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booksabaking"It can't be as simple as that," Vivian said for the third time.
Jayla almost jumped out of her seat and shrieked her frustration to the ceiling. Only exhaustion and Ginger cuddled up in her lap stopped her.
"We know we can get into the hunters' camp, thanks to Jayla," Dorothy said, with a nod in her direction. Gratifying, but not a solution to their constantly looping discussion. "We also know one of the hunters can be spoken to without lethal results. Doesn't that help?"
"The hunters won't let the vampires stay near their camp. Visit, apparently, but not sleep there. As impressed as I am with your daring, Jayla, we can't risk contacting your hunter directly again. Even if the one you spoke to by some miracle isn't out for blood, there's no guarantee she's an ally either. Too many unknown variables." Lisa pushed her glasses further up her nose and leaned back in her chair, her head hitting the backrest with a soft thock. Jayla flinched on her behalf. "Ava will be here any minute. Please be patient."
That would have been more convincing if Lisa hadn't been chewing a hole in her bottom lip.
"God, I wish she'd allowed me to come over and escort her. Or that she'd allowed me to go with her to her meeting."
"If Merrihollow is swarming with an alliance of hunters and vampires, traveling alone might be safer for her." Dorothy took Lisa's hand in a motherly fashion. "You know she's a supremely talented witch. Don't underestimate her."
This got a sigh from Lisa. She sat up straighter. "I'd never make that mistake twice. I just hate sitting here while the vampires and hunters do whatever they please to poor Jesse."
Ginger let out a protesting mew when Jayla hugged him too close, too fast. She comforted him with careful pets on the head and along his jaw, as he liked best. She had the brief impulse to pass him over to Arturo for safe-keeping from her strength and poor impulse control. Of everyone in the room he clearly loved cats the most. But she thought better of it. Arturo had gone quiet the second she'd entered the dining room and hadn't spoken since. He wouldn't look at anyone either, just sat there still as a statue, staring at the table.
Good, an uncharitable part of her thought. He should feel guilty. He should have gotten Jesse back inside the house before starting the lockdown. He should have helped!
She smothered that voice best she could. Arturo hadn't sat cozy and safe, he'd put himself out of commission with the music box. Whatever the loud alarm did to you, other than stun you and make vampires wake up hella thirsty, had to be bad based on how freaked out the rest of the pack had been. Also, why had Jesse gone into the yard in the first place? Why hadn't he told them he knew Sledge?
Far too many unanswered questions and no way to find an answer. Not yet. She wanted to cry, again, but thankfully kept herself from giving a repeat performance.
"Should I try to find hair or something from Jesse?" Melissa said from where she paced by the dining room windows. "For Ava's scrying?"
"Can't hurt," Lisa said and in the next second Melissa was off. Vivian quickly followed, commenting something along, "Two noses are better than one."
Jayla looked over at Lisa. "Will it really help?"
"Blood and hair are good conduits for scrying. Better than personal belongings." Lisa's tired eyes met Jayla's steadily. "It would really help. Unless they have protections set up around him. Then scrying on one of the vampires would be better."
Plus Jesse did have all those talismans. But still, better than doing nothing. They could luck out and find vampire hair in the backyard.
"Got it."
Despite Ginger's squirming, Jayla got out of her chair and made her way over to Arturo. He didn't look up when she stopped next to him. He didn't as much as twitch, simply sat there, bracing himself.
It made the grunt of surprise he let out when she put Ginger in his lap all the more satisfying.
"Look after this one for me while I go play detective, okay?"
She didn't wait for his reply. She had a house and yard to fine-comb with her nose.
Arturo stared down at Ginger, kneading a comfortable spot in his lap, pleased as punch. It looked so very wrong for this moment but he didn't have the heart to remove the cat. Nor could he stop himself from giving in when Ginger began to butt heads with his hands, demanding pets.
"See," Lisa whispered, smile far less smug than her words warranted, "I told you no one blames you."
