Unraveled i-2

by Gena Showalter

  Now seeing through her eyes, Aden took stock. His wrists and ankles were bruised and cut from tugging at the rope. His muscles were stiff. “Free me,” he told Riley. The oddity of speaking with someone else’s voice always startled him.

  A frowning Riley strode to him, claws sharpening, and slashed at the ties. Aden pulled his hands into his lap and massaged his wrists. When his feet were freed, he stood. His legs were so weak they almost collapsed, but he managed to walk around the room, increasing blood flow.

  She wouldn’t know he’d done this for her, but she would feel better.

  “Thank you.” As he walked, he let his mind wander through hers, the world around him fading away. Unlike with Dr. Hennessy, he didn’t see static. He saw—wait. There was that thought again. Static. He must have entered Dr. Hennessy’s mind. Otherwise, he wouldn’t keep thinking about what had happened there. How long had he stayed? Why couldn’t he recall?

  Don’t think about that now.

  Aden returned his attention to the witch. But unlike when he’d been in Shannon’s mind, he didn’t see scenes from her life. He saw…boxes? There were thousands of them, scattered across a sea of white, each boasting a thick silver lock.

  He frowned as he clamped one of the locks between his fingers, and an electric shock tore through him, burning. “What would cause such a reaction?”

  Wards, Caleb said, and he’d never sounded more confident. She has wards of her own. Her memories are in the boxes, and the boxes are warded against invaders.

  “How do you know?” Aden asked.

  Don’t know. Just do.

  Well, Aden needed inside them. Each ward could do only one thing, so what—or which—wards did she have and how, exactly, did they protect her mind? There was only one way to find out.

  He searched the room until he found Riley, who was once again leaning against the door. “I need you to leave,” he said.

  The wolf shook his head. “That would be—”

  “The right thing to do,” he interrupted. “She’s warded, so I can’t reach her memories. Therefore we have to see what wards she has, and I don’t think she’d want a guy looking.”

  Oh, no, Caleb said. You’re not stripping her down.

  Usually, Caleb was the one begging for a peep show. “We’ll work around her clothes, okay?”

  “If I’m gone,” Riley said, “I won’t be able to protect you.”

  “Don’t care. Go.” He pointed to the exit.

  “Fine. But if she somehow realizes what you’re doing and rips at your mind, I can’t be blamed.” The shifter threw open the door, stomped out and kicked it shut behind him.

  “If that happened, you wouldn’t be able to help me anyway,” Aden called. “Victoria, you look the body over.”

  “Yes.” She glided to him, as graceful as a ballet dancer.

  Aden closed his eyes. One piece at a time, she moved the witch’s clothing out of the way, searching. At first, her motions were quick and efficient. Then she slowed…slowed…lingered.

  “I’ve never studied a witch this intently,” she said, voice heavy. “Usually I avoid them. I don’t know why. Your scent…”

  “Bad?”

  “No.” She’d finished her search, but her grip tightened on his arms, holding him in place. “Good. Soooo good.”

  He recognized that tone. It was the same one the councilmen had used just before flying at him and chomping at his veins.

  Red alert, Elijah suddenly announced.

  “I know.” Aden opened his eyes and tugged from her. He rushed to the far end of the empty room. When she attempted to follow, he shook his head. “Stay there.”

  Her eyes were glazed, her fangs longer than ever before. “Just one taste,” she pleaded. “I’ll make it feel good. You’ll like it.”

  “Riley,” he called.

  The wolf entered the room a second later. Clearly, he hadn’t gone far. “Decide you needed me, after all?”

  “We have a slight…problem.” Victoria had crouched, ready to leap.

  “What—” Riley noticed and grabbed her by the waist, holding her in place. “Oh, no, you don’t.” She struggled against him. “There are bags of blood in the other room. She’ll feed and she’ll be fine. We’ll be back,” he said, and hefted her out the door.

