The Nowhere Witch (Tales of Xest Book 2)

by Donna Augustine

  “I tripped,” I said, shutting down any questions as I settled at my desk, looking at the slips piling up.

  I wasn’t sure what was distracting me more: the pain in my knee or Bibbi staring at the door again, waiting for Hawk. Many people walked in and out of the office, but he was the only one she waited for. So much for our conversation yesterday.

  Any second Hawk would walk in and pass by her, without so much as a nod. She’d get up and follow him, asking ten different questions that he would try to palm off on Musso or Zab. Did he not realize what was going on? When had I gone from resenting her neediness to wanting to build up her self-esteem enough that she wouldn’t wait for any crumb? Probably right about the time this became too painful to witness.

  As predicted, Hawk walked in and Bibbi stared hard. Hawk might’ve gestured in her direction, but it was such a slight movement that it was hard to discern whether it was an actual nod.

  To make it worse, the monkeys kicked into “Reunited” by Peaches and Herb. Just what we needed to make the moment more awkward. I was about to drag a finger across my throat, signaling for them to cut it out, but I stopped. They were getting pretty good, and I hadn’t heard this song in ages. Plus, Hawk had already walked into the back room.

  Bibbi leaned forward, chin on her hand and eyes downcast. It was too much. Would it really kill him to say hello?

  I stood, wincing at the pain as I walked into the back room, finding a perch on the edge of the couch.

  “We need to talk,” I said.

  He was over at the cocoa/tea station, his back to me. He turned, his brows dropping and his face instantly intent. “Is there a problem?”

  Considering I never sought him out, it was understandable that he might be alarmed, especially with everything happening.

  “Not a problem, exactly,” I said, shaking my head. I pointed to the office. “Can you mute the room?”

  The din from the people talking in the office went away completely.

  “So what did you want to speak to me about?” He tilted his head slightly, a spark in his eyes that made my breathing hitch.

  Great. Now he thought this was about the kiss.

  He leaned a shoulder on the bookcase beside him, crossed an ankle, and waited, looking too good for words. Why did he have to be attractive, even as I was annoyed with him? Clearly there was something wrong with me. But I wasn’t the issue right now. Bibbi was. I wouldn’t let him walk all over her the way he had with me and Belinda.

  Oh no. Now I was grouping myself with Belinda. I needed to get to the point and end this conversation.

  “I think Bibbi might have a crush on you.”

  He let out a soft laugh. “Your powers of observation are astounding. What tipped you off?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so it’s obvious she has a crush on you. Would it kill you to give her a little attention?”

  “You want me to lead Bibbi on?” He raised his brows and crossed his arms.

  “I’m not saying sleep with her. Just don’t act like she’s invisible.” Sleeping with her would be a horrible idea. He’d destroy her. Definitely did not want that. “I’m not even telling you to kiss her. Just show her some attention.”

  He pushed off the shelf and walked closer. “And if she gets worse?”

  “She won’t.” Now I doubted his powers of observation. She couldn’t get any worse. But maybe it would build up her ego a little.

  “It’s not a good idea.”

  He shook his head as he leaned on the couch next to me, close enough that I could smell his woodsy scent.

  “I think there might be an in-between area, don’t you? Where maybe you give her some attention but not enough to lead her on?”

  He leaned closer. “Not who I am. I’m either interested or not.”

  Oh, I was definitely not taking the bait on that one. As far as I was concerned, that kiss we’d had the other day had not happened.

  “I’ll owe you one.” I moved a hair away, afraid if I didn’t, I’d move closer.

  “You’ll owe me?” he asked, his smirk shooting my heart with adrenaline.

  “Yes. Nothing crazy. Something of equal value.”

  His smirk turned into a confident smile. “Fine. I’ll pay her more attention, but you owe me.”

  When had everything turned into a sexual innuendo? Was he doing it, or was I going there alone?

  “Agreed,” I said.

  There was a snapping sound and a flash in the air. Shit. I’d made a contract. I had to get out of here before I walked into something else.

