Chapter 4

"I'm pretty sure we can sneak out when they all enter the main ritual chamber." Sissily whispered before sticking her head out of the door to see if the hallway was still empty.

Which it was. In the last nerve-wracking hour, not a soul moved that we could see yet the crazy female insisted on checking every twenty seconds. After she announced that the delegations had arrived, Sissily got stuck with me in the empty office. Danika invited Alex to accompany her and after firmly ordering me and by default Sissily as well, to stay put and not move a toe outside the room, she left us to be prisoners in a cage with a door wide open.

"I'm not running away." I told my bestie for the umpteenth time leaning a shoulder on the wall next to where she was peeking out the door. "You can leave the door open, you know. They're looking for me and I'm hidden from view. If they see you standing there just smile and pretend you're doing pilates using the doorframe."

"Do I look like a crazy person to you?" Pulling back and away from her stakeout she turned to face me fully blowing away a strand of hair that escaped her ponytail.

"Yes." I deadpanned and it took everything in me not to laugh when her mouth dropped open. "Next question."

"You are such a jerk." Huffing in pretend annoyance she thumped her forehead on the closed door. "I want to know what they're talking about."

"How much you wanna bet they are sharing recipes on how to preserve a penis in a jar?"

Sissily's laughter helped calm my nerves down if only for a moment. We snickered like high school girls remembering the time we had to clean up the library and I found a book with all sort of crazy things in it. My best friend even had tears trickling from the corners of her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Dear goddess my stomach hurts." Pressing a hand to her chest she took a deep breath to stop herself from laughing. "It could be for Minotaur testicles, too, you know?" reminding me of the time I offered River Blackman the said testicles just to get him away from me.

That doubled both of us over for a good few minutes. It felt like the good old times when no one was gunning for my head and we could do whatever we wanted. As short-lived as it was, it did feel great to joke around for a moment. Seeing Sissily wipe tears from joy made it worth it.

Until something clattered in the hallway loud enough for both of us to freeze, and fall immediately quiet. Sissily watched me wide-eyed, a hand pressed to her mouth but I raised a finger in wordless plea for silence tilting my head and straining my ears in hopes to hear if someone was headed our way.

The freshly rebuilt office was still empty so no one should be using it for anything unless they were specifically looking for us. Or they heard us chortling like fools. I wanted to slap myself but it was too late to turn back time. Instead, using my hands and fingers I asked Sissily to open the door and check. She swirled a finger around her temple to tell me I'm nuts. As if I didn't know that already.

"Open, and check." I mouthed while she stared at my mouth trying to lip read. Pressing my back to the wall and shaking my hands off like some boxer I nodded encouragingly at her and raised two thumbs up.

She glared at me.

"Open." I mouthed more firmly adding a frown for good measure and she rolled her eyes at me.

Squaring her shoulders and petting her hair to smooth it out my best friend took hold of the doorknob firm enough to turn her knuckles white and without delay yanked the door open so hard I was shocked it didn't come off the hinges. I watched her hold her breath as I held mine for more than thirty seconds. When nothing happened and no one spoke she turned to look at me with a frown.

I shrugged.

Glowering at the presumably empty hallway Sissily leaned forward still holding onto the door and not stepping foot outside. "Hello." She whisper-yelled at the empty space and followed it with a loud hiccup. "Great." She muttered on a groan and I had to fight a snicker. Try as she may, she still hiccupped when nervous.

"You okay?' I whispered but her glare made me shut my mouth.

"This is ridiculous, you know?" my best friend hissed and hiccupped once again. "I'm an adult. I can deal with stress without sounding like an idiot."

"Of course, you can." I agreed solemnly.

"I will zap you, Hazel Byrne. Don't patronize me." Sissily threatened so I raised both hands in surrender without a word.

"I meant it, I swear." I bit the inside of my mouth so I don't laugh when she hiccupped again. "You are a woman, I hear you roar. Rawr." I growled and pawed at the air between us until she cracked a smile. "But you do sound like an idiot with that hiccup." I told her a second before she punched me in the sternum.

"Jackass." Growling, she shoved my shoulders too when I doubled over, the earlier pain returning with a vengeance. "Lucky there was no one there. We are horrible at staying quiet. Danika knows that. I have no idea why she expects today to be any different."

