by D. N. Hoxa
Her plan involved my sister, for which I wasn’t surprised. We knew that Haworth was going to be in Atlantic City to search for the enchanted item, but we had no idea where. Atlantic City was huge and even my nose wouldn’t have been able to pick up his scent in time. So we used Izzy’s picture to search for a match on all the cameras around the city. That’s where my friend Mandy came in because all the money Red had was already spent on weapons and spell stones. I hated to include Mandy in this mess, but once again, she was my only choice and the only person I trusted. Her especially designed program searched the cameras of Atlantic City every second of every day, but we still didn’t have a match.
Half of me was happy about it. If we couldn’t find where they would be, we wouldn’t be able to go after them, would we?
After all, Finn might wake up while I was gone, and I didn’t want that. He hadn’t, not yet, but there was hope. The nurse who kept me updated daily said so.
Red tried to make me change my mind for the first two days, but on the third, he’d already given up. Now, he was trying to teach me how to hold and shoot a gun properly. Needless to say, I was hopeless in that department. Guns just weren’t for me. For the first time since I’d gotten that damn thing, I was happy to have the Reaper String with me. At least it I knew how to use.
We hadn’t gone outside at all, Red and I, and my wolf had refused to show me another memory. Every time before going to bed in one of Amara’s guest rooms, I’d hope that she’d let me see what had happened to her family, but she hadn’t. It felt like she was mad at me. She was mad that I didn’t listen to her, that I chose to fight Haworth, even though, according to her, I had no reason to. She didn’t take Izzy into account at all. I was still trying to control her, sometimes willing my body to shift when she was asleep, hoping to catch her off guard, but it didn’t work. Red was right—she called the shots. And if she refused to come out and help me when I needed it—because I would—I was going to die.
It’s funny how, even knowing all these things, in those four days they didn’t seem like a big enough deal—not reason enough to stop me—when they should have. I had no control. I had no experience. I had no clue about what was waiting for me.
Then, the fourth day came.
I woke up at six in the morning to a text from Mandy. She’d gotten a match.
Izzy was caught on the camera of a McDonald’s with three other people in a neighborhood in Atlantic City. It would take us almost three hours to get there, so we didn’t waste any time. Red would need to rest and recharge his enchanted plaque that he kept under his skin, in direct contact with his veins, after two hours, so it was going to be a long drive. We packed our weapons, activated out protective spells, filled our pockets with attack spell stones, and walked out of Amara’s apartment.
They were waiting for us right across the street.
I smelled them, but I didn’t realize they were there for us. A few Blood witches in Manhattan—nothing unusual about that. Their magic hung in the air like rain waiting to fall, and only when Amara froze in front of the building entrance did we realize that things were not right.
Red grabbed me by the hand and slowly pulled me behind him. The city noise became distant, and within five seconds, it was like the city didn’t exist.
“Stand back,” Amara whispered, and slowly, she took out a gun and a handful of spell stones. But it was too late. The four Blood witches across the street weren’t the only ones coming for us. There were six more coming from the sides, and we could all hear the spells already falling from their lips.
One of the four witches across the street began to walk toward us. Amara, as if she were already under a spell, took a shaky step backward.
“Run at the first chance you get,” she whispered to us, but the only way to go was back inside the apartment.
“Who are they?” Red asked, and for a split second, she turned to look at us. I’ll never forget the fear in her eyes.
“Gwendolyn Masters,” the man who’d already crossed the street said. With a wave of his hands, he stopped the six people coming for us at our sides. Nobody looked our way, not even the paranormals who passed by on the other side of the street. I suspected it had something to do with the looks of the Blood witch. He wasn’t big or muscular, but he had an aura about him that made you want to stay away. The look in his eyes was pure evil, the smile on his face made of sins. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Fuck you, Sunny,” Amara said.
We all could see how badly she was shaking. I looked at Red but he had eyes only for this Sunny guy.
“Oh, we’ll get there, darling. We’ll get there,” Sunny said, laughing a nasty laugh. “For now, you’ll come with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Amara spit. “I’m warning you, Sunny. Leave now while you still have the chance.”
She tried to sound tough just like she always did, but somewhere along the way, she’d lost her mojo.
My wolf raised her head, alarmed by the fast beating of my heart and the tight hold Red had on my hand. She could sense the danger in the air.
“This has gone far enough, Gwendolyn,” the man said. Gwendolyn? “You’re coming with me right now.”
Amara raised her arm and pointed her weapon at his forehead. “I’m not going back,” she said, and her voice broke.
The fear coming off her in waves was unmistakable. It made my wolf very edgy. It made me very edgy, too.
Sunny raised one hand, and all six of his men raised their weapons at us.
“This isn’t going to end well. Lower your gun and get in the car. We’re going to have a little chat, that’s all,” Sunny said.
“Fuck y—”
“Get in the car, Gwendolyn! I will not ask you again!”
His voice was crystal clear, powerful enough to make me shiver.
“Just say the word,” Red whispered. He wanted to fight. My wolf didn’t like our odds. It was ten of them against us, in the middle of the city in broad daylight. About a dozen cameras were going to be witness to our fight. How far could we get from the ECU?
