Bound

by Christina Garner

  Of course. If any of these witches could access their power, these scumbags would be toast.

  When the man prodded her forward, she pushed back. She would not be sold. She would not let Sarah be sold. She should have fought in the hallway while no one else was around.

  Maeve squared off in front of her and gripped her chin.

  “Be a good little witch, or I’ll sell you to a cicru demon.” She turned Eden’s head so she was staring at a giant, hulking beast with scaled green flesh. “They aren’t known to be gentle masters.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Sarah’s words came out a whimper. “We’ve done nothing to you.”

  “Yes, that’s the trouble with you middle-class humans. You think if you’re a good person, good things should happen to you.” Maeve released Eden’s chin and turned to Sarah. “That’s your definition of equality. Tell me, is it fair that some are born with power while others are not? Forced to bend and scrape in front of those who won the genetic lottery?”

  “I-I don’t know,” Sarah said.

  “Of course you don’t, dear. You’ve never had to trouble yourself to think on it.” She glanced at the auction block and then back to Sarah. “But don’t fret. You’re going to have a long life of contemplation. Unless you end up with the cicru. They run through your lot quick.”

  Sarah’s lips trembled, but she didn’t look away.

  “So, this is a noble crusade?” Useless rage burned in Eden’s belly. If she could just get some of the power. “Your mission is to teach privileged girls like us a lesson?”

  Maeve gave a dismissive wave. “Don’t be silly. I’m selling you for the power it affords me. Watching you squirm is a side benefit.” She clapped her hands together. “Now, let’s get you two on the roster, shall we?”

  Eden noticed a definite spring in her step as Maeve approached the auction block. She whispered in a woman’s ear and pointed at Sarah and Eden. The woman eyed them up and down and replied with a curt nod. She began writing as Maeve made her way back.

  “Isn’t this exciting?” Her eyes shone. “You must wonder what you’ll go for. It’s a bit of a buyer’s market, so don’t feel slighted if you don’t earn your full worth.”

  Eden felt disconnected from her body, as though she were floating above the scene. Around her witches whimpered and cried and struggled, all to no avail. A gavel slammed down, and the auctioneer announced a girl—no more than fourteen—had been sold for twelve hundred drops and ten percent of her future production.

  Eden’s belly burned with greasy bile and rage. There had to be a way out—for her, for all of them. Twelve years ago, her use of fire had saved her from this fate, the way it had two months ago. Now that inferno had been reduced to a tiny flame, and she’d begged Sarah to do it. After completing her purchase, even that had been extinguished. Yak butter tea or not, she was still tapped out. One glance at Sarah told her she fared no better. Nothing left to draw from.

  Except…

  A flash of inspiration and Eden slammed her head back against her captor. Bones crunched, and he cursed. Sticky wetness hit the back of Eden’s head, and she took pleasure in having broken his nose.

  She wheeled around and stumbled, her balance off because her hands were still secured behind her back. She launched herself at a wide-eyed Maeve, both of them tumbling. Maeve’s head hit the stone floor with a satisfying thud. Eden used her teeth to rip the chain from around Maeve’s neck. With glazed eyes and trembling hands, Maeve reached for it, but Eden sprang to her feet and wheeled around.

  She held the chain through clenched teeth, the vial dangling. All movement in the room stopped as she spun around to Sarah, staring down the man who held her fast while holding a blade to her neck.

  “Take one step…” He pressed the tip of the blade to Sarah’s throat.

  Eden didn’t need to take a step.

  She opened her mouth, and the chain slid along her teeth and out of her mouth. The vial smashed to the floor, swirling colors shooting in all directions. Everyone in the room dove for the power—witches and kidnappers alike.

  Eden didn’t need to dive.

  She pulled in the power as if she’d been taking it all of her life. She’d sucked in every last drop before even those closest had reached her. The power lit up every one of her cells and made them sing.

