by R. A. Gates
“None of my—None of my
business?” Kyle's voice grew louder as
he stepped forward. People passing by
rubbernecked at the scene he was
causing. “I think when my girlfriend
disappears right after a particularly
bloody attack that is my business.”
She wouldn't allow herself to
move an inch away from his encroaching
form. His anger was justified, but his
words pissed her off. She stood to give
him a piece of her mind, scraping the
wrought iron chair against the cement.
But Garren beat her to it. “I don't
know who the hell you are,” he said as
he got into Kyle’s face. “But you better
back off, before you have to deal with
me.”
Kyle didn't move. They were
like two heavy-weight boxers staring
each other down before the first bell;
trying to intimidate the other by sheer
force of will. The amount of testosterone
wafting off them was enough to choke a
troll.
She nudged her way around
Garren to stand by his side, not wanting
Kyle to think she'd gone soft and needed
protecting. “How dare you. I ceased
being any concern of yours when I
caught you shoving your tongue down my
best friend's throat.”
“Oh, no he didn’t,” Athena
murmured.
Kyle's face reddened as he
clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes.
“That's why you left, because of one
stupid kiss?”
“Please. That was no one-time
kiss. And no, that's not why I left.” It
was part of it, not that she'd ever admit
that to him.
“So, why did you leave?” Kyle
paused and looked around as if finally
noticing the others. “And why are you
with these Weeds?” His eyes traveled to
each one and stopped on her. After a
moment, they widened in understanding.
“You’re a witch.” It wasn’t an
accusation, but a statement of fact.
She stiffened. Would he attack
and then drag her to Rousseau? Would
he leave in disgust? Would he not care at
all? She wasn’t sure she was ready for
any of those reactions.
“Took you long enough,” she
said in a huff, hands planted on her hips.
All the anger Kyle held onto
seemed melt off him like a snowman in
Death Valley. “What happened that
night, Ivy? All anyone says is that you
killed Leslie and then ran away. Anyone
who sees you is supposed to bring you to
Rousseau for questioning.”
Questioning? Yeah, right. The
look of concern shining in his eyes
halted the sarcastic retort on the tip of
her tongue. He was no longer the angry
ex-boyfriend staring at her, but the young
man she fell in love with long ago. She
couldn’t be angry with that Kyle. “ I
don’t know what happened that night. I
don’t know how I became a witch. I just
don’t know.” Could he understand?
Would he even try? “All I do know is
that I can’t see Rousseau. Call it a gut
feeling, but I don’t think I’d walk away
from that meeting.”
“You can’t know that,” he
pleaded. “Maybe Rousseau can fix you.”
He reached out to touch her cheek but
stopped when Garren cleared his throat,
making himself known.
The idea made her cringe. It was
funny. A year ago, being fixed sounded
like a blessing. Now it was insulting.
When did that change?
“I don’t need that kind of help.
Now, I think this little reunion is over.”
She crossed her arms over her chest,
ending the conversation.
Garren hadn't moved an inch
since he stood up to Kyle. But as Kyle
moved to walk past her, Garren shifted
to keep her behind him, like a well-
muscled shield.
“I won’t mention seeing you this
time, but next time I’ll have to bring you
in.” As soon as Kyle turned the corner,
they sat back down in their seats.
“Sure, send him away just when
it was getting interesting,” Athena said
as she leaned back in her chair.
Ivy’s stomach ached like she just
got off the Tilt-O-Whirl. Being back in
the city and seeing him again brought
back all those memories and feelings she
ran away from over a year ago. She sat
back and stared at the mug of cold cocoa
in front of her.
“I'll give you one thing, Ivy. He
was hot. Do you think he's still dating
your friend?” Athena smiled with a
mischievous glint in her eye. Did Athena
really want a go at Kyle, or was she just
being a bitch?
Garren quietly shredded a napkin
while staring a hole in the table. He must
have felt the weight of her gaze, because
he turned to see her watching him. “Are
you going to tell us the real reason you
left? Because I'm sure it wasn't because
of that asshole.”
“Yeah,” Thane said. “What
attack was he talking about?”
All eyes were on her, waiting
patiently for an explanation. Her leg
bounced rapidly as she thought of what
she wanted to tell them. She’d never
spoken of that night to anyone before.
