by Quinn Loftis
As they reached the top of the stairs, Jezebel placed her hand on the door and turned back to the group with a sly smile. “I was able, because I’m a witch.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Anna’s mouth finally decided to work.
“Inside,” her mom said as she stepped aside so they could file in.
When Anna started to pass her mom, Jezebel grabbed her arm. “I wasn’t trying to hide things from you while you were growing up. I was trying to protect you. I hope you will come to see that.”
Anna looked into her mother’s eyes, the same eyes she’d missed seeing many lonely nights when she’d climbed into bed. “I’m not upset. And I do understand. This world, the supernatural one, it’s dangerous.”
“You are correct, Anna. It is very dangerous and only going to become more so.”
Once the apartment door was closed and they were seated in the small living room, Anna looked around and saw that nothing had changed. Everything was exactly as how she left it when Peri and her crew had come and whisked her away into the fantastical adventure in which she now found herself.
Anna watched as her mom surveyed their group. On the outside, to the untrained eye, they probably didn’t look too bad, but her mom could obviously see beneath the surface.
“You have had a rough time for a while,” Jezebel said. “There is much I need to tell you, but I also need to know you are thinking clearly. Right now, my guess is that you’re all so tired that your thoughts are sluggish.”
“We’ve been under Volcan’s thumb,” Sly offered. “You know who Volcan is, right?”
Jezebel nodded, her face growing tight. “Yes, I am very familiar with him.”
Anna wanted to ask a million questions, but her mom was right. She was tired. Too tired to be able to be able to think clearly.
“I can only imagine what horror that man has put you through. That said, I will feed you and then you will sleep. First thing in the morning, we will begin to plan our subtle retaliation against the evil fae.”
“Subtle retaliation,” Anna said with a smile. “Sounds intriguing.”
Jezebel laughed. “It will be that and more. Now, for food. Sit tight.” She left them in the living room while she prepared something to eat.
Jewel looked at Anna. “How are you doing with all of this?” She motioned toward the direction her mom had just disappeared.
Anna shrugged, it seemed to be her consistent response. “I always knew there was something different about my mom. I just didn’t know how different.”
Jewel nodded. “It seems like our parents lived whole other lives while we were growing up. Even though I knew my mom was a true seer, I had no clue about all the other stuff she knew.”
Anna could see the pain in Jewel’s eyes at the mention of her mother. She could only imagine how much it must hurt her. Anna, though she’d not been super close to her mom, would be devastated if she lost her. She was the only person who’d ever loved Anna. The only person who thought Anna was of any value. Though she hadn’t been bullied in school, neither had she really been accepted into a tight-knit group of friends.
“Not the only person, Criña, not anymore.” Gustavo’s voice filled her mind.
Anna quickly locked down any thoughts about her location. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Gustavo to come for her, but she needed to find out exactly what they were dealing with before he came charging in. She didn’t want him to be collateral damage if things went to hell in a handbasket.
“Anna?” She hated the worry in his voice and knowing she was the reason it was there.
“I’m okay, Gustavo. Just tired.”
“Has Volcan hurt you anymore?” His voice was tight with the rage she knew he kept barely under control.
She thought about the V that the dark fae had placed on her stomach, and bile rose in her throat. It was one more mark that didn’t belong to her mate.
“I don’t care about the marks, mi amõr. I care about you. We are working on finding you and Jewel. I know Jewel thinks you have to do this on your own, but Dalton and I will not accept that. You both need to get that through your beautiful heads.”
She grabbed onto the distraction he’d just given her. “So you think Jewel has a beautiful head?” She was teasing him and not jealous in the least, but making him squirm sounded like a better idea than getting into the fact that Volcan had released them.
“She is beautiful, but I notice it like I would notice a beautiful flower or butterfly. I see it, acknowledge it, and then the thought is gone. You, however, your beauty is not something I see in the same manner as those things. When I see your beauty, I see the inside as well. And that beauty is what captivates me and holds me to you. It magnifies your outer beauty and stirs desires in me that no other female ever could.”
Anna’s heart was pounding in her chest and it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him where they were and to come get her, but she knew that wouldn’t be safe for him. So she swallowed the desire and said, “Nice save,” making sure he only felt her humor, although some of her weariness slipped through as well.
“You need rest. Please remember that you are not alone anymore, Ann. You have a place and it is by my side, building a life with me.”
“I’ll remember,” she told him before picturing the wall in her mind that would keep him from her thoughts but still allow him to feel her presence. She didn’t understand how she was able to control the connection they had with their minds, but it just seemed to come second nature to her.
“Eat up.” Her mom’s voice pulled her attention back to the rest of the group. Jewel caught her eye, and a knowing look passed between them. Jewel had noticed the way Anna had blanked out while she’d been internally conversing with Gustavo.
The sandwiches her mom had made were simple, yet tasted divine considering all that they’d been given to eat, like the two warlocks, had been the fae bread. The fae food wasn’t bad, but three months of nothing but one type of food pretty much ends the appeal of anything.