  Several minutes passed. Aden waited, wishing he could be the one to feed her, the one who calmed her. But he wasn’t ready to leave the witch’s body, and Victoria couldn’t be allowed to drink from the witch. He remembered what she’d said about the allure of the witches, how addicting their blood was, and he didn’t like the thought of her strung out like a drug user.

  When the pair finally returned, a subdued Victoria walked by Riley’s side. He shut the door and stayed there, but she kept moving, careful to give Aden a wide berth. She perched against the far wall, her cheeks rosy with color.

  “Sorry about that,” she muttered.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Aden said, just glad to see her clearheaded again. “Can you tell me what wards she possesses?”

  Victoria nodded. “Her wards are tiny. Actually, I’ve never seen wards so small. I would think them ineffective, yet when you run your finger over them, you can feel their intense power.”

  “How many does she have?”

  “Nine. Two are purely cosmetic, preventing anyone from cursing her with ugliness. One is for the protection of her wards, so that no one can tattoo over them and ruin or change them.”

  Smart witch. Though Riley had told him not many people chose to have that particular ward.

  “One is to protect her from mortal injury, one to protect her from mental injury, which is probably what’s hindering your progress. One to anchor her to this world, I guess so that she cannot be taken into another dimension by a fairy. One against goblin poison, one to protect her against a lying male’s seduction and one to prevent her from speaking secrets. Which means she couldn’t have told us what we wanted to know, even if she’d wanted to.”

  Riley fisted a handful of his hair, released the strands, then fisted them again. “We should have thought to look for wards before.”

  True. “In our defense, we’ve had a lot to think about.”

  “And we normally avoid witches,” Victoria said. “We’ve never willingly spent time with one. Why would we have known what to do?”

  Good point. “Okay, so. She can’t speak secrets, and her mind is protected from injury. I don’t mean to harm her, but she can’t know that. Even if she doesn’t know I’m here, inside her, her mind probably recognizes me as foreign and therefore views me as a threat.”

  “Can you hide yourself from her?” Riley asked.

  “I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot.” Maybe if she were conscious, unaware of his presence, her mind would relax. Maybe those boxes would open up on their own. “Here, tie me back up.”

  I don’t like this, Caleb said.

  Aden didn’t either, but there was no other way.

  He plopped into the chair, stretching his arms behind his back and pressing his wrists together. In less than a minute, Riley had him bound back up. Yep. Uncomfortable. Poor girl.

  You swear you’ll set her free after this? Caleb asked on a trembling breath.

  “Yes.” After this, they’d have no more need of her.

  “Yes what?” Riley asked, then shook his head. “Never mind. You weren’t talking to me.”

  The wolf was learning. “Put the blindfold on me. And yes, this time I’m talking to you.”

  Riley did as instructed, and suddenly darkness surrounded him.

  “I’m going to try and fade to the back of her mind. Hopefully, she won’t know I’m there. Try to keep her talking, distracted. And if she won’t talk to you, you talk to her. Try to say things that prod her memories of the death curse.” She couldn’t speak her secrets, but he would soon find out whether or not she could think them while someone listened.

  “I need you to be quiet now,” he said, “and no, I’m not talking to y
ou or Victoria.” He didn’t want the witch to hear the souls. “Please.”

  Fine, Elijah said on a sigh.

  Sure, Julian said.

  All right, Caleb grumbled, but only because I want her released.

  Aden breathed in, held…held, then slowly released every bit of air. As he did, he threw himself into a shadowed corner of the witch’s mind. He could have eased to the back, but then she would have become gradually aware of her surroundings, might have had time to notice something was amiss. This way, it was like ripping a Band-Aid. He was there, front and center, and then he wasn’t.

  “Well?” the witch demanded as if their conversation had never ended. “Know you better than what?”

  Good. She didn’t recall Aden removing her blindfold, looking into her eyes and disappearing.

  “Enough,” Riley said. “Tell us your name.”

  Contrary wolf, she thought, and Aden almost whooped. He could hear her, and she didn’t seem aware of him. “I thought you didn’t want me to talk.”