  A puff of magic and the zip tie around her wrists came loose. A laser of energy shot from Eden’s hand to the forehead of Sarah’s captor, knocking him backward. His knife clattered to the ground. Eden severed the shackles of every witch in the room. Pandemonium broke out as they punched and kicked their kidnappers. Most were outmatched physically and would soon be back under control.

  Eden grabbed Sarah’s hand and pulled her toward the exit. At the door, she paused and slammed the last of her power at the barriers between the witches and access to their magic. The floodgates opened, and power hit the room like a tsunami. Eden staggered back, overcome with the need to suck the place dry.

  No! It was all she could do to stop herself. They need it more than you do.

  She pushed through the door and into the hall. She and Sarah broke into all-out running. Down the dark corridor, back out to the market. They had to escape the maze of booths. Eden chose by instinct alone, clutching Sarah’s hand, terrified they might be separated in the throng of people. Darkness was upon them, drawing a new clientele of shoppers to the market. Dashing this way and that, Eden and Sarah made their way along the rows until they reached straighter, more congruous ones. Safety in the market was impossible, but Eden allowed herself to stop, slumping against a brick wall, taking air in huge gulps.

  “How do we get out of here?” Sarah was breathless, her eyes darting wildly.

  Eden shook her head, unable to speak. Her heart pounded.

  “We need to leave.” Sarah grabbed the arm of a passerby. “Please. Tell us the way out.”

  “It would be my pleasure.” His smile was congenial enough, but Eden had learned her lesson with Maeve. “For a mere two drops—”

  Eden grabbed the man by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

  “Help us get out of here right now, or the only drops you’ll be worried about is the blood I’m going to spill.” She pressed a forearm against his windpipe. The man’s eyes bulged.

  “This is not how it’s done.” His words were a strangled cry. “Nothing is free at the market.”

  “Then we will strike a deal. You see us safely back to the alley in Haverland, and I will leave your eyes where they belong.”

  “Eden…” Sarah swallowed, appearing nervous.

  “Don’t worry. He understands me.” She turned back to the man whose entire face was glazing over from lack of oxygen. “We understand each other, don’t we? We have a deal.”

  The man croaked agreement, and Eden let him go. He rubbed his neck and glared at her but made no move to run. He gestured, and the two women followed.

  “That was a little intense,” Sarah whispered, her eyes on the man leading the way.

  “We were almost just sold to the highest bidder, and that was the intense part?”

  “No, of course not.” Sarah’s cheeks reddened. “That just isn’t like you.”

  “To do what needs to be done?” Eden felt flat. Her tone matched. “It’s sort of becoming my specialty. I didn’t see you complaining when I lit the borahn on fire or sucked the—”

  Eden’s words cut off, before letting slip what she’d done with Bes’tal’s soul and all it housed.

  The man pointed to a curtain that hung at the end of the alley. He turned to go, but Eden held him fast.

  “The deal was you see us safely back. We are not yet back.” She turned to Sarah. “Unless you think that’s too intense and want me to let him go without knowing if this is a trap.”

  Sarah lowered her head and answered with a small shake. Eden pushed the man toward the curtain. Eden gripped his shirt as she stepped through and grabbed Sarah’s hand. Her friend might currently be judging
the methods she was using to save her life, but there was no way Eden would leave her behind.

  They stepped through the curtain, and the market fell away, leaving the trio standing in the alley where Eden and Sarah had begun this ill-conceived adventure. Night was falling. They would have to hurry to catch the last bus back to Somerland.

  “Our transaction is complete.” The man stepped back, something dangerous flashing in his eyes. “But I will not forget.”

  He slipped back behind the veil and disappeared.

  Eden and Sarah stared at each other, as if both finally feeling what they’d just been through. What had almost happened to them.

  “You did the right thing,” Sarah said after a long moment had passed. “With him, and with saving those witches.”

  Eden hoped she’d saved them. Prayed she hadn’t freed them only to be recaptured. She could have stayed. She didn’t have an ounce of power left, but she could have fought.

  “I know it was hard for you,” Sarah said. “To leave them behind. But I know why you did it.”

  Eden’s cheeks grew warm as shame coursed through her.

