Ollie, Ollie Hex 'n Free (4 page)

“That’s no excuse for spying.” I turned away from him. “Leslie, go over the spell with Frost and make sure she understands everything. I’ll handle him.” I took Sebastian by the arm, stupid butterflies dancing in my stomach.

I had been through the sadness of realizing he was not the one for me, though the butterflies hadn’t gotten the message. The thing was I really liked Sebastian. True we were nothing alike, but that had worked—at least to begin with. He was a great listener and never treated me like I was only there to make Selene happy, which was pretty much how all the other elves saw me. Once you got past the uptight exterior, he was kind and sweet—or had been until the day he pulled away for good. Little by little Sebastian retreated and I was left standing alone. It wasn’t that I didn’t get why, I did, but it still hurt. He was part of the reason it was best for me to leave. I was never going to move on if I stayed here, hoping he would change his mind. Hell, I would settle for him just revealing any sort of regret over losing me. But he didn’t. He was always a good little soldier.

He pressed his hand against the door, keeping me from opening it. “Exactly what are you doing tonight?”

“I’m fixing the problem—or trying to, at least. Someone has to do something. We’re leaving tomorrow and with any luck so is Jess. You can’t say that won’t make
everyone’s
life easier, especially yours. Selene and Cheney deserve the future they want—and I don’t want Jessica put in the dungeon or worse killed.”

It was impossible to read his damn stoic face. No matter what I did or said he always managed to be so calm and self-contained that I desperately wanted to do anything to shock him into revealing an emotion—any emotion. I’d told him I was leaving and he gave me nothing, not even a blink. Cute didn’t make up for everything.

His fingers brushed against the back of my hand, but his face still revealed nothing—and I was done fooling myself into believing that those soft touches meant anything more than he was angling for what he wanted.

“Please tell me what you have planned,” he asked softly.

Katrina clenched her teeth, and the corners of her mouth turned down. Her gaze sizzled with anger, sadness, and want. The want was confusing. It had been there for weeks, though she didn’t ask for anything nor did she seem to want me around. Instead, it burned in her. Every conversation became a continuation of this same confusing waltz. She was waiting for something. Or perhaps she just missed her home? As I knew well, having a place you belonged was too often taken for granted until you no longer had it.

She sighed. “What does it matter, Sebastian? I’m doing this. You don’t get a say in it.”

The plan was dangerous or she wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to conceal it from Selene…or me. “Then if it’s all the same, I’ll stay.”

She crossed her arms. “I would rather you leave.”

Her words cut me deeper than I wanted to admit. “It’s my duty to protect the castle. Your desires, in this circumstance, will have to come second.”

Her fists clenched. “You mean in every circumstance.”

Every circumstance
wasn’t entirely fair. There were several situations—at least a dozen, in fact—where I could see her desired outcome would matter most. “No, only in those that threaten to undermine Cheney’s ability to lead.”

“Oh my God, you are hopeless. Utterly hopeless.” Her arms flew up in a volatile gesture. “Do what you want. That’s what I plan to do.” She marched back to the other witches. “Stupid elves,” she muttered under her breath as she went.

Humans were abundantly confusing creatures. It was impossible to know if we should limit our exposure to them or learn from them. Either way, I would miss her terribly when she left, but I understood her desire to return to her kind. It wasn’t fair to ask her to live among strangers who were happy in their fear and ignorance about her race and abilities. She deserved more.

I went back into the room and stood on the outskirts observing. Their kind of magic was strange to me. The circles and candles and the like resembled ancient rituals I had read about, but never experienced. Elf magic was directed by thought alone. I should have gone for Selene, but I didn’t. I chose to trust Katrina instead.

She had never and would never knowingly harm us. That belief rested in the same part of me that knew Cheney and Selene would lead our people to a new age of tolerance.

The necromancer scraped at the polish on her thumbnail as she listened to Leslie. Flakes drifted to the floor around her. “What kind of spell is this? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“We wrote it,” Leslie said, glancing at Katrina. “We couldn’t find anything like what we needed. Jessica’s possessed, or at least we think she is, but it isn’t by a demon or anything like that. We think a spirit has taken her body over as a new vessel, which means it will be harder to expel.”

“No thinking about it—she
is
possessed,” Katrina said. “I’d bet my quick wit and pet rock on it.”

“She could just be evil,” Frost said at the same time Leslie said, “You have a pet rock?”

“Of course not. I was being facetious,” Katrina said then looked back at Frost. “Jessica
is
possessed. She’s no more evil than either of us. The book has bewitched her, or something has. We need to get her back, which means whatever is in her has to go. We wrote this spell for that.”

Frost’s black eyebrows were emphatic slashes across her forehead as she read the spell again.

“Where will the entity go when you remove it?” I asked.

Katrina and Leslie looked at each other.

“We’re not exactly sure,” Leslie said, despite Katrina shaking her head.

I let her words sink in. “You don’t know?” I repeated slowly.

“We hope—back to where it came from,” Katrina said.

“But—” Leslie stopped as Katrina nudged her.

The blank wasn’t difficult to fill in. But they had no idea. It was irresponsible at best. If they were correct, and I had no reason to suppose they weren’t, while inhabiting Jessica, the evil was contained in an enemy we could recognize. Once removed, we wouldn’t know where to look or what to expect from the next attack and one thing was certain—there would be a next attack. There always was.

“You don’t think we should do it, do you?” Leslie asked. “See, I told you it was a bad idea.”

“It’s a good idea,” Katrina said.

Frost stared at both women, then looked over at me and shrugged. “You have to admire their devotion to each other.”

“I do. However, this plan causes me concern.” Picking and choosing my words carefully, as to not insult them, I carried on. “I believe that before you take any further steps, we should talk to Selene. She might have some useful insight that would help us better prepare for what may happen.”

