“About a month after you left.”
A month and he didn’t come and get me to try to repair it sooner. He had still tried to force me out of here, knowing, by his own admission, I might be the only one who could fix this. And he’d waited until now to tell me?
I swallowed back my fury. The more anger I felt, the more I raged against him, the more I’d let him in. That. Could. Not. Happen. Still, I couldn’t drop it completely, either. He’d been wrong in an epic way, and there were no free rides in life, not even for the mighty Hawk.
“I distinctly remember bringing up this concern before I left. You said you could handle it. You said you didn’t need me and that I should leave.” The words hurt, even now. They’d burned so hot and deep that they’d left a scar that still stung at even the gentlest prod.
“But you’re here,” he said, looking straight at me, as if all that went before was water under the bridge. His water was a stream that led right to his monster waiting quietly.
“Yes. I am. But I don’t work for you. I don’t take orders from you. I don’t have to do anything for you, not anymore. I don’t need you.” And I needed to get the hell out of here, away from him, and regroup.
“The wall is cracking. Are you saying you have no interest in doing something about it when you might be the only one who can?”
“What I’m saying is I’m leaving now. Lift your spell before I break it.”
“So you figured out how to defend yourself finally?” he asked, straightening.
His eyes were steady on mine as he made his way across the room, toward me. Of course he’d call my bluff. It was Hawk. What else would he do but push the issue?
I stood my ground, hating the way his proximity sent a tingle of excitement through me like an addict about to get a fix. I used to think being near him was like sitting on the edge of a cliff, dangling your legs off. Now it seemed closer to dangling by my fingertips, knowing it all could be taken away in one second of weakness.
He’d given me a new life, a home, while he’d felt like it. When it had served his purpose. Then he’d ripped it away from me in a second. I’d never leave myself that vulnerable to him again.
He stopped right in front of me. His fingers grazed my cheek, the tingle of his magic setting off waves of awareness that staggered my breathing. He dropped his head down as his eyes seared a path to my soul, and other places lower. Now what was his game? If he couldn’t bully me into it, he’d try to seduce me?
“You’re wasting your time.” My voice had a shadow of the strength it did when I’d walked in here. I hated myself for how much I didn’t want him to stop at all. This was why it was better to avoid him completely.
“You’re so tough, make me. Show me your newfound abilities,” he challenged.
His hand, the only thing that touched me even as our bodies were only a hair apart, drifted until he threaded his fingers into the hair at the base of my skull, tugging my head back until our lips were aligned perfectly.
My body filled with longing, arching slightly as my lips parted. But my pride wouldn’t let me forget the one and only time we’d kissed. How I’d melted into him with no resistance, only to be turned away, once again. He’d kicked me out of the home I’d made here and then kissed me as if it was his right. Right before I’d been discarded.
I straightened and stepped back, losing ground but regaining my dignity at the same time. His hand dropped to his side. Once again, just like after he’d kissed me that first time, he seemed annoyed, as if I were the one who kept putting us in these situations. As if he hadn’t been the one to initiate the kiss that first time and now was about to do so again. Yep, same old Hawk.
“I can’t let this end this way, Tippi.”
For the briefest moment, I thought he was talking about us. Then I remembered why I was here. The wall. The job he needed me for. Yeah, he liked me around as long as he had a use for me.
If I could do something about the wall, I would. But I’d be flying solo this time. No boss needed.
I stepped away from him and walked to the door, hoping he wouldn’t force my bluff about being able to get past his magic.
He didn’t.
13
It was too late tonight, but first thing tomorrow, I’d go to the wall. I’d find every crack and fix them somehow, but I wouldn’t be able to see anything tonight. The wall was way too big to try searching in the dark. Plus, I’d need all my energy, and right now I had nothing left in the tank.
I turned the corner, my place in view, to find the monkeys waiting on the stoop.
“We’ve got problems,” Speak No Evil said.
“He’s never said anything truer, and he’s spoken a lot of truisms,” Hear No Evil said.
“Yeah, we’re screwed, from what I’ve seen so far,” See No Evil said. “Landlord is here. Saw him coming and knew it was bad news just from the way he was walking up.”
“He’s inside?” I looked over their heads to my window above. This was the day that wouldn’t end.
All three of them nodded.
“Do you know what he wants?”
“Don’t know. Said he wouldn’t talk to monkeys,” Speak No Evil said.
“Or statues. He’s got a thing against statues or something,” Hear No Evil said.
“Jerk. We’re going to see about him,” See No Evil added. I hated to break it to them, but the humanitarian laws of Xest were pretty crappy for everyone. I’d barely escaped the broker’s office not even an hour ago. If Hawk hadn’t let me leave? I’d still be there, and there wasn’t a soul in this place that would’ve been able to stop him. It seemed there was only one law that really counted in Xest, and that was “might is right.”
I pushed open the door, knowing I’d have to get rid of the landlord before curling up under my blankets and going to sleep. The plan to make a bed tonight had been ruined a good hour ago. I could lie down on cement right now and fall asleep.
The dust bunny dashed across the room, making a run for the couch, as a middle-aged man chased it.
