Recipe for Disaster

by Theda Vallee

  I pulled her into a hug, partially because I was really proud of her and partly because I needed it. She was my rock, even if she felt like a liability some days. I watched over Nerina’s shoulder as Gia cut the vines from Luc. He stood stiffly, rubbing his wrists. I closed my eyes, letting the warmth of love from my sister fill me to the brim.

  “You’ll be okay. I’ll kill him with my bare hands before I let him hurt you again,” Nerina whispered into my hair.

  Pulling back, I kissed her forehead with a big smacking sound. “Thank you. I love you. Can everyone give Luc and me a few minutes alone?”

  Five women stared back at me like I’d lost my damn mind. “Is that wise?” Vee asked.

  “It’s okay. You guys need to finish preparations before we go, and Luc needs to be brought up to speed. We’re running out of time,” I said confidently. “Besides, I won’t hesitate to nuke his ass if I need to. Promise.”

  Nonna nodded, taking it upon herself to herd everyone towards the door. “I hope you intend on cleaning up the mess you have made, Mr. DeFiero. That includes the one on my floor.”

  “Of course, Mrs. Massoni, I’ll take care of it all. You have my word,” Luc replied. “Etta, what’s going on?”

  Pointing to the pile of black on the floor, I said, “That came out of you. We found curses attached to you after you assaulted Vee and me the other day.”

  He took a step back, a soft gasp escaping from him. Sinking down onto the couch, he dropped his head into his hands. “I thought it was a dream. How could I hurt you? Vee? Who would want to curse me?”

  “I don’t know. There hasn’t been time to think about why.”

  “Spells, as in more than one?” he asked, looking up at me bewildered. “What else was on me?”

  “We didn’t have the tools to figure out what they were. There were several dark curses, but we couldn’t tell what their purpose was. There were also a few protection spells, but they were keeping your body safe, not your mind. It’s something we’ll have to look into later, but right now, there’s bad shit happening that needs handled. Easton kidnapped Brady. He’ll kill him if I don’t show up in an hour, alone. We have a plan in place, but I need your help.”

  “What? Why would Easton do that? What the hell is going on, Etta?”

  I sat in the armchair crossing my legs. He was going to lose his shit when he found out what I’d been up to while we held him captive. “We don’t have a lot of time, so you get the cliff-notes version of the last few days. You went crazy and attacked Vee and me. It was out of character. You’re an asshole, but you’ve never been abusive, so I had my sister check you for magic, and you were crawling with it. She started searching for a way to remove the spell, and I searched for a clue to the Tarantella because I didn’t think the queens did it.”

  “That’s not up to you to decide,” he interrupted.

  “You don’t get to interrupt. Just listen,” I said, wagging my finger at him. “We found a lead that took us to a fairy hate gala.”

  Luc jumped up from the couch, throwing his hands up in anger. “Do you understand how dangerous that was? What if someone caught you? How did you even get in? You don’t have wings. Where did you get this information? You need to tell me who your source is now.”

  “You can fuck off. I’m not telling you anything. Nor am I obligated to. All you need to know is I met Easton’s father at the ball, and he told me that Easton was part of a gang of human haters, and they were responsible for the Tarantella. Before I could track him down, I got a text message saying that he’d taken Brady, your best friend. So, we have to go save him and arrest the gang of dicks before they unleash an even worse attack.”

  Luc paced back and forth as I talked. The tense set of his shoulders told me he was working hard to contain his anger. I watched him quietly, digging my fingernails into the palm of my hand to calm myself. The angry pacing was how he always reacted. It had never ended in violence before. He was upset, but this was normal Luc. Nothing to fear.

  “So, you’re keeping secrets from me?”

  “How many people have you killed?” I asked.

  “Why would you ask me that?”

  “You received a text instructing you to kill Bob the Cancer. If we’re talking about secrets, let’s talk about the fact that you’re receiving assassination orders like it’s a normal thing you do,” I said, standing up and walking over to him. “From the beginning, you’ve lied to me, tried to manipulate me, and otherwise, done whatever you could to keep me in the dark. Am I dating a murderer? It seems like you’re the one who doesn’t know how to be transparent.”

