A Witch's Fury (20 page)

I grunted, couldn’t argue that point.

My right hand slipped and at the same moment,
both my footholds dissolved into the stony surface. I was left
dangling, all my weight on my left hand.

My jaw clamped shut on the cry I wanted to
let loose as my shoulder took the full weight of my body. The stone
in front of my face shifted, smiled, and sucked in my last
handhold. I scrambled, but I wasn’t fast enough to combat the
gravity that plucked greedily at my heels.

The rock face slipped quickly past my eyes,
my feeble attempts to secure an additional hold ruined by my
downward force and The Oracle’s games. Just as suddenly as my fall
began, it stopped, an uncomfortable force binding my shoulders
back. Logan strained, his forearm tense against the wall, tendons
bulging, fingers shifting into claws that sliced though the
impenetrable stone like butter to hold us.

“Drop. Me.”

“No,” he hissed.

I reached my hand out to the nearest hold,
watching it disappear into the rock with a pop.

“Let me go, Logan,” I said more softly,
looking awkwardly up at him. “One of us has to make it out of here,
has to save Jerry and stop the witches.”

I closed my eyes for a long moment.
“Apparently that is you,” I breathed out, the words leaving me
empty.

As I met his raw sienna gaze again, emotions
flittered through him, determination at the forefront, loss a close
second, and pain. He was strained. Reaching my hands up behind me
at a twisted angle, I let my guards down, letting my power and
acceptance flow into him, my knowledge that time was never my
friend and this was always the inevitable conclusion.

His eyes widened and his grip tightened. Met
with this resistance, I did the next best thing. The shirt moved
roughly over my face, catching my chin and nose as it came off.

“OLIVIA!” Logan’s roar shook the rock around
us.

I could see him reaching down, still
clutching the teal shirt, shock etched on his features. I was so
focused on him that I saw the exact moment his expression changed
to confusion before all the air was pushed from my lungs, the back
of my head bouncing against a hard surface.

“Ow.”

Blinking back the pain, I didn’t dare move.
There was no way I had reached the ground yet. Looking up, I saw
Logan moving quickly, both hands turned into formidable claws as he
made his own path down, leaving the stone scarred and marred where
he passed. For once, I was content just watching the muscles in his
back ripple and shift. The man was attractive, I had to give him
that. With a jump, he cleared the last few feet, landing with his
legs braced on either side of me.

Bending his knees, he kept his weight off me
as he reached out, gently searching my head for any open wounds. He
sat back on his heels and pushed out a relieved breath.

A face appeared next to us in the stone. “He
had to learn, learn what the succubus’ heart contained. Learn what
his own heart contained and how it would answer,” it cackled, then
smiled and disappeared.

I groaned, reaching up to touch the goose egg
forming on my skull.

“Hey, is that offer to carry me still
good?”

He raised an eyebrow at that. Neither of us
wanted to dive into what The Oracle had said. I didn’t have a
heart, after all.

“I don’t remember offering to carry you.” The
corner of his lip twitched.

“Really? I swear I heard that offer.”
Groaning, I rolled to my side, still beneath him. “You planning on
moving, big boy?”

Logan smiled in earnest. “Do you want to talk
about what The Oracle said, about our hearts?”

I squinted up at him, finding my vision a
little blurry.

“Nope.”

With a huff, he pulled me up jerkily.

“Is it me or is our platform moving?” I
asked, hanging my head over the edge, trusting Logan to keep hold
of me.

“We are moving.”

“Great, the express. I’ll be sure to
negotiate that in future trips,” I slurred.

“What makes you think there will be future
trips?”

Heaving my shoulders up to pull back my head
took more effort than I expected. We came to an abrupt stop that
had me leaning into Logan’s warm body.

Shaking my head, I stepped down, only to
misjudge the distance and land on my ass, again.

Logan hauled me up and slung me over his
shoulder. If I wasn’t so busy trying to get the ground to stop
spinning and my stomach under control I would have protested; as it
was, I didn’t mind. That fact right there should explain how far
out of my mind I really was.

“Keys?” he questioned, his large hands
roaming over my ass, trying to dig into my back pockets.

