Infernal Ties (7 page)

“Evie, it’s ok.”

I opened my eyes and found myself kneeling before the white altar. Elise’s hand sat between my shoulder blades; her hair fell against my cheek as she pulled me close to her.
 

“The creature is at rest. Go and speak to Serena. Find Quin.”

I hugged her tight and stood slowly. My legs were stiff and aching; it felt as though I’d been kneeling for hours. My ribs tightened, the familiar dull pain of the bruising covered them. We didn’t believe in goodbyes; I simply turned and left. The bright spring sun sat low in the sky and stung my eyes for a moment while they adjusted to being outside again. I’d been in the church for a few hours. A determination swept over me as I realised I’d been kneeling before that altar for most of that time. The air felt light and crisp; I hadn’t realised how heavy it had become in the church.
 

Serena was far from my favourite person in the city, but she hadn’t screwed around before. We had something of a grudging respect for each other. I mentally pulled up a map of the trams and metro around the city as I made my way down through the park. She was on the far side of the city. A glance up at the sky told me that I had a couple of hours before the sun set. I wasn’t going to have another night without my twin. Tourists laughed and enjoyed intimate conversations while they walked through the park, no doubt enjoying their holiday. I made my way between them as quickly as possible, my hands thrust into my jeans and my head down. I had places to be; I had no patience for their happiness.
 

People at least had the decency to give me space as I made my way across the city. My mind wandered to Quin. He was all I had left in the world. Our parents had vanished when we were eighteen, at midnight the night after our birthday to be exact. There had been no warning, no one knew what had happened. Or if they knew, they didn’t tell us. We’d grown up as hunters, our parents had been hunters, so we threw ourselves into what we knew best. That didn’t take away the sense of betrayal, though. I wasn’t going to lose Quin, too.
 

I tried not to roll my eyes as I crossed the busy road to the small estate filled with McMansions. The houses were built in every conceivable style apart from the local one. A red-bricked monstrosity with faux marble pillars stood at the entrance to the estate. It looked flimsy and tacky, as though the pillars were made of papier-mâché. I made my way past an attempt at an elegant Mediterranean-style villa and finally came to the most reserved of the lot. Serena’s house.
 

Black wrought-iron gates stood before me, the metal twisted to form a pair of grand oaks. Strong trunks stood proudly at the centre of each gate, broad flat metal with bark texture pressed into them. Thick boughs spread outwards, gradually splitting and narrowing into slimmer branches before they exploded into the distinctive oak leaves. They seemed very fitting to Serena. Classy, strong, and imposing without any effort. I pressed the small buzzer and pushed aside the anger and frustration to at least try and sound polite. A long minute passed before I pressed the buzzer again.
 

A faint crackle came from the button pad and Serena’s voice came through. “Evelyn, is that you?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Serena’s voice held the faint Spanish accent despite her having lived in Prague for a couple of decades. Her polite demeanour couldn’t hide a slight waver; she was scared, and it wasn’t because of me. The tall iron gates slowly opened inwards, allowing me to make my way down the short white gravel driveway. Her house rose up between mature trees that clustered around the perimeter and hid it a little from the neighbours on either side. Large windows filled the bottom floor, with neat straight lines of pale grey stretching up over three stories. The house was minimalist and modern, topped with a grey slate roof as opposed to the more traditional red tile the city so adored.

The glossy black door opened as I stepped onto the veranda. Serena looked me up and down in my practical high-street fashion; her lips pursed a little. I smiled sweetly as I couldn’t help but wonder how many thousands of crowns her designer outfit had cost her. The figure-hugging skirt stopped just above her knees, and I wasn’t sure how she managed to walk in the pointed stilettos. Her eyes kept flitting around the manicured front gardens, where not even a blade of grass was out of place. The door practically slammed behind me the moment I stepped into the expansive foyer with dark wood floors and heather-grey walls.
 

“You’ll join me for tea, I assume,” she said tersely.

