by T. A. Kunz
“Oh, crap. Did I just interrupt something?” she asks, apparently realizing what Heath and I were doing before she entered. “I heard the screaming, and the painful noises, and didn’t think—”
“It’s fine, Tara. We were finishing up here anyway,” Heath answers after flashing me a quick grin.
I’m about to add my two cents when I’m cut off by the chime of the parlor’s front door. My curious face moves from Tara’s to Heath’s. “Expecting someone?” I ask with an eyebrow turned up.
Heath shakes his head. “Tara, didn’t you lock up with the keys I gave you?”
“I could’ve sworn I did,” Tara replies. “But there’s a slight chance I may have forgotten.”
“Should we go greet your new customer, Heath?”
He nods with a serious expression. I can’t help but wonder what we’re in for now.
To say I wasn’t expecting to see who was waiting for us in the front parlor is probably the largest understatement of the century.
Even though I’ve been away from witch hunting for a bit, I know when I’m looking at a light witch royal guard member, or in this case, three large men all dressed in matching white uniforms complete with stoic faces. There are three other individuals present too. Angelica, Hattie, and a woman with fiery red hair dressed in a white cocktail dress that almost seems to glow because it’s so bright.
Angelica’s standing off to the side with her arms crossed. Her hesitant eyes dodge my inquisitive stare. Hattie, on the other hand, looks to be a little frustrated, but that’s to be expected since this is the second time she’s failed at her job.
I feel Heath release my hand to bend down next to me, and when I glance over, he’s on one knee with his head slightly tilted toward the ground. He’s bowing. My eyes immediately pan over to Tara and she seems to be fighting with herself physically over something.
“Why do I have the overwhelming sense to want to curtsy right now?” Tara whispers over to me. I begin to go into panic mode, thinking she’s going to figure out what she’s better off not knowing.
“Because you’re a dork,” I comment offhandedly, trying to get her to snap out of it. Thankfully, Heath returns to his feet, and it seems the feeling to show respect to the High Priestess flees from Tara.
“Olivia Adams,” the woman, who I presume is Angelica’s mother, says while sliding off her long, pearly white gloves before handing them to one of the guards. “It has come to my attention tonight that you’ve not only saved my daughter’s life once, but twice. Is this true?”
I nod since I’m not sure what to say. I don’t want to get into specifics with the whole on-the-verge-of-a-possible-war thing still on the table because I can’t clear my brother yet.
She purses her lips together and walks toward me. The guards all react and try to interfere, but she waves them back. Her eyes bore into mine as she continues to move closer.
She turns to Heath. “Sorry about the door. My guards don’t know their own strength sometimes. I’ll make sure to have it repaired.” I tilt my head to the side in order to look past her and see the door’s handle is completely broken off the frame.
“No worries,” he replies, but he never meets her gaze.
I’ve never seen this type of interaction between royalty and a “lower” witch. Heath is usually sarcastic and blunt, but now he’s being so respectful. It’s weird to see him like this. I guess it’s kind of how we are with our Elders. There always has to be an alpha.
Her attention turns back to me. “I’ll make sure to keep my distance, Olivia, since I know how my presence makes you feel physically.”
“I appreciate that,” I reply, putting my hands on my hips and meeting her eyes head-on. “I never did catch your name.”
A small laugh bubbles up in her throat before she speaks again. “Constance Delacour,” she replies with a cheeky smile. “I almost forgot what it was like to interact with Witch Hunters. So abrasive and straight to the point. We usually make every effort to avoid crossing paths with your kind, even with the whole truce in play. And we most definitely don’t hear about a Hunter saving a witch’s life.”
“Is that your roundabout way of saying thank you?”
“Oh, dear … where are my manners?” she replies casually. “I humbly apologize for not expressing my gratitude sooner. It’s just that I was caught off-guard by this whole matter. I’m sure you can understand my confusion when I heard my Angelica was saved twice by someone whose sole purpose it is to keep our kind in line. Please forgive me for not coming right out and saying thank you.” Her tone seems sincere, but I can’t tell if there’s a hint of sarcasm there as well.
