by Holly Ice
He couldn’t go farther than a mile from me and couldn’t talk to anyone except me in his raven form, but he could catch someone’s attention, if they were close enough.
Don’t get your hopes up. I woke when you did and I can’t see anyone else around for miles.
You woke when I did?
I’d never seen him sleep.
Yes. You get knocked out, so do I. Thanks for that. It was like jumping back into oblivion.
So, it wasn’t the drugs stopping me from talking to him. Or not all the drugs.
A square flap on the cell door snapped open. A brief flash of a smart black shirt, then the man leaned down, face to the gap.
‘Perseus,’ I said. ‘You’re… not who I expected.’
‘No?’ His jaw tightened. ‘Because of you, I lost Avery. You deserve far worse than this. Sadly, your death would bring a long investigation, no matter how much pressure we exert.’
‘Perseus. Thank you for fetching her.’
Perseus shifted from the window, and Eugene replaced him.
He stood there for a good minute, not saying anything as Perseus’ footsteps retreated.
‘He’s gone.’ He sighed. ‘I’m sorry about the injuries. I told them to extract you carefully, but the men he hired… well, it doesn’t matter.’
He was ‘sorry’, but he’d organised my capture. My injuries hadn’t been treated, and the people he’d sent were efficient, trained killers.
I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t going to show how scared I was.
‘It matters. His people killed Justin.’
‘Under Russell’s orders, yes.’ Eugene’s lips thinned. ‘I hoped to avoid this.’
‘Kidnapping me? Or murdering Justin?’ I rubbed my clammy neck. ‘Why am I here, Eugene?’
‘I tried to tell Perseus we’d fade your magic, that you wouldn’t be a problem anymore. But the trial went sideways. You learned how to use and leverage your powers too quickly.’
‘And that’s my fault?’
‘We couldn’t let you unravel everything we’d built.’
‘Right. The non-sentient fae whose blood you bottle to sell. And the trapped women, boosting witches’ bloodlines, were too hard to let go. So what, did all the influence and money overpower your flimsy conscience?’ I raised an eyebrow. I was done pretending the society they lived in made sense. ‘Is this the big bad villain speech?’ Because I was not impressed. ‘Just kill me and get it over with.’
His eyebrows shot up. ’I didn’t take you to kill you. I took you because if I left you out there, you’d wind up dead.’
I blew out my breath. He hadn’t denied a word of it. He’d basically confirmed everything. But was he saying he didn’t want me dead?
‘I don’t follow.’
‘Russell wants you gone. You’ve already made us move premises once. And you’d find our new property, given enough time. Sniffing things out is what strong spirit witches are best at. That gut of yours tugs you to trouble like the worst kind of partner in crime. You’re incapable of letting something go once it takes hold.’
I’d noticed. ‘So if you don’t want me dead, why keep me here, in this tiny cell?’
‘It’s secure, which is more than I can say for a hotel room. I knew you wouldn’t believe I want to help. You’ll need time to accept that.’ He snapped the door hatch shut.
‘Wait!’
His footsteps retreated, leaving me in silence once again. Apart from Lyall.
Don’t believe a word of it.
I know. He wanted me in prison, or worse.
Though he had volunteered to hold me and my guards in the academy, and hadn’t made a move on me since…
But he wouldn’t have a change of heart so quickly. He’d captured me because I was close to upsetting their business. He probably needed something before he got rid of me. Maybe a vision? Or to check the loyalty of their workers?
I frowned. Those things were useful. But they weren’t worth keeping me alive, not with all the damage I could do. And not when they’d never trust a word I said. They couldn’t force me to tell them the truth about what I Saw.
How do I get out of here, Lyall?
They’d realise I should be dead sooner or later.
I don’t know. We’ll watch the schedule, who comes and goes, and make a plan.
We better make it a good one. After Avery’s escape, I’ll bet he has more than spelled doors and locks keeping me in.
* * *
I woke for the fifth time with a crick in my neck I couldn’t ignore. Being here felt like prison. Except the guards were far less attentive. I’d been dozing on and off all morning and still hadn’t had breakfast delivered. Or water, or a change of clothes. Reading material. A check-in. Nothing.
My stomach dropped. They had workers in the old place. People Shane’s dad suggested had the stomach for taking care of captives. Avery had check-ins, too.
What happened if there was a fire, or if Eugene had an accident and never came back? Perseus would let me starve, and gladly.
So were they coming back for me? Or was it all a lie? Let the problem die in a remote spot, never to be heard from again.
‘Hello! I’m thirsty and hungry here!’
You’re talking to yourself.
Thanks. I guessed that from the deafening silence. Where are you anyway?
Flying around outside the compound.
Anything to report?
No cars.
Perfect.
They weren’t just ignoring me.
I took a deep breath and let it out slow. They weren’t things I could control. But I could control what I did and how I felt. I needed a clear head. Avery held on to that when it counted. So could I.
It’s too quiet. Can you tell if anyone else is being kept here? I haven’t heard the others.
And I’d called their names for hours.