Only a little while later, Anna found herself in her room, tucked into the bed she’d slept in all her life. Jewel had refused the bed and was on a pallet she’d made in the floor. She was a stubborn mule when she wanted to be.
“Anna, did you know that when you are tired your decision-making, reaction time, situational awareness, memory, and communication decrease by twenty to fifty percent?” Jewel asked, accompanied by a yawn.
“I didn’t know that. But I did know this. I’m a bear when I don’t get enough sleep.”
Jewel chuckled. “I think we all are.”
“Sweet dreams, Jewels.”
“You, too, Anna.”
She should have called Dalton. From the minute they’d appeared in Jezebel’s shop, her mind was screaming at her to call him, but she didn’t. Now as she lay there with no distractions, she was able to dissect the reason behind her actions.
She knew if she called him he might figure out just how not okay she really was. She was able to fake it in front of the others, even Anna, but with him, she wouldn’t. He had the ability to rip her open because she longed for that connection with him. She wanted the intimacy of knowing his deepest thoughts and fears and of him knowing hers. But she couldn’t tell him this. She couldn’t tell him the darkness inside of her far outweighed what little light was left.
As the night wore on and sleep continued to evade her, Jewel fought the whispers in her mind. She knew it was Volcan’s magic. She knew the magic spouted lies, or at least she hoped they were lies. Maybe they weren’t. Maybe if she did go out and do what the magic was put inside of her to do—make witches—she would find some relief from the relentless onslaught of darkness. She felt as though the sun had been turned off. One second it was there, and the next a switch had been flipped, and suddenly she found herself surrounded by the absence of light. Some might call it darkness but, honestly, the absence of light was more than just darkness. It was also the loss of one’s way. The absence of light removed the pat
h that had been in front of her, and she only knew up from down because her feet were on the ground. Everything else was lost.
Without really making a conscious decision, which wasn’t odd considering that ninety percent of a person’s decisions are made by the subconscious mind, she sat up and turned to check that Anna was asleep.
“Anna?” she whispered and then said it a little louder. When her friend didn’t stir, she stood up, slipped her shoes on, and flashed from the room.
She pictured in her mind an alley and specified that it needed to be in New Orleans. When her feet were again on solid ground, she opened her eyes and looked around. It was definitely an alley based on the less-than-appealing smells and large dumpsters pushed up against the buildings. With the magic driving her, she moved quickly to the street and found what she was looking for. There were several bars along the strip. Jewel headed toward them with one goal in mind, to make witches.
She walked into the first establishment she came to, and her eyes landed on a woman sitting at the far end of the bar. Jewel made eye contact with the woman and smiled. Her feet moved of their own accord as she held the woman’s stare. She was sure that Volcan’s magic was at work, though she wasn’t sure what it was doing. Jewel let it continue to take over, guiding her actions and even her words.
“What if I told you I could give you power beyond your imagining?” Jewel whispered near the woman’s ear. “Any problems you might have now can be gone in the blink of an eye because you will have the power to fix them. If you’re interested, follow me.” She turned and headed toward the back of the bar, assuming there would be a rear entrance.
Jewel could feel the woman’s stare on her back and knew the lady was right behind her. When she stepped out into the back of yet another alley, she immediately turned and watched as the woman shut the door behind them.
“Are you talking about some kind of new drug?” the woman asked.
Jewel laughed, and she noticed that it didn’t sound like her normal voice. The laugh was sultry and wicked. “Better than any drug. Your name?”
“Connie.”
“Connie what?”
“Connie Jones.”
Jewel’s brow quirked. “How utterly plain,” she said. “Lucky for you I’m about to make you anything but plain.” Jewel took Connie’s hand. Using one of the sharp fingernails that instantly appeared on her own, she sliced the woman’s hand open, then did the same to herself.
“What the hell,” Connie said and started to pull her hand back.
Jewel held on tight and shushed her. “Trust me.” The words held a hint of magic that seemed to calm the woman. Jewel pressed their hands together and then began to speak.
“Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire,
Hear my voice, obey my desire.
Welcome us with open arms.
Teach us of power and of charms.
The craft has called to us.
Fate has chosen us.
Now we come, embrace us.
Here we stand, protect us.
Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind,
Pour your power deep within.
Teach us now so we may share.
Help us draw more into your care.
Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire,
Hear my voice, obey my desire.
Connie Jones heeds your command.
And I, Jewel, with her stand.”
As she chanted the spell, the wind picked up, and she could smell the coming rain. The once clear sky was now covered in huge thunderclouds as the elements responded to her power. Within a matter of seconds, Jewel began to see images of Connie’s life. She felt herself connect to the woman’s soul. It still felt so invasive and cruel to see everything, all of her thoughts, memories, and feelings laid bare. Jewel tried her best to direct the magic, to use it to create rather than destroy. But once the connection was made, Volcan’s magic took over, and there was nothing she could do. A minute later, Connie Jones slumped to the ground.