  “Because I love you. This world isn’t safe. You’re kind, caring, and damaged. There are people out there waiting to exploit you. How can you hate me for loving you so much that I tried to keep you from having to see the ugly shit out there?” he said, reaching his hand out to me.

  “You don’t get to decide that for me anymore. I get to decide. Keeping things from me could get me killed. When this is over, we need to have a long talk about how to move forward. Right now, I need you to sit down and listen to how we’re going to save your BFF, got it?”

  Luc opened his mouth to argue but seemed to think better of it and slammed it shut. He sat on the couch, looking up at me expectantly. Taking a deep breath, I began to outline the plan and how he was going to be a good little boy and do exactly as he was told.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Look at you, strutting in here like a boss bitch,” Nerina said as I walked into the kitchen. “I thought Luc would shit himself when you told him he wasn’t leading this rescue mission.”

  To my surprise, Luc had agreed to go along with everything. He wasn’t thrilled about it, but he had even agreed to call for backup once we got the confession and rescued Brady. Hopefully, the Osservatori would believe we were following a lead and accidentally found the bad guys. It wasn’t airtight, but it was in the realm of possible. There was no reason for them to think Luc would lie, so that would help sell our version.

  Grabbing my keys off the counter, I stood there jingling them nervously as I watched the frenzy of activity around me. I needed to leave, but the thought of my family jumping into this foray was almost enough to make me call it off. They’d helped me save the city from a succubus, but that hadn’t been involved in the fighting. Once the circle had been broken, they’d been whisked away to relative safety. This time, they would have to fight. Kaz was bringing ten people with him, which should help, but I was still sick to my stomach.

  “Penny for your mind?” Aunt Sophia asked.

  “Just nervous. I love you guys. Please be safe,” I said, heading for the door before I talked myself out of it. “Make sure the guard stays here looking after Bob. We’ll have to get him home after all this.”

  Nonna came over, pressing a pendant into my hand. “Wear this, dolce. It will help keep you safe.”

  I looked down at the small silver charm she’d given me. It was a mano fico, which looked like hand with the thumb tucked in, hanging on a silver chain. Nonna had worn it every day for as long as I could remember. I wanted to give it back, she might need it more than me, but I could see from the stubborn set of her brow she’d refuse. She’d never put her own air mask on first in a plane crash, it wasn’t in her DNA.

  “Thank you,” I said, reaching behind me to clasp the necklace in place.

  “Seriously? Why does she get extra protection? We’re all risking our butts,” Nerina said eyeing the necklace.

  Nonna smacked her arm. “Stia zitta, don’t worry, I am all the good luck you will need. She’s going alone.”

  “All right, I’ll see you guys soon,” I said, opening the door and heading out to my car.

  The house was on the outskirts of the city. It was a neighborhood that had been bought out for a freeway expansion. A few of the houses remained, slated for tear down soon. It was the perfect place to hide. The neighborhood sat in eerie silence. None of the usual sounds one would expect to hear in s
uburbia could be heard. It was very empty. No one around to hear your screams.

  I parked across the street and got out of my car. Standing in the street, I stared at the house, working up the courage to go inside. I called Stella, praying she’d be cooperative. For the last few days, she’d been hovering around inside of me like an angry hornet. She wasn’t happy with the lack of activity lately. As far as she was concerned, there had been plenty of times when we should have obliterated everything in our path. She wasn’t one for subtlety. I felt the familiar flood of magic ripple through me as she rose to the surface. Warmth infused my skin as she began to draw on the elements around us, filling us up with power.

  They considered witches lesser in the supernatural community because of our human frailty, but we actually had the best of both worlds. Being born with a magical parasite, we had a well of power to draw from, but we could also channel the earth’s magic. Most other beings could only serve as a conduit for a small strain of magic, but we were the mother-fucking power supply. Knowing I had an edge gave me a little boost of confidence. Perhaps I wasn’t the best at wielding my abilities, but I could pack a much bigger punch.