  I got up from the couch and staggered a bit, forgetting to baby my left knee. Of course I’d nearly fall down in front of him to top off the day.

  He stepped closer, looking at my knee. “What’s wrong with your leg?”

  “Nothing. I tripped.” I went to move past him and back into the office. Out of sight, out of mind, even if it was just a room over.

  He shifted, blocking me. “I didn’t buy the door story, and I definitely don’t buy that you tripped. Tell me what happened to your knee.”

  I shifted to the left.

  He shifted with me. “I’m not asking again.”

  I rolled my eyes dramatically before meeting his gaze. “Oh, good. I thought you were going to keep at it all day.”

  Hawk went completely still. His eyes narrowed right before he looped an arm around my waist, hoisting me off the ground, walking us both over to the couch.

  “Get off me,” I yelled.

  He tossed me on my back on the couch. Before I got my bearings, he tore the leg of my pants from the ankle up to my knee.

  “What are you doing? These were my favorite pants!” This wasn’t like Salem. Did he have any idea what good clothes in Xest cost when they were all handmade?

  I punched him in the arm. It didn’t faze him.

  “You’re buying me a new pair.”

  He nailed me with a look that would’ve made a sane person lean back. I leaned forward, or tried to, but he put a hand on my stomach when I tried to get up.

  Worst part was the way my body reacted to his touch. I leaned back just so I didn’t encourage any more touching. Every tiny contact was like trying to extinguish a raging fire with gasoline.

  “How did this happen to your knee?” he asked. “Who did this?”

  “None of your business.”

  “You’re walking around battered and refusing to tell me what the hell is happening?”

  The veins in his neck were bulging, and I could feel the sizzle of his magic in the room, raising the temperature a few degrees.

  “I’m not battered,” I said, trying to pull the scraps of my pants over my knee.

  He stood and called into the other room, “Zab?”

  “Yeah?” Zab hesitantly called back.

  “Close up for the day. Now.”

  There was a long pause before he replied, “Got it.”

  “What’s the purpose of closing the shop? What’s that going to do? I’m still not talking to you,” I said, grabbing the throw blanket from the arm of the couch and draping it over my leg so he’d stop staring at it.

  “You’ll tell me eventually because you’re not leaving here until you do.” He sat on the opposite couch, stretched an arm across the back, and dared me to try to leave with his gaze.

  It was a dare I had no problem taking. I never should’ve tried to talk to him. That was what I got for butting in to Bibbi’s business.

  I got up, hobbling for a second in spite of my best efforts, and went to leave the room. Let him try to keep me here. Right before I got to the door, it disappeared, becoming a cinder-block wall. I turned around and made a pitiful excuse for a dash for the back door, which was also now a cinder-block wall, along with the window.

  “Let me out of here, now.” I spun around to face him.

  He leaned back. “No.”

  “You can’t keep me here.”

  “Pretty sure I can.”

  I gave him my back, not knowing w
hat to say. He might be right. He probably could keep me here, and what could I do to stop him? I wasn’t totally useless, though. I just needed to figure out how to use my magic to get me out of this mess.

  I thought back to the different spells I’d been memorizing at Zab’s. Most of them were charms and notions. Nothing that would get me out of here. I was better off trying to help this room somehow. After all, that was what my magic liked to do.

  “This room needs air,” I said with a flick of my wrist.

  A gust of wind from nowhere blew in. The cinder blocks didn’t budge.

  “This room needs ventilation.” A ceiling fan appeared overhead.

  “You’re not getting out until I let you out,” he said calmly. “This is my building. Nothing you do will offset what I put in place, not with the way I’ve warded it.”

  Of course it wouldn’t. Still, there were other angles to work. As if he’d sit here all day. He’d crack. I’d never seen this man sit still since I’d known him, let alone what we were doing now. Just had to be patient. I had a decent amount of patience. I could get through this.

  I walked over to the other couch and sat, leaning back the way he was. “Fine. Then we sit and wait.”