“Find them?” I asked, exhaustion weighing
heavily on me.

“Do not fall asleep.”

“No guarantees.”

“What? Hell, you are going to see
Gunner.”

“Gunther? I don’t need my hair and makeup
done.”

“No, Gunner. The guy the vamps kidnapped back
on the Puppet Master case? Remember, he stitched you up a few
times. He was the one who figured out what all the kids had in
common.”

“Oh, Gunner. I’m fine, I don’t need to
see—“

Darkness stole the rest of that sentence.
What felt like days later, I regained consciousness, again slung
over Logan’s shoulder as he took the metal ladder down into
Gunner’s domain.

“Ugh,” I grunted, pressing my hands into the
small of Logan’s back. I squinted in the bright lights, trying to
get my bearings.

I sure as shit didn’t expect Blake and
Angelina to be staring back at me.

“Fucking hell. I think I’m
hallucinating.”

“Why, what are you seeing?” Gunner asked,
pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“Heartbreaking, favor-sucking, asshole
vampires.”

Gunner blinked his large eyes at me a few
times, digesting that, before Logan turned me around so I was
facing the ladder.

“Blake and Angelina are here, Olie.”

“Fucking hell, I’m leaving.”

“The hell you are,” Logan scolded, tightening
his grip on my legs.

“Bring her in here,” Gunner said, moving
through the tables littered with miscellaneous electronic parts and
back to a fluorescent metal room that stung my eyes.

Logan lowered me down softly to sit on the
table. Gunner closed the door behind him.

“I hate them,” I whined to Logan.

Gently, he stroked the side of my face. “I
know.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” My filter
had totally left.

“I’m not, you are hallucinating.” He crossed
his arms over his chest, removing the soft touch I was finding
comfort in.

I squinted at him, swaying slightly, but
before I could form a suitable comeback the door creaked open,
revealing a dark haired soul crusher.

I couldn’t help the groan.

“I just have one question,” Blake said
softly, his brilliant cobalt eyes latching onto me and threatening
to crush the small parts of my dignity I had left.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
“Vampires don’t need help to heal.”

Blake shifted his stance, his eyes becoming
guarded. “We needed blood.” He shook his head sadly. “Angelina
tried to storm the House holding my niece.”

“Fucking bitch,” I muttered, shocked,
followed by “bullshit.”

The door swung open farther, revealing the
bitch in question. “My doings are none of your concern.”

“Oh fucking hell,” I yelled unsteadily,
slipping from the table. “You know that is of my concern, and you
know you didn’t actually expect to get her, especially with your
Master in town. A failed attempt at acquiring her would undoubtedly
land you in some sort of sordid punishment, which you would
probably enjoy. Furthermore, you are only trying to endear yourself
to Blake, although why is beyond me since you already mated the
soul-sucking asshole. Unless of course, he and Tate are unhappy
with your false promises of obtaining their family member.”

Her eyes narrowed at my tirade. Thankfully, I
still had enough undamaged brain cells not to disclose that
Angelina had redeemed the favor I owed Blake. Ugh, actually…

“What did you want to ask me?” I groaned,
leaning heavily against the table again.

“What did you mean by ‘favor-sucking?’”

Exhaling forcefully, I looked at Angelina.
“It’s a little known fact that once a couple is mated—as in forever
and ever, only death can separate us—any and all favors owed to one
party easily transfer to the other.”

Slowly, Blake looked down at Angelina. “Did
you call in my favor with Olivia?”

Her eyes bored into me, but I was too
unstable to give a fuck.

“Blake, this really isn’t the time,” the
bitch tried, laying a soothing hand on his arm. He jerked away from
her touch.

“Answer the question, mate.” The last word
was hissed with equal measures of disgust and rage.

Angelina dropped the poor, pathetic, injured
me act, glaring back at Blake. I slipped against the table and into
the welcome warmth of Logan, whose hands rested gently, but firmly,
on my hips.

Angelina caught the movement, her lips
smirking. “And what happened to you tonight? Demon whore got it
good?”

