Chapter 6

Harlow

The sun had just begun to sink below the top of the tree line by the time we arrived at the Roadside motel. Spells Hollow was only a few more miles down the road, and the urge to continue on rode me hard, but with the delays we'd dealt with, it would be dark by the time we arrived. It was better to take the time to figure out who this biker was, rest, and start fresh tomorrow.

The motel was a sickly yellow color. Its walls looked thin as cardboard with wallpaper straight out of the seventies. Groovy. It looked like the setting for every road trip serial killer mystery ever written.

Spoiler alert, it was always the creepy owner.

"I can't believe this motel doesn't have a pool," Addie whined from where she'd flopped face down across the floral bedspread.

"We're lucky this place had adjoining twin rooms, let alone a damn pool." I huffed as I pulled a change of clothes from my duffel with shaking fingers.

While my explosion of energy on the highway had left me with some serious pep in my step, I was also soaked through and cold. It was just lucky Lindsay had taken the bike, or his splash back jokes would've been relentless on the ride here. Despite the Camry's heaters running full blast, the cold had settled into my bones. A hot shower and cup of cocoa were in my immediate future. I couldn't fucking wait to feel my toes again.

"You okay staying here a few minutes?" I asked her.

Without lifting her head, she flashed a thumbs up and snuggled up to a pillow. At least she couldn't cause trouble if she was taking a nap.

After double checking the room's locks, I left a trail of wet clothes to the bathroom and hopped in the shower. The water wasn't anywhere near as hot as I'd like it, but it was enough to get my joints moving again. Once dressed in a pair of sweats and a loose tank top usually reserved for sleeping, I finally felt more like myself. I was squeaky-clean, and the build-up of excess magic I usually had bubbling inside me was gone. If it weren't for the biker gang trying to kill me, I could skip to Spells Hollow.

A knock came at the motel room door as I was towel drying my hair. I stepped out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam as Addie hauled herself to the door to admit Lindsay.

"Lemme tell you, I think I understand bikers now," he announced. "Like, I could get used to having something that powerful between my thighs."

Addie made a gagging noise as she jumped back on the bed she'd claimed. "Ew. Please, say less before I have to surgically remove my ears."

"You spoil all my fun." Lindsay pouted at her before turning to me. "I've chained the bike to a tree at the back of the building."

"Thanks. Hopefully, our ‘drunk buddy' won't get loose." I said, chuckling at the memory of Lindsay and Kylen dragging his unconscious body inside past the motel owner.

"Kylen's secured him. We got a name from his ID, by the way: Bruin. Not sure if it's a first name, surname, or just one word like Cher, but it's something."

"How's he doing in there?" I nodded to the adjoining room.

"He's awake, twitchy, and raging something fierce. Oh, and fucking pretty." Lindsay fanned himself with one hand. "If I wasn't still obsessing over what Kedron said to me, I'd be all over him."

"Still not sure where you stand?"

"Nope." He sighed dramatically, taking a seat on the bed next to Addie. "He's wriggled his way from my pants to my heart."

"Like a blood clot of emotion," Addie said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Do you think we could talk about this over waffles?"

Lindsay hugged her back with a grin. "Fuck yes, that sounds so good right now. I think I saw a diner over the road, next to the gas station."

"I'll catch up to you guys later," I said, glaring at the wall as though I could burn the man next door with my mind. "It's about time I had a chat with our pretty little psycho."

***

I headed through the door linking our two rooms once Lindsay and Addie had left. We had agreed to only keep it locked from our side to keep Addie safe if Bruin got out. It also meant we could quickly get to Kylen in the same scenario.

"How's my favorite asshole doing?" I asked cheerily.

His response was a dangerous scowl, along with a middle finger, despite his bound hands.

His whole body was restrained. Ropes wrapped around his torso, thighs, ankles, and almost seemed to writhe around parts of his body. Curious, I looked closer and… were those vines?

"Botany's more useful than people give it credit for." Kylen flashed a boyish smile from the armchair in the corner. His long legs dangled over one side, and he'd put on a pair of round-framed glasses since we'd split into our rooms. Noticing my stare, he adjusted them on his nose. "I prefer them over contacts."

"They suit you." I smiled, surprised by how comforting I found his presence. He radiated a calm energy that soothed the tension in the room.

"If you're gonna stand there flirting like high schoolers, can you knock me out again first?" Bruin snarled from the bed.

