A Witch's Fury (16 page)

“Four,” Selena purred, “please come
here.”

Her voice was soft and gentle, but I knew
better. Madness beat within her skull.

I nodded, saying nothing as I came to stand
between her and the dark-skinned General. Selena might be crazy,
but she was observant, watching her General’s interest in me. I
looked over the maps in front of me. She made a soft tsking sound
before turning to the information in front of us.

“Tell us what you see,” Selena commanded, her
voice hardening.

I blinked, taking a second and third look,
disappointed as I looked up at her. “These are of the human’s home,
not of the Fae lands.”

“Very good, why does that upset you?”

“I’m walking in blind.”

Selena nodded, her eyes on the General behind
me. “Go back to the wall,” her voice clipped. I removed myself from
the path of her wrath.

“If this mission fails, gentlemen, I want you
to know I will personally collect your heads.”

They all stilled, properly terrified. “Now,
let’s be off.”

Hurry this along. Destiny’s voice rushed my
ears.

I was screaming as pain blasted my senses
apart, my body in pieces as I was sucked into the portal. The
fucking Fae knew we were coming. The damn thing opened and
everything was being drawn into its inky darkness.

I landed with a thud in the desert, looking
around. Many of the generals had not landed well. At least they
were spared from this heat. As I rolled to my knees, sweat trickled
down my legs and fire burned the back of my neck. Selena stood,
wary.

“We need to go for cover,” I said, moving
toward her and taking her hand, pulling her to the trees I could
see in the distance.

“We were sold out,” she hissed at me.

“I know, but we need to figure out a way home
first.”

The trees up ahead shook and stood, drawing
toward us. “Fuck,” I hissed, bracing for an attack.

The lumbering giants were in no hurry, and on
the plus side provided much needed respite from the sun.

“Selena,” a merry voice called out.

I looked high into the branches before
turning behind me. The desert was gone, replaced by the growth of a
lush forest.

A short man, thin with dark, olive-brown
skin, stood behind us.

“I do believe you were warned of coming
back,” he called out in a singsong voice.

“Bob,” Selena acknowledged reluctantly.

“Now, what is the price of this trespass?”
Bob continued speaking, pacing in front of us. He stopped, his
round eyes lighting up. “I know, your most valuable
possession.”

Selena grunted, “Fine, just send me back
home.”

Bob laughed, snapping his hands. Selena was
gone. He laughed again. “Just wait until she finds out home doesn’t
mean the compound.”

Bob’s large eyes met my own terrified ones.
“I am truly sorry for what is about to befall you.”

The trees reached down for me, snagging my
limbs and drawing me horizontal. It was a vulnerable position, one
I hated. Voices filtered through the trees,

“I hear you found a trespasser.”

“Do let me have a go at her, it’s been
ages.”

“Get in line.”

I tried to keep the panic at bay. Torture
wasn’t new, pain wasn’t an unknown sensation. I could survive it,
but for what? I had no way of getting home, no way of getting help.
I was trapped here forever.

The first one stood next to me, his cloak so
far forward I couldn’t see his face, just two red pools where I
assumed his eyes were. My skin caught on fire.

It was days of torture, days and weeks of
pain beyond anything I had ever known. They took me to the edge in
turns, passing my body around for hours until I was only searing
sensations. They cut me apart only to put me back together, bled me
out, fucked me, until finally I was broken.

Bob came to me then. “Go home, your father
has great expectations for you,” he said with a touch on my
shoulder and sympathy in his voice. Then I was back on Lord
Master’s bed.

I was screaming as I regained consciousness
in the basement, my eyes still covered. I thrashed against the
bonds on my wrists, warm blood leaking down my forearms.

Destiny ripped my blindfold off, fear in her
brown eyes, her breathing elevated. I was so caught up in my own
misery I didn’t immediately see the shifter standing behind
her.

“What did you see?” he asked, his silver hair
given a harsh yellow glow by the basement lighting. He had adopted
a relaxed posture, hands in his pockets, leaning against the
stone.

