Chapter Fourteen

When white blood cells fail to fight off any infection, their effort goes in vein.

Even though three people had just left, Oliver felt the crowd of people in his home pressing down upon him. Unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt did nothing to alleviate the unfamiliar anxiety coursing through him. Glancing around the room at the remaining occupants, he realized two things: aside from one, these people were his inner circle, not a random horde pushing him out of his space; and second, these were Eva's emotions.

He casually set a cool palm on her shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze and mentally conveying support and comfort, hoping Eva could feel something from this strange connection they shared.

Ravyn gave a slow, barely discernible but knowing wink to him as she looked over her wine glass, and Oliver pointedly looked over her shoulder to the shifter guard, both his business partner and one of the few beings he called friend, who stood within arm's reach of her. Ravyn responded with a casual shrug before returning her attention to Delta.

The wolf ignored his glance and stood at attention with his eyes fixed at some point beyond them all.

"Sooo, Oliver's young, enlightened witch, what have you and your high priestess discovered?"

Oliver snorted quietly. Eva had most likely bestowed a title on Delta after all the confusion surrounding the fledgling's name. Delta did like her titles and nicknames, and the young woman beamed at the question, completely unbothered by the disrespectful nomenclature.

Rushing through her words, Delta began explaining what she'd discovered while plucking and pulling unseen areas from the air again. "The magic strands that surround Eva are more complex than anything I've seen before. Some are old, and some are newer." Her cheeks reddened as she looked at Oliver with the last bit, but he returned the look with his own passive expression.

Delta continued with her explanation in an excited voice. "Most are tangled and have been set to confuse and muddle. This one here . . ." Picking an invisible thread from the air with a thumb and forefinger with her other hand, she gave it a pluck as if it were a guitar string. "This one here is the oldest of them all. It's magnificent."

The group waited on edge for her to continue, but for several minutes, Delta was caught up in the beauty of a mysterious magical thread that no one else could see. Finally, Oliver demanded, "Delta? What's so special about that one?"

"Oh, yes! I forget sometimes you can't see them." Delta sighed as if the loss were too great to imagine, and then confessed to Eva, "Probably similar to how most people can't see hellhounds, but you can. Nothing interesting to outsiders, but to our eyes, it's like, wow!" The red-haired witch released the thread to make explosions with her hands. "But yes, this thread, the oldest and the most wrapped up in all the others, leads to"—she circled her body around to Ravyn—"you! It's directly linked to you. And in case anyone was wondering, the newest leads to Boss Man." Gesturing toward him with her head, Delta raised her eyebrows expectantly.

Sighing, Oliver tried to move Delta along. "Is it because of the blood gift? I've gifted others my blood and never had this reaction. And Ravyn, I'm assuming the same."

Ravyn shook her head. "No, never. To be honest, I've never heard of this. And what sort of magic would do this? We're certain Eva isn't a witch"—she waved her hand toward Eva—"though clearly, she's steeped in witches' magic. I have no magic, per say. So, what is the connection? And why?"

Delta nodded. "It's definitely the blood gift. It has given her a link to your emotions, thoughts, and, I'm guessing, memories as well, if the award-winning ‘Vampires in Hollywood' novels are anything to go by."

She strummed the title out and Oliver mentally groaned, knowing without a doubt the young witch was also a fan. Had everyone read the books but him? What was it Delta often said? Better late to the party than to not show up at all? Or something like that. He'd read them now. They were a good read, and even he could admit he understood why they were so popular. They would make a great television series.

"The only similarity is that you both gave blood to Eva, so whatever has created this thread, it's due to whatever she is." Delta added thoughtfully, "But also don't underestimate magic; the magic that made you. Just because we don't understand how you've been made doesn't make it less magical. It's just a magic that I can't recognize or see or control."

Oliver felt Eva's panic rising even higher, as Ravyn shrieked while raising her hand to her chest. "I can even feel that. I don't miss being human and feeling all the fear and uncertainty." Eyes wide, she looked at Oliver, giddily asking, "Can you feel that? It's . . . it's amazing, even exhilarating!" she gasped out, eyes wide as she clasped her chest, looking at the group, open-mouthed, as Eva's fear ebbed throughout her.

Oliver understood how she felt as a score of Eva's panicked emotions flowed through him as well, but Ravyn seemed to be forgetting these were Eva's own overwhelmed, nearly out of control feelings. To suggest otherwise belittled the overwrought woman before them.

