by Clara Cody
“Fuck!”
“I know!”
“A healing spell.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I fucked that thing up because I was unfocused. Trust me, I’m a hell of a lot less focused now.”
“You have to try. We can’t bring him to a hospital. Come on, Sarah. I know you can do it.”
“Okay.” She chewed her lip. “I’ll try. You need to bring me my stuff from the trunk. All of it.”
Chapter 16
Dane carried Sarah from the car. She protested, weakly, saying she could walk just fine, but he knew that was her pride talking. And Dane wanted her to conserve every bit of energy she possibly could.
The healing potion for Donovan had taken a lot out of her. Too much. When they left, the mayor was feeling better and not quite so green-looking. Luckily, he seemed to think the fish he’d made for dinner gave him food poisoning.
Dane felt guilty for letting the misunderstanding go, but it wasn’t as if he could tell Donovan the truth. Sarah’s career would go down the tubes.
He tucked Sarah into bed and left her to recharge her batteries. If only they had more plants around. That would help. He checked his watch. It was too late to go to a shop and buy any. There was only one other place he could think of where he could get a lot of plants.
“I’ll be right back, baby,” he said, kissing her forehead. She was already out.
A short time later, he arrived at Fredrick Easton’s house. As soon as the warlock laid eyes on Dane, he tried to slam the door shut, but Dane was faster and stronger. He shoved the door open.
“What the hell do you want? Gonna make me take another potion? What’ll it be this time? Can’t wait to find out.”
“I need plants. Sarah needs plants. She over did it with the magic and now she needs the energy. I know you have some.”
“Yeah, but they’re mine. You shifters just think you can walk around and take whatever you want because—”
“Shut up.” Dane reached for his wallet. “How much do you want for them?”
He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the open wallet. “How many?”
“All of them.”
“No way, man. Sarah’s not the only person around here that needs plants.”
“How many can you spare?”
He sighed and waved for him to follow. “Come on.”
They walked to a room at the back of the house that was stocked with plants. The walls were lined with pots of vines, succulents, and leafy ferns. In the center of the room was a large beanbag chair and a small knee-high table with a lamp. There was a cheap, metal cart that had a dozen or so pots of houseplants and flowers. “Here’s what I got,” Fredrick said, taking a clipboard off the side of the cart. “There are—”
“I’ll take them all.” There was no way they’d all fit in the hotel. He’d have to put most of them on the floor.
“Well, you can’t have them all,” he said, as though talking to a child.
Dane resisted the urge to ring his neck.
“Some of these are for other customers. Like I said, Sarah’s not the only witch around here.”
“Oh yeah? I’ll pay you double.”
Fredrick blinked. “Double? For some houseplants?” He shrugged. “Wow, she must be really hard up. All right, double it is.”
Dane handed over nearly all of the cash that he carried in his wallet, ignoring the triumphant look on Fredrick’s face. He loaded the plants into the trunk of the car, and the backseat, spilling soil more than a few times. At least it was just a rental.
Driving back, he couldn’t help but wonder if there even was another customer. Either that or Dane was just tricked into paying double for a bunch of rabbit food. Sarah’s not the only witch around here.
There was something about that that bothered him. It caused just a little tickle in the back of his mind. But it persisted. He was halfway back to the hotel when he pulled over and phoned Lance. “Check the Agency database for me,” he asked. “Any witches within fifty miles of Hidden Hills.”
After a minute, Lance answered. “Only a few, but it’s right on the edge. They’re from Wilton, a witch town about an hour away.”
There was no way they were going to drive an hour just to go to Fredrick’s little house and get a few plants. There would be a handful of greenhouses closer by that they could go to. “There’s no one else?”
“No. Why are you asking?”
“Don’t worry about it. I gotta go.”
There were no other witches registered with the Agency. But what if the witch or warlock was unregistered?
He spun the car around and went back to Fredrick’s house. As he climbed from the car, Fredrick came out the door. “Forget something?”
“Who were you talking about?” Dane demanded. “Earlier when you said that you had other customers that needed these plants.”
“I got a woman that comes in every month for plants. I keep telling her if she just waters them, she wouldn’t have to keep buying them. Come to think of it, it’s been awhile since she came in.”
“She’s another witch?”
“Not a real witch. Not enough magic to light a match. But she’s been trying to grow her ability and has tons of plants.”
Not enough magic to light a match. Sarah had said something similar about her sister and the poor cat that the girl pissed off. Maybe not enough to light a match, but it was enough to cause havoc for at least one unfortunate creature. “But there isn’t any other witch in town.”
“Uh, yes there is. She comes in now and then to get books on love potions and things.”
Dane shook his head, insistent. “There is no one registered with the Agency.”
“Like I said, she’s not a real witch.”
Shit. “What did you say her name was?” A feeling in Dane’s gut told him he already knew the answer.
“Anita. Anita Glass.”
Dane raced back to the hotel. This was it, the break they’d been waiting for. Sarah was going to be thrilled. He pulled into the hotel parking lot and filled his arms with the planted pots before climbing the stairs to the second floor.