“You’re welcome?” I immediately get a little nudge from Heath. When I turn to face him, he shakes his head and sends me a firm look.
“You most certainly have my deepest thanks, Olivia. Actually, your deeds have earned you two favors from yours truly, within reason, of course. But before we get into all that, I do find myself quite curious about something. Do you by any chance have an idea of who is after my daughter?”
My stomach sinks. My eyes move over to Hattie, who’s giving me a pleading look. She clearly wants me to leave out the whole Tobias thing. Then I look over at Angelica and her face is full of hope that I might, indeed, know who’s behind this.
“Unfortunately, I don’t. I was just in the right place at the right time. I was at the rush party during the first attack, and got the times screwed up and arrived early at the sorority house tonight. I wish I had more to say, but I don’t,” I lie, and Constance’s expression lets me know she isn’t fooled by my answer.
“Pity. I was hoping this would come to a head tonight,” she says with a sigh. “It would seem we have quite the situation on our hands, and I may have a proposition for you, Olivia.”
“Oh? And what would that be?”
“Since you’re so keen on saving my daughter, I was hoping you’d agree to be her bodyguard until we’re able to put this issue to rest,” she explains. “I can most definitely make it worth your while.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Angelica nodding her head enthusiastically with a big grin. “How, exactly?” I ask.
“In addition to the two favors I already owe you, how does taking care of college tuition for both you and your friend here sound?” she asks, gesturing to Tara.
This offer seems too good to be true, so I take a moment to think it over. This would help out my mom so she doesn’t have to hide what she’s doing from my father anymore. But I’m not sure I want to, because I didn’t save Angelica because I wanted to be rewarded. I did it because it was the right thing to do.
“What about Hattie?” I ask. “Isn’t she already Angelica’s keeper?”
“Something tells me you’ll protect my daughter a little better,” she replies dryly, glancing over at Hattie before returning her gaze back to me. “Besides, Hattie isn’t muscle, and I need muscle here.”
When I cut my eyes to Tara, it seems she’s pretty pleased with the offer. We both knew going into this that the college fund Tara’s parents set up for her would run out before the end of our four years here, so maybe this is the best plan for us. Besides, this means I’ll be next to Angelica all the time, which might help me get to the bottom of this whole thing a lot quicker since she’s the target.
“You’ve got yourself a deal, but I think I’ll hold on to those favors for a bit, if you don’t mind.”
“Delighted to hear it,” she says, clapping her hands together.
*****
“This is freshman housing, huh?” Angelica asks while standing in the open doorway of our room and looking in.
“Yep, this is it,” I reply, motioning for her to enter. “Weren’t you a freshman once?”
“Yeah, but I commuted from home. It wasn’t until I became president of Alpha Nu Gamma that I decided to move out and into the sorority house,” she answers while taking in our closet of a room. “This is … cute.”
“It’s not much, but
it’s home,” Tara chimes in.
“Oh, I wasn’t insinuating … never mind,” Angelica responds.
“I call dibs on the shower first.” Tara rushes into the bathroom after snatching up her bathrobe and shower caddy. She always beats me to the shower, and yet I’m the one who actually needs it right now.
Angelica places her bag on the floor next to my desk and I see her count how many beds there are in the room. “There are two beds, and three of us.”
I have to hold back my sarcastic comment. “Yeah. You’ll sleep in my bed, and I’ll take the floor,” I answer, knowing full well I’m going to feel like utter shit tomorrow because of it.
“Oh, no. I don’t want to impose like that,” she says, putting up her hands.
Again, I have to bite my tongue and not say the first snarky comment that springs to mind. “It’s fine. This is only a temporary living situation.”
“You know, we could have stayed at the sorority house. We would’ve had more room there,” she comments.
