he did his best to cast his gaze up, he saw a huge section the roof sailing through the sky and slam into the house behind the witch’s.
Seeing became cumbersome as the hail-like balls of water crashed around Remy, submerging the house in by the second just as the streets did outside. Something bumped against him, and the familiar pulse of a heartbeat sent him spinning.
The witch.
Eyes on him, she screamed underwater, flooding her lungs as she attempted to flee backward.
Kill her now.
The hex could complete on its own, it wasn’t ideal, but neither was Remy’s death. Fueled by fear and triumph, Remy powered forward, snagging his teeth around her ankle.
Her scream filled his ears as he tugged her down, rolling in the small amount of water. Rolling like a bullet shot from a barrel and cracking the puny body against the furniture as he did.
Agony raced through Remy, and his vision blacked out in his right eye. Still, he held tight. Deidre screamed for help, unable to identify him to them thanks to the hex. Somehow, even as he submerged her under the water over and over, she put the lives of her friends above her own.
Something smacked into his back, ricocheted off and bringing a trail of pain over his skin.
A bullet.
Releasing the witch, Remy swam at torpedo speed toward her staircase before exploding with the speed of a running alligator up the flooding staircase.
Pain enveloped him, stinging like a rope of fire seated over his spine while his vision remained blacked out from the bitch shoving her finger into his eye.
The water clouded some of his hearing but knew what the shouts were just as readily as he understood the smell of blood in the water as it touched his snout. Deidre was calling for backup, letting her friends know she needed help. The others stood outside torn between attempting to stop the hex and save their friends.
Deidre could have spelled him, but didn’t. She must be wearing magical cuffs, or the house was protected to stop his mighty hex. Either way, she was nothing more than a frail human with a terrible leg wound now.
Remy half-ran, half-swam down the short flooding hall. In a moment or two, he’d be free to swim back down and destroy the witch.
“I’m going to kill you!” Deidre howled. “You picked the wrong day, you fucking asshole!”
Lock me away first bitch. Remy cracked his head against the wall as he turned in the tight space, but he didn’t care. He took off, rocketing toward her feet, only to crash against the staircase wall.
She’d jumped.
With a growl purely animal, Remy contorted until he could see her feet again. They dangled above him. She must be holding on to something while she waited for a gun or athame to strike into him. Too bad for her, she’d had a hell of time getting a headshot, and that was the only way Remy would go down.
Moving through the hall with the thrusts of his tail, Remy rose out of the water. Deidre backed up, and he fell forward, crashing into the water. Her fear laced the air with a smell far better than any sensual perfume.
Remy didn’t consider himself a sexual predator but at this moment, he was nothing but.
Snapping at Deidre, Remy grabbed hold of a tennis shoe, disgusted as it came off in his mouth. Torpedoing after her, Remy realized they’d moved into a room. She’d jumped to hold on to the fan, and Remy followed, snapping his jaw around her already damaged leg.
Her scream filled him with more glee than watching the hurricane build out of thin air over the beloved city. Blood filled his mouth, and then she was gone.
Confused, Remy swam back a notch, only to see she’d used the fan to climb up. An alligator wouldn’t look up, but a shifter would.
The witch had half her body out of the house, blood dripping profusely from a busted open leg with flesh that dangled like chum above him.
A ball of witch fire slammed into Remy, fizzling out in the water but still packing enough force to burn his snout and fill it with the scent of fire. The witch did it to scent-blind him, not hurt him. She’s smarter than I thought.
Remy couldn’t reach her, and if he didn’t retreat, she’d be able to zap him ferociously with her powers. Once she heals herself. No way she lets that go untreated even in an attempt to get me.
Using the wall to brace himself, Remy started to turn a semi-circle to get out of her room. He could wait. The house held distinct magical protection, probably to stop them from casting, but the hex broke free.
They’d have to get a force of guns or a hatchet and killer aim to take him down. Not happening with the storm that raged. He’d wait. Sooner or later, the witch would come down, and her magic would vanish all over again.
The burn of vomit in the back of her nose caused Deidre to pause. The sting of the rain pounding against her shredded leg urged her on.
The fucking man ripped her leg to bits but also took the magic cuff with his teeth leaving her free to cast.
Closing her eyes tight, Deidre focused on the words she needed.
“Therapévo,” the word slammed through her mind, echoing as if she’d screamed into a loudspeaker. Green light beamed out of her palms as the magic flowed from her into her shamble of a leg.
Pain vanished, and Deidre knew she needed a potion to heal her wound. Ivy made her hide it in a drawer, but she’d left the protection kit she insisted coven members keep. Ignoring the way the rain crashed over her and threatened to peel the flesh from her leg, Deidre leaned forward.
“Come to me. Come to me. Come to me. As I say it, the power of three.” The top drawer of her nightstand flung open, the pearly white vial of healing draught levitating in the air.