Destiny turned from me, shaking her head.
“Bob,” she muttered, moving back behind her shiny tools, giving
them a sick look before turning to face him. “We want to contact
Bob.”

The shifter nodded before tilting his head
up. “We’ve got company. Go.” He shoved her. I tried to track where,
but my mind was having a hard time not shutting down.

I could hear the skidding tires followed by a
door being kicked in. “Down here!” I screamed, noting the raw taste
of my voice.

Heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs as
Logan and Darren appeared.

I nodded, closing my eyes. “Shifter magic.”
I’d never been so grateful for their ability to track each other.
Turning my face into my arm, I pulled my emotions down deep.

Logan came to stand before me. Wrapping an
arm around my waist, he ripped down the lumber I was tied to.

“Show off,” I muttered, hiding my face in his
shoulder.

My arms flopped down, circulation painfully
returning. Logan eased me to the ground.

I huffed, putting pressure on my side.

“What happened, Olie?” he asked.

“Oh ya know, just making new friends,” I
grunted.

Chapter 13

Jerry
took Jaelle back to the witch’s store in town in order to free her
from the chains.

Logan had offered to handle the humans in
town, but I thought it would go a long way for me to show up. If
nothing else, my bandaged side and swollen face would hopefully
dull the complaints I knew were coming.

I walked through the gym with the terrified
humans all staring openly at my battle worn self.

Great, another town hall style meeting. Let’s
hope everyone wanted to play nice this time. At least Logan was a
comforting presence behind me. His hand resting on the base my neck
would normally irritate me, but right now I needed the help staying
upright.

I braced myself to speak with the terrified
humans. “They were too scared to leave,” Logan whispered, leaning
closer to me.

“How long was I gone for?”

“Two days.”

I nodded, rubbing my forehead. “Do you want
the truth or do you want me to ease your fears?” I asked softly to
the eyes trained on me.

Daniels took a shaky step forward, putting on
a brave face. “The truth. We’ve seen—we know—“ he fought to form a
sentence.

I nodded. “There is far more that goes bump
in the night aside from vampires and shifters. They are just the
most prevalent. What you encountered tonight was a small fraction
of our kind. A witch, a necromancer and her zombie horde. But
knowing what they are won’t make you feel better. These beings have
always existed. In the past we’d have vampires wipe your memories,
but now we’re trying to be honest.

“What will make you feel better is that the
zombies are dead and the necromancer freed. She will be a powerful
ally in tracking down the witch who is responsible for this.” My
face hardened. “We are the barrier between humans and the evils of
our world. We will never allow our kind to harm yours, and if they
do, they will never pull a breath again.”

Logan moved closer to me. Alright, so
vampires didn’t breathe, minor detail.

“I know that isn’t enough to ease your fear
of what you have seen, but this is the best I can offer.” Something
in my face or my raw honesty hit a nerve; Daniels cleared his
throat.

“We’ve been talking and we don’t want to
become freak central—no offense, but we are going to call this a
bomb scare.”

I nodded, it would be for the best.

“Our reports will indicate the same.” Logan’s
deep voice washed over me, infusing calm.

I nodded once more before turning away.

Logan drove me back to St. Ann in my SUV.
Mark, Darren and Jerry took Logan's car—ha, good luck keeping your
clothes magically pressed in that backseat, Jerry. Jaelle had her
own transportation after she left the witch’s shop, freed.

I sat in the passenger seat, curled up into
myself.

We rode in peaceful silence for a while, my
mind replaying the horrors Destiny had forced me to remember. Every
so often, a tear would slip down my cheek.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Logan asked
softly.

“No,” I answered, turning to him. “Let’s talk
about the wedding.”

Logan groaned, throwing me a gentle smile. He
would hear about it from Mark. For now, a little distraction was
needed.

“Lorraine wants private dance lessons from
you.”

I shrugged. “Sure, you want to learn the
tango?”

He shook his head. “I have moves.”

I laughed earnestly and while he didn’t look
at me I saw the crinkling of the corner of his eye, smiling at
me.

“I’ll organize it.”