“I’m going to get you, you damn dust bunny,” he yelled, shoving the couch to the side, the bunny moving with it.
He shoved the couch again, and the dust bunny disappeared from sight.
I’d never actually seen my landlord before. Zab had handled all the details. I wasn’t impressed by what I was seeing.
“Can I help—” My voice was seized by a cough as the dust tickled my throat.
He turned, forgetting the dust bunny pursuit and giving me his full attention.
“You’re Tippi?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, then cleared my throat one last time. “Why are you here? Zab said I was paid up until the first new moon?”
“You are, but you need to leave by tomorrow night.”
“Why? Are people complaining about me? I’ve barely been here.” Had the monkeys been annoying people while I was gone? I was going to kill those little suckers, who happened to be hiding behind the door with shocked little faces.
“No complaints. You just have to get out,” he said, looking about the place as if sizing it up for the next tenant.
“Then why?”
“I have someone else who wants the place.” He had the decency to look away.
There was only one reason I’d be getting the boot for no reason, just as I hadn’t gotten a job.
“Let me guess. Hawk is behind this.”
“Look, there’s nothing I can do. He said you’re out, so you’re out.” He turned his head, rubbing the back of his neck as his shoulders slumped. The aggression drained out of him like a big, fat helium balloon that had gotten popped.
“That’s it? I get kicked to the curb because he says so?”
He turned, nearly pleading now. “You need to understand, I’m a low Middling man. I survive by staying out of everyone’s way, and you’re just too much trouble. You don’t just have one side after you, but two now. I can’t take the heat. It’s not my fault you’re a Nowhere witch and no one wants you.�
�
The Nowhere witch. I’d thought Whimsy witch had been the bottom of the barrel, but the more I heard that name, the more I wanted to punch someone.
He pointed to the wood stove. “Leave the keys there on your way out.” He looked at the couch as he was leaving. “I’ve got an exterminator coming. You’ll see who’s boss tomorrow, dust bunny.”
There was a squeak in the corner, like the thing had understood every word. What was an exterminator? I didn’t think it would be the same type of profession I was familiar with in Salem, unless it was mob slang.
The door slammed shut and the monkeys rushed over.
“Well? What are we going to do?” Speak No Evil asked.
“We just got evicted. What do you think?” I asked.
“Oh no,” Speak No Evil said.
“Really?” Hear No Evil asked.
I went and grabbed my bag of clothes, the ones I hadn’t unpacked because I didn’t have a bureau or trunk yet.
Speak No Evil called his two brothers over for a huddle. “We should’ve stuck it out over at the factory. Now we’re homeless. Why’d we go with the Nowhere witch? No one wants her, and now we’re outcasts with her.”
“This was a big mistake. Big,” See No Evil said.
“How was I supposed to know no one likes her?” Speak No Evil complained.
Hear No Evil was just listening on.
I’d lumped them all together before, but Speak No Evil was now my least favorite. Good. They could leave. I didn’t need homeless speaking statues in my life. I had enough problems.
“Hey, you little jerks, I didn’t invite you here. You crashed my place.” I shoved a lime-green sweater in my bag.
The three of them looked taken aback at my comment.
“Why are you so sensitive? We like you,” Speak No Evil said. “It was just a point of debate that a person no one likes might indicate problems.”
I shook my head and continued gathering up the few things I’d accumulated.
The three monkeys walked back over.
“So where are we going?” Speak No Evil asked.
“It’s we now?”
“We”—Speak No Evil motioned to the three of them—“took a vote. It’s still we,” he said, motioning me into the circle, while smiling as if he’d granted me a huge favor.
I shoved the rest of my things into a bag without answering. There was nowhere to go but the broker house or Zab’s. I couldn’t keep putting Zab out. He’d already put me up once and then found me this place, and if Hawk wanted me back at the broker house, which he clearly did, I wouldn’t get another place.
Tossing the bag to the side, I sat on the couch. When that became too much to handle, I lay back and stared at the ceiling. The blank space was about all my brain could handle at the moment.
The monkeys were right. No one liked me. The only reason I cared was because I didn’t know where to go. I was the Nowhere witch. No one wanted me.
I’d already put Zab out enough. Musso had a wife I’d never met, who probably wouldn’t want a Nowhere witch either. Couldn’t imagine anything but an awkward greeting there. It was too cold to sleep outside, and I’d never even seen a cardboard box in Xest anyway.
Hawk had left me no choice.
I closed my eyes, and the air filled with a screeching and banging blend that could make your ears bleed. I squinted one eye open to see the monkeys on a toy band kit that they must’ve found for the sole purpose of torturing me.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“We’re tense. We need to blow off some steam,” Speak No Evil said, and then hit his little drum.
“Where’d you even find a band set to fit you guys?” I asked.
Speak No Evil shook his head. “We stole it off some kid. She was wasting it on some stupid dolls. Totally ridiculous. If she’s going to treat her things that badly, then she deserved to cry.” He went back to strumming his little guitar.
I choked as the dust bunny hopped onto the arm of the couch. Its little face came nose to nose with mine. Even the dust bunny felt bad for me.
Looked like I was going to be moving back to the broker building, but I wasn’t doing it alone.
