by Amy Star
“You’re the Maiden. Who else would we go to for answers?”
“How about someone who didn’t learn about all this nonsense a month ago?”
“Watch your tone,” Elise sneered.
Holly pressed her lips together. Trevor wasn’t wrong. The Maiden had told Holly as much. Holly was a vessel for a nameless force that had inhabited only one other female. Phaedra Glint was the forgotten name of the first vessel. Holly knew nothing else about her.
“I don’t understand what you expect to learn from me,” Holly replied. “You’re the one with the scrolls and voodoo.”
“Voodoo?” Trever’s brows drew together. “I’m not familiar with the term.”
“Don’t strain yourself over it,” Holly replied. “It’s obvious to me that you don’t know as much as you want me to think you do.”
A slow smile crept over Trevor’s mouth. His white eye gleamed unnaturally in the torchlit room.
“That doesn’t worry me. As long as you’re trapped in my cage, I can learn from you.”
Trevor already knew that the bear shifter who wed and bore a child with the Maiden would bear the title of King, what else did he want to know? That little tidbit of knowledge seemed to fulfill his back-assward goals. What more was there?
“If you aren’t going to serve me dinner, can I return to my cell?” Holly did her best to sound bored.
Something about Trevor—other than his desire to return the bear shifters to their dark ways—sent a cold chill straight into the marrow of her bones. When he smiled at her, she wanted to run away and only stop once her body couldn’t carry her any farther.
“You prefer the company of that lout, Loch?” Trevor arched a brow.
“I’m not a big fan of either of you, but if I have to pick one, I will pick the devil I know rather than the devil I don’t.”
“Aw.” Trevor’s mouth formed a mocking pout. “Do you really think so little of me?”
“Me? Think little of the man who arranged my kidnapping? What a notion!”
Holly couldn’t be sure, but she swore she saw Elise smirk just a little.
“My patience isn’t infinite,” Trevor said through gritted teeth. He was definitely up to something. If he had all of the information he needed, he would’ve forced her to sign a marriage license by now.
Holly frowned. Did shifters get married the way everyone else did? If there were a special ritual of some kind, Holly wanted to know about it. She didn’t want to bind herself forever to Trevor by accidentally saying certain words or waving her arms the wrong way.
“I don’t know what to tell you.” Holly kept her eyes trained on a wooden knot in the center of the table. Her gaze was so focused that she didn’t see Trevor’s hand swoop forward. He slammed his fist against the table.
“Perhaps you should go back to your cell.” Trevor nodded. “You can stay there until you have something of value to tell me.”
“I can always make her sing for you.” Elise’s grin was feral.
Trevor clicked his tongue against his cheek, considering his sister’s offer. “I’ll not have you mar the face of my soon-to-be-bride.”
Elise arched a brow. “Who said anything about her face?”
Trevor chuckled, looking at Holly from the corner of his eye. She struggled to keep her expression neutral. Elise was as terrifying as Trevor, if not more so. She didn’t dare mouth off to Elise the way she had done with Trevor. Trevor wanted something from her. Elise…who knew?
“I’d prefer to keep her pristine,” he said. “At least, physically. A dose of madness could make this easier for us.”
“Say the word, and I’ll cause some chaos.”
“We know where her estate is. Perhaps, you should pay her companions a visit in the night.”
Holly bit down hard on the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t react. That was what they wanted. They wanted to know exactly what buttons to push to frighten her. At least, that was what she kept telling herself.
Even if Elise did sneak over to Pearl’s home in the dead of night, the house was fortified. There was no way she’d get inside unnoticed.
Except, Loch had done just that. He’d snuck right into her bedroom.
Holly’s heart ached at the memory of that night. It wasn’t a great night by any means. She spent most of it paralyzed thanks to an overgenerous dose of paralysis powder. At least, Loch had suffered the same fate. That night, and for that night only, Holly thought of Loch as a friend.