  An hour in and I was already second-guessing my vow to wait him out. Why wasn’t I telling him? Oh, yeah, I was making a point. At least he was miserable too. I could tell by the way he was getting up for yet another cup of coffee.

  “I could force you to tell me,” he said, displaying the second chink in his armor, a weakness I’d suspected but was now sure of.

  Oh, he was cracking.

  “Why does it matter? It’s my knee.”

  “You work in my office, sleep in my building—that makes you untouchable. If I have to interrogate every single person that lives in Xest to find out how these accidents are happening, I will.”

  Suddenly my armor had a chink as well. An image of him going building to building, questioning everyone as if I couldn’t take care of myself? It was too much. They’d think I was weak. It would set my reputation back for a decade. Right now, I was the Nowhere witch. What would I be after that? I hadn’t thought there was something worse than Whimsy witch, and I’d been wrong then. Would he really take it that far? The two of us had crossed many lines, but this one was different. This could destroy my reputation.

  “You’d make people think I can’t take care of myself?”

  With a glance at my knee, he said, “Clearly you can’t.”

  “Nobody did this to me, or no one around here.”

  “Then who?”

  “Tell me why you deserve to know anything that happens with me. Answer that and I’ll answer you.”

  “Because whether you believe it or not, I give a fuck if you’re getting hurt.”

  Damn this man. The way he said it, the heat in his eyes, it was hard not to believe him. There was also the problem that it was very possible he would go to every person in Xest. He’d won—again—and, if possible, I was even angrier about this than everything else, because it came down to the same problem I always had with him.

  “I’m getting hurt practicing how to protect myself. There you go. There’s the sordid truth. Are you happy? It’s not a marauding gang of haters. That’s all you’re going to get, and it’s more than you deserve.”

  “Why didn’t you come to me for help?”

  “Because I didn’t want to. You don’t help. You force me into doing what you think is best. You don’t consider what I want, what I think is best for me. Why would I come to you?”

  I got up and walked to the door, shaking by the time I got there.

  “You’ve got your answer, now let me out,” I said, pounding a fist on the cinder blocks. Then the wall was gone. I didn’t know if he’d done it or if I’d managed, but I wasn’t going to stick around long enough to ask.

  26

  Gregor walked into the office with two cocoas. The looks he got from everyone there, you would’ve thought he was in a clown outfit.

  He nodded to the rest of the room as he made his way to my desk. “I was in the area, so I figured you might want a cocoa. I brought a second for…” He glanced around, looking at the floor.

  “Dusty?” He’d brought the dust bunny cocoa? Okay, the kiss hadn’t been good. Still, how did you toss someone who’d bring your pet cocoa?

  “Yeah.” He placed both cups in front of me. “You around later?” he asked quietly, his eyes shooting around to the audience we had.

  Even the monkeys were watching. It was like these savages never saw someone get asked on a date before.

  Zab shot me a look, as if I needed a reminder that I had to practice wards tonight. All I thought about were charms, wards, notions, defense, and references.

  “I’ve got some things I need to do with Zab, but maybe tomorrow?”

  “Sounds good,” Gregor said. Zab, Musso, and Bibbi tried not to stare at him as he left, but they didn’t do a great job of it.

  Bibbi was chewing on the end of her pencil, staring at me.

  “So, you think that’s what I should be shooting for?” she asked. “Like, that’s a good pick?”

  Zab made a snoring noise. Musso grunted. The monkeys started playing “Rock-a-bye Baby.”

  Hawk strode into the office.

  Bibbi shook her head. “I don’t think I’m strong enough,” she said to me.

  Hawk walked over toward me, stopping at Bibbi’s table.

  “You look very pretty today, Bibbi,” he said, smiling at her.

  Then he turned to me with a look that said, Satisfied?

  Actually, no. He wasn’t supposed to tell her she was pretty. He was only supposed to acknowledge her. If he took it too far, she’d end up more into him. Unless he really thought she looked pretty. He never said that to me, no matter how cute I dressed.