“A group of us were fighting
some vampires passing through, feeding
off the locals. My m-mom was killed.”
She swallowed to loosen her throat.
“And then… Boom. All this magic just
exploded out of me, flattening everything
around me.” The fear and horror of that
night rushed back. It was like her
nightmare all over again.
Taking a shaky breath, she
continued. “A member of my team died
when my magic blasted her against a
tree. That’s when I learned I was a
witch. Obviously, I couldn't stick
around.” She unsnapped the leather
bracelet to expose the iridescent tattoo
of four hash marks with an arrow
diagonally
across
them—
the
Eradicator’s symbol.
“You’re an Eradicator?” Garren
yelled as he jumped out of his seat.
She knew in her gut that he’d
react badly, but she couldn’t help feel a
twinge of disappointment. She lifted her
chin up a little higher. “No,” she said
calmly. “Not anymore.”
“I can’t freakin’ believe this. I
knew there was something wrong with
you,” he yelled before stomping off
down the street.
“I’ll go get him,” Thane said as
he rose from his seat.
“You seem surprisingly okay
with this.”
“I kind of
figured it out already.”
He
shrugged.
“You’re
constantly
watching your surroundings, you fight
like you were trained to kill, and you
never took that bracelet off your wrist. It
wasn’t that hard to put the clues
together.”
She was stunned. She thought she
was hiding her secret a lot better than
that. “And you’re not mad?”
“Not really. I’d do the same in
your situation.” Thane excused himself
and left to find his stepbrother.
Athena glowered at her. “Were
you ever going to tell us?”
Not if I could’ve helped it.
“Eventually. I just didn’t know how.”
She locked eyes with the werewolf and
prayed she believed her.
Athena huffed and turned away.
“Right.”
An uncomfortable silence settled
over the table. After a few moments, she
pulled the box of hair color out to read
the ingredients for a distraction. She was
only half-way through the impossible to
pronounce words when she heard the
muffled voices of Thane and Garren
around the corner.
“She kills our kind, or have you
forgotten,” Garren said.
That was a cheap shot.
“She is our kind. It’s not like she
hasn’t had ample opportunity to kill us
before. We’re still alive, aren’t we?”
Thane said. Silence stretched out and
she wondered if Garren took off again.
Relief that Thane stood up for
her tugged her lips into a smile. Surely,
her cousin wouldn’t let the others
abandon her.
“Besides,” Thane spoke again.
“We need her to break the curse.”
Her smile fell. They were only
going to tolerate her until they got what
they wanted and then toss her aside.
Maybe she should beat them to the punch
and leave first. The thought of walking
away while telling them all to go to hell
flashed through her mind. She grabbed
the bag at her feet and stood to leave
when the guys came around the corner.
Behind the obvious anger written
all over Garren’s face, his eyes held the
pain of a child learning that Santa Clause
wasn’t real. Or, at least what she thought
she saw in his eyes until he snapped his
gaze away and sat back down in his seat.
His jaw clenched as he crossed his arms
over his chest.
I couldn’t have hurt him. That
would mean that he cared in the first
place. She didn’t move. Any trust she
may have earned was now shattered. She
should just leave. But she gave her word
to help break the curse and she didn’t
break her promises.
She sat down.
“I just need to know whose side
you're on. Ours or theirs?” Garren
asked, finally looking her way.
She
knew
people
would
automatically fear her as soon as her
secret was out. She just hoped her
friends believed her. “I'm not an
Eradicator anymore. If I could get rid of
this,” she said, waving her marked arm
in the air. “I would. The whole reason I
even came with you guys is to try to
atone for what I used to be. You're either
going to trust me or not.”
Garren sat still, his gaze
penetrating her eyes, as if he could find
the truth if he looked long enough.
She didn't back down, letting him
take his time to find his answers.
Seconds later, the sound of metal
scraping against concrete broke their
staring contest.
Athena stood up and lifted her
purse to her shoulder. “I think we better
go find a place to stay before your
boyfriend comes back with a bunch of
his friends.”
They walked in silence back to
the car.