She had trusted him. She had believed there was more to him than everyone seemed to think.
“You’re so much more agreeable when you’re quiet.” Trevor’s voice startled her from her thoughts.
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew what I was thinking,” Holly muttered.
“Oh, I’m sure you’re daydreaming up all kinds of ways to hurt me. I won’t take that from you. The only way you’ll ever get away from me is through your dreams.”
He yanked her from her seat and marched her back down the stone corridor. Holly desperately looked around for landmarks. Rock formations. Notches in the wall. Anything that could help her orient herself.
There was nothing. The walls of the cavern were unnaturally smooth.
Loch stood in his cell with a white-knuckle grip on the bars.
“It looks like your loyal pet is waiting for you,” Trevor spat.
“Not my pet.”
“He’s not mine, either. I suppose he’s a stray. We all know what happens to strays when their owners don’t show up.” Trevor shoved Holly back into her cell and locked the door.
He walked to Loch’s cell and stood close to the bars. His face was only mere inches from Loch’s, but Loch couldn’t do anything. If he moved his hand even the slightest bit past the bars, the fairy-glass rope around his wrists would dig in.
“They get put to sleep.”
CHAPTER THREE—Johnny
“Just admit you can’t find the witches,” Keller groaned loudly enough to startle the birds from the canopy.
“I can find the damn witches,” Johnny muttered back. “Have you ever tracked a witch? Do you know how crafty they are?”
Neither Keller nor Garret said anything.
“Well?” Johnny pushed. “Any great witch trackers here who want to speak up? No? Then shut up and let me focus.”
“Focus on what?” Garret asked. “We’ve been searching the woods for a week, and we’re no closer to finding witches or Holly. We should go back to where she was taken and search the old-fashioned way.”
Johnny furrowed his brow. “You mean the human way?”
“We can get some of the folks in the town involved. We can search a huge area.”
“The townsfolk.” Johnny shook his head. “Tell me, Garret, how do we figure out which townsfolk want to help us in earnest and which ones are working with the bastards who took Holly?”
“There are good people in Silver Spruce. We can trust them to help, even if we don’t tell them about the whole shifter business.”
“We can’t get the humans involved in this,” Keller jumped in. “Some of them, we can trust but others? Half of them will quickly call in the TV crews for their fifteen minutes of fame. And the rest? Well, shifters aren’t the only ones who have ancient family ties around here. There are a fair number of humans who will gladly take up torches and pitchforks to hunt us for our pelts and intestines.”
“Only now, they have guns and night vision goggles,” Johnny pointed out. “As much as I’d like to think otherwise, we’re not invincible.” He surveyed the hulking Garret. “Well, maybe you are, but I don’t want to take that chance.”
“Then what do you propose we do?” Garret growled. “At this rate, we aren’t going to find Holly anytime soon. For all we know, she’s already—”
Johnny closed the distance between himself and Garret and gripped the collar of his shirt.
“Do not finish that sentence.”
The thought was enough to drive Johnny into a rage.
Holly wasn’t dead. He would know if she was dead. He would just…know.
“Enough.” Johnny felt Keller’s hands on his shoulders, ready to yank him back. Johnny stepped away willingly. He released Garret, who looked at Johnny with a heavy, disappointed gaze.
“You’re an idiot if you think you’re the only one here who cares for her.” There was a sharp edge in his usually calm voice.
“Oh, I know I’m not the only one,” Johnny snapped. “I overheard you caring for her at the stones.”
“As if you didn’t jump on her the moment you had the chance. The living room reeked of your…activities.”
“Picking fights won’t help Holly, and it’ll only make you feel better for a few minutes.” Keller stepped between Johnny and Garret.
“Says the one who took Holly into the woods.” Johnny couldn’t stop the words from coming, even though he knew better. He didn’t want to anger or hurt his friends, his clan brothers, but his own anger overtook all logical thought. He hadn’t felt right since Holly was kidnapped. It was as if she took a vital part of him when she was abducted.