“Time is an issue,” Leslie said. “The spell requires Jess’s hair, which I got, but its connection to her grows weaker, the more time passes—and I’m not going to be her prisoner again.”

I hardly had the words. “You were taken prisoner…on purpose.”

“It’s fine. We had a plan and it worked,” Katrina said.

I was of half a mind to lock them all in the dungeon. “Correct me if I am mistaken, but the last time you saw Jessica she murdered Devin. The only other time you were outside of the castle’s safety, she tried to lure you into the past—and she’s had people following you in the present. Now you tell me you wittingly sent another friend to her to be taken prisoner in order to get a piece of hair.” Two sets of eyes avoided mine while the third seemed amused. “Have you completely departed from your senses?”

“You could look at it that way,” Katrina said, finally meeting my eyes. “Did we take a risk? Yes. But it was a calculated risk. If we do this spell now and it works, it was worth it. I can’t stand stalling any longer. Don’t you see? We have been waiting and preparing for Jessica to attack, but it never happened. The longer the spirit has her, the stronger its hold will be. I’m taking the fight to her—or hopefully out of her. Unlike some, I would rather risk everything to get what I want than do nothing and let it slip away.” Passion was thick in her voice.

“But you didn’t risk your life. You risked hers.” I pointed to Leslie. “You knowingly and willingly put your friend at risk.”

“Hey! I was a part of this too. It isn’t like Kat came up with any of this alone. We planned it together and wrote the spell together. We want our coven back,” Leslie said, then her voice softened considerably. “But I also wouldn’t mind waiting a few minutes longer if you wanted to get Selene.”

“Les!”

“It’s not that I don’t think it will work, I do. But the point of this was to get the coven back. I don’t like doing that without Selene involved. She’s one of us—and she has the most to lose if this goes wrong. You should have told her, Kat.”

Katrina’s shoulders fell and her fists unclenched. She nodded at Leslie then to me. I headed immediately for Selene and Cheney’s room. He wouldn’t like it—and if she were my wife, I wouldn’t like it either. Selene had been through too much already tonight and the closer she came to giving birth the more frightened all of us were.

None of us spoke of it, or dared to utter the words aloud, but the thought still hung over the entire castle. Would she survive? And if she didn’t, would Cheney survive that? Cheney, more than anyone, was affected by this fear. It came out in overprotectiveness, which drove Selene crazy. When a female human and a male elf bred, the birth almost always resulted in the human’s death. But elf pregnancies were not easy even on elves. Cheney’s own mother died with the birth of his sister. Most elves, if they were lucky, produced one child; two was rare. Selene, however, was half of each race and that spoke in the mortality rate. Her odds were slightly less than 50/50. She needed to be rested and strong when the time came.

Stopping in front of their door I could hear them arguing. At least she was awake. I knocked firmly and waited.

Cheney opened the door, scowling. “What?”

“The coven needs Selene for a moment.”

He blinked several times. “Whatever it is will wait until morning. She’s resting.”

“No, I’m not,” she called from the background.

He ground his teeth together. “Yes, my dear, you are.”

“I’m fine,” she said, slipping beneath his arm and out into the hallway, then smiling back at him. “Don’t wait up.” She linked her arm through mine. “Walk fast before he explodes.”

Selene’s voice was laced with laughter and she rushed me down the hallway. Cheney slammed the door and followed after us. For just a moment it was like old times—and then I noted the heavy circles beneath her eyes. She needed the rest. “Perhaps he was right,” I said.

“Not you too. Look, I know you all mean well, but even when I go to bed I can’t sleep. All I can do is think and that makes everything so much worse. I’d rather have something to do. I just want to see how Leslie is with my own eyes and then I promise I will be good and go to bed.”

Cheney fell into step beside her. “If I have to carry you back up, I will hold you to that.”

She glanced up and stuck out her tongue. “I’d like to see you try.”

“What does the coven need?” he asked me, ignoring her.

I took a deep breath. “They have a plan to end the fight with Jessica. It is probably best if they explain it to you.”

“And what’s your opinion of their plan?” he asked.

“I can see both sides,” I said.

“That isn’t what he asked,” Selene said, watching me. “You don’t like whatever they intend to do.”

“It could work, but requires more preparation,” I said.

Cheney lifted an eyebrow. “It must be Katrina’s plan.”

Selene laughed.

I focused in front of us. “I assure you there is no impartiality on my part.”

Selene squeezed my arm. “So if this were my idea what would you say?”

I would have said the pregnancy hormones had addled her mind and she wasn’t thinking clearly—but of course, I could not tell them that, so I said nothing.

“That’s what I thought.” Cheney’s tone made me want to hit him, which would be tantamount to treason so I kept my arms firmly at my sides. “You are a pillar of
impartiality
, my friend.”

“No one asked you,” I muttered, only making Selene laugh more—which did lighten the moment. Cheney may have been the life of this castle, but Selene was the joy and laughter that had been missing for far too long.

Selene couldn’t die. Even if Cheney survived losing her, I wouldn’t. At the very least, I wouldn’t be able to stay another moment within these walls. I pressed my lips to her temple, feeling a surge of protectiveness for my friend. “If you begin to feel weak or tired, please promise you will let Cheney take you to bed.”

Her eyes softened. “I promise.”

Cheney sighed. “Sebastian, you may fight all of my battles from now on. Apparently my wife has ears that are capable only of listening to you.”

Selene rolled her eyes. “Apparently my husband has yet to learn that asking me to do something and demanding I do it are two completely different things.” But she slipped her arm out from mine and around his waist. “You big oaf.”

Cheney’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, as he pressed a kiss to her hair.

Inside the archive room, the three witches waited for us. Selene embraced Leslie immediately. “I was so scared for you.”