  The house was older. The outside paint was dull and in desperate need of updating. Weeds ran amuck in the yard, and the grass was dead from the summer heat. The normal humming of nature was absent. Not a single bird dared to chirp. That was a bad sign. If I had any sense, I’d run. Guess it was a good thing I didn’t have a lick of sense most days, or shit would never get done.

  I knocked on the door, eyeing the cobwebs in the corner with trepidation. Spiders had issues with personal space, and I didn’t want one dropping into my hair. It would ruin the badass persona I was trying to channel if they came to the door and I was flailing around.

  The door cracked open an inch. A brilliant indigo eye peered out at me from the crack. I smiled, waving at the eye. “Hi, I’m Etta. Easton is expecting me. I hope I didn’t miss dinner.”

  The owner of the eye grunted, closing the door. I could hear a multitude of locks being undone on the other side. Finally, the door reopened, the owner of the indigo eye looming in the doorway. Like most fae, he was lovely to look at. Delicate features, perfect skin, abnormally shiny hair, all of it a beautiful mask hiding a rotten core. If only people’s outsides could match their insides, like Bob. It would make life a lot easier.

  “Let me see your hands,” he demanded. I held out my hands confused by his request. The fairy clicked a bracelet onto each wrist, grinning at me as he did so. “Dampens your magic.”

  No. No. No. This was not good. I couldn’t feel Stella. My ability to use magic had just been tossed out the window. I tried not to panic. As long as the mark binding me to Kaz worked, I was fine. I just needed to stay alive long enough for backup to arrive. I was fine. Everything was fine.

  The fairy nodded his head, signaling that I should follow him. Inhaling a shaky breath, I stepped into the house, pausing in the hall as he clicked the locks into place behind me. All the lights were off, and the windows were boarded over, leaving the house shrouded in darkness. Cool, now I was magicless and blind. Why had I wanted to be in charge? This was my plan, and I hadn’t built in one fucking contingency.

  The fae moved in front of me, his shimmering blue wings blocking my view. I strained to see the path we took. If I had to get out of here on my own, I wanted to know which way to run. Unfortunately, all I could see was the glittering reflection of wings. This was getting better by the second.

  After moving through a few rooms, a soft light filtered hazily through the wings. We walked past two more rooms before finally coming to the kitchen. Camping lanterns were set on the counter giving off the only light in the whole house.

  “You know camping means you go outside, usually to the woods or something,” I said to Easton. He was lounging against a counter, smirking at me like a rich bully in an 80s movie. Brady was propped up in the corner of the room, his body bound. Blood coated his ginger hair, matting it to his scalp. His head hung forward limply, and there appeared to be a few fresh bruises on his face.

  “I wasn’t sure you’d come. Have a seat, I’d like to discuss things calmly over a cup of coffee,” Easton said.

  I walked over, pulling out a chair. While Easton busied himself making coffee, I got a good look at Brady. His chest was moving up and down. He was alive. I let myself feel a moment of relief before putting my guards back into place.

  The kitchen we were in had probably been swank in the late 1970s. The burnt-orange linoleum should have been replaced a decade ago, and it clashed with the avocado-colored appliances. The table I sat at was a dark walnut with spindle-legged chairs that looked like someone was really into prairie chic. No wonder the owners had taken the buy-out and moved on. It would cost a fortune to bring this space into the current century.

  Easton sat down across from me, crossing his legs demurely. He set a steaming cup of coffee in front of me before sipping from his. “Coffee is one of the few things humans got right. I don’t know why we haven’t adopted this in Fairy yet, but I’m hoping we do,” he said conversationally.

  “If you kill all the humans, you may kill your dream with them,” I said, ignoring the cup in front of me. As good as it smelled, I wasn’t about to drink anything he offered me. “Who would grow it? I can’t imagine the fae harvesting their own crops.”