“We need to talk about centerpieces,” Logan
continued. “She wants these tall vases with twigs. Who the hell
wants twigs as centerpieces?”

I laughed again. “What about mason jars with
flowers?”

Logan did look at me now. “I discovered
Pinterest,” I admitted.

“I like it.”

“Did we decide on a venue?” I asked,
snuggling in the seat, exhaustion finally taking its toll.

Logan shifted. “She wanted to get married
where Blake did, but now that it’s been done she wants something
better, something different, something more.”

I groaned. “That’s going to eat up the
majority of the budget.”

“I’m aware.”

“Don’t you have a cabin somewhere remote? I
thought I heard Darren talking about it.”

“Yeah, actually we do.”

“Would it hold everyone?”

Logan silently debated, turning onto the
interstate before shaking his head. “No, not the hundreds of people
she wants to invite.”

I nodded, shifting my body so my head rested
on the console. I’ll never admit it, but I wanted to be closer to
Logan. I wanted to be closer to his warmth and the illusion of
safety.

“Get some rest,” he commanded.

Tentatively, he rested a hand on my shoulder.
I laid my fingertips over his, biting back the tears. Damn shifter
could probably scent all of my pathetic emotions.

Chapter 14

“Where do you want me to drop you off, Olie?”

I groaned, blinking in the daylight that
robbed me of my vision.

“Ugh, manor I guess.”

“Well, we’re here, then.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Logan waited a moment before continuing on,
“I cleared our dance lessons with Rose at Kitten for the day after
tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind.”

I yawned, shifting my stiff shoulders.
“Okay.”

He nodded. “Are you going to be okay? It was
the only opening they had.”

I laughed, giving him a playful shove. “I’ll
be fine, Logan.” It sounded like a lie to me, too, but he left me
to my own delusions.

…

The first thing I did, once I had slept like
the dead and eaten my weight in grilled cheese, was to send over
three books I thought would help Lorraine. I didn’t like her, but
if she really was going to marry Logan, maybe a bit of information
would help her.

I was setting up at Kitten when they
arrived.

“Hello, and welcome to Olie’s personal dance
class,” I joked.

Logan laughed, heading to the bathroom to
change out of his work clothing.

Alone with Lorraine I asked, “Did you read
the books I sent over?”

“No,” she replied, checking her dark hair for
split ends. “It was boring.” I was going to split her head
open.

That woman could shock me, constantly, which
was why my mouth was once again hanging open, dumbfounded. “I don’t
give a shit if they are boring, if you are going to marry into the
supernatural community you have to understand each culture.” The
bitch could sure try my patience.

“I’m not interested in their culture. I’ll be
their new Alpha. They should be interested in mine,” she observed,
checking her nail polish.

“Don’t you think that respect goes both
ways?” I asked, grinding my jaw.

She laughed. “I am going to be married to the
most powerful shifter in the US. People already bend over backwards
to be certain I am well taken care of. That trend will only be
magnified once we are married,” she finished regally.

“If you are going to be a good mate, you need
to support your husband, not make his life harder,” I ground out,
losing my patience. “If he loses his title, it could come at the
price of his life.”

She shrugged. “That’s his problem.”

“So just to clarify,” I expelled, my patience
totally fried, “you will marry Logan for his title and power and
then do nothing to help him with those burdens?”

“Yep,” she said, stretching in her black
pushup sports bra and matching shorts, “that about sums it up.”

That sounded like a terrible deal. I wondered
if Logan knew her master plan. Not my circus, not my monkeys, I
reminded myself.

Logan came out, stalking across the dance
floor. He had probably heard all of that. Blowing out a breath, I
went to start the music, irritation steaming out of both our
bodies.

Turning on the sweeping ballroom music, I
sighed, lowering my shoulders and cracking my neck.

Forcing a smile on my lips, I turned to find
Logan only a few feet behind me. I blinked rapidly, looking for
Lorraine.

“She went to finish her reading,” he growled
out.

“Logan, if she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t
want to,” I informed him, moving into his waiting dance stance.