He wanted to tell her they should. So he did. "I let them take the shapeshifter. There are vampires and hunters, working together, converging on our home."
"How is that your fault?"
Closing his eyes, he focused on the softness of Ginger's fur, the steadying vibrations of his purring.
"I could have done more."
"One can always do more." Dorothy didn't sound as weary as Lisa but Arturo knew that to be an act. She was scary good at putting on a brave and chipper face when confronting hell and high water alike, but they all knew there soon would be more chocolate chip cookies.
"We can't blame ourselves for not being all-knowing and all-seeing. You, if anyone, have the right to look over your shoulder twice." The irony of Dorothy saying that was not lost on him.
"It's the people who took Jesse who're to blame. As terrible," she stifled what Arturo guessed must have been a sob, "as utterly wretched as this situation is, I am honestly grateful that we're looking to save one person and not two."
Always delicate with the sensitive subjects.
"I can't believe I didn't turn on the sound," Arturo said, eyes still closed, hands still petting Ginger. It felt better to keep talking, to distract himself from the present, even if it meant speculating about subjects he'd rather avoid. "You'd think that'd be instinct. I basically live by my computer. I just sat and stared until I had to activate the full lockdown."
"Jesse went outside on his own and he didn't let us know the vampires were hunting him," Lisa said, barely audible. "You had no way of knowing anyone could get through Ava's protections. There were three rested and well-fed vampires out there. Would hearing what they said really have made a difference?"
He honestly didn't know. Things could have gone differently if he'd accepted the shapeshifter's offer in the kitchen. Then again, that could be part of a complicated trap they might be headed right into.
"Maybe."
"Maybe not. Let's not play the what-if game. It won't lead to a successful rescue missions. I need you in tiptop form to guard the house when-"
"No."
Though he didn't look at them, Arturo could picture exactly how Dorothy and Lisa had started at his words; Lisa sitting up straight again, Dorothy wringing her hands under the table.
"I'm not staying behind this time." His words infused with conviction as they gained momentum. "You're not leaving me behind to sit on my hands while you all face off against both vampires and hunters! I'll rig up a dead man's switch on the lab and I'll come with you."
"You can't keep pushing yourself without eating."
"I've been eating as much as I'm ever planning to." He shouldered aside all his guilt, scrambled for determination. Whether this was a trap or not they wouldn't be leaving the house without him. "I'm going with you. That's final."
The legs of Lisa's chair scraped against the floor boards with a harsh shriek. "Arturo, you can't-"
Thankfully he was saved from the impending speech by Melissa shouting, "Lisa, your phone!"
She came running in with the phone in question, left on silent as usual, and Arturo exited the room, not stopping to listen in. They'd catch him up. If he was going off with the pack, he'd need sleep first, however hard that would be to achieve. Luckily he had a cat to keep him company this time.
Rahul hadn't said anything when he'd stepped inside the caravan, only paused briefly in the door, silhouetted against the faint moonlight. He took a seat on his bunk and stared at Isha as if she were a stranger.
The distant look in his eyes kicked her in the gut, brought her back to herself fully.
"What did they tell you?" she asked him, putting both her hands on the kitchenette table. They hadn't taken her weapons and she didn't want to give Rahul any further wrong ideas.
He presumably had a plethora of those already.
She displayed the mark Emma had left on her, the faint black burns of three tadpoles swimming in a circle tail-to-head on the back of her hand. A gamble, but it could guide the situation in her favor.
"That you're sick," Rahul said, the tremor in his voice rivaling the tension in his shoulders. "That I'm supposed to keep an eye on you until they all get back from the hunt." He blinked, rapidly, as if fighting back tears. "You don't look sick."
"Has everyone left?"
"Yeah." The lack of hesitation warmed her heart, though a long way remained across this tightrope of a conversation. "The plan changed. A lot of things changed. It's just you and me here. Us, Emma's perimeter alarms and Viveka's runes."