  Riley kept up a steady chatter, but Aden tuned him out, concentrating on the witch. Blah, blah, blah, she was thinking now. Where’d the Summoner go? I can’t feel the pull of him anymore. If he left… Argh! I’ve got to get out of here and take him with me. The girls are going to be so pissed. I can’t believe I got caught. Stupid vampires. I’m going to be teased about this forever. I may not be able to die by physical means, but I’ll probably die of embarrassment.

  Nothing useful there.

  He turned his attention to the vast sea in front of him. The boxes had disappeared, the memories that had been inside them now floating freely. There were so many, each like a tiny TV screen. He didn’t know which to focus on. If he picked the wrong one, he was afraid he’d waste hours, lost, and learn nothing. That was better than waiting, doing nothing, he supposed.

  He scanned the images before him until he caught a glimpse of the blond witch who had spoken to him in the forest a week ago, the one Caleb had reacted to so strongly. The one who had spoken the curse that could kill his friends.

  When he saw her, Aden automatically reached out. The moment his fingers touched the screen, dizziness flooded his mind, catching him in a surprising whirlpool, spinning him out of control, tossing him like a ragdoll. And just when he thought he could take it no more, he stilled. Or rather, his body did.

  He closed his eyes, shook his head.

  “Hey, are you okay?” a female voice asked him. A familiar voice.

  In the back of his mind, Caleb whimpered.

  “Quiet.” Slowly he cracked open his eyes. The blond witch stood in front of him in all her pale glory. Her hair hung to her waist, curling slightly. Her skin was flawless, her eyes a dark, navy blue and her lips like a frosted plum. She looked to be about twenty years old.

  She wore the same red robe she’d worn that day in the forest. For that matter, so did Aden. They stood outside a chapel-like building comprised of white brick, with a pointed roof that seemed to stretch to the sky. Rose bushes covered the front, hugging the sides of steps that lead to a wraparound porch. The air was hot and humid, fragrant with the scents of summer.

  “Well?”

  Aden waited a moment, trying to decide how best to answer. He didn’t want to change the past, and thereby alter the future, but he couldn’t remain silent as he’d done while inside Shannon’s head. Shannon was ashamed of his stutter and often ignored those around him; Aden had a feeling this smart-mouthed witch never had.

  “What were we discussing?” he asked in that female voice.

  The blonde rolled her eyes. “Look. I know you’re scared about punishment. You told the human about your powers, and now we have to move before the witch hunt begins. But…”

  She continued speaking, but Aden tuned her out. This wasn’t the right memory. He closed his eyes and imagined himself back inside the witch’s head. He didn’t know if it would work and he—there was another whirlpool, more tossing about, but suddenly he was there, back in that shadowed corner, little TVs floating in front of him.

  Thank God.

  He must be getting good at this.

  This guy going to shut up? she was thinking.

  Riley continued babbling about right and wrong, life and death, how all he wanted to do was protect his friends and to do that, he had to get Aden to that meeting, yet he couldn’t do that if he didn’t know where the meeting was. His voice was hoarse and Aden wondered how much time had passed.

  Again, Aden tuned him out. He watched those TV screens until he again spied the blonde. Once again, he reached out.

  TWENTY-SIX

  THE SCENE ADEN NEXT FOUND himself in was vastly different than the first. Night had fallen, and he stood in a circle, surrounded by witches draped in red robes. There was a drizzle of rain, soaking him. The moon was high, the air so cold mist bloomed in front of his nose every time he breathed. Yet he wasn’t cold. A fire crackled in the center of the circle, wafting heat at him.

  His skin tingled, the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He looked around.

  The blonde was across from him. She said something in a language he didn’t understand, and the women at his sides reached for his hands. That startled him, but he didn’t allow himself to jerk away.

  Everyone but him began muttering something under their breath. He listened. Now they were all speaking in that strange language. This must be a spell-casting, he thought, but for what?