Jewel’s breathing was hard, and her heart felt as though it was going to beat right out of her chest. Her mind was filled with chaos as she tried to process, once again, taking another woman’s life. As the sounds around her began to break through the focus she’d had on Connie, she realized that she didn’t have time to process it. Everything was riding on her ability to make witches. Her life, Anna’s life, the warlocks lives and their loved one. Volcan would rip them all apart if he didn’t get what he wanted or if he didn’t at least see some progress. She had to keep trying.
She knelt down and brushed the woman’s hair to the side and gently closed her blank eyes. “An apology would almost be cruel, but I am sorry.”
She flashed from the alley, leaving yet another life taken by her hands. Jewel reappeared at another bar and entered just as she had before. She scoped the place, letting her eyes scan over the females that occupied it. She was looking for someone who wouldn’t be missed, someone who needed something that they could never quite put their finger on.
Target found, she began her walk of shame, because that’s what it felt like to walk toward a person you would most likely kill in a matter of moments.
Introductions made, Jewel had to talk to Shelly for a little longer before the woman finally decided to follow her. It wasn’t until Jewel started talking about having the ability to do anything, take anything you wanted, that the woman really got interested.
She went through the now familiar process. The brief storm from earlier had died down, but now it once again began to electrify because of her magic. As Jewel connected with Shelly, she felt something different than she had with the others. Jewel felt an oily film of evil leaking from the woman’s soul. The things in Shelly’s mind were not ones Jewel wanted to know. The woman who’d seemed so good-natured was revealing to Jewel—thought not of her own accord—just how twisted she was. The magic seemed to dance with Shelly’s soul and, for a moment, Jewel thought that the spell was going to work this time. Then, with a huge jolt, the magic pulled back, and Shelly Ash’s life was snuffed out as quickly as a candle’s flame.
Another dead body at her feet and another failed attempt. She looked down at the woman and took a step back. Jewel couldn’t bring herself to care that this victim hadn’t made it. She’d been a predator, someone who sought out the weak to extort them with no remorse. The world wasn’t losing anything precious when Shelly left it.
Jewel flashed again in search of her next attempt. She refused to think of them as victims because that made them people, and she couldn’t think of them as people. Not anymore. They were a means to an end. With that thought, she felt another part of herself be taken over by the darkness. The compassion that once filled her so readily was fading into indifference.
She continued her pursuit, hopping from seedy bar to seedy voodoo shops and even to a seedy strip club. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, after all. One woman after another dropped at her feet like dead worshippers of a deity that they hadn’t realized cared nothing for them. Her focus was single minded, and nothing was going to stand in her way.
Chapter 18
“I leave for four months, four stinking months, and I’ve got mated wolves fighting unmated wolves, a bored djinn, a pixie with an ego complex, and a mate in a remarkably calm state, which might be the thing that irritated me the most. Let it be known I don’t approve of calmness in my mate when everyone around us is stupid things.” ~ Peri
Ember watched as the gypsy healer’s second victim fell to the ground. She was confused. How and why was a gypsy healer using dark magic to murder women? And how on earth was she able to flash in the way of Ember’s own species?
She waited until the healer flashed away, and then Ember herself flashed to where the dead woman lay. She could feel the taint of the evil that was a part of the dead woman’s natural essence, and then she could feel the evil residue the healer had left behind. Ember recoiled and took a step back as she stared with wide eyes at the lifeless body.
“It can’t be,” sh
e whispered to herself. “It can’t.” But despite her protests, the magic was unmistakable. She’d felt that same magic centuries ago, and it was the reason she’d fled her realm and her people. She’d been living in the human realm ever since, blending in and changing her appearance when needed. The high fae council knew of her decision at the time, and they’d allowed her to go. She wondered if they’d forgotten about her in the intervening centuries. Regardless of how she felt about Volcan, she couldn’t ignore what was happening. Perizada and the council needed to know a rogue healer was on the loose, wielding the ancient evil fae’s magic. She flashed, remembering Perizada’s home in her mind. When she reappeared in the high fae’s living room, she was met with a round of snarls and a slew of cursing.
“What now?” asked a young woman to no one in particular. A large male sitting beside her jumped up and assumed a defensive posture. Ember could sense this one was a werewolf. “Instead of just gasping, why not tell the blind chick what’s going?”
Another woman spoke up. She was sitting next to another large male and werewolf, also standing to defend her. “An unknown fae just flashed into a room full of on-edge werewolves. Nothing exciting has happened yet, Heather.”
The woman called Heather sighed. “Fine. But you better tell me the second it does.” Her head turned just a tad when she spoke again. “And Stella, don’t think I didn’t notice that you kept your trap shut, you excitement hoarder.”
Stella’s face scrunched together. “Did you seriously just call me an excitement hoarder?”
“I am so sorry to interrupt what I’m sure is to be a riveting conversation,” Perizada interrupted the women. “But considering a fae that I have not seen in centuries has just popped into my home uninvited, I imagine what she has to say must be quite urgent.”
Ember continued to look around the room, feeling out the magic of its occupants. Her eyes widened as she turned back to Perizada. “All three are healers?”