Isha stayed in her seat, her eyes burning echoes into her brother's.
"Rahul, I'm so fucking scared right now. I think I've ruined everything. For both of us."
He got up from the bed and made it over to her in three strides.
"Rahul."
"What happened?" He sat down opposite her, took her hands in his and stared at the three tadpoles. "Why did Emma put a tracker on you?"
This could be a test. That fact brought on tears Isha didn't bother holding back. It wouldn't be the first time they'd been pitted against each other in a secret challenge, but those challenges hadn't been this harsh. Had they?
Panic mounting, thundering against her insides, Isha pulled Rahul as close as she could with a table between them.
"It's bad."
"You said that already." He didn't let go of her hands. His eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "Just tell me!"
So she did. She told him with as many details as she dared share, of how she'd been a fool, staying outside alone, of how the werewolf had approached. How terrified the werewolf had looked. How she'd bolted before they could finish speaking, to go look for a kidnapped friend. How that could be a ruse. How the truth-spell and everything Woxell had said afterward had made the idea of a ruse seem laughable.
They sat in silence after, simply staring.
"C-can I have your blood?"
Hands cramping in his, Isha could only reply by locking eyes with him again, trying to read his intentions. Realization dawned on her in pieces.
"Emma will kill you." What would have been exaggeration turned into strong conviction. There were no guarantees anymore. None. "You could kill you!"
Rahul released her hands and struggled out of her grip when she wouldn't let go of him.
"You don't think that could be a lie? Werewolves can talk! The others are pulling a raid tonight with vampires!" He stared down at her, pure determination. "This will give us a sure answer. I know the risks and I've been practicing. If you've got something, you know I can't catch it. I can't get glamoured and I'll know if I get cursed. The perks of being me."
Clarity beckoned. It distracted Isha and she failed to stop Rahul from raking his suddenly knife-sharp nails over her palm, drawing fresh blood.
"Rahul!" A cry more of surprise and despair than pain.
"Shush, I need to concentrate."
Isha shushed. She'd been too slow and might have doomed her brother. At least according to Emma. They'd sat through uncountable lectures on the dangers of using magic that originated from within yourself. You had to give it to someone else, share it, or it could burn you up from the inside out. Isha's guts churned at betting Rahul's life on this being misinformation but she had nothing to stop him with.
She held her breath and focused on not moving. Blood could be a powerful conduit, even a few drops of it, and any distraction from such magic could lead to disaster.
Next to her, Rahul curled one of his hands around the other. His eyes closed. He began to hum.
The rare noise sparked nostalgia in Isha. Memories of their childhood came scurrying back; the two of them uniformed and naive, Rahul making colored lights and sparks to entertain them. It left a bittersweet taste on her tongue.
Sparks could lead to fire. Had led to fire. Had led to parents charged with neglect and then to a foster family.
Sitting there, not daring to take her eyes off her brother, a new horrible thought crept forth. Had Rahul truly started that fire? Isha hadn't seen it happen, only been told after the fact. They'd been so very young. How badly did you have to neglect your kids for them to go into foster care? On top of that, the odds of her and Rahul being taken in by a family with hunter connections had to be astronomical. Yet it had happened.
Your knack for conspiracy is showing. Her hands shook in her lap. Rahul's humming kept up. She wished for it to end and found herself hoping he'd find a hex or illusion on her. If she woke up to the talking werewolf having been a bad dream, the world would make sense again.
"You're not cursed."
No such luck.
They stared at each other, barely daring to breathe. Tears stained Isha's cheeks and she made no move to brush them away. Rahul sniffled.
"I saw her. Your memory of her," he said, words so faint they could have been coming from the other side of a tunnel. "The werewolf. She talked to you. She changed in front of you and she ran. She didn't… They've been lying to us all along!"
Regret and terror slithered their way around Isha's throat, choking her. Rahul had doubted before, yes, but now he sounded convinced. It was one thing for her to be a traitor. She was only human. If she got away, maybe they'd let her live. But if the others knew Rahul had crossed that line in the sand they wouldn't let him run.