When the initial emotions surged through him, Oliver nearly found himself bowled over. Biting down to suppress the overwhelming emotions surging through him, he forced himself to stay upright as other sensations flooded him. The desire to protect her enveloped him, the desire to hold her in his arms until the pain and confusion fled from her body; emotions as unfamiliar as her panic and fear.

Oliver seated himself next to Eva, pressing his leg gently against hers, again trying to convey reassurance. "I know this is overwhelming," he began.

Eva snorted, the color beginning to return to her face. "That's an understatement. My entire world—my entire existence—is apparently not what I even remotely thought. I feel like the old frog in a blender game on phones. I've been shook up, shaken so hard that I'm just liquid now. I'm not even close to what I was just last week."

Despite Eva's rather grotesque explanation, Oliver felt her lean into him as she absorbed some of the calming he was offering. "Can you remove these threads?" She assumed her mother had left because this was in Delta's realm of capability and not because even the high priestess couldn't untangle this magic. Surely if Delta needed a boost or help, her mother wouldn't have left so abruptly.

"Actually, I think I can. Of course I can," Delta confidently confided in them. "But it's going to take time. And I'm going to have to search and shift through the mass to unravel the threads. Most of them, however, were made at the same time and just raveled around intentionally as a mess. I think your grandmother did this to hide you, Eva. Most of these muddle, confuse, and cause people to forget you. You're as deeply hidden as any person can be magically."

"Is this why she doesn't have any pictures of herself?" Oliver began connecting a few dots. Eva's surprised look showed he wasn't wrong in his assumption.

"Yes," Delta excitedly replied. "Do you not get your picture taken? Like, is it an aversion?"

"No," Eva admitted, "not even that. It's more like I'm un-photogenic. Every picture after I turned fourteen has, like, a blur filter on it, or it's out of focus, or something. I can manage some profile shots if I'm mostly turned away. And my driver's license picture is a mess, but they tried so many times. They managed to add some sort of filter to give me features, but they're not my own."

"Ah," Delta acknowledged knowingly, "based around puberty too."

"I suppose." Eva nodded thoughtfully in agreement, still leaning on Oliver. "Yes."

Oliver noticed her heart rate had steadied, and she unknowingly leaned deeper into him, with her dark brown eyes intently on Delta.

"Is it my gram's magic? I mean, it seems like you're able to tell this stuff."

Delta nodded. "Not all witches can, and I come from a powerful line. The Witch Who Wasn't Supposed to Be." Her voice dropped theatrically, but Oliver knew it was underscored with a tinge of hurt that she refused to acknowledge, and he followed suit. He had no desire to get caught up in the affairs and inner workings of the witches, even if he did like Delta.

Oliver knew Delta's story well. Despite her accidental and highly unlikely conception and birth, her power parentage could make her more powerful than the high priestess when she matured. Unfortunately, despite being born from Hecate, she wasn't a contender for the role. Her sister Athena, as first and supposed to be only child, would take Hecate's leadership position in the coven if Hecate ever deemed it time to step aside to the position of Crone and give the Maiden her time as High Priestess. Whatever her reasoning, Oliver didn't even pretend to understand the workings of coven politics. And despite Delta's power and parentage, she didn't have a defined place in her world, which made her a perfect candidate and employee for him. Witches and their traditions; their loss is my gain.

"Yes, it's your gram's magic. You still reek of it after her death, what, ten or so years ago? And it probably actually began earlier than that. Puberty is my guess; so much revolved around those changes. This is important, Eva. Your grandmother obviously thought she needed to hide you from something. Something that we have no idea of. You need to really consider if it"s worth dropping these charms and leaving you to be found. Right now, you're hidden . . . or mostly hidden."

Ignoring Oliver's look of indignation, she continued seriously, "Eva, no matter what Boss Man says, I won't do this without your consent. And even then, I'm not sure we should do it without having full knowledge of what you"re hiding from. If you decide to do it, I will, and if you decide to stay hidden, I'll strengthen the wards on you and on your house. They'll last your lifetime and beyond." Glancing at Oliver, she added, "Unless some buffoon decides to rip them apart by hand and lead hellhounds right to your door."