“True, but you’ve been attacked twice there, and our room is a little more incognito than a giant sorority house at the end of a street. I’d say you’re a bit safer here.”
She nods with a slight smile. “Oh, and sorry in advance for any discomfort I may cause you by being here,” she mentions, taking a seat on the edge of my bed.
“Oh yeah, that. Don’t worry about it. I do have one request though.”
“Of course. Anything.”
I laugh. “Could you stash away that bracelet thingy of yours? It hurts like a bitch to be around when you’re wearing it.”
“Sure,” she replies with a little laugh of her own while removing the bangle and placing it in her bag. “Don’t tell Hattie, but I really hate that thing. She insists I wear it for my protection.”
“Yeah, well, while you’re in this room, I’m the protection. Just don’t forget to slap it back on when you leave for class in the morning, okay?”
“Got it,” she answers. “Hey, Olivia?”
“What’s up?” I respond while rolling out the sleeping bag I pulled from our closet, prepping my sleep area.
“I never got a chance to say thank you for saving my life again. I’m not sure why you did it, but thank you.”
“Just doing what I was trained to do … err, sort of. Usually I’m on the other side of the shooting, but keeping the peace is in my nature. I guess it’s hard to change a tiger’s stripes,” I say, smoothing out the corners of the sleeping bag so that it lays flat on the floor. I turn to look at her and she sends me a half-smile. “Oh, and if you can, try to limit the zombie talk around Tara. It’s not really a sensitive topic, but treat her like you would anyone else. I don’t need her developing a complex or anything.”
Angelica titters. “I was going to ask about that. I’ve never met a zombie half-witch before.”
My eyes get huge as I snap my head over to look at her again. “Wait, how do you know she’s half witch?”
“Oh, is that a secret too?”
“More than you can imagine, but again, how did you know that?” I ask with a little more urgency in my voice. Thankfully, this conversation has come up while Tara’s still in the shower.
“I looked up who her mom was to check into the whole legacy thing, and I found out who her father was in the process, so I put two and two together. It’s one of the main reasons she made it through to the next round of rushing,” Angelica explains.
“Okay, I’m only going to say this once: you cannot say any of this to her. I’ll explain in more detail later when she’s not in the next room, but it’s absolutely imperative you never mention this to her, or anyone else for that matter, all right?”
She nods with a furrowed brow. “Of course. My lips are sealed from here on out. Anyway, it’s the least I can do for someone who saved my life twice.”
I breathe a sigh of relief, but then tense up when I hear the shower shut off. Moments later, the bathroom door swings open and I flash a look to Angelica.
“Okay, who’s up next?” Tara asks, re-entering the room in her pajamas while drying her hair with a towel.
My eyes immediately find Angelica’s again. She proceeds to make the motion of locking her lips together and throwing away the key. “You can have it next, Olivia. I showered earlier. I’m more of a shower-in-the-morning kind of gal.”
“Thanks,” I say, making my way to the closet. I pluck out a long shirt and a pair of pajama pants before proceeding into the bathroom. I stop by the sink to collect some shower essentials along the way.
I can’t help but be nervous with Tara and Angelica in the room by themselves, especially after hearing what Angelica knows. I hear them laughing through the door and my heart skips a beat. What if Angelica slips up and mentions something she isn’t supposed to? Shaking off the nerves, I realize I have to trust that Angelica isn’t going to say anything to Tara.
Sighing, I turn on the shower and wait a few seconds until it gets to a tolerable temperature. Shedding my clothes, I toss them off to the side and test the water with my hand again before stepping inside. The moment the water begins to flow over my body, I feel a sense of release, but then that throbbing ache returns in my right arm.
“Damn this residual pain,” I murmur to myself as I massage the area above the clear bandage covering my newly acquired ink.