Isha could picture it all too clearly now that she'd gotten the ball rolling on catastrophizing. If the others succeeded, they'd be returning with a merging tool. They'd-
"Those bastards!" Rahul barely got the words out, his lips and jaw shaking terribly. He rubbed his hands across his face, through his hair, combining her blood with his own. His tears had a pinkish tint to them and he had a beginning nosebleed.
"They're." His eyes darted around the caravan, wild. "They've." His gaze locked on something.
Isha bolted out of her seat. Too slow, again. He'd made it to Emma's personal shelf before she could get between it and him.
"Rahul, don't!"
Rahul grabbed hair from Emma's comb and set fire to it with a glance. Blood flowed freely from his nose and eyes, but he stayed on his feet as the smoke from the brief flames drifted through the trailer.
The gray trail rushed straight for Emma's bed.
Isha grabbed for Rahul's arm. Missed. He darted over to the bed, tore at the mattress, unearthed a wooden box.
Please be ammunition. Isha watched Rahul flick the lid open, but couldn't make herself see its contents. Not until Rahul cursed and dropped it.
"Are you hurt?"
She reached out to steady him. He didn't look at her. She didn't look at him. They only had eyes for the lock of brown hair inside the box and the golden thread tied around it.
Rahul picked up the box and snapped its lid shut. "That's not a control spell."
He didn't need to explain. They both knew what communication spells looked like. This one had a tracking element to it too, but you didn't need to talk to those you were hunting. You also didn't want your prey to be able to track you in return. Had Emma given her own hair to complete the spell or used another hunter's? Did it matter?
"Final nail in the coffin," Isha muttered. Nothing should shock her this far down the rabbit hole, but it seemed her mind hadn't gotten that memo.
"Not quite."
Isha watched Rahul stuff the box in his backpack as if he were a character on a movie screen, distant and untouchable.
"Where are you taking that?"
"We are taking it to someone who can destroy it and stop whatever evil plan is about to go down. Give me your hand, I'm getting that tracker off you!"
"Rahul, we don't know anyone here." No one who wasn't a murderer. "What use is there in trying to destroy that now?"
It would break long-range communication between their group and the vampires, yes, but Emma would know the second it happened. She'd also know who'd broken the connection.
"This is mine!" Rahul shook the backpack at her. "Emma used my magic to make buddy-buddy with vampires!" He blinked, over and over, eyes shining. "Do you remember that place we passed outside of Green Bay?"
Vividly. There had been so many bodies to bury.
"Remember how Jamerson joked that it looked as if that werewolf pack had gone toe to toe with a vampire coven, 'like in the movies'? Weird how we found that massacre before the cops did, huh?"
Isha swallowed back bile. "I see your point." She fought against the acrid lump in her throat. "But that doesn't solve our problem. We have no network outside of them."
Rahul swung his backpack over one shoulder, then grabbed hers and threw it at her.
"I think we should take after our dear mentors."
"How?" She put on her backpack mechanically, the gears of her mind spinning.
"The werewolves had wards around their den, right?"
He shouldered his way through the door. Isha followed hot on his heels, nodding.
"Where there are wards, there's a witch. Don't think they've got any hunters working with them."
Terror and elation fought for the privilege of crushing Isha's heart. This was madness, but at least it was madness they share.
"Not yet."
They hurried out into the night, a storm of emotions ushering them out of the their former home. They needed to find transportation.
01.00 am
The clock on the wall in the dining room hit one. Jayla glared at it. She hadn't been this stressed by a clock on a wall since her very last math test. She had to sit on her hands or she'd bite her nails to nubs.
Their hair-search had turned up squat but she couldn't help wanting to give it a second or third or fourth try. Better than sitting here.
Vivian didn't look much better off. She all but vibrated, manically weighing on her chair.