Oliver sat quietly next to Eva, waiting for some sign of her decision. Even through their new bond, he couldn't get rid of these emotions and thoughts. "How does this affect Ravyn?" Asking that question got a spike of some unidentified emotion running through him, as well as increasing the rate of Eva's beating heart.

Delta held her hands out in a gesture of acceptance. "Unfortunately, Ravyn's thread is buried under all the other layers. I cannot remove Ravyn's without removing the others. If they stay, all the threads stay in place."

This time, Sebastian interjected. "Witch," he hissed, "if you're all about consent, what about Ravyn's consent to that? She'd be subject to this chain until that one dies." He tossed a hand toward Eva.

Oliver hissed at the threatening motion the shifter made at his . . . at his what? His Eva?

Delta smirked at the wolf and opened her mouth to most likely tell him to go take a flying leap and that his opinion mattered less than the doormat's, but it never came to that.

Ravyn held up a beautifully manicured hand to stop the exchange before it became volatile. "Ah, Thor, so touching you're worried about me, but I consented to a connection years ago when I gave the child my blood. True, I didn't fully understand, but regardless, I gave it freely. Consent has been given and will not be revoked no matter how you howl."

"I have to think about all this. I-I don't know," Eva stuttered. "Imagine going to the same school and every year being asked if you're the new kid. Imagine everyone you meet never remembering the first time or the last time you met," she mused. "This explains so much. I'm not really just an unforgettable wallflower; this was put on me. Imagine people seeing me, really seeing me. And people remembering my name."

"Does no one remember you at all?" Oliver asked, finding it impossible that anyone could forget the delicious beauty before him. Stupid, blind humans.

"If I've met them enough times, like my neighbors, they remember me. Sometimes they forget specific things we've done or talked about. My co-workers remember me as long as I work regularly, although not all the customers do." She laughed dryly. "God, the times I've been asked if I just started working there. My editor remembers me."

"The witch who knew your grandmother? She sent me to your town with only your grandmother's name. She might have been a safety net and even under compulsion, the spell held."

"And my friend Jackson. We don't even see each other that often anymore, but he has always remembered me and everything we've done or talked about, maybe even better than I remember."

Through the bond, Oliver could feel the excitement from Eva, the excitement of others remembering her and connecting with her, like Jackson. He wondered if she could feel his desire to kill Jackson for being the cause of her happiness but quickly squashed the thought in case Eva could feel his anger and hatred. He couldn't bear the thought of the disgust and fear she might feel if she knew his true thoughts on this matter. Besides this Jackson was Eva's friend, no one deserved a life of loneliness.

Still examining the air around the room, tracing unseen lines with no beginning or ending, Delta casually tossed out, "He's probably a member of your gram's coven. There is a hint of other magic around you, but none seems masculine aside from Mr. Tall-Dark-and-I-Drink-Blood. He's most likely closely related to either your gram or other coven members, so the magic recognizes him or was made to omit him from it."

"When we find the answer to one question, five more appear in its place," Oliver mused, feeling inordinately pleased that his was the only masculine energy currently on Eva. Then he ticked off, "We still don't know what the threat is to Ravyn and if it's even connected to Eva. We don't know what Eva is. We don't know why the connection has formed between Ravyn and Eva, as well as Eva and me. We know the blood is the catalyst, but how has it happened? And why the need for such protection on Eva? What does she need protecting from? I suspect her grandmother sacrificed herself to create a bond between her magic and the house Eva lives in to maintain these spells."

Delta opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "Boss Man Dude. Can we have the win for just a second before you go all Debbie Downer and Negative Nellie on us? Despite the fact that I need Eva's consent to remove the threads, I do want to add that the magic is fading. The threads are weakened. I don't know how long they'll last; they could drop next week or in ten more years. They could go one at a time or they could drop at once. You could be anywhere when it happens, and then whatever you're hidden from will immediately know you exist. But if you do consent to their removal, I promise I'll protect you when they drop."

The seriousness of the young witch's tone and her brave promise brought tears to Eva's eyes. Her voice low and with a hitch, she said, "But you don't even know me. No one knows me."

"Yet you're worth knowing." Delta twisted her red locks into a bun and secured it on her head. "I would hate to have saved you from a hellhound and then let something else happen to you. I mean, if we can kick a hellhound"s ass, we can beat back whatever else is out there."