Deidre didn’t know where Remy left, but she had to hurry. Slamming the vial against the roof, she poured the contents over her skin.
The process came with pain as the skin knit back together, an invisible thread tugging on it as it stitched back closed. “Gah,” she gagged, giving in to the pain streaking through her as she vomited onto the roof.
Her house was destroyed. Jonathon lay bleeding in a pool of water, slowing draining his life of blood and, therefore, her energy because they were bonded. Limited time remained before she might die, and the last thing she wanted to do was let the fucker win. All of this on the worst possible day.
You’re the strongest woman I know, babe. You’ll do great while I’m on this deployment.
The memory of Gerard slammed into her, forcing her eyes to narrow.
“I am. I am!” She shouted into the sky, up at the rain and didn’t flinch as the heavy rain pounded her. “I’m done being a victim! Do you hear me you twisted sack? I’m done!” Her chest heaved as Deidre screamed, not caring who heard her tirade.
A tree branch, ripped free from goddess knew where, flew past her head, throwing her off balance as she moved out of its path. Aft
er a deep breath, Deidre knew what she had to do, and she had to do it before the hex came back.
“Get the fucking spell off my house!” Deidre screamed against the wind down toward Ivy and Patrick.
Both looked at her but obviously didn’t hear her.
“Pio dynatá!” Deidre coughed as rain slipped into her open mouth, but then cupped her hands around her mouth. “Remove the ward. I need as much magic inside as I can get.”
Ivy, who clearly realized the same spell Deidre did, responded first. “It won’t come down immediately. He’s in there, isn’t he?”
Deidre didn’t make a move to answer. She wouldn’t put her best friend at risk. Deidre hadn’t when razor-sharp teeth sheared through her flesh, and she wouldn’t now. Instead, she glanced through the hole in the roof of her once beautiful home.
The bedroom was three-quarters of the way filled with water thanks to the missing roof. Remy would likely swim out at any moment and breach attack. That’s sharks. Focus.
A shiver almost threw Deidre over the side. Catching her grip on the slick roofing tiles again, she went back to looking for Remy. He remained down there, thinking he’d injured her enough to kill her.
A few months ago, maybe even a few weeks, Deidre would have sat on the roof, waiting for backup to come cast with her. Or perhaps waited for an arsenal of weapons to unload on her house. Defense was her skill set. Not offense.
Only, Remy’s actions against Deidre changed her.
Gerard started it. Her lip quivered at the thought of the last man she’d loved. Correction. The last human you loved. Whether it was right or not, she loved Jonathon, and he gave her the will to push on. He rushed headlong into danger every day of his life. She knew the risks, but he showed her there was a time when playing defense didn’t get the job done.
“Like right now, when there’s a crazy mother fucking were bent on destroying your life!” Deidre shrieked, and a crack of lightning against the nearest tree added a dramatic touch. Even the storm is with me. Why wouldn’t it be though? You created it.
Using that, Deidre prayed the flick of her wrist toward the rainwater would work. The water swirled and parted, rushing out of her room and down the hall until it rushed over into the living room below. The breeze did the trick, and she couldn’t understand why only assume the open part in the roof made the dampener weak over the exposed portions of the house.
Using her pointer and middle fingers, Deidre aimed her magic as if she had a wand into her room and snapped, dragging her athame off her dresser and to her. Part of her was shocked the spell worked into the room a second time, the other part was just grateful.
A woman couldn’t fight an alligator alone. A witch could fight one with her blade.
Deidre didn’t understand why Remy showed up. Jonathon, Sam, and Tanner seemed convinced he would, and he did, but it didn’t make sense. Watching it play out, yes. Coming to murder her with a crowd full of people?
Throughout it all, their tormenter seemed brilliant. Now, it appeared he’d snapped, favoring death and killing over the man he’d once been.
We can all change.
A hundred years ago, she’d partied with Lita and Ivy, drinking until her body gave out. Fifty or so years ago she’d had her heart broken when a vampire chose his own kind over her after two decades of love. Three years ago, she’d taken over at her parent’s bar before they closed, preferring retirement over the dangers of running a Supernatural bar on Bourbon. Two years ago, she’d fallen in love with a soldier. One year ago exactly, she’d lost him. Repeatedly she’d risen. Deidre wasn’t who she started the year out as, and neither was the alpha turned mass murder circling somewhere in her house below.
“They’ve taken everything from me.” Deidre snarled as the year crashed over her as she crouched, shivering as the rain and wind railed against her. “I’m done playing the victim! No one gets to take from Deidre Adams any longer!”
The wind whipped up around her as if answering her, though all it served to do was tangle her wet hair into further knots. Tonight, Deidre took control of everything and ended the cycle.
“I’m going to trap myself in there.” She called down, dangling her legs, and readying herself to plummet.
“You can’t. Not until the dampener is gone.” Patrick responded, his voice finally carrying over the crazy storm.
“Well, at least no one objected to it.” Goddess, please protect me.