Not that I’ve seen. The building is tiny, and we’re not far off the main road. Sometimes I hear the rattle of large trucks passing by. So my guess is this place is more like a pit stop they use when moving people than a permanent holding place.
Why would he take me somewhere more exposed?
Was he really trying to save me from Russell?
Car’s coming.
Is it him?
Yes.
Good. Maybe I’d get some answers. Is he alone?
Seems so.
I sat up straighter and faced the door, waiting for the moment that hatch came down.
Eugene took his time, pottering about before he came to me. But when the hatch opened, he chucked in a bottle of water and a shopping bag.
My throat was parched from the drugs and yelling for my friends, so the sweet sound of water sloshing in the plastic was hard to resist. But I stayed put. I’d rather he hear how raspy my voice was.
‘Where have you been?’
‘Busy. You’re not my only priority.’
‘Right, there’s the rest of my friends, and all the other women you keep and breed.’
‘I let your friends go.’
Well, that was something. At least someone knew to look for me.
He shook his head. ‘I never meant for it to get to this…’
‘What, kidnapping your nephew’s girlfriend, abducting Cameron’s family, or using people like slaves?’
‘All of it.’ Strangely, his voice cracked.
But I’d seen his masks before. He was a brilliant actor when he put his mind to it. And with the hatch, I couldn’t see much of him at a time. He had more leeway to play to my sympathy.
Well, I wasn’t buying it.
‘Bullshit. You went along with it. You knew what was happening. If you didn’t try to stop it, you were complicit.’
He’d seen the other path when Shane’s dad left the company. He’d chosen money and power instead.
‘I didn’t know what it was like when I joined the company.’
‘So Russell drew you in, made you do these things? Come on! You can’t use that
excuse. You’re not an unwilling victim here. I saw you smiling at the new throwbacks. And Kaylee shares your family’s blood. You’re going to say you didn’t do that?’
‘I didn’t. That was Russell.’ The snap to his voice sounded bitter.
And yet, he’d been so happy to meet her. ‘You didn’t seem displeased when you first saw her, or when you learned she was Cognata.’
‘She’s family, and it was already done. Should I ignore her? It’s not her fault how she was conceived.’
Hell if I knew how he should act around a woman whose mother was held captive in cells his uncle owned.
‘Am I a bairn of those women you keep, Eugene?’
It came out before I could stop it. I clasped my hands, not sure I really wanted to ken. I held my breath. Any moment now, he’d spew out I was one of his experiments.
‘No. You were a surprise. I don’t know how long the Wildes blood was in the human world or which offshoot you come from, but we were aiming to activate Kaylee’s powers that night in the graveyard, not yours. We had no idea you’d be there.’
‘My gut drew me in,’ I muttered.
It was probably the brewings of my spirit powers, keen for me to solve mysteries and fix problems even before my magic activated.
I licked my dry lips. ‘What’s your plan for me?’
‘I’m arranging for you to be moved abroad, outside Russell’s reach. I’ll make sure the WMCF fail to find any further evidence. The retrial won’t happen. You’ll be able to start a new life. It’s safer that way for all of us.’
I’d leave my magic studies behind to start again under the radar. I’d leave Rhea, Finn. My gut wrenched. Shane, too. And the women they held were still at risk. Without me, they might never be found.
I clenched my hands. This was Eugene covering his arse, pure and simple.
‘I’m not moving to another country so you can continue to hurt people.’
I didn’t trust his word, and even if I did, I couldn’t abandon the other women to save myself.
‘Bianca, please. This would go a lot easier if you work with me.’
‘Too bad. You were happy to see me go to trial, to face the death penalty, to keep me out of your business. The last thing I’m going to do is help you.’
He smacked the door hatch shut and stomped down the corridor, yelling about awkward women.
‘Is that why you cage us?’ I couldn’t help myself, I shouted it after him, and I caught the pause in his step.
‘Stupid, stupid move, Bianca,’ I whispered.
I really hoped I hadn’t annoyed him so much he didn’t come back.
* * *
The sandwiches in the shopping bag and the water held me through to the next day, but Eugene didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon, by which point my stomach was yelling at me to eat something I didn’t have, and my pee was turning sunflower yellow. I shouldn’t have goaded him. Staying alive was precarious with only him to rely on.
So when he finally returned to my cell, I was waiting, inches from the door.
‘If you really don’t want to imprison me here, can you please keep someone here? Or tell me when you’ll be back? It’s not easy to trust you when I don’t ken when I’ll next be fed.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because your presence here is need-to-know.’
‘What are you worried about?’
‘Russell. If he finds you…’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Why are you doing all this? Why do you care?’
He was so keen to convince me he wasn’t trying to hurt me, but I didn’t see his angle.
‘Because I never wanted to bring women into this. I didn’t even know that’s what Russell was doing with them until a few years ago. You didn’t ask for this. You were clueless about the witch world until you stumbled into that graveyard. Hell, you’re my nephew’s girlfriend. I can’t let Russell kill you.’
So he’d grown a conscience. I’d say better late than never, but they’d hurt too many people for that. And it wasn’t like he was about to turn their business in to the authorities.
‘Did you bring food and water?’