I can’t help but get all hot and bothered when Heath enters my mind after seeing the tattoo. I feel a warm sensation coursing through my entire body, and it’s definitely not the hot water. It feels like lingering energy from Heath’s touch, and I find myself yearning for his actual hands to be all over me.
I think it’s safe to say I’ve got it bad.
Ah, normalcy. Well, kind of.
I’m sitting in my English class, and I should be paying attention to Professor Gimble’s lecture, but he’s making it so difficult. I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard a more monotone voice in my entire life. So, instead of listening to him read random passages from one of his favorite Edgar Allan Poe shorts before proceeding to pick them apart one by one, I’m sitting here thinking about what the hell we’re going to do.
It occurred to me last night, after another endless discussion of how we’re going to deal with our unknown assailant, that I have no idea what to do. Last night was sort of our Hail Mary play, and it ended with me getting shot and my attacker escaping. So I’m definitely not marking that in the win column. As far as another plan goes, it’s not like I have a lot of choices, since there’s this whole potential-for-war thing looming over my head.
The slam of the book in Professor Gimble’s hands snaps me out of my daze. It’s the liveliest thing that’s happened this whole period, which is such a shame because I love Edgar Allan Poe. When he dismisses the class, I can feel the combined internal sigh of relief from all the students.
“That guy makes me want to die again, seriously,” Tara groans in a whisper as we leave the classroom.
My reply is halted when I see Heath leaning against the wall across from us with a grin resting between two handsome dimples.
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Tara laughs. “Remember, we’re supposed to meet Angelica in the quad in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll be right there. And yes, before you say anything, I realize I’m being a terrible bodyguard. But if I don’t actually go to class more than once a week, I’ll get chucked out. Besides, all the attacks have happened at night, so I’m sticking with that pattern,” I explain while watching Heath stroll over to us.
“Guilty conscience, huh?” she quips, causing me to send her a withering stare. “Hey, Heath. Don’t keep Liv long, ’kay? We’ve got to talk battle strategies in the quad.”
He laughs off her comment as she moves down the hall. “Battle strategies, huh?”
“Yeah, I was afraid this might happen. You give Tara an inch, she takes a mile. Have to love her commitment to the bit though.”
“How’s the arm holding up?”
“Better t
oday. I got a nice jolt in the shower last night.” I immediately begin to blush once I remember what I was thinking about in the shower.
“Yeah, I forgot to tell you about putting it under running water for the first time,” he replies while rubbing the back of his neck. He gently takes hold of my arm and rolls up my sleeve to examine the tattoo. “At least it’s healing nicely.”
I giggle. “I’m starting to notice you forget to tell me a lot of things.” He acts like he’s offended, but I can tell he’s joking. “Did you really come here to chat about my arm and the tattoo?” I ask, rolling the shirt’s sleeve back down.
“Well, that was two of the things. I was also going to ask about Angelica … and wanted to say how I’ve been thinking about nothing else but you since you left the parlor last night,” he answers, his deep soothing voice and striking blue eyes emphasizing his point.
“Oh, really?” I inquire, moving closer to him.
“Really,” he replies, stepping toward me.
“Well, Angelica’s doing as fine as someone can in her situation.”
“And?” he asks with a quirked eyebrow.
“And what?” I answer, knowing full well what he wants me to comment on.
His mouth breaks into a smirk and a small chuckle slips out. “Right here, that’s where you just stabbed me,” he teases, jabbing his thumb into his chest.
“Of course I’ve been thinking about you too. It’s nice to see you squirm for a change.”
“What do you say to the idea that once this is all over, we go on a real date with no drama? I’m thinking dinner, movie … sex. You know, the usual.”
I give him a love tap on the chest. “And that right there is why I didn’t want to admit you’ve been on my mind.”
“I was joking. Well, mostly.”
“Uh-huh. Anyway, have you found any leads on my brother’s whereabouts?”
“I’ve checked all the typical Hunter hangouts and no one’s seen him lately,” he replies.