Sparky had flown off earlier,
most likely to find some fish in the
American River nearby. He startled her
when he jumped on her lap as soon as
she climbed into the backseat. She
scratched behind his ears, making him
emit a gravely purr. He was probably
the only friend she had left, now that the
others knew the truth. She used to be an
Eradicator. Would Prince Sebastian hate
her, too, when he found out? She hoped
not.
At least I have nothing left to
hide. Things can only get better from
here, right?
Chapter 15
“So, you’re not mad at me?” Ivy
asked Athena. They were crammed into
the hotel bathroom with more beauty
products than she knew existed. If the
werewolf wanted to torture her, she
found the most humiliating way: a
makeover.
Athena had made some calls and
found out about a secret night club for
magical beings in the city. There, they
were supposed to ask around and find
information
on
exactly where
in
Sacramento
Prince
Sebastian
was
located.
Athena shrugged as she pulled
the mascara out of her bag. “I’d have
done the same in your shoes. We all
have secrets. Yours was just a bit more
scandalous than I thought it would be.”
Pulling the wand out of the tube, she
came at Ivy. “Don’t blink.”
Ivy held as still as possible. The
stench of hair dye still lingered in the
small room despite the open window.
She was surprised they hadn’t passed
out already.
“What’s your secret?” she asked.
“If I told you it wouldn’t be a
secret, now would it?” Athena backed
away and smiled. “There, all finished.”
She waved for Ivy to stand and look in
the mirror above the sink.
Ivy’s eyes widened at her
reflection. A much prettier and colorful
version of herself stared back. Her
freckles were muted under layers of
cover up and green eye shadow made
her eyes sparkle. Athena insisted that the
lip ring had to go. She ran her tongue
over her smooth, peach colored mouth.
No one would recognize her now. Hell,
she barely recognized herself. Her gaze
dropped down to the dress Athena
insisted she wear.
“How in the world did I let you
talk me into this?” She motioned to the
green sequined nightmare. She tugged
down the hem of the skimpy dress, but
when it reached an almost decent length,
the deep neckline pulled down to show
more cleavage than she wanted, which
was any at all.
“I'm spill
ing out of this thing.
Can't you fix it?” Yeah, she was
whining,
but
she
was
really
uncomfortable.
Athena sighed as she attempted
to tame Ivy's mass of new bottle-blond
curls. “Honestly, Ivy, you have a nice
body. Show it off a little.”
“There's a fine line between
'showing it off' and 'putting it on
display', and I think if I were any farther
over that line, I'd be naked.” She
carefully adjusted the top.
“You look gorgeous.”
“I look like I charge by the
hour.” Giving up on ever adjusting the
dress to suit her taste, she hung her head.
Athena stopped smoothing out a
lock of Ivy's hair, and stared at her in the
mirror. “You're a woman. Women have
curves. Be proud of them. Who knew
there was a hot babe under those rags
you insist on wearing?”
She met the enticing girl's gaze in
the reflection. “I'm not ashamed of my
body. I'm just not used to exposing it to
the world. I had swim suits that covered
me better than this.”
Athena
chuckled
as
she
continued
de-frizzing
Ivy's
hair.
“Somehow, I believe you. Didn't you
ever wear dresses? Even on a date with
that delicious Eradicator?”
She scrunched up her face,
thinking back to her relationship with
Kyle. “We didn't really go on too many
dates, just hung out. And dresses are a
pain to wear when fighting.” She
assumed at least, since she never wore
one to know for sure.
“You know, finding out you were
an Eradicator explains so much about
you.”
“What do you mean?”
“For starters, only a werewolf
slayer would feel safe living with a
house full of them. I thought maybe our
village found its new idiot when you
rented a room at the boarding house.
And now that I think about it,” she said,
pointing at Ivy's reflection with the
hairbrush. “I've never seen you use your
magic, on purpose at least.”
Ivy frowned. Athena seemed to
be having too much fun at her expense. “I
figured someone needed to keep an eye
on you guys during a full moon.”
“Of course, you did. Now I know
where you got the idea you can save the
world.” She finished putting half of Ivy's
hair up, leaving the back loose. It looked
better than Ivy had ever seen it. With the
front pulled away from her face, she
looked like she was a high-class call
girl any senator would sneak around