If Hawk thought he was going to force me to do things his way and there wouldn’t be a price, he was dearly wrong.
I sat up, coming to terms with what needed to be done.
The monkeys were already perked up and waiting when I turned to them. Turned out, they had done me a favor.
“You got a plan?” Speak No Evil asked.
“She’s definitely got a plan,” See No Evil said.
“Pack it up. We’re bringing everything, especially that stuff”—I pointed to their instruments— “to the broker house. We go tonight.”
“We’re moving to the broker house?” The three monkeys hopped up and down, holding hands and making a little circle.
A small squeak came from the dust bunny, who was sitting on the arm of the couch.
“Oh, you’re coming too. Especially you.”
We walked to the broker house like the vagabonds we were. I had all my possessions in a bag slung over my back. The monkeys followed in a row, all with their little luggage, except the bad musical equipment, which I’d offered to carry for them. Didn’t want that to get damaged in the move. I wasn’t sure I’d have the stomach to steal some kid’s toy, and they’d be playing a lot if I had my way. The bunny hopped along, trailing behind us, leaving mud in its wake.
I pounded a fist on the door, and it swung open a second later. Why bother waiting for an invite when I’d be living here anyway? Hawk walked out of the back room, as if he’d been waiting. Of course he had. He’d gotten me kicked out and knew I’d be back shortly. He had also probably guessed I wouldn’t wait until the morning to leave.
“I got kicked out, but you probably know that, don’t you?” I stopped on one side of the room. He stopped on the other.
“I do what’s needed. Right now, I need you working on the wall.”
We eyed each other up like the adversaries we were. Or maybe that was my take on it. In his mind, I was still an employee. If he thought that was the way this was going to work, that I’d sit here and willingly take orders, he was drinking fairy juice.
“I guess I can’t work on the wall unless I’m here?” I raised a brow.
“You’ve made quite a few enemies. I can’t let them kill you before it’s done.” He said it with a shrug, as if he was funny.
“I won’t be working on anything for you.” He could kick me out right now, too. I’d sleep in the alley before I’d let him boss me around.
“Consider it free rent while you think things over.” He moved to the side, stepping out of the direct line of sight to the door that would lead to my old bedroom.
“I’m not considering anything. I have nowhere else to live.”
He walked over slowly, because Hawk never rushed anywhere. He stopped a couple of feet away, his hands in his pockets, relaxing.
“Then just consider it free rent,” he said.
At least I was killing his humor. He looked to be stewing in a pot of venom, right alongside me. That was something.
“I’ll need an extra room for my companions,” I said, trying to sound like I was all steely resolve instead of wondering if I should’ve fought with the landlord or tried to find somewhere else.
His gaze went to the three monkeys standing beside me. The dust bunny hopped closer until it was sitting on my other side, and then became invisible as I felt it press against my leg.
Maybe I should’ve gone to Zab’s, but it wasn’t just me anymore. The monkeys had debatable worth and likability at times, but they didn’t deserve the factory, no matter how annoying they might be. For some reason they’d chosen to be with me, and I’d let them. How could I kick them to the curb now? Then there was the dust bunny. No one wanted a dust bunny. No. One. But to leave it to the exterminator? Nope. It was what it was. They were mine to care for now, and since Hawk had stolen our n
ewly found home, this was it.
“Fine.”
He had no idea what he’d just agreed to.
I wouldn’t thank him. The only reason we were here was because of him. They wouldn’t need anything if he’d left us alone.
He’d thought he’d won, but the game had just begun.
14
I woke up in the same bedroom I’d begged to keep, except that this was the last place I wanted to be at the moment, even as part of me had missed the place. Now it only reminded me of what had gone down and how I’d been forced out.
There was a Do Not Disturb sign hanging on the door next to mine. The monkeys and the dust bunny had made themselves comfortable.
I didn’t have to be at work for a few hours, so I might as well make myself at home and go say hello to the guys. That was at least something I looked forward to. And if Hawk was there? I would not be talking to him.
Same bed, same bathroom, same walk downstairs. I’d wanted to be back here so badly, and now look at me. Every step was irritating me. And yet not. There was a comfort when I ran my hand over the wall near the third step and felt the subtle bump. The second step creaked the loudest, and the first sounded a little like a cat’s meow. When I opened the door to the office, I’d see Zab, who’d greet me with a smile. Musso would give me a grunt and a nod that was somehow just as welcoming. Helen’s gears would kick up a hair when I entered the room, as if she were happy to see me too. It all felt too familiar, too much like home. I hated that Hawk had given this to me and then taken it away.
Still, there was a slight hitch in my breathing as I opened the door. I wasn’t just back in Xest. I was back. It felt so right, and it was all so wrong. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.
Still, I swung open the door, and it creaked at the last moment like I knew it would. I stepped into the office and got the smile from Zab, got the grunt from Musso, got the churning of gears from Helen.
I also got a lavender head of hair on the cutest face I’d ever seen, sitting at my table. What was she doing at my table? She looked up and had the nerve to smile. I was glaring the way Belinda had at me.
The Nowhere Witch (Tales of Xest Book 2) Page 8