  “We’ve got an appointment,” he said, narrowing his eyes at the two cocoas on the desk.

  “For what? I’ve got a lot of appointments set up for today.” I took the lid off the second cocoa, put it on the floor, and made a clucking noise.

  “Zab and Musso will have to cover them. It’s something for the wall.” He was watching as I put the cocoa on the floor, as if it was a key to some mystery.

  “I thought we were partners. You’re supposed to confer with me, not dictate.” I was already standing and piling up my slips to give to Zab.

  “An opportunity arose that I had to take. If you don’t want to come, I’ll handle it alone.” Hawk headed out the door.

  “Oh no. You’re not going without me.” I grabbed my jacket, running after him.

  He was already halfway down the block when I caught up to him.

  “Where are we going? Who are we meeting?”

  “It’s a connection of Mertie’s who can supply us with something to help repair the wall.”

  “Mertie? The demon from the factory? What kind of connections does she have?” Mertie and I hadn’t really hit it off. Who knew what she might’ve repeated to her connection? Hopefully it wasn’t much, or we wouldn’t be getting anything.

  “Where’s the appointment?” I asked.

  “It’s difficult to describe. You’d be hard-pressed to find it on a map,” he said, seeming a hair more intent than normal.

  “Hey, Tippi,” one of the customers I knew from Zark’s said as he passed us on the other side of the street. His smile faded and a more dignified and resigned expression came over him as he said, “Hawk.”

  “Hey, Buzzy.” I waved. Did I have him on my list? I didn’t think I’d written his name down. He might be willing to stand up as a reference for me on immigration day.

  “How do you know Buzzy?” Hawk asked.

  Hawk was probably annoyed I might be developing friendships in Xest because all the people should belong to him.

  “Zark’s. Is that a problem?” I asked.

  “No. Is it an issue that I ask?” he said, mocking my tone.

  “Why would it be?”

  We took a cou
ple more steps in silence before I saw another familiar face.

  “Felix, hope you’re not hitting the hills too hard,” I said as a man with waist-length hair came by, his best friend beside him. “Helix, you keep him under control.”

  “You know I can’t,” Helix said as the two passed. “When you coming back to Zark’s?”

  “Not sure, but I’ll let you know.”

  I definitely didn’t have them on my list. That was three people I could add to my reference list.

  Hawk had stopped walking, and I pulled the little notebook out of my pocket, jotting their names down. If I could get them, that would put me at twenty-six.

  “Keeping a count of all the people you know for some reason?” Hawk asked, glancing over my shoulder.

  “It helps me remember names,” I said, smiling even when we both knew I was lying.

  He hadn’t said a word to me about immigration, but there was no way he didn’t know. He had too many spies in Xest. For all I knew, the monkeys might’ve told him. They were about as loyal as a pet snake, and that might be giving the snake a bad name.

  I tucked my notepad back in my pocket.

  He grabbed my hand. I stared at the connection, knowing it wasn’t romantic. Gregor was a hand holder. Hawk was more likely to grab you by the back of the head.

  “I’ll have to help you in,” he said. “We have to wait here for a few minutes, though.”

  I looked about the square. “You said we couldn’t find the place on a map. Where exactly is this appointment?”

  “The entrance will be here soon. He’s expecting us.”

  I wish I’d stopped for a cocoa for this walk, especially if there was going to be a lot of standing around and holding hands. It would give me something else to pretend to be distracted by.

  A cloud floated in front of the sun, casting us in a harsh shadow.

  “Come on,” Hawk said, tugging at me. He didn’t let go as he walked right beside me down the street.

  The sun seemed to dim more, and the blue skies turned dark grey. The people who were walking the streets began to look fuzzy, and then they disappeared completely.

  Other ones appeared, except these people I’d never seen before, and it was getting so that I recognized most of the faces in Xest. There was something weird about these people, too. They walked as if they had no destination, their pace oh so slow but steady. No one nodded or sneered as they glanced our way.