Before he even took out the key, he knew something was wrong. He sensed it. His wolf growled, scratching, pacing. The pots dropped to the ground, cracking on the hard cement, spilling dirt everywhere.
He threw the door open and found…nothing. The sheets on the bed were thrown back, but the bed was empty. “Sarah?” He ran to the bathroom before searching his own room, praying that she’d merely wandered over there. She hadn’t. He stood between the two rooms, his gut twisting.
Sarah was gone.
Chapter 17
Sarah groaned, stirring. The mattress was hard as a rock underneath her. A deep pain in her neck ached thanks to the awkward angle of her head. Where was her pillow?
“Dane?” she murmured, fighting to open her eyes. God, she felt so damned weak. Her eyes fluttered open, and she found she wasn’t in her hotel room at all. She lay on a hardwood floor, in the middle of a room.
“Rise and shine,” a voice sang. A woman sat in an overstuffed leather chair in front of a large bookshelf. She remembered that chair, that bookshelf. Sarah scanned the room again. It was Donovan’s living room. She was back in Donovan’s house. Even the bottle of enchanted vodka still sat on the coffee table. Hadn’t she left with Dane? She thought she remembered him putting her to bed. “What’s going on? What happened?”
The woman laughed. She had stringy blond hair and wore a large, frumpy sweater with a long, billowy skirt. Anita. “What happened is you and your stupid little were-friend stuck your noses where they didn’t belong. Now, you’ve mussed everything up.”
Sarah noticed the gun that lay in Anita’s lap. She swallowed hard. “What are you talking about?”
Anita shook her head, pushing herself to her feet. “It’s so easy for you people.” The gun swung through the air with Anita’s wild gestures. “Shifters, witches, fae…life must be a bloody cake walk.” She walked the
perimeter of the room, stare burrowing into Sarah. “God knows it was for my brothers and sisters, where ever the hell they are now. But what about me? Poor little Anita with no power. What the hell could I do to get his attention?”
Jesus, Dane was right. But Anita wasn’t just an oddball. It had been her all along. And now here Sarah was, weak and incapable of defending herself. And what about Dane? She remembered him tucking her in, but where was he now? She knew there was no way he would have let this psycho take her without a fight. The thought hung heavy in her mind. What if something happened to him? “Where’s Dane?” she asked, her voice weak. The answer terrified her, but she had to know. “Did you hurt him?”
Anita’s eyes narrowed as she leaned across the back of the couch that Sarah had earlier shared with Donovan. “He wasn’t even there,” she answered, with no small amount of glee in her voice. “He ditched you.”
The answer should have given her some relief, but it didn’t. She shook her head. Dane wouldn’t have just left her, not like that. “No. He wouldn’t.”
“He did. He probably went down to the bar with that jackass Lance Brody to pick up some of the local skanks that hang out down there.” She looked away, pacing.
“You’re lying.”
“Ha, I wish. Guys like him, they’re all the same. Shifters are the worst. It’s a cruel and unfortunate thing when a witch falls in love with a shifter. You may think your precious Dane is different, but trust me, he’s just like Troy. Always chasing the next skirt. The only way you can get them to sit up and pay attention is with a love potion.”
“You used a love potion on Troy?”
“No, of course not. Not yet, at least. I’m not a witch like you, I can’t just go around making potions and giving them to the man I love. What if I fucked it up? I gave it to Andrew, and, as it were, I fucked it up.” She sighed. “I don’t know what it was…maybe the wrong herbs, or maybe I didn’t let it sit long enough?”
“You poisoned them! Why?”
She scoffed. “Obviously, I didn’t mean to. I was just trying to make a decent love potion. It worked on two of my rabbits. They hated each other a week ago and now they’re going at it like…well, rabbits. So, I tested it out on Andrew. Didn’t work, though. Not at first, at least. I’m starting to think the effects took awhile to kick in.”
“And Melissa? Why did you poison her? She was just a kid.”
Her eyes flamed. “Just a kid? That kid was going after Troy. First, I just thought she was another little skank who wanted to sleep with him. But no, that little bitch actually bought a Truth potion from Fredrick. She was going to trick him! I couldn’t let that happen. Luckily, Troy was running late. I prepared her a little tea before he even got there and—oops, what do you know? She suddenly felt unwell and left.” A grim smile crossed her face. “I admit, I felt bad about Andrew, but Melissa not so much. She deserved it.”
She was almost too scared to ask. “And Dane? Do you feel bad about poisoning him?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I wanted to. But you guys were always hovering around, asking questions. It was getting really annoying. I was making good headway on the love potion, and I only needed a few more tries to get it right. Then, it all would have just gone away. I just needed you guys to back off a little…or at least slow you down. And hell, you should be thanking me!”
“What?” If this evil bitch thought she was going to thank her for poisoning Dane, she was crazier than she realized. “Why would I thank you?”
Anita gave her a pitying look. “Oh, you poor thing. Did you think he really magically fell in love with you? Just like that?” She snapped her fingers. “Please. It was the potion. Like I said with Andrew, it took a few days to kick in, but boy did it.” She crossed her arms, looking smug. “It’s just a spell, sweetie.”