  Caleb repeated the words. I think…I think they’re asking for protection from dark forces.

  If Aden had ever doubted that Caleb had an affinity with the witches, those doubts faded.

  “Someone is impeding our power,” the blonde suddenly snapped. Her gaze scanned the circle, then backtracked to Aden, locking down. “Jennifer,” she said. “Why aren’t you chanting?”

  Finally, the witch’s name. Jennifer. So very…human.

  Rather than reply, Aden pulled back from the memory and settled inside Jennifer’s mind with only the slightest unease, once again watching those TVs. They moved back and forth.

  Had his blunder changed anything in the future?

  He looked around. Riley was currently draining a glass of water and Victoria was talking about her desire to save the humans. Thank God. Nothing had changed, really. There was no window inside the room, so Aden couldn’t peer outside and determine what time it was. He’d try one or two more times, and then leave the witch, informed or not.

  Choose carefully, Elijah said. Did he sense something? Dread had layered his voice, and he wouldn’t have spoken, fearful of alerting Jennifer, without reason.

  Aden wanted to ask for Caleb’s help, but didn’t. He wouldn’t risk it. So many screens passed him, some of Jennifer as a little girl, some of Jennifer with a boy, obviously in love, some of Jennifer crying.

  Then he saw the unexpected. Dr. Hennessy. Aden stopped breathing. He reached out before he’d realized what he was doing, inserting himself into a new scene. Dizzy only for a moment, he blinked and was clear-headed. This time, he found himself in the very woods he walked through every day. Only, the blonde witch and Dr. Hennessy were keeping pace beside him.

  Again, it was night and the moon was high, the air frigid. In the distance, he could hear the howl of several wolves.

  The blonde witch tensed.

  “Do not worry about the wolves,” Dr. Hennessy said. “They can’t see or sense us.”

  And why was that? A spell? What kind of power did the doctor possess?

  “So what are you doing here?” the blonde demanded of the doctor.

  So beautiful, Caleb said. And mine, I think. We have to talk to her, Aden. Please.

  Hush! Aden hissed, but he wasn’t sure if the soul heard him or not. Do you want to alert Jennifer?

  Now is not the time for chatter, Caleb, Elijah reminded the soul, perhaps sensing Aden’s thoughts. The psychic was more attuned to him than the other two.

  There’s never a good time.

  “The same th
ing you are, I’m sure,” Dr. Hennessy replied, yet his voice was different, softer, more feminine. “You, too, felt that explosion of power, Marie, then the tug of whatever’s here.”

  Marie. Another name. This conversation must have happened when they’d first arrived in Oklahoma, when they hadn’t yet known Aden was the source of the “tug.”

  “Yes,” Marie said. “We did. Are you saying you didn’t cause that tug to lure us into a trap?”

  “Of course that’s what I’m saying. We’re allies. Unless you meant to lure us into a trap. This feels like black magic to me.”

  “As you know, we do not deal in the black arts.”

  “Then we’re still allies.”

  The tension eased. “Great, but admitting we’re still on friendly terms is not the reason you called this meeting, I’m sure. And will you please drop the mask? You’re hideous like that, and I can’t stand to look at you a second longer.”

  Dr. Hennessy frowned. “Subterfuge is necessary.”

  “With the humans, yes, but not with us.”

  “Oh, very well.” White light seeped from the doctor’s pores, brightening…brightening…before exploding in a shower of sparks. When those sparks faded, Aden could only gape. Ms. Brendal now stood in Dr. Hennessy’s place.

  They were one and the same?

  Did I just see what I think I just saw? Caleb asked.

  I never suspected, Elijah breathed.

  I’m…I’m… Julian couldn’t finish his thought.

  Why had Brendal come to the ranch as herself, then, after pretending to be Dr. Hennessy? Because Dan had told “Dr. Hennessy” that Aden would be finding a new doctor? No, because the dinner invitation had come before the firing. This was…this was…too weird. He—she—was a fairy.