I lifted a hand to reject her comment before
I remembered Bear. “Not tonight, but yeah, I did.” I watched
Blake’s eyes flash amber with anger at the comment, before he
remembered and looked away from me. His intense gaze focused on
Logan for a moment and I smiled.

“Wrong shifter,” I informed, him
gloating.

Gunner moved past the pissed off vampires
into the room. “What happened, Olie?” he asked, gently probing my
head. Logan helped me sit back down on the exam table.

“She fell from a sheer rock face onto more
rock, after we rock climbed without harnesses,” Logan answered.

Gunner looked between us. “The Oracle?” he
asked.

Angelina hissed, “You know where she is?”

I smiled, a lopsided, slightly dazed smile.
“Bet you wish you had traded his favor for that information.”

She pushed into the room eagerly. “I’ll make
it easier for you, take me to The Oracle and I won’t make you—“ She
stopped, looking back at Blake, realizing her slip.

Anger flared his nostrils, an unneeded breath
hissing though his lips. “You lying bitch. That was your plan all
along, to have Olivia do your dirty work with a favor she owed
me.”

My heart softened towards him, my Blake. He
had been mine for such a brief moment, and in that time wrecked my
entire heart. Destroyed my carefully constructed walls and broken
through where others had failed. I missed him terribly.

He took an involuntary step towards me.
“Olie,” he whispered, the regret, the knowledge of his mistake
evident in his eyes.

I felt my tears plopping onto my lap. “It’s
too late,” I whispered. He reached out to cradle my face and I
pulled back, unable to look at him. “You made your decision,
Blake.” I forced myself to face him. “I truly doubt I will ever be
able to love another after you, but I know I deserve more than
this,” I said, waving my hand to indicate the Angelina drama.
Sucking down a breath, I continued, “I’ll rescue your niece,
though, have no doubt. I pay my debts.”

With that, I turned to Gunner and let him
administer his much-needed treatments. I didn’t hear them leave but
I knew when they did, based on Logan’s body relaxing.

“S-Sorry,” Gunner stuttered. “I didn’t mean
to cause problems.”

I looked at the open door, my grief changing
into something I didn’t yet understand. “It was perfect, Gunner.
The truth will set us free.”

Chapter 16

After
Gunner had done his best with me, including a magic potion he
purchased from a witch—serious doubts there—Logan and I made our
way to his storage unit. We needed additional accessories for our
upcoming battle with the wicked witches.

“Why do you store the good shit away from
your home?”

Logan shrugged, slipping out of the vehicle
as I moved around to hear his response. “When I first got here,
there wasn’t a guarantee I would be staying.” He moved easily,
muscle rippling under his replacement shirt as he rolled up the
storage door.

“Why are you staying, anyways?”

Logan shrugged again, pulling a long black
duffel bag onto a metal table in the middle of the room.

“Closer to family?” I taunted in a singsong
voice.

He shrugged for a third time. Sliding up on
the table, I didn’t let up. “Coming around to your senses about the
hussy?”

He raised one honey colored eyebrow at me,
daring me to continue. I took the bait. “Maybe you just love the
excitement of being close to the Supernatural Council.”

“And by excitement you mean death and the
constant threat thereof?”

I laughed. “As I recall, you brought the
Puppet Master to my door.”

“Not one of my finest moments,” he
reluctantly admitted.

“No, no, it certainly is a long line of
mistakes made by our Alpha,” an unknown voice stated behind us.

Logan stilled in his loading, as I turned to
see who was going to start shit now.

A short, silver haired idiot sauntered into
Logan’s storage room. His swagger was cocky, though he had only a
fraction of the muscle Logan’s body boasted of. Deep wrinkles lined
his face. He must have been ancient to actually get wrinkles.

“And you are going to do something about it?”
Me and my mouth.

His smug look should have concerned me, but
we had just escaped death. I had told Blake no, and we were
surrounded by weapons. I was feeling mighty confident.

When the other four fell in behind him, it
occurred to me I really should have seen that coming.

“You take these two, I’ll take the rest,” my
cocky ass informed Logan.

“Pfft, please, I’ll let you have one.”

“One? Geez, now that’s just insulting.”

He turned his gaze toward me. “It was
supposed to be protective.”