Unlike our other guest.

"Ooh, someone's a grouchosaurus rex," I teased.

Bruin's muscles flexed under the vine's grip, unable to move an inch. "Gee, I wonder why."

As if to prove his point, the vines wiggled around him, splitting off in places and exploring under the hem of his black t-shirt.

"Hey! Watch where those vines are going!" he snapped, squirming on the bed until they retreated to their original position.

"Sorry about that." Kylen chuckled. "They have a mind of their own sometimes, but they're harmless, I swear."

Bruin raised both eyebrows. "Oh, you're a kinky little twink, aren't ya?"

Kylen's eyes widened before he looked at me, pointing at himself and mouthing the question, "Twink?"

Turning back to the furious biker, I pursed my lips and bit back the same shit-eating grin Addie liked to use on me. "Look, I get it. That fight on the highway was super embarrassing for you. I almost feel bad about it, but then I remember that incident with the knife and your friends in the alley…"

Swaying from one foot to the other, I mentally weighed the two situations and came up about even. Not a drop of guilt. "You had it coming, and you underestimated me."

"A mistake I won't make twice," he promised.

The determined look in his eyes left me with no doubt he meant it. I almost wanted to let him go so I could take him on again. Could be fun.

Pushing down the impulsive thoughts, I took a seat on the bed next to him, patting the vines wrapped around his thighs with a condescending smile.

"Oh!" I gasped as the vine pulsed beneath my hand. A thin stem sprouted between my fingers and grew into a tiny white bloom. "How cute. I guess they like me."

"Well, that makes one of us," he deadpanned.

"That's too bad." I plucked the small flower and gently placed it in the longer, mussed strands at the top of his hair. "Aw, how pretty!"

Bruin's jaw ticked.

"Now, I'm more than happy to get all these vines off you and watch you ride off into the sunset on that bike of yours. But I'm gonna need you to agree to, y'know…" I waved a hand in the air, searching for the right words. "Leave me the fuck alone."

"And why the hell would I do that?"

"Fair question. Let's say, because I could kill you right now. Probably wouldn't be the first murder in one of these rooms."

Bruin's laugh cracked across the space between us. "Hah! That's an empty threat if I ever heard one. You're a cunt, not a killer, sweetheart."

Hm. Couldn't deny that.

"So let me tell you what's actually going to happen," he continued. "You may not be a killer, but I am. And you fucked with my club, so you're gonna pay for it. I don't care how you die, but the prez wants it done. That means a fucking good payout for me. Tell me, do you know how long someone can stay alive if they have water? I can wait you out, bitch, but you won't be escaping me. Whether I kill you back at the club, or here on the road, Prez is gonna love seeing your drowned corpse."

Bruin hissed as the vines visibly tightened at his words. Rather than apologizing, he turned a dark grin on Kylen. "Oh, they didn't like that at all. How interesting."

The nature witch waved a hand at the vines, and they relaxed their grip, though they still looked uncomfortably tight. He flashed a concerned look at me, which I returned with a nod. Things were fine. I could handle his threats.

"Sadly, none of that's gonna work for me." I took a deep breath, readying myself to explain this crappy situation I'd been thrown into that made the MC look like the smallest, most adorable potatoes by comparison. Guess it would be news to Kylen, too. "You see, I'm on this blood-moon-vision-quest-thing. Crazy big deal, or so I'm told. And I really don't have the time or the patience to deal with a bunch of butthurt biker egos before finding out if I'm gonna live to see next month."

Silence filled the room as I struggled to unclench my jaw. Did I really believe that my life could be in danger from this quest?

Your time is as short as your temper.

I'd be an idiot not to see that comparison didn't work in my favor.

Kylen gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. I hadn't even heard him move over to me, but his presence helped me steel my spine.

"So let's make a deal," I offered, meeting Bruin's surprised gaze. "You give me the time to deal with this quest. A few days to see what's what and potentially save my own life. Then, once that's done, I'll go with you willingly."

Bruin's eyes narrowed, searching for the catch in my offer.

I pressed on. "Think about it. You were ready to kill me yourself, so I might save you the trouble. And on the off-chance I save myself, you get to bring me back, brownie points and whatever payout to you, and we'll see how your boy band fares against me a second time."

A laugh bubbled out of him, half genuine and half mocking. "Fuck it! You're dead either way, aren't you?"