“Don’t,” Amara said after a second. She lowered her arm slowly, her eyes never leaving Sunny’s. “I just have something to take care of first. I’ll meet you guys there.”
“What?” I said before I realized it. She couldn’t be serious if she thought we were going to let her go with these people.
“Smart choice,” Sunny said.
“It’s just for a little while,” said Amara, sniffing her nose. She was crying. “I’ll meet you there.”
Then, Sunny looked at me, and in his eyes, I could see the message clear as day: she wouldn’t.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I said. My wolf agreed. If Amara went with them, chances were we were never going to see her again, and we couldn’t let that happen.
“And you are?” Sunny asked, raising his brows as if he really was curious.
“I think it’s clear she doesn’t want to go,” Red said, taking half a step forward. “Let’s all be smart here and walk our separate ways.”
Sunny didn’t like that. “You’re interfering with coven business. Please stand back.”
Coven business? I looked at Amara again, hoping she’d explain. She didn’t.
“Guys, it’s okay. Just…just stand back and let me get this over with real quick,” was all she said.
“Or, we can put this to a test and see who wins,” Sunny offered.
“Shut up,” Amara spit at him and finally turned to us. Her tears had already dried, and most of her fear had disappeared, but she was still shaken. “Please, just go. Don’t waste this opportunity. I will meet you there.”
“Amara, we can’t do this alone,” I reminded her. The three of us had been in this since the beginning.
“Yes, you can!” She took off her backpack and handed it to me. “You can and you will. Just go!”
“Come on,” Red said, already convinced, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t jus
t walk away from Amara like this.
“Listen to me, you’re not going to get an opportunity like this. You have to go,” she whispered, but when she reached out her hands for mine, that asshole Sunny grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. My wolf growled a warning. She didn’t like that guy any more than I did, but I couldn’t make a move. “Please!” said Amara, and I was done for.
Red grabbed the backpack from my hands and pulled me away while I watched Amara walk after Sunny to the other side of the street where they got into a green truck.
It felt wrong to get in her car without her, to use the keys she’d had in her backpack and to drive away like this. I felt empty. Naked, as if Amara was a piece of my armor, together with Red, and that was dangerous. Red refused to say anything as he drove us out of Manhattan, pressing on the gas whenever he had the chance. I tried to make peace with it for a while. It was what Amara wanted—her decision, not ours.
“We shouldn’t have left her,” I thought out loud. Who knew who those people were and what they were going to do with her?
“We did what she wanted,” Red said with a sigh, as if he’d known all along that I was going to say that, and he’d dreaded the moment.
“She was afraid. How do we know who those people are? And why did they call her by that name?”
For a second, Red turned to look at me, confused as hell. “Amara isn’t her real name, Victoria. Gwendolyn Masters probably is.”
I flinched. “I know. I mean, why did they call her by her full name, like she was being arrested or something?”
“She was,” Red confirmed.
“But they weren’t the ECU, were they?”
“They were the Blood coven. I’ve heard of Sunny before. A maniac, they say. The Blood coven’s law enforcer. He handles the coven business that doesn’t require the ECU’s intervention.”
It was suddenly very hot in the car. “What the hell did she do, anyway? Since I’ve known her, all she cared about was finding Haworth.”
“Look, you need to calm down. She said she’s going to meet us there and she will. As soon as we have an address, we’ll text her. She’ll be there,” Red said, but it sounded more like wishful thinking.
“And if she doesn’t?”
Red had no answer for me.
We stopped at a motel for two hours before Red could come out in the sun again. It wasn’t a sunny day by any means—angry clouds dotted the sky everywhere—but even the weakest sunray hurt him, and we didn’t want to take any chances. My mind was on Amara every second of the way. It just…felt wrong. Maybe it was me, or maybe it was my wolf, but I knew we’d made a mistake letting Sunny and his men take her away. We should have done something. We should have stopped them.
Since we didn’t, all I could do was wallow in regret while we drove the rest of the way to Atlantic City without a stop this time. I’d never been before, but I expected it to be more crowded. The streets were almost empty, the roads huge, and the way to where Mandy had caught Izzy on camera was clear. The plan had been for Red to find a spot to hide in, in the darkness, while Amara and I searched for Izzy’s scent. Now, the plan had changed.
I expected him to get angry when I told him my new plan, just not so much.
“No way,” he said. “You’re sticking with me.”
“We’d be wasting time. It doesn’t get dark for another three hours, and by then, it could be too late. I’ve got this.”
I didn’t have this, but for both our sakes, and Amara’s, I had to pretend.
“We don’t know what’s out there,” Red said when he parked the car in an underground parking lot below a fifteen-story building. He looked well worn out. The enchanted item protected him from the sun somehow, but it took a lot of his energy away, too. “Haworth could find you. His people could see you, and then all of this goes to hell.”
I shook my head. “I’ll stay hidden. I’ve got the spell stones with me. Nobody is going to find me,” I insisted. If we waited until dark only to find that Haworth had found the last enchanted item and had disappeared, we’d be screwed for good.