"Go lie down for a bit," Lisa said, not looking up from her phone. "I'll wake you when Ava gets here."
"As if I could." Vivian's chair slammed into the hardwood floor with a bang, sending Jayla bolt-upright in her seat. "Who can sleep now?"
Lisa, busy either texting or taking notes, only replied, "Arturo."
"I'm sure he's sleeping like a baby," Vivian spat. "He's had such a wonderful day."
Jayla forced herself not to comment. Vivian hadn't sounded angry at Arturo or Lisa, and that shouldn't have been disappointing. It's not their fault you don't know where the vampires are. It's not their fault Ava hasn't shown up yet. It's not- Apparently I've decided Sledge is 'Ava' now. Huh.
"Ah fuck, sorry." Vivian curled her hands into fists, pounding them on the table. "I'm being a dick. I just hate this!" She waved her arms around before looking over at Jayla, her expression stuck between self-deprecating smile and angry frown. "Waiting's the worst, am I right or what?"
Jayla returned her look. She probably didn't manage her smile any better.
"Our wards being down doesn't exactly help," Vivian grumbled on.
"They're not."
Vivian's squawk of disbelief left Jayla blinking in confusion.
"What am I missing?"
"That we're in even deeper shit than we thought!"
More supernatural stuff she'd need a crash course in. Yippee. "The wards being up is bad?"
"Yes and no. It's good that we still have protection but that means we have no idea how the people who took Jesse got through. With wards you either crack them, leaving them useless, or go through because you're 'on the list' or with someone who is, like Jesse accompanying you on his first visit here." Lisa kept her eyes on her phone screen, her free hand rubbing at her forehead as if to stave off a headache. "The only way they could have bypassed the wards is if they had fresh blood from someone recognized by the wards. You haven't donated blood since your transformation, have you?"
"No. Can we still do that?"
"Yes, strangely enough. But to avoid getting sidetracked, my point is that since none of us has left a cup of blood out and about or been bitten by one of their vampires, we have a magical mystery on our hands."
"Sounds like we really could use a witch around here a-sap!" Vivian said, cracking her knuckles.
"Ava will be here as soon as she can. She's had to do a lot of work very quickly and needs to recover at her center before she can rush off again." Lisa put her phone down. She left it on the table, screen still bright, and hid her face in her hands. "I'm as frustrated as you are, but we need to wait one more hour. Okay?"
Jayla nodded. She should probably ask what a 'center' was, but knew she wouldn't be able to focus on the answer. Vivian went back to weighing on her chair.
01.32 am
"Are you sure this is our only option?"
"They took all the cars," Rahul pointed out ever so helpfully. His strides were brisk and militaristic, eating up the ground. "Do you want to try getting to the den on foot?"
"No". They were both counting the hours and minutes and seconds until the others came back and found them knowing.
Isha kept herself together with threadbare stubbornness. The rushed removal of the tracker had left her hand burning but that pain paled in comparison to the roar inside her head. The dominoes of her worldview kept on tumbling, conviction after conviction falling to ruin. She wondered if she appeared as numb and shell-shocked as her brother.
They couldn't be here when the others returned. They had no car. They had no money. They had no phones. They were running out of options.
That was, of course, not the same thing has having no options.
"Viveka will kill us."
"Not if the werewolves kill us first."
02.11 am
"My backup will be here at 6 am, not a minute before," Ava said when she stormed into the dining room, tearing off her jacket and throwing it over to Lisa.
Jayla caught herself on the table; she must have nodded off, somehow. Melissa and Dorothy were in the room now, while Vivian wasn't. How long was I out? Wait, six?
"Are there any leads?" Ava continued, either not noticing or not caring that she'd set half the room scrambling to sit up straight. "Do you have anything for me to work a spell with? You, didn't you find anything useful while you were running off playing hero?"
She glared at Jayla, which Jayla didn't feel was warranted. In fact, she should be the one doing the glaring! Where the hell had Ava been? It couldn't take hours to get across town!