He pushed a water bottle through the hatch. I took it from him and grabbed his wrist with my other hand.
I held my breath as darkness took over my vision, and braced for the worst.
Dim light filled a bare-essentials office. I stood one side of the desk, and Russell sat on the other, listening to Eugene’s account of this week’s new acquisitions for the potion-making business. Most of their ‘donor stock’ seemed to come from dangerous demi-fae the WMCF captured and sent to a ‘holding facility’.
Russell tapped the table in a steady pattern. ‘That’s everything?’ he asked.
‘For now.’
‘Good. We’ll meet again next week.’
‘You didn’t want to meet the new arrivals?’
‘No, not tonight. I have another meeting.’
‘Must be important.’
Russell was about to say something else when the door behind Eugene flew open, banging against the wall.
Perseus stormed in and leaned over Russell’s table, getting into his face. ‘Did you think we wouldn’t find out?’
Russell quirked an eyebrow and laid his hands on the arms of his chair. ‘This must be good, to barge in like that.’ He peered around Perseus to shoo Eugene from the room.
Lucky for me, Eugene left but listened at the door.
‘I know what you’re putting in those potions,’ Perseus hissed. ‘Blood. Fae blood. If witches knew what they were drinking…’
‘But they won’t.’
‘And what’s to stop me going to the coven right now and shutting you down?’
‘For one, you’d all lose contact with your familiars,’ Russell drawled.
‘Not if we harvest blood with donations. Humanely.’
‘Ah. You’ve spoken to my nephew.’
That must be Shane’s dad. The talk of humane donations lined up too well with what he’d said in their kitchen to be anyone else. But why had he trusted Perseus, of all people?
‘Yes. Allister showed me the warehouse. The conditions they were kept in were disgusting. How can you let us drink something from that place?’
‘How about I offer you a deal?’
Perseus hesitated. ‘What kind of deal?’
‘I’ve heard you like Avery… what would you risk to have a child with her?’
‘A child? Avery barely looks at me since Ivy swept her off her feet.’
‘But if it were possible?’ Russell prompted.
‘I’d do almost anything.’
‘Say I acquired Avery and kept her until she had your child…’
‘You’d never do that.’
‘It’s been done before.’
Perseus huffed. ‘You mean when Cognata witches were dying out? Our bloodlines are stronger now. The demi-fae have almost stopped agreeing to produce children with us.’
‘Not all the fae parents were volunteers. How do you think we bounced back so quickly? I promise, I can keep this discreet.’
Eugene stepped back from the door and pulled it to, his hands shaking.
I snapped back to myself as Eugene prised free of my grip.
He swallowed hard. ‘What did you see?’
‘You let Russell make that deal with Perseus and did nothing?’
His lips thinned. ‘I tried. Russell told me if I said anything about the children, he’d make sure I faced death or a magic fade alongside him. And Perseus backed him up.’
‘And you gave up?’
He pulled his hand down his face. ‘I need to move you. Russell asked where I’ve been disappearing to. I don’t know what he’d do if…’
We have company.
I shushed Eugene. ‘Are you expecting anyone?’
He shook his head.
‘Someone’s here.’
What’s the car?
Black. Sleek. The ‘my money is bett
er than your money’ kind.
Who’s driving?
Russell, and he has friends in the back.
How many?
Him and four others. Full car.
I kicked the empty water bottle across the room and glared at Eugene. ‘You brought him here.’
‘Who?’
‘Russell. He’s here.’
He turned white. ’I promise, I didn’t lead him here. Not intentionally. I took so long getting here because I was trying to make sure I didn’t have a tail… We need to get you out of here. Now.’
He hurried to unlock the bolts on the door, whispering something to remove the spell. His eyes weren’t focused. They flicked from me, to the door, to the hallway.
‘Why are you so nervous?’
‘He’s not going to like me taking you. He won’t listen to reason. He wants you dead, not on our property, locked up.’
He didn’t want my death to trace back to him, I suppose? A body held a lot more evidence than a letter and, working mostly alone, Eugene wouldn’t have thoroughly hidden his tracks like they had with Avery and Justin.
‘Come with me, please.’ He opened the door and held his hand out.
I walked out under my own steam, and when he opened his mouth to tell me whatever new lies and excuses he’d concocted, I ran down the corridor.
Lyall, which way do I go?
I don’t know. I couldn’t get inside.
Shite. Okay.
I ran in random patterns, trying all the doors I passed, hoping for somewhere to hide or a way to get around to their cars while they dealt with each other. But all the doors were locked. And the building wasn’t that big.
‘Bianca Nash. Didn’t expect to see you, of all people.’
I tried to turn, to bolt down another corridor, but I was held in place with air magic.
Lyall, can we fight this?
We can try.
I felt his added energy as we fought the air magic, but it felt like we were wading through thick mud. I only won enough room to move my body, not to make a run for it. Russell was too strong.
Turning, I watched him walk to me, only a slight frown on his forehead. ‘Now why would Eugene keep you? Eugene!’
His men appeared from around a corner, holding a beaten-up Eugene between them. His cheek was swelling, blood ran freely from his nose, and he had the beginnings of a black eye.