Getting her back was the only way to feel whole again.
“I only left her because I thought I had a chance of finding the ones who were after her.” Keller had explained himself a hundred times since the kidnapping.
Johnny accepted his explanation. He didn’t even blame Keller for what had happened. Not really. He would’ve done the same had he been the one out in the woods with Holly that day. “I know.”
“Let’s just keep moving, all right?” Keller pushed onward but didn’t walk very far. “To the witches, then?”
“The witches are our best option.” Johnny ran his hand through his hair. “We won’t find Holly without a powerful tracking spell.”
“Could they break the concealment spell the kidnappers carry with them?” Garret asked.
“I don’t think so.” Johnny shook his head. “We don’t have any clue what kind of concealment spell they’re using. It could be an amulet, a talisman, or just about anything. Witches are resourceful when it comes to crafting spells. The things they can do with pondwater will blow your mind.”
“If we ever find them. Let’s keep moving.” Keller jerked his chin toward Johnny. “Lead the way.”
Johnny moved to the head of the group. He gestured to the others to stay silent as they moved through the forest. Though the sun was still high in the sky, the forest appeared to grow darker. The natural sounds of chittering and scrambling made by forest creatures gradually stopped. When nothing could be heard, Johnny turned to Garret.
“Muster up a good old-fashioned grizzly roar, will ya?”
Garret nodded and sucked in a deep breath. He threw back his head and let out a roar so powerful, the ground shook beneath their feet. Birds flew from the canopy but only some.
Johnny looked to the trees and found only the ravens remained.
“We’re getting close,” he said. “Witches often keep ravens as familiars. They’re better suited to the woods than the typical black housecat.”
“Why didn’t they flee?” Garret rasped, out of breath. “That was fucking terrifying.”
“That should tell you something about the witches we’re tracking.”
The trio pressed on. Johnny tried not to let his nerves get to him. Witches were tricky and so good at weaving deals it was best to deal with them when there was a legal team present.
“What’s that?” Keller pointed at something scratched into a tree trunk. Johnny stepped forward to take a closer look.
“It’s a welcome sign.”
“Really?” Garret sounded relieved.
“No. Witches don’t typically carve their welcome mats into rotten trees and decorate them with blood.”
“Can you not be an ass for, like, five minutes?”
“Sorry.” Johnny shrugged. “It’s just a habit now.”
He pushed on, deeper into the forest. They found more symbols scratched into trees. They were getting close to the witch’s den.
A raven landed on a low branch, less than a foot from Johnny’s face. It peered at him with too-intelligent eyes.
“Are they in?” Johnny asked the raven. The raven tilted its head to one side in silence. “You’re a terrible doorman.”
“Let’s not antagonize the ravens,” Keller said. “I’d like to keep my eyes in my skull for a while longer.”
“His name is Oglebee, and he’s harmless.” Johnny flicked his wrist dismissively.
“How do you know that?”
“Save your questions for the witches.” Johnny pressed on, leaving the raven and his confused clan brothers behind. Johnny had spent much of his high school years roaming the woods. He had felt lost after the death of his parents, and that loss stayed with him for years. It still lingered about him now, but thanks to Pearl, he could handle it better.
As a wayward youth, he was an easy target for the witches. Though, they were also an easy target for him, too.
The forest fell away, revealing a yawning cave mouth.
“Told you I’d find them.” Johnny smirked.
“I’m not too crazy about going into a dark cave filled with witches who decorate their doorways in blood,” Garret said. “I might have a lighter.”
“No light,” Johnny warned. “You’ll see what I mean in a second. Come on.”
“When we get back to the house, we’re going to have a long talk about all the shit you get into when neither of us is around,” Keller said.
“How much time do you have?” Johnny laughed wryly as he stepped into the darkness of the cave. Cold air whooshed around him, chilling him to his bones. As quickly as the wind rose, it fell. It took the darkness with it.