She might have said that out loud.
"Jayla," Lisa began, but Ava interrupted:
"I've been trying to find a single trace of my kidnapped fence on any of the previous items he's provided for me while also trying to convince ten witches to drop all other investigations in their areas, recover the magic I wasted helping Vivian keep you safe and, in addition, rush over here even faster than previously agreed upon."
She squared her shoulders and caught Jayla in a glower that screamed of frustration.
"Unless you've got a fresh lead, I'd prefer less censure, thank you. Mounting a raid on the hunter's camp is not an option. Not even to help out my best contact." She followed this up with a low muttering of, "Not that I knew that was her-, him, the sneaky fuck."
"Jesse," Jayla said and she knew she was picking a fight for no real reason and she knew it was stupid and she couldn't stop herself. "His name is Jesse and we're not going to rescue him just because he helps you steal shit!"
Everyone was staring at her. She wanted to care about that, but couldn't. Her eyes locked with Ava's and she could hear herself growling. I'm messing this up so bad! Mouth, shut up!
"Please." Lisa said, thankfully, putting a hand on Ava's shoulder. "We're all on edge. What's our next move?"
Ava turned her attention to Lisa. Jayla let out a sigh of relief. Why couldn't she get on the bandwagon of being useful? This was literally a crisis! Why didn't she have a better panic mode than 'pick fights with people' and 'eat your own nails'? She should have given meditation another shot.
"First, anyone who can should try to sleep." Ava dumped her briefcase on the table and unlocked it. "I'm going to need you ready the second I know backup is in town. I'll do my best to get us going before that, but without clues I'm hamstrung. I don't even know where to get started on your ward mystery. We'll need to keep both capture circles and a music box at the ready in case there is another breach."
She sighed and pushed her hair out of her face in an absentminded way. It looked out of character for her, even if Jayla hadn't known her long enough to truly judge.
"Sorry." Jayla said it to the table, because the table wouldn't glare at her. "I'm sorry."
"No need." Ava's words struggled out of her mouth, as if she were coming off an adrenaline high. That probably didn't bode well. "People have names for a reason. Try to get some rest. You're no good to him dead on your feet."
Jayla wished she could listen to that. Instead, she stayed at the table and tried to follow the brainstorming session that unfolded. It was slightly better than lying in a bed and thinking up nightmare scenarios. But only slightly.
02.39 am
Getting Viveka's bike to work for them had taken effort; the kind of effort that left Rahul lightheaded and barely able to keep hold around Isha's waist. They had to stop twice before they reached the werewolf den, to keep his helmet-lacking head from meeting the pavement in a ghastly crash.
They parked well away from their destination. Despite their determination and lack of time, they weren't fools enough to drive a bike up to the door of a den. Who knew how werewolves would react to engine noise approaching their home in the middle of the night? Any of the knowledge they'd thought they had could prove false.
"This place has a shop," Rahul observed, stopping and staring. "Why would werewolves need an antiques store?"
"To get money. Buy food. Pay for toilette paper?" Uncontrollable giggles burst their way out of Isha's lungs, gathered sound from her vocal folds and sent her into unhelpful convulsions. "Or they're all ancient and feel more at home around old things. Shall we go in and ask them?"
Rahul hooked his arm through hers, pulling her close. His trembling was obvious despite his many layers of clothing.
"Let's, uh, let's wait a minute, okay?" He gulped. "You're sure this is the right house?"
"I swear on our parents." He flinched, but Isha didn't regret her wording. Getting cold feet now would end with them hunted by both sides of this street war. She had to bring out the big guns.
"Okay. Okay." Rahul drew in a deep breath. He fidgeted with the keys to the bike, which Isha had given him for that exact reason. Keeping his hands busy calmed her brother down, made him think clearer. "Let's not rush. We need to check this place for traps as we go."
02.42 am
Jayla slumped down and banged her head on the table, both for effect and to take out her frustration on something.