Not wanting to remind Delta that she, in fact, hadn't directly defeated a fire-breathing beast from hell, Oliver gently and earnestly promised Eva, "You'll have my support too. I vow to protect you with all I have if you choose to drop the magic that binds you. I apologize if my actions, although unintentional, led any evil to your door or further weakened the spells placed on you."

Delta continued, her tone gentler, "It won't be an easy task. Even working non-stop could take days, and that is even if it were possible to work non-stop. Imagine, if you will, that you're connected by literally a magical tether from here"—she pointed to Ravyn's heart and drew a line across to Eva's chest—"to here. Simple enough, surely. However, on top of that, you have an absolute mass of other tethers overlapping, twisting, and winding together, intertwined and imbued by both old and relatively speaking, of course, new magic."

Looking pointedly at Oliver with that statement, she continued, "We can't just snap the tether."

"Why not?" Oliver questioned. "If Eva has a mess of magic, why not cut the tether you see extended from Ravyn? That seems simpler than sorting through this mess you're laying before us."

"Excellent question. However, if we cut it from Mistress Ravyn, the magical snap will be unpredictable. The remaining tether won't necessarily dissipate. More than likely, it will snap back into this mess, as you've so aptly described it, and cause . . . well, even more of a mess. A magical backlash mess that we can"t predict, because mixing magic like that, especially magic we didn't create or control, and allowing it to recoil is bad, bad news. Very bad," Delta slowly enunciated.

Nodding, Eva mused, "It sounds like a rubber band ball. At work, we'd take any rubber bands that come on packages, letters, products, whatever, and use them to create sort of a bouncy ball. You have to wad up the first few bands and then start wrapping other rubber bands around them. No rhyme or reason to it, just an organic growth of rubber bands, and if one starts to slip, you twist it around differently to stay in place. Then, unlike what's happening to me, we could bounce this pretty amazing ball around, but when a band inevitably broke, it never really came free. It would just tangle up and hang onto the rest of the chaotic ball. And then to actually unravel the ball became impossible without destroying it entirely."

"You've summed it up perfectly. Add in a pretty serious magical slap to the head when a band breaks, and it"s nearly a perfect analogy. This mass needs to be magically unraveled with surgical precision. And I'm offering myself as your humble surgeon, if you would allow me." Delta held her hands out in offering at the end of her announcement.

"There is no way the hellhound attack was random. She had a shadow scout stalking her early that day." There was no way both the hellhound and the demonic squirrel had just happened upon her. Something or someone was looking for her. Ravyn was not the one being stalked.

Laying her head back on the sofa, Eva closed her eyes, clearly overcome by the past days, the attack, the healing, and this new news. Oliver wished everyone was gone, so he could wrap her up in his arms without their judgmental eyes upon them. Why was he overcome with the desire to take care of her, to comfort her, to promise her the world and at the same time protect her from it? Even if a magical tether compelled him to protect Eva, Oliver could at least pretend at this moment in time that the feelings were real. Thankfully, he could make at least one of those items happen immediately. "Everyone, out. Head back to your area for a few hours. Let's give Eva time to decompress and determine her next step."

"Ollie, this is quite gallant of you; we so rarely get to see this side of you." Ravyn's tone held a light, mocking note, but she was already rising, and both of the remaining guards moved with her. "Are my rooms stocked with this delicious vintage?"

Oliver sighed, mentally questioning why Ravyn didn't seem to be affected by the magical attachment to Eva in the same way he was. "Just take the rest of the bottle, Ravyn, and have one of the men ring down for another to be brought up."

Blowing Oliver a kiss, Ravyn swooped up the bottle and headed toward the apartments he always had prepared for her rare visits. Apparently, he needed to have an assistant order a case of the Buckeye Red for Ravyn and another one for himself. Who knew she would like the Ohio wine as much as he did? It seemed Ohio hid all sorts of delicious secrets within its farmland.

Snatching up a pizza box, Delta also headed for the door, crumbs flying off her as she walked. "Have fun, kids. I'm gonna head to Mama Hecate's research library to pick up a few things I've requested. Time to research, prepare, just in case, and all that. I'll grab a few things and then be back before you know it," she warned with a teasing lilt to her voice.

Peace and quiet finally. "Do you need more to eat or drink?" Oliver asked Eva. "The pizza is probably cold, but I can get something else." Again that pull to see to Eva's comfort.