"It could be because Alex stuck up for me." pulling the door closed I moved away from the wall. "She must think I'm finally a responsible adult now."

"You stink like you've lived a month in a whisky barrel, girl. I assure you, she doesn't think you are a responsible anything. The least of all an adult." Waving her hand in front of her face she scrunched up her nose and stepped away from me.

"Why do you have to kill my dreams, Sissily?" I snickered under my breath when she chortled. "Officially, starting from today, you will be known as a killer of joy."

"I always wanted to have a title." Twining her fingers under her chin she twirled and blinked rapidly. Shaking my head, I chuckled flicking a finger between us. "This is why we are friends."

"And because I can drink as much as you can so you don't have to do it alone." She pointed out.

"That, too." Conquering to her wisdom I bowed and we grinned at each other. "I want to know what they're talking about, too."

"Oh, thank goddess I thought you'll never say it." Dropping all humor, Sissily snatched my hand and started dragging me toward the door. "If we circle around where the gym and the fighting mats are I think we can eavesdrop through the vents from the new moon chamber."

"Sissily, you naughty girl." I bared my teeth in a gloating grin. "Who have you sneaked around with so that you know these things? Huh?"

"Mike." She grimaced as she glanced at me over her shoulder.

"Can I kill him now?"

"No."

"You suck." I pouted but at least she smiled.

We were creeping along the long intestine that was the main hallway circling the coven building like two thieves. Occasionally a jiggling or a clinking sound would rattle from somewhere in the building, the sound echoing along the empty space, making us jump and plaster ourselves to the sides in hopes to make ourselves as small as possible. Magical, smokeless flames danced on top of the sconces attached to the black surface casting ominous shadows all over the floor and walls that didn't help with our mounting paranoia. Just as I was about to suggest we should turn back, voices trickled from a chamber a few doors down from where we were standing.

Excitement lit up Sissily's face and I couldn't help but share it. Unease twisted and turned in my gut but I had to see this through or I would never hear the end of it from my best friend. And she did not need more ammunition to hold over my head, thank you very much.

With a finger pressed to her lips she led me toward the first door to our right. Latching onto her cold fingers I followed obediently, cursing myself to high heavens for not picking some flats to wear when I left pack lands. My toes were going numb from placing all my weight on them or I would alert the dead if I stepped on a whole foot in the hallways. Who in their right mind would try to sneak around on four-inch heels? Me. That's who.

Entering the ritual chamber felt foreign to me. It could've been because I knew I was not punished to clean it so my mind rebelled when I entered reminding me that I don't belong there. But I did belong now. So, I squished that feeling down with a force of a rhino stomping on glass. I had every right to enter any room in Gatekeeper's coven or any other.

The pentagram on the side of my finger tingled and Sissily dropped my hand with a tiny squeak, jumping away from me with owlish eyes.

"Ouch." She dragged the whisper, shaking her hand like she's been holding onto live wire.

"Sorry?" I breathed the question and frowned at my hand. I didn't mean to hurt her if that's what she was accusing me off.

"I don't want to be an anthill, Hazel." Referring to what happened to anyone unfortunate to be hit by my magic, she increased her glower. "Watch it."

"I am watching it you crazy female." Yanking my shoes off angerly one by one I wiggled one in her face. "I didn't use any magic." A sigh escaped me when my bare feet connected with the cold stone of the floor and I didn't want to argue anymore. "At least not on purpose. My pentagram tingled though." I scratched at it with my thumb for emphases.

Sissily cocked her head slightly a thoughtful expression on her face. When I was about to ask her what she's thinking she shook her head and motioned me to follow her to the far corner of the chamber pass the simple wooden alter. I wondered how she expected us to know what they were talking about in the other room when the place was as silent as a tomb when we weren't bickering in whispers. You couldn't hear a thing.

My best friend rushed in the corner and dropped on her knees so close to the wall I fully expected her to headbutt it. She expertly maneuvered her body to avoid hurting herself and started poking at the floor with her fingers. Thinking she might need help I edged closer and kneeled gingerly next to her, holding a hand pressed to my stomach. That damn whisky was ready to punish me for gulping it down instead of savoring it. Acid was bubbling in waves forming sweat on my hairline and upper lip. That would've been a perfect time to use a refreshing spell if I knew one. Since despite all the power I now had I was still useless as a witch unless I needed to kill someone I pressed my lips together and endured the misery.