“Tap water, thank you.”

I didn’t care how rude it may have seemed; I wasn’t taking anything, least of all the risk of her tea being poisoned. She shook her head a little, but turned and walked into the kitchen. The blood-red hair slide used to pin her hair up in some elegant do was inscribed with runes; the small bump at her lower back gave away what appeared to be a small dagger. I ran my fingers over my own weapons. She’d never shown any concern for her safety before.
 

She waved at one of the wooden stools around the large blond-wood table in the middle of the airy kitchen. I glanced around the powder-blue cabinets and looked out the window looking out over the expanse of grounds at the back of the house. There weren’t any weapons close at hand, not even an expensive knife block.
 

“What’s going on, Serena?”

She threw some leaves into a strainer that sat on the edge of a porcelain cup.
 

After a long moment she turned to face me and said, “I don’t know what you mean. What brings you here, Evelyn?”

I ground my teeth together and glanced out the window once more. Faint hints of pink were starting to form around the edges of the clouds. Nightfall was coming. I answered as calmly as I could muster; I hated these games.
 

“Quin has gone missing.”

She paled a little and pushed a large glass of tap water over to me before she sat opposite me while her water boiled.
 

“I’m sorry to hear that, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

I leaned closer to her. “An abomination showed up earlier.”

Her mouth fell open for a brief second before she busied herself making sure her hair was as it should be.
 

“An abomination? What are you talking about?”

“Serena, cut the shit.”

Her eyes hardened before she growled, “I had nothing to do with that or Quin.”

“The abomination kept talking about a group of women; you’re the strongest witch in this damn city.”

She pushed the stool back and poured the hot water over her tea. Her free hand clenched. She practically threw the kettle down once she was done with it. She slowly turned to face me and leaned back against the kitchen counter.
 

Her eyes remained fixed on her steaming cup of tea. “I no longer hold that title.”

It took me a second to process what she had said. She clutched at her cup of tea as though it was going to save her from some unseen darkness. Serena was the strongest witch that I’d ever met; my father had made a point of making sure that we remained on good terms with her. Quin and I had spent a few hours a week with her while we were growing up. She’d told us about witches and given us both etiquette lessons. As witches went, she wasn’t a bad woman.
 

A tear tumbled down her cheek; she wiped it away and muttered about ruining her make-up. She took a deep breath and looked at me expectantly.
 

I bit the bullet. “What do you mean you no longer hold that title?”

She lifted her chin and pushed herself off the counter top. “Another has taken my place; my coven has fled in fear, leaving me here awaiting my fate.”

I frowned. Serena was a very old witch; she had full blessing of the hag and a strong coven around her. She swallowed down more tears, her voice shaky as she stretched a hand across the table to me.
 

“Help me, Evelyn. I can’t leave this house.”

I wasn’t convinced by her fragile act, but I couldn’t deny what I’d seen. Something was scaring her. I sat up straighter, ignoring her hand.
 

“In return, you tell me about the new witch and the abominations. I need to find Quin.”

Her eyes brightened, and she smiled. “Of course, I’ll tell you everything you need.”

I took a sip of the water as I wondered what I’d got myself into. The kitchen was getting darker; whatever it was would get me one step closer to Quin. It had to be done.
 

She settled down onto the stool opposite me and said, with far more calm and confidence than she had a few seconds prior, “I need to make a protective amulet so that they can’t harm me. I require the middle finger from a powerful witch. There is only one in this country; fortunately for you she’s in a mausoleum in the Olšany Cemetery.”

I held up my hand. “I have to cut off a dead witch’s finger?”

She waved off my concerns and carried on. “She was the strongest witch in all of Europe; I have everything else I need for the amulet. Go tonight, bring me back the finger, and I will give you everything you need.”

She pulled out a crisp sheet of white paper and wrote down some details in an elegant script-style hand. I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but she held up her hand to silence me.
 

“Please, Evelyn, go now. For Quin’s sake.”