“They found you in Finn’s offices. That place was a lot more protected than what these spells can provide,” Red spit. “Listen to me, Victoria, it’s too—” But I didn’t want to hear it.
“That’s enough,” I said reluctantly, but he left me no choice. “I know you don’t want me caught. I don’t want to get caught, either, but three hours is just too long. We can argue about this more if you want, but I’m going. The McDonald’s is just around the corner. I won’t go far, I promise.”
Red acted like I’d just shot him straight in the heart with a silver bullet. He slammed a hand on the steering wheel. “If they find you, I won’t be able to come out,” he spit.
“I know.” I knew the risks all too well, but Amara was right. If we didn’t do this now, when Haworth got all the energy he needed to start possessing people like a freaking devil, we were never going to get another chance.
Silence for a second. I looked out at the dark parking lot and tried to think happy thoughts. One happy thought. I couldn’t.
“What if she takes over?” Red said after a while.
“You mean my wolf?” I hadn’t even considered the possibility.
Red nodded. “She’d hide better, and she’d be able to escape a lot easier if it came to it.”
“Thanks,” I muttered. My wolf was better than me, yes, I got that, but he didn’t have to be an ass about it.
“I mean it, Victoria,” he said.
“You know it doesn’t work that way!” And I hated that he made me say it. He knew I had no control over my wolf. I couldn’t just make her come out whenever I wanted, and chances were, if she did come out right now, she’d take me all the way back to Manhattan. “And, besides, she doesn’t want me anywhere near Haworth. My only chance at stopping her is the Reaper String because otherwise I’ll be gone before you know it.”
“But the Reaper didn’t work last time,” Red reminded me.
“I know that, too. But it worked in Finn’s offices, when Haworth was there.” That had to mean something.
Suddenly, Red laughed. “You do realize how utterly unprepared we are for this, do you?”
I turned my head to the window, as if there was anything to see outside except concrete and cars.
“The alternative is to go back home and let him do whatever the hell he wants with people.”
“Or, we can bring the ECU here.”
This time, I was tempted to laugh. “The ECU had him right there in the city, in Finn’s offices, and what did they do?”
He knew I was right. That’s why he didn’t answer. And, if we sent the ECU to Haworth, my sister was as good as dead.
“Give me an hour,” he finally whispered. “I’ll rest here for an hour, and we can start searching.”
“No! Are you crazy? Look at you. You can’t get out in the sun again so fast.” The last thing we wanted was for Red to go up in flames.
“I can handle it,” he said, but he couldn’t. We both knew it.
“How about you give me an hour. Just a few minutes. I just want to do a walk around the neighborhood and see how strong Izzy’s scent still is. I’ll be right back.”
I hoped to God he wouldn’t try to stop me. I hated to have to tell him that I was doing it anyway—I’d rather that he gave his approval for this because I knew that all he wanted to do was protect me. But I was not a little girl. This was bigger than just me. This was us, my sister, potentially hundreds of people who’d suffer at the hands of Haworth just like those wolves he’d possessed did.
Red didn’t like the plan, but he also knew he couldn’t refuse. He gave me a few minutes.
“And if you don’t come back, I’m coming out. See how you like it when I’m even hotter than I am right now.” The joke did make me smile, but I knew he was dead serious.
I got my time, and he got his rest.
If either of us had known what was going to happen next, we’d ha
ve left Atlantic City long ago.
16
Izzy’s scent was as clear as my own, hanging in the air like she’d sprayed her perfume everywhere just so I could find her. I certainly hoped that was the case, and she’d shaken off those stupid thoughts of working with Haworth again. The neighborhood was quiet. I activated two spell stones—an extra layer of protection and a confusion spell so people wouldn’t be able to figure out how they knew me, even if they did—and now I smelled like chamomile and honey, too. Just like Amara. I was confident that I could do this. My wolf was better, but she was part of me. We were one, whether we liked it or not.
I turned the corner of the street and saw the bright red sign of the fast food restaurant right before I smelled Izzy for the first time. Just like Mandy said, she’d been there very recently, and I could trail her scent for days, assuming she hadn’t gotten into a car right away. I kept my eyes open and my ears sharp, turning at every sound in the street, until I reached the end of it. Izzy hadn’t gotten into a car—she’d continued on foot east, and from there, I could vaguely smell the ocean as well. Excitement brought goose bumps up on my arms and thighs. I’d picked her scent up so fast, and now I had time to go even farther than I’d thought before I had to go back to Red. A deal was a deal, and I didn’t intend to break it.
Like a fool, I crossed the street running, sure that I was going to see my sister pop up in one of the restaurants and bars on the other side. Just like last time.
Maybe it was the sheer strength of my belief or maybe this had all been premeditated, but when I saw her get out of a black car on the other side of the street, I felt like soaring. It should have been a red flag how she stepped out onto the sidewalk and her eyes were right on me. It should have made me become a little more careful with my surroundings, but in a few seconds, I was completely sold on the idea that I’d found her, and that this time I could finally save her for good.