The quiet of the room settled over them, giving a much needed reprise from the revelations of the last few hours.

Shaking her head no, Eva pulled her feet up on the sofa, curling up toward Oliver. He liked how that felt. Reaching over with his free arm, he pulled a soft throw off the side of the couch and wrapped it around her.

"Thanks, Oliver," she whispered.

"It's nothing."

"I wasn't talking about the blanket."

"I know." The comfortable silence stretched out between them. Oliver listened as Eva softly breathed in and out, relaxing as the truths that had been revealed were slowly set aside, and they sat in the moment.

"What do you do normally when you're home like this?" Eva asked him, raising her head to look into his eyes.

He felt his heart skip a beat. "If I'm not working, I like to watch a movie or TV." He admitted with slight chagrin, "I told you I like watching shows."

"Where's your TV? Not here."

"I have a separate entertainment room. I suppose some would call it a ‘man cave.' In fact, Delta often refers to it that way. This room is mostly used for informal meetings and get-togethers that need fewer distractions. It's also closer to the kitchen, so during such gatherings people can grab what they need quickly."

"Let's go watch something." Eva smoothly stood up from the sofa, grabbing Oliver's hand to pull him as well.

"Does your injury hurt?"

Stretching her leg and foot, Eva smiled. "Actually, it doesn't hurt at all anymore. I've always been a fast healer, but Delta really added a boost." Now that Oliver stood, Eva pulled on the hand she still grasped. "But I'll follow you. I have no idea where I'm going in the big place." Frowning, she added, "In fact, I have no idea where this big place even is."

"Southeast of Chicago, outside of the city for privacy for myself and anyone who works for me, but close enough we can be there in under an hour." Oliver found himself not wanting to release the hand she'd casually grabbed. Tightening his grip just slightly, he continued, "This way. Any ideas on what you want to watch?"

Several hours later, and just as many laughs, the second romcom ended. Eva hadn't cared what they watched, and Oliver discovered she truly didn't watch much TV. He'd realized her situation might require some laughter to escape from the heavier thoughts of the previous hours and days, as well as to celebrate being alive.

Perfect choice.

Oliver knew from experience that stepping back and letting the mind relax was sometimes the best way to find an answer to a problem. Of course, relaxing in a plush, theater-style recliner while watching a high definition, wall-size TV and having every snack available at the push of a button clearly helped set the mood. Keeping distractions to a minimum, his housekeeper silently brought in refreshments, even his own special drink which Eva probably assumed was red wine similar to Ravyn's drink, not realizing that the wine only made up a small portion of the nourishing beverage. His phone silently alerted him when Ravyn and her staff reached her quarters, and then alerted him again when Delta returned from her mother's library. No one had disturbed them, so he knew at least emergencies had been kept to a minimum.

Despite the problems they faced and the fact that they now had more questions than they'd started with, he felt content sitting with Eva and laughing together at the ups and downs of romantic movie life. Oliver caught himself several times not even watching the screen and just observing the woman in the next seat over laughing as she enjoyed the moment. It might have been easy to forget the danger she and Ravyn faced. Too soon, decisions needed to be made, and answers needed to be found. Oliver's promise to Ravyn continually proved to be much more difficult to keep.

At the end of the second movie, Eva stood up, stretching with her arms above her head, showing a small expanse of skin between the black tank top and leggings that Delta had picked out. The witch was a walking contradiction of all black, but at the same time bubbles and unicorns.

Despite the spiked wine he'd sipped over the last hours, Oliver's fangs threatened to burst free again as Eva unassumingly stretched back, tossing her curls back over her shoulder, exposing the blue vein running down the pale skin of her neck. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat and unable to take his eyes off her, he gripped the armrest with his free hand to remind himself to stay seated.

Unaware of Oliver's inner turmoil, Eva asked, "Another one? You want to pick?"

At the same time, his phone buzzed next to him. Without removing his eyes from her, he answered the phone.

Listening to the chaos on the other end of the line, he knew the reprieve had only been momentary. "Call Delta and get her there immediately . . . good . . . we're on our way now." Hanging up, he fought the urge to crush the phone in his hand. He could sense Eva's tension returning despite the fact that her face remained impassive.

"Break time is over. We're heading to Ravyn's rooms. Something has happened." Was it just last week he'd been overwhelmed with boredom and the monotony of ordinary days?