Deidre didn’t need hours. She needed a few minutes trapped with the alligator once she could lock them together. A little rain would give him some advantage, but she knew which hex to cast – no matter how illegal. She just needed Remy locked somewhere long enough for it to destroy him.
Looking over her shoulder, Deidre watched Ivy swim toward Jonathon’s side. He’d been pulled on top Elijah’s jeep, his blood trickling rapidly over the side of the blue roof. Don’t die. Not just because I don’t want to, either. Don’t you dare, Jonathon.
Down below, a quick motion caught her attention. Taking her sight off Jonathon stung as severely as teeth slicing through her, but she wouldn’t miss her chance. Nothing remained, but Deidre knew it had been the flick of Remy’s tail.
Two options. Two chances to kill the asshole who’d stolen her summer and fall from her. Deidre could wait and drop down if, or when, Remy finally entered her room again. She’d have the powerful element of falling from the damn sky and a strong blade to slice into his skull. Or, she could be proactive and lower herself in now and square off with him.
Blowing out a breath, Deidre readied herself to drop down, prepared to face off, and hopefully lock herself away with the monster in a matter of minutes.
“There you are,” she growled and let go of the roof.
The force of the fall shot a dart of pain through her recently healed leg, but Deidre didn’t stumble. Jerking the blade free, she stabbed it again into the soft spot on Remy’s thick head. Blood oozed out over the wound, and Remy rolled sideways, throwing her into the wall.
Her head pulsed but quickly died down as terror wrapped around her. She’d only thought as far as jumping on Remy, and even then, not far enough. Staring at him, she knew he’d move any second and likely only waited to see what she would do. He wasn’t a fool. He understood his place at the top of this chain.
“Fotiá!”
The magic didn’t work inside the house. There was no fire. Her luck ran out.
The water still rushed in thanks to the roof and filled the room. Each strike of the water a tiny blast of pain from the cold and force of the falling drops.
Deidre’s vision blacked out for a split second as she realized all she could do was run until she made it back outside or the spell dropped around her house, and she’d never know when that happened because Deidre wouldn’t waste time casting again.
Before she could move, Remy charged with her knife protruding from his head, and opened his snout. Deidre reacted, falling sideways along the wall with seconds to spare. Remy struck it, going too fast, and slammed into it. The old stucco and drywall gave way with unexpected force after being submerged for just long enough to make it weak.
The wall splintered, tearing almost from the top to the point where Remy lay beside recovering from being stuck in it. Water poured in from the bathroom, freezing her in place and even startling Remy it seemed by his sudden frozen state.
Deidre used his apparent stunned state to lean forward and rip the blade down his head. It snagged and tore free before completing her goal of racing over the length of Remy’s snout.
He roared – a sound she would hear until the day she died – and it vibrated through the water and floorboards, shaking her legs. Unable to stop her scream, she tore out of the room, immediately losing hold on the ground as the water rushed up to her breasts. Remy’s feet struck against the floor, and the sound vanished as he hit the water, and his speed.
She turned quickly, hoping he wouldn’t have the same ability but knowing it wouldn’t work. Every lousy horror mo
vie she’d ever watched played in her mind, and Deidre raced for the shower, opening both sides and standing dead in the center.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” She screamed, ignoring the water that sloshed into her mouth.
The clear glass door hid nothing as Remy’s large shadowed shape rushed into the bathroom.
Goddess, help me now.
Twenty-Four
“What did you do?” Jonathon snarled at Ivy, whose hand still glowed a faint purple.
“I healed you, dumb shit. Seconds before you stopped breathing for good might I add. Get the fuck up and go save Deidre!”
“Where is she?” Panic sparked him upright like an electrical current grabbed hold of him, and he wasn’t surprised to feel no pain after the High Priestess healed him.
“She’s inside. Remy’s with her. I can’t fight without my magic, I’m useless. The dampeners are almost done.
Anger and fear mingled like a Molotov in Jonathon’s gut.
She wouldn’t have.
“She didn’t. Not really.” Ivy shouted as she stepped closer. “A wave of water washed her inside, and we watched that creep swirl in. He’s trapped as an alligator, but I just don’t know if she can physically dodge him and fend him off forever.”
“She doesn’t have too. I’m coming.” He growled as fear vanished and left behind only anger in its place.
“Xekleídoma,” Ivy pointed her wand at the cuff on his ankle and it unlocked, floating off on the current.
Nodding his appreciation, Jonathon wouldn’t waste another second.
Deidre’s life was in his hands, and he would not endanger it. Not after selfishly shooting himself to buy them time.
Jonathon sloshed through the water. With it up to his waist, if he didn’t stop Deidre or kill Remy, this would end with the city drowning after all. It came too hard too quickly.
His almost death, albeit for mere seconds, severed his connection to the hex it seemed. His throat no longer burned except after his hoarse cries into the house for Deidre. He saw the gator tail as it crashed through the window a few moments before.