"It should pop right off." Sissily kept fidgeting with whatever she was attempting to rip out of the floor.

All I could focus on was holding the contents of my stomach inside and to keep scratching the pentagram on my finger. Hecate knew it was driving me insane and I had to prevent myself from screaming in frustration. So, nostrils flaring, I breathed deeply as slowly as I could. Luckily, I opened my eyes just in time to see Sissily yank something off the floor with such force she pitched backward, the back of her skull aiming right at the cold stone beneath us.

Forgetting all about my nausea I dived underneath her, so my back took the brunt of the impact with her head. She gasped but my grunt was low and pained and I gagged when I tasted acid in my mouth. Taking all of my best friend's weight regardless of how tiny she was pushed all the churning acid up toward my mouth. One of my shoes was also kicked by one of us, I had no idea who did it, and it cluttered toward the alter breaking the eerie silence.

"We are as quiet as an elephant in a china shop." Sissily hissed flailing around so she could get herself off me.

I stayed silent because if I tried to say a word everything was going to spill out of my mouth.

Literally.

All my misery was forgotten when the conversation from the room next to us spilled through. It was coming from the floor so curious as a cat I swallowed thickly and crawled to join my bestie in the corner. When my knee bumped hers I finally saw what she was struggling with since we entered the chamber. She ripped out the covering from a vent located where the wall met the floor. It sat at perfect nighty degree angle and I frowned at it, not understanding why would anyone place a vent there.

"This whole place is weird." I muttered through clenched teeth still fighting the nausea. "Who puts an air vent in a corner? Idiotic."

Random conversation about the quality of the stone used for the coven building trickled to our ears, but we ignored it hoping to hear something important if we got lucky.

"It's not an air vent." Sissily breathed so low I barely heard her.

"Hmm?" when she fully ignored me like I wasn't glaring at the side of her head I bumped her shoulder with mine. "What?"

"We should be quiet." She mouthed, dramatically shaping each word with her lips like I was a dumbass.

"What did you say?"

Rolling her eyes at my persistence she huffed in annoyance. "It's not an air vent." She mumbled and pointed at the now open hole in the corner of the room.

Curiosity killed the cat but I leaned forward until my forehead was firmly pressed on the wall and I peered inside it just as a female voice came through loud and clear as if she was kneeling right next to us.

"Are we going to have a pleasure of meeting your granddaughter, Danika?" the accent was astute, but it still made the female sound cold and robotic. Almost as if she was faking it just because she wanted to sound sagacious.

My heartbeat picked up and thudded in my ears loud enough to mute whatever answer Danika gave her. Being pressed to the wall the way I was should've helped but it didn't when the chamber tilted and spun making me pitch sideways onto Sissily. Both my hands came up to press over my mouth a second too late. The bubbling acid was determent to come out and there was no stopping it. Not wanting to barf all over Sissily I shoved myself hard with both hands off the wall and twisted in the opposite direction right in time for the projectile vomit to splash all the way to the wooden alter which was sitting unassuming in the middle of the space.

"Hecate help us." Sissily gasped but her voice sounded very far away.

My heartbeat was drumming harder and the pentagram turned from being itchy into trying to burn itself out of my skin. Unfortunately, I was powerless to do anything about it, apart from expelling three more sprays until all the contents of my stomach were on the floor. Silently I vowed that I would never drink whisky again. Which I rectified and reworded after I had nothing else to eject from my body. Never was such a long time. A month should do the trick of staying away from the whisky to teach it a lesson.

"You okay?" Sissily's voice came in shaky and very close to my ear. Couldn't she smell the vomit? I already wanted to gag again.

"Yeah." I told her on a groan and pushed myself up and away from the mess. That's when I realized that my bestie was holding my hair and tears prickled my eyes. "Thanks."

"Thank me later." The panic which was the reason her voice sounded shaky registered in my brain and my vision cleared immediately when I locked my eyes on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"They're headed here." Sissily rushed to whisper just as we heard the door start to open.