Sarah felt tears stinging her eyes. No, it couldn’t be true. She bit her lip, trying to hide the quivering. But there was a little voice in the back of her mind that wasn’t so certain. What if it were true? What if he didn’t really love her, and it was all just a trick?
“Awww, poor, little Sarah. Did you love him, too?” Her face hardened into a scowl. “Well, now you know how it feels! Imagine that now you have to spend the next four years of your life watching him flirt and wine and dine every pair of long legs that walks through the office doors.”
She nodded. “You’re right. It would be…terrible.”
Anita pressed her lips together, showing a trace of sadness. “It was. It was a special kind of hell that only a few women ever suffer. And I’m tired of it. I’m tired of him, too. I once thought I loved him more than anyone had ever loved another person. Now, I just hate him.”
That did not sound promising. “What are you going to do?”
“We.” A smirk drove the sadness from Anita’s face. She waggled the gun in the air. “We are going to end them.”
Sarah's stomach lurched. “You want to k-kill them?”
Anita took a breath, contemplating the question. “No, I don’t want to anymore than you probably do. But we’re going to, all the same. It’s not fair that they can run around doing what they want and people like you and me suffer. They have to learn.”
The woman had really lost her mind. But Sarah was too weak to even defend herself, let alone another person. Hell, she could barely stand. But she had to do something. Stall.
“But…I mean, how?” She made her way to the couch, crawling on all fours, closing the distance between them. Being any closer to this woman than she had to be sickened her, but she had to do it. She needed to encourage this kinship that Anita thought they shared. The only way that Sarah might be able to put a stop to the conspiracy was to become a part of it. “We have to think about this. You don’t strike me as a killer, Anita, and neither am I. Donovan’s a shifter. If you want to kill him, it’ll be messy. Horrific. I know I don’t know you or anything, but I don’t think you can do that. Not to the man you love.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” She darted around the couch, sitting close to Sarah. “He’s not a shifter. Not anymore.”
The truth dawned on Sarah. “You gave him the potion, too.”
Anita’s grin was all the answer that she needed. “This morning. He should be powerless by now. I’ll just slip a little bit of poison into a bowl of soup for him, and it’ll be done.”
Sarah caught a glimpse of movement in the window behind Anita’s head. It was Dane. Relief flooded her. He was okay! He gestured to her through the window, but it was impossible to answer. His timing couldn’t have been worse. With Anita looking right at her, she didn’t have a chance at communicating with Dane. But if she did nothing, Anita might turn at any minute and see him. Or worse, he might come barging in.
“Oh, Anita,” she said, flinging herself towards the crazed woman, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. “I’m so…grateful to have found a friend like you.” Looking at Dane, she shook her head and gestured for him to wait. “Especially at a time like this.”
Anita patted her back, sympathetically. “You really did think he loved you, didn’t you?” She clicked her tongue, like at a child. “There, there. You’ll feel better once it’s over.”
Once Dane had disappeared back under the window, she pulled away. She noticed the bottle sitting there on the table again, and an idea popped into her mind. “Oh, geez, I’m nervous, though.” She fidgeted, twisting her hands together. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
“Of course, you can. Just relax.”
Shaking her head, she said, “I just need something to calm my nerves.”
“Here,” Anita said, snatching the bottle off the table and handing it to her. “Take a drink. It’ll help.”
Fuck! She stared down at the bottle spout, the smell of pink lemonade drifting up. She was stuck now, she would have to drink. She closed her eyes and tossed it back, trying to take as little as possible to still be believable. It was delicious, but she could feel it already turning her stomach. It’s
just your imagination, she told herself, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. “I don’t want to drink alone,” she said, handing the bottle to Anita.
She smiled and took the bottle. “Mmm, Bacardi Breezer. My fav.” She tossed it back, gulping at the liquid. She polished off what was left in the bottle and threw it against the wall. The glass smashed, flying everywhere.
Sarah tittered, nervously. If she was lucky, she could bide her time until the poison took effect and made her sick. Either that or Sarah just gave Anita half a bottle of vodka and destroyed any boundaries that the woman had left.
Scratch, scratch.
Both women looked to the ceiling. “What was that?”
Anita flinched. “There’s only Troy up there.”
“I don’t think that’s Troy anymore.”
Chapter 18
Dane waited outside in the bushes, gun poised. He didn’t know what Sarah’s plan was, but he trusted her enough to stay below the window. It didn’t look good, though. Sarah was clearly still exhausted, the magic from earlier had left her drained. Dark circles hung under her eyes, her body slack. Anita was the opposite. He’d watched her pace, ranting about something he couldn’t quite make out—though he had an idea—and gesturing wildly with a gun in hand. It was that gun that worried him the most. That was the only reason he didn’t go barging in right now.
Sarah has a plan, he told himself. She wouldn’t have gestured for him to wait if she didn’t have something in mind. He just hoped it worked.
A scream rang out. He looked through the window, but Anita and Sarah were gone.
He sprung into action, racing into the house. As he charged through the door, he could hear clearly enough that it wasn’t Sarah screaming. It must be Anita. There was also the familiar sound of savage growling. There was a wolf, ravaging someone, presumably Anita. Better her than Sarah. It was coming from the second floor.