  “One of these days, I’ll be the one saving you.” Sarah slung an arm around Eden’s shoulder, and the two walked down the alley.

  “Let’s stop putting ourselves in positions where we need saving.” Eden forced a smile. Sarah returned a grin of her own.

  Getting Sarah to safety had been the main reason Eden had fled without making sure the other witches had also escaped. But the other reason, the one she would only admit to herself, lay nestled in her purse. As they hurried toward the bus stop, Eden reached into her bag and felt for the urn, relief washing over her when she confirmed it was still intact.

  She’d gotten what they’d come for.

  Chapter 14

  “You said you didn’t want to be involved in research.”

  Sarah had expected Kai might be angry, but that didn’t mean she liked it. Once Eden’s situation was under control, she and Kai really needed to have a talk about whatever was going on with her.

  “You said research would be boring. You said it involved sitting around Quinn’s place and staring at a computer for hours on end.” Kai’s arms were folded, her head cocked to the side.

  “That’s what it was,” Sarah sputtered. “Until it…wasn’t.”

  “And you don’t think I should know when you run off to some underground magical flea market?”

  “In retrospect…”

  Sarah hadn’t told Kai everything that had happened at the market. The story she gave pretty much consisted of the fact that she and Eden had gone, and bought the Urn of Capio. She’d skirted around the part about paying with power and had definitely left out the almost-sold-into-slavery bit. Kai wouldn’t have understood. Sarah wasn’t sure she did, except that her best friend was slipping away, and she would do whatever possible to stop that from happening.

  Eden had thought Sarah begrudged her using force to escape, but that wasn’t it. What bothered Sarah was how much Eden had seemed to delight in it. With power her demeanor changed, and Sarah couldn’t stand to see it. She needed her friend back. If the price was nightmares about that day, it was one she was willing to pay.

  “In retrospect?” Kai raised an eyebrow.

  “Okay, you’re right. I should have told you.”

  “You should have brought me,” Kai said. But her gaze had softened. “It’s my job to keep you safe.”

  Was it? Since the night of Bes’tal, Kai had become overprotective in the extreme. Sarah had hoped it would fade, but it hadn’t. Kai was fierce, and an expert in martial arts, but she wasn’t a witch. Did she really think her fists were more protection than Sarah’s magic?

  “I should have brought you.” Saying it was easier than telling her that Sarah wasn’t even sure Kai would have been able to pass through the barrier without holding magical power. It was laughable how little they’d known about how the black market functioned until they were in the midst of it.

  “I need you to promise me that from now on, you’ll tell me about any other ‘missions,’ and that I can be there when you do this ritual.”

  “For the containment? But it’s all magic. They’ll be nothing for you to do.”

  “What I’ll do is watch your back. Anything unexpected happens, I can help.”

  Sarah wasn’t sure how, but as Kai traced the back of her hand down Sarah’s cheek, she couldn’t help it; she melted.

  “I promise.”

  Nothing prevented Kai from being at the ritual, and Sarah’s questing days were over. If she never stepped foot into the black market again, it would be too soon.

  “I know I come off strong about protecting you, but you know why, right?”

  “Because trouble seems to follow me wherever I go?”

  “No. Okay, yes, that’s part of it.” Kai smirked. “But it’s not the real reason.” Kai touched Sarah’s cheek. “It’s because I love you, and if anything happened to you, I would lose it.”

  Their lips met, and Kai had never tasted so sweet. She wasn’t just protecting Sarah; Kai was protecting herself from the pain of losing her. Sarah finally understood, because in that moment, she knew if anything happened to Kai, she would break into a million irretrievable pieces.

  Sarah pulled away from the kiss, breathless and with some regret, but she couldn’t let another second pass without saying it.

  “I love you too.”

  Kai smiled against her lips. She seemed relieved, which made no sense. How could anyone as beautiful as Kai ever doubt she was loved?

  All thoughts of Eden and the black market fell away. All that remained was Sarah and Kai, lost in each other and lost to the world.

