Chapter 27

27

I’m floating in an undefined mist, and it’s immediately clear that I’m dreaming. A familiar face emerged from the wispy swirls. And then my jaw ached.

“You hit me,” I said.

Dream Thorn smiled at me with a gentleness that caught me off-guard. “It seemed the better solution than to let you cook your best friend alive.”

Memories rush back to me. Finding them together, my rage.

“Oh fuck. I made such an ass out of myself.”

“It wasn’t you.”

“But Chas.”

“Also knows it wasn’t you.”

Even in this dreamscape, I can’t bear what I’ve done and the horrible things I said. “So, what was real?”

Thorn reached for me, and I let him touch my forehead. When he did, a flood of images poured over me. Moira at her shop, a fight between her and Chastity.

Chastity fought with Moira, and in turn, the evil bitch pulled up stakes and hid her shop in case I came for her.

“The extra power.”

Dream Thorn pulled away again, backing up as he continued. “When you showed up, the building connected with your power. It allowed her to access you through her mark on your hand.”

“Do I get to kill her now?”

“See? This is why we’re keeping you unconscious. I’ll let you wake when your Chastity has dampened your homicidal tendencies.”

I walked to the edge of the room we were standing in, only to find that he was telling the truth. There are no doors, no windows, and no cracks. Just white walls, floor, and ceiling. I’m trapped in a prison of his making.

“Ballsy of you to be in here with me, then.”

He leaned against a white wall in his white suit and smiled at me. “I think you may have forgotten who the monster is here.”

On anyone else, that suit would look ridiculous, but on him? He makes white look dirty in all the right ways.

“I believe in you, Elena.”

“Good, because I’m in control, and I want to fucking kill Moira. Or rather, killing her would be a great favor, considering what I want to do to her. Let me out, Thorn.”

He crooks a finger at me, summoning me to him. “Come here.”

Heart pounding, I comply, walking to him and stopping when we’re nearly toe-to-toe. “Partner. Boss? Let me wake up. We have a witch to mutilate for pitting me against my friend. I am no one’s weapon to wield.”

“That’s my girl.”

I tried to ignore the flutter in my stomach at those words and closed my eyes and when I open them, Thorn is looking at me with genuine concern.

“You good, kitten? Can I let you up?”

For a moment, I listen to what’s inside my head and what’s out of it. Chastity is close, just out of my line of sight, fussing in the kitchen. Outside, the sounds of people as they enjoy the nightlife float in on a gentle breeze.

“I’m fine. What did you do?”

Chastity pushed between us and hovered over me. “Stay still. I need to clear you.”

“I’m clear, Chas.”

She glared at me. “You will sit your tight ass down and do whatever the sweet hell I tell you because you almost got yourself killed by that evil woman, and I am not losing you, hear me?”

As tempted as I am to tease her about the bayou coming out of her with her temper, I held my tongue. I can’t remember the last time I saw her this terrified, and never because of me.

“I’m sorry, Chas.”

“You’d better be. Because I am about to Kentucky fry that bitch and you know how much I abhor violence.”

I shake my head. “No, Bebe. You’ve done enough.”

She shook a talisman over me. “I have not. I went to her because Thorn told me you must not want me involved because you kept asking for Moira. It didn’t sound right that you’d trust someone you know not to, especially soon after meeting them.”

“She bespelled me.”

She nodded vigorously. “She roped you when you retrieved that stone from her. She laced your contract with a geas.”

“Oh, that bitch.”

“I told you.”

I stared at her. “Would you like knowing she still has this power hidden away?”

“No. But no more contracts with known villains, Len. You know better. What were you trying to prove?”

I glanced at Thorn. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Most were just me, trying to undo the last error.”

“Nonsense.” Thorn chuckled from across the room. “You have done far better than someone without big magic to pull from should have.”

“But what now?”

Chastity smiled, lighting up her warm brown eyes. “Never thought I’d actually joyfully watch a witch burn. Yet here we are.”

“I forgot how terrifying you are when you set aside your rules, Chas. Maybe let me lead on this one, okay? I’d like you to still like yourself in the morning.”

She huffed, then bustled around the kitchen, gathering her spells as I stretched and tested my limbs.

My head still ached as if someone stepped on it, and my joints crackle a little more than usual as I limber up, but in a couple of minutes, I feel like I can race around town again. I checked my feet and found them healed and unscarred, even though I remembered the pain.

“Wait. How long was I out?”

Thorn checks his watch. “Just a couple of hours. The tourists are in fine form now, which is good. It’ll mask our approach.”

I bite my lip, tugging on the ankle socks he handed me, and then I shove my feet into my running shoes. “What about the wolves?”