  “You think the fae aren’t capable of growing this? We’d be able to grow this and make it superior. Even the most prized beans your humans make wouldn’t compare.”

  “Cool story, but I’m not here to listen to your aspirations to become a coffee baron. What do you want in exchange for Brady?”

  He set his cup down, folding his hands in his lap. “Fine. We can cut to the chase. You. You are what we want in exchange.”

  “Me? What the hell do you want with me?” I asked, masking my surprise.

  “With you on our side, we’ll be able to speed up our timeline. Luc’s been keeping your powers under wraps, forcing you to quell your essence. I know what you’re capable of, though. It’s in the reports. We need you.”

  “Okay, but what happens to me after I’ve been forced to slaughter millions of people? I’m still technically human.”

  “You’re a descendant of the old race. The humans before they corrupted themselves and their Earth. A time before magic died off. You carry the remnants of that magic within you. That’s sacred, and we wouldn’t seek to destroy you or those like you.”

  “So, you want me to murder my family and neighbors. Everyone I’ve known my whole life. Wow, that sounds too good to be true.”

  “You’re better than the humans you associate with. This world deserves to be populated by people who will nurture it. People who will work in harmony with the Earth. I’m tired of hiding. I’m tired of watching a world full of idiots hell-bent on destroying everything.” Spit flew from his mouth as his face lit up with excitement. This wasn’t just his mission; it was his obsession.

  “All right, but instead of killing everyone, how about we just work to integrate into society? It would take time, but eventually, they’d get used to us,” I offered. Why was slaughtering an entire planet’s worth of people the only solution?

  “What did the humans do to your ancestors, witch? Did they allow them a place in their society?” Easton asked with a sneer. “There is no living peacefully with humans. It is not in their genetic make-up to allow things to exist outside their limited scope of understanding.”

  “That’s rich coming from a dude whose people throw out anyone who refuses to breed for the greater good,” I said. “So, I have to ask, the whole persona you crafted was all a fake? You’re not a barely literate bro, you’re just a run-of-the-mill homicidal maniac. It’s disappointing, I thought we’d be friends.”

  Easton laughed, shaking his head. “Etta, I’m the son of a Duke. I’m first in line to inherit the title. Do you really think I’d be brought up to be so crass? Of course, it was fake. I needed to keep tabs on you. Th
ere are too many people who want you.”

  “Who would want me?”

  “Do I need to run down the list? Aside from the Osservatori, there’s the Unseelie Prince who’s got his tentacles in you now. The vamps, elves, shifters, and a few secret societies you’ve yet to meet. Everyone.”

  It felt like ice coursed through my veins as he listed off the groups who wanted to control me. How was I supposed to fight everyone? “Well, this has been a lovely conversation, but I have to say, no thanks. I’ll take my friend and be on my way.”

  I stood from the table, calling to Kaz through the mark. I didn’t know if the bracelets would dampen the call, so I concentrated hard. Maybe if he couldn’t feel my call, he’d at least feel the wall of fear that had settled around me. They had no intention of letting me go.

  Easton stepped in front of me, his body blocking the exit. Four other faes, including Mr. Indigo, stepped into the kitchen. I tried to pull on the surrounding magic, but without Stella to help funnel it, the magic refused to come at my bidding. “Please, let’s talk this through. You can let us go. I won’t tell anyone what I know.”

  “Sorry, my boss has been waiting a long time for this,” Easton said. His hand pulled back, and his fist connected with my face before the world went dark.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Opening my eyes, my teeth chattered as the cold seeped in from the concrete beneath me. Muscular arms held me tight as I groaned in pain. My face felt like a horse had kicked it in. Gingerly I reached up, feeling the crusted blood and swelling of my cheek. It probably looked as bad as it felt. A hand smoothed my hair, as a familiar scent enveloped me. Brady. He smelled like citrus and sandalwood. Earthy and lively just like him.

  “I take it my rescue mission failed,” I said, my words muffled by his bulging biceps.

  “What? Are you okay? Did he knock the words out of you, honey?” Brady asked gently turning me to face him.