  Chapter 15

  “Looks like the golden girl isn’t feeling so golden anymore.”

  Eden fought the urge to respond to Alex’s taunt. She was hardly golden, and probably never had been. Without access to an extra boost of power, Eden was struggling with even the simplest glamour.

  The dead showed none of Eden’s restraint. Alex’s words prompted an onslaught of all the ways Eden might wipe that smirk from her face.

  The voices always grew louder in the presence of power, and louder still when that power lorded itself over Eden. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth. That pain had become a reminder to hold her tongue. Beside her, Sarah stiffened, but she too remained quiet.

  Eden had wanted to ask Sarah to loosen her binding but hadn’t dared. It wasn’t a test, and the only consequence of doing poorly was Alex’s razor-sharp tongue. As much as she’d wanted to justify needing more—even just a few drops more—if she couldn’t convince herself of her motives, she wasn’t going to try to convince Sarah.

  Eden struggled against humiliation to keep her voice calm and her face neutral.

  “I’m just a little tired.”

  With all eyes in the ritual room trained upon her, Eden wanted to give her sisters as little fuel for suspicion or ridicule as possible.

  A wider smirk from Alex, and the voices grew more insistent.

  No!

  She pushed back against their demands for retribution and their pleas to be fed. She would not listen. She would not become like them.

  “Eden says she can’t perform the spell because she’s tired.” Alex pointed to Ariana. “How about you? Are you tired?”

  Ariana’s expression was grim. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since a demon wiped out almost a quarter of the house.”

  “And yet you’ve managed to show up to each lesson and do exactly what I’ve asked of you. How interesting.” Alex turned to Paige. “How about you? Sleeping tight?”

  Paige shook her head but didn’t speak.

  “Let’s cut to the chase. Is anyone here sleeping as well as they’d like?” Alex gestured. “Show of hands.”

  When none of the dozen women responded, Alex turned her attention back to Eden.

  “I think it’s safe to s
ay sleep isn’t your only problem. I’d suggest you figure out what is before next Sunday. I’ve decided it’s time for a coven-wide ritual.”

  Anxious whispers filled the room.

  “Now?” Paige asked, incredulous. “So soon?”

  “Are you sure that’s safe?” Skyler didn’t mention Eden, but her meaning was clear.

  “I refuse to live in fear, and neither will the rest of you.” Alex spoke over the murmurs of protest. “I get it. You’re terrified of what Eden might do.” The room held its collective breath, and Eden shrank inside. “I’m not. You all heard what Davida said—there’s no risk of a repeat demon invasion.”

  Ariana tried to speak again. “But—”

  This isn’t a democracy. The ritual is Sunday after Thanksgiving. If you need to adjust your plans, do it. Anyone feeling ‘tired’ might want to rest up.” Alex spun on her heel, diatribe continuing. “Attendance is mandatory, but don’t worry, it’s not a pass-or-I-kick-you-out test.” She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes settling upon Eden. “Yet.”

  Eden’s heart missed a beat.

  The door shut behind Alex, and Skyler stood. “So, I guess that’s class dismissed.”

  “Remember when we thought Carolyn was tough?” Ariana shook her head as she, too, stood.

  “She was tough.” Paige began snuffing out candles. “She just wasn’t an egomaniac.”

  Skyler put a large chunk of clear quartz back on the altar. “How soon until the real H.P. gets here?”

  “Not soon enough.” Sarah gave Eden a wink.

  Eden tried to smile back, but all she could think was that the hunger grew by the day. When she practiced magic with her sisters, it was as though a buffet lay before her, but she alone was barred from eating.

  She had to be rid of Bes’tal before this test. The only reason she and Sarah hadn’t already performed the containment ritual was because they were still waiting on one of the supplies.

  The bitter windroot, which should have been the simplest herb to get, had turned out to be the most difficult. Unbeknownst to either woman, a rare fungus had wiped out most of the American crop that year. They’d had to special order it from Europe. Rush shipping had cost a fortune, but even paying it had them waiting another six days for it to arrive.