“They have their own problems to deal with tonight.”

I glanced at Thorn and Chas, but neither seemed in a hurry to elaborate. “I’m not going to send them help or anything. You can tell me.”

“It’s not your worry. You just focus on that fire power learning curve and let my people handle the wolves.”

I blinked. “That’s all you had to say, kitten.”

He narrowed his eyes at me but walked away without a word. I joined Chas standing at the island. “Feels like we were here just yesterday,” I cracked, watching her fill bottles with herb mixtures.

She meets my eyes, her own glassy with unshed tears. “I’m sorry you thought that.”

“Oh, Babe. No.” I scurried around the island and wrapped her in my arms. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m so sorry that I scared you. I’ll never let it happen again.”

“No,” she sniffed, pulling away. “I’ll never let it happen again.“ Her words hurt as much as a physical slap. I back away, embarrassed and trying not to cry. “I am never leaving your side again, hear me?”

“Wait, what?”

“I’ve been hiding behind this so-called code of conduct, when you said it yourself. I drop it when it doesn’t suit me.”

“You don’t have to hurt people to be my friend.“ I scanned the room for Thorn for support, but it appears as if he had disappeared. “Let’s just get through tonight.”

She sniffed hard and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I will never put you in harm’s way alone ever again. You are the one who matters. And right now? You look like shit.”

I laughed and hugged her again, then filled her fanny pack with her tools before going into my room to find a weapon.

Thorn sat on the end of the bed, his hands clasped in his lap. I jumped when I saw him, then again when I tried to step around him to get to the closet, and he grabbed my arm.

Without a word, he pulls me into him and holds me in place, one hand fisted in my hair as he bends and kisses me. I open to him, expecting to feel that same rush of power as before, but the mark stays still as his tongue strokes into my mouth. I brace myself against his chest, and his free hand slides down my side, then up again, under my t-shirt, until his fingers graze my ribcage.

“Tonight, we will make sure you are safe. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss what it means for you to be my partner, Partner.“ He gives my bottom lip a quick nip that steals my breath and releases me, striding out of the room before I understand what happened.

Shakily, I choose from my backup knives and put on my holster. I never use a gun, but Kye made me train with it when my first shift took too long to arrive, and if ever there was a night that called for using it, it was tonight.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, making me grin. Pink and blonde hair pulled back, black ripped tee, black leggings, knife belt, and shoulder holster. “Hey, Chas, do I look like a tomb raider or a bounty hunter?”

She sticks her head around the corner. “You look hot, is what.” We stared at each other for a moment and grinned simultaneously.

And just like that, all is right in my world again.

Thorn cleared his throat. “Ladies, if you’re ready, my people have reached the wolves’ territory.”

The mood shifts like a change in the wind. Instantly sober, Chas and I followed Thorn. It was time to bag me a witch.

Just as before, the storefront’s missing from the block. I couldn’t tell if I felt better or worse, knowing it wasn’t just the crazy happening in my head earlier.

Thorn strolled up to the corner wall and placed his hand against the brick, closing his eyes and pressing like he could push his fingers through the mortar if he pushed hard enough.

Slowly, the bricks multiply right before our eyes, the building appearing to unfold and stretch until, little by little, a sign is revealed above a quaint glass door that says, La Sorcière.

Son of a bitch.

None of us says a word as he holds the door for us. Maybe because he’s a gentleman, more likely because I’m the one with a job to do here. Chas touches my shoulder, and the illusion of the store falls away.

The customers and the knickknacks are still there, but now I can see the help for what they are, and none of them are witches. At least, not living ones.

I file away the horrifying image of a rotting zombie bagging incense, the flesh of her arm sagging almost into the cash register, and push farther into the room. At the far end, a door repelled me when I tried to touch the handle.

Chas pulled a bottle from her fanny pack and broke it over the handle, releasing a sweet, herbal scent. I reached again; this time, I could turn the knob and push the door inward.

I remembered the hall from before and the door to the alley to my left. I turn right, and Chas stops me, pulling out another bottle. “For the illusions,” she says as she wipes my eyelids with mugwort, rosemary, and nettle tincture. “Don’t worry. The nettle shouldn’t sting for more than a moment. I cooked it down for days.”

She’s right. At first, it felt like I had rubbed poison oak on my eyes. But I blink away the discomfort and can see the corridor clearly and without pain. The door at the end still stood.

Thorn goes first again, walking with his hands at the level of his waist as he goes, feeling around for magic, wards, or something.

We nearly made it to the office when a door I didn’t see appeared mid-hall. Thorn unceremoniously got yanked through, and I could only watch helplessly.