The trio stood in the center of a room fit to be featured on the cover of a swanky interior decorating magazine, aside from the purple flames crackling in the fireplace. Plenty of candles made up for the lack of windows.
“Did I just walk into a goddamned Hobbit’s house?” Garret grumbled. “Why is it that witches always inject magic where it’s not needed? A cabin and a doorbell were too simple, huh?”
“Too tacky,” a low, feminine voice came from behind them.
Johnny turned around and smiled.
“Susanna. So good to see you.”
“Don’t lie to me.” A witch with a long sheet of black hair, an olive complexion, and violet eyes sneered. “What do you want, Johnny?”
“Let him introduce his handsome friends.” Another witch appeared beside the fireplace. Her pale-blond hair looked lavender against the licking flames. Her voice was high and bright.
“Hattie.” Johnny smiled. “How long has it been?”
“Too long.” She didn’t take her eyes off Keller and Garret. “Who are they? I know they’re shifters. I can smell it on them.”
“Apologies.” Garret offered his hand and a smile. “We’ve been trekking through the woods for days. None of us are smelling like wildflowers right now.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Hattie replied, ignoring Garret’s outstretched hand.
“Do you not recognize them, Hattie?” A third voice appeared from nowhere. A woman lounged on the couch, her hair gleaming like molten copper in the candlelight. “These are the firstborns.”
Slowly, she turned her head. Gold coins gleamed where her eyes should be. Keller and Garret each took a step back, but Johnny wasn’t fazed by the sight.
“Since we’re making introductions…” He gestured to the first witch. “Keller, Garret. This is Susanna the bone witch, Hattie the blood witch, and Edwina the heart witch.”
“Interesting titles,” Keller said. “Thank you for letting us into your home.”
“We didn’t let you,” Edwina said coldly. “Johnny has a habit of walking in whenever he damn well pleases.”
“It’s been at least two years since I’ve been here,” Johnny protested.
“Wrong. You were here in April.”
“That was purely for business.”<
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“What the hell do you get up to when we aren’t looking?” Keller exclaimed.
“Breaking hearts, mostly,” Susanna hissed.
“Here we go again.” Johnny pressed his fingertips into the bridge of his nose. “Susanna, we went on one date three years ago. I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but it didn’t.”
“You could’ve handled it better,” Susanna scoffed.
“Somehow, I don’t have a hard time believing that,” Garret added.
Johnny turned to face his clan brother. “Whose side are you on?”
“At this point, whatever side gets me out of this cave alive.” Garret shrugged.
From the corner of his eye, Johnny saw Susanna take a step toward him.
“Don’t, sister.” Edwina held up a hand, lazily twiddling her fingers. “You won’t win that battle.”
Johnny whirled to look at Susanna. “Really? You were going to attack me?”
“Worse.” Hattie smirked from her place beside the fire. “She was going to seduce you. Her blood is racing a million miles a minute.”
“Save your breath, sister,” Edwina said to Susanna. “Johnny’s heart is no longer up for grabs.”
She fixed Johnny in her sightless gaze before looking to the other shifters. “None of their hearts are. They’ve all been claimed.”
“Pity.” Hattie folded her arms over her chest with a huff and a pout.
“Who is it?” Susanna hissed. “What poor girl has captured this idiot’s heart?”
“Idiot?” Johnny smirked. “Weren’t you raring to seduce this idiot heart a minute ago?”
“One woman lays claim to all their hearts.” Edwina’s false eyes cast light on whoever she looked at.
“But…” Hattie pushed away from the wall to stand beside Susanna. “They’re firstborn sons.”
“That can only mean…” Susanna’s voice quickly faded into a whisper.
“The Maiden has returned to Silver Spruce.” Edwina dipped her chin and cocked her head toward the three shifters. “They need to find her.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Keller spoke up. “She’s been kidnapped. We think a faction is rising to the north, one who wants to return to the dark ways.”
All three witches tensed at his words.