I glared at her for bringing Quin into things, but what choice did I have? The paper gave me all the details I needed, the witch’s name and a guide to her location within the huge cemetery. She stood and looked pointedly at the front door; I knew when I was being dismissed.
 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Concern gnawed at me and formed a pit in my stomach; my twin was out there somewhere. The longer he was gone, the more I worried that I wouldn’t get him back. I couldn’t lose him. My mind wandered to the last guy I’d lost as the tram paused at a red light during rush hour. Unlike Quin, who’d dated multiple girls at once and charmed every woman within reach, I only had eyes for one guy. I’d fallen head over heels for him when I was just fifteen. He was my world. I thought he was ‘the one’. Until I caught him in bed with a pixie when we were twenty. He barely even said he was sorry. The pixie had taken him off to the fairy world seven days later, and a big part of me was glad.
 

Quin had been good to me through all of it, we’d gotten drunk and laughed. He’d been calm and supportive when I needed a little quiet time. He kept pointing out cute men when we were out in the city, but I had no interest. I hadn’t been with anyone other than Christian. I knew I needed to move on. I desperately wanted what Quin had, the ease to fall into bed with beautiful people and live life. I squeezed my eyes shut and reminded myself that I was going to get him back, and I was going to try and live more. For him.
 

A quick look down the busy road told me that I was clear to duck between the red and white railing to cross. Everyone just ducked through the railing. It seemed like a waste of materials. I had to assume that it made people feel better to put them there and try to encourage safe road crossing habits. The little shed-like shops were full of brightly coloured flowers; they stood in contrast to the old wall just behind them and the large shopping mall not far to their left. I shoved my hands in my pockets, lowered my head, and slipped past the flower shop down the narrow alley towards the cemetery.
 

The sun had set, and the stars were starting to emerge between the white fluffy clouds that were coming in at an alarming speed. I hoped another storm wasn’t coming. I didn’t want to be trudging around the cemetery in a damn storm. The note had said to go to the northwestern corner where the oldest graves were. It had been a few years since I’d stepped foot in the large cemetery; it was the biggest in Prague and easy to get lost among the myriad of tombs, gravestones and chapels.
 

Shadows stretched around the neatly arranged gravestones. I ran my fingers down over my blades, reminding myself that there was nothing to be scared of; I was the scariest thing in the night. Pushing my shoulders back, I picked up my pace. I had an ancient witch’s middle finger to procure.
 
The ivy crawled up the old trees and slowly choked them; I’d left the nicely kept area of the cemetery and was firmly into the overgrown chaotic area. Headstones sat at awkward angles and were crammed together; stone angels wielded great swords, but still lost the war against the creeping undergrowth. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have a normal life where my biggest concern was a pissy boss. There would be no more wandering around cemeteries at night, no more redcaps or lycans. I pushed the thoughts aside; they were foolish at the best of times and potentially dangerous at that moment.

The note told me to keep going for another hundred feet or so, I was looking for a small mausoleum with runes engraved on the outside. I was surprised people had allowed them to be quite so blatant; it was supposed to be Christian holy ground after all. A rustling noise came from my left. I paused and fingered the hilt of my knife. It was probably only a fox, but I was on edge; something seemed very wrong about the entire situation. It would have taken an incredible witch to displace Serena, let alone drive out her entire coven.
 

The rustling came again; it was closer. I slowed my pace and listened. A second rustling came from behind it before a twig snapped. It was approaching. I began to draw the blade from its sheath. A man appeared from the darkness wearing all black save for a neon green tie around his throat. His pale skin practically shone under the faint starlight, ice-blue eyes glaring at me while a greyish cracked tongue flicked over thin lips. I tried to hold back my revulsion. He didn’t look much fresher than the corpses he played with. His skin hung a little too loosely around his neck, bringing it to almost pool around the lurid green silk of the tie. I hadn’t thought there were any necromancers left in the city.