"Thought you weren't going to underestimate me again?"

"True. Tell you what, I'll take your deal on one condition. You let me follow you on your little vision quest."

"Don't trust me not to run away?"

His grin widened. "That, and I want a front-row seat to your death."

***

The fucking nerve of that asshole.

Gravel crunched under my boots as I stomped from the motel to the diner. Despite the agreement to let Bruin tag along and watch my potential death, I wasn't ready for Kylen to release him from the vines in case he tried something during the night. This left me playing delivery girl for the two of them.

Forget blood moon vision quests; my latest mission was getting takeout. Hopefully, there wasn't as much risk of death with this quest.

A chilled breeze swept around me, and I shivered, regretting not grabbing a sweater before I left. There was something in the air around here that didn't sit right with me. As I crossed the small dirt road separating the motel from the diner and gas station, I felt the same pull from the vision. We were close to Spells Hollow.

Pulling up the map on my phone and comparing it with the directions from Reddit, I could see I was right. The town was just over five miles down that road. A short drive, or a decent woodland hike for a city girl like me.

As I walked past the woods, my gaze fixed on my phone, a warm wall of muscle suddenly blocked my path and jolted me out of my thoughts, making me drop my phone in surprise. At least I didn't zap it, I guess.

"Ah! Oh, shit, sorry!" I scrambled on the ground for my phone. I'd only just finished paying it off a few weeks ago, and I was determined to get every penny's worth now.

A deep grunt distracted me from my phone retrieval as the man crouched in front of me and easily palmed the elusive device.

"If you're not careful with your things, they'll break," a deep voice, smooth as melted chocolate, said. Despite the condescending tone, my limbs turned to Jell-O.

He offered me my phone in a large, tanned hand and straightened.

I finally looked up at him, and up… and up… Wow, this guy made me feel dainty. He could throw me over his shoulder, and I'd have to stretch to slap his ass.

"G'night." The speed of his departure would've been offensive if it hadn't given me a view that confirmed my suspicion—his ass was totally slap-able.

As I stepped away, mentally mourning the loss of "dat ass"—as my mind had already dubbed it—something tapped against my boot.

Huh. I haven't seen a pair of these for ages.

"Hey! Wait up!" I shouted, jogging after him back towards the motel. He moved quickly, but I caught him just before he reached the building. "You dropped these. Lucky I didn't step on them."

His mahogany eyes narrowed at the pair of wired earphones I held out to him.

"I mean, I'm guessing they're yours," I started babbling. "I haven't seen someone use these outside of a last resort for years. Even Addie got a Bluetooth headset for her birthday a few years back."

I bit the inside of my cheek, begging myself to stop verbally digging my grave.

"They're mine," he growled, snatching them from my hand. His scowl was dark but still kinda cute. I hated that he could be rude and attractive all at once. That right there was pretty privilege.

"My bad. Should've been looking where I was going, but it's been a long-ass day." I glanced at the diner, then back to the man. "Just need to get some food in me and then I can crash for the night."

His gaze raked over me, and not in a fun way. This would have been a great time for my mouth to stop with all the words, but there was something about him that made me want him to notice me. Either that, or I was way more tired than I thought, and my verbal filter had gone on vacation.

"Well, I should let you go." I forced an awkward smile, backing away slowly. "Sorry, again."

He nodded once, his auburn curls bouncing just above his shoulders, before he unlocked the motel room next to ours.

The door clicked shut behind him, and I strolled toward the diner as the conversation replayed in my head. Damn, his voice really did something to my bones. Now that was a man I should go after. But no, the man I've been closest to lately was trying to kill me. Typical.

Although Kylen seemed like a good guy. He definitely rolled with the punches of the day, no denying that.

Ugh, I shouldn't be worrying about this crap. I need food and a bed, that's it. Calm down, vagina. We're on a quest to a spooky old town, not a booty call.

By the time I picked up a few burger meals, my exhaustion had seriously caught up with me. I took a moment to myself in the motel parking lot, leaning against the Camry while Lindsay and Addie bounded out to relieve me of the food and disappeared back inside.

Hopefully, we'd at least get some sleep before we finally got to Spells Hollow tomorrow. That was all I could wish for at that moment. But judging by Addie's cackling laughter echoing through the paper-thin walls, I doubted it. She was so excited to be out of the city, despite the reason we were here.

Fuck, I don't want her to watch me die.