"I'm an idiot!"
"Honey, no." Dorothy put a plate of fresh cookies in front of her. "That's not at all what Ava meant," she said and sent Ava a look Jayla couldn't read. "We've been over this. What you did was brave. That scarf came to good use."
"Yeah, super brave." Jayla curled her arms around her head, eyes squeezed shut. Her forehead ached faintly. "I ran right into the enemy camp and showed them exactly how I got there, giving them all they needed to ruin our one key through their barrier!"
"Don't beat yourself up about it," Vivian said. Jayla heard her grab a cookie and start chewing. "You connected the hunters to the vampires for sure. You spoke to a hunter without getting stabbed. That's pretty fucking impressive. We can find another barrier key later. The vampires are the immediate problem and I think we all know what we need to do to find them."
Jayla turned her head and gave Vivian an attempt at a smile.
Ava, from across the table, said, "Again, you're not going out looking for vampires. Too dangerous. We'll wait for my colleagues and they'll help me work a more powerful scrying spell."
"Aww, come on! That's hours away!" Vivian slumped in her seat like a deflating balloon.
Jayla tuned out the ensuing bickering to avoid joining in. She briefly revisited the going-to-bed thing but knew it'd be useless. At least she had Ginger in her lap. He'd come back up from the basement not ten minutes ago, demanding pets. What with all other supernatural revelations she'd gotten of late, she'd bet good money on cats having the power to read minds.
"I fear the best course of action is to wait for dawn," Lisa said, halfway through her third cup of coffee. "The vampires will be cooped up in their hideout, secure in the knowledge that they have at least one hostage and that we haven't tracked them down. They won't risk leaving. Better set out when things are more in our favor."
"Agreed," Ava said, snatching one of Dorothy's cookies.
Cup drained, Lisa leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, every inch the scientist faced with trying to explain physics to a drunk.
"I don't think the vampires are working with the hunters out of loyalty. Given opportunity, I'm convinced they'd backstab their former associates and escape with all the rewards they can get their hands on."
"The hunters will try to play the vampires against us and the vampires will play us against the hunters," Ava muttered, glaring holes in the table top. Not literal holes, but Jayla didn't doubt she could have if she'd felt so inclined.
Another groan tore from Vivian. "Can't we just punch all of them and get this over with?"
"If it were that easy, I'm sure Lisa and Ava would have given you an address and a couple of knuckle dusters already," Dorothy said, hovering by the table like a waitress aiming for a big tip. "Vivian, please, this isn't the first time we've dealt with complicated opponents."
"Speak for yourself," Vivian said, then shook her head. "Sorry, I'm being an asshole again. Hate sitting around when I know someone's in a bad place, y'know?"
Jayla swallowed, once, twice. They'd not fully touched on what the vampires or hunters might be doing to Jesse - might have done already - but the hints and subtext alone made her want to crash through a window and go running down the streets shouting for everyone and everything to follow her in a charge against those sick fucks.
At least everyone seemed sure that Jesse wouldn't be killed. Lisa had said shapeshifters were rare and thus worth more alive than dead, both as a food source and as a boost to spellwork. An awful comfort.
Despite that, Jayla couldn't help but ask, "What do you think we should be prepared for? With Jesse, I mean? Should we bring a first aid kit?" Way to undersell the danger and drama here.
"For all we know, the vampires have Jesse hidden away while they bargain over him with the hunters," Lisa said, back in her lecture tone. "It's unlikely that they'd feed on him before making sure giving him to the hunters wouldn't profit them more. I don't think they've gotten that far in their negotiations yet, if they've even started them. They already know where the 'stolen' goods are and they've kept an eye on us themselves, which means there's little incentive to interrogate him."
Interrogate. Such a polite way to say torture.
"He's still kidnapped though," Vivian countered, Jayla emphatically nodding along before the sentence had reached its final word. "We need to get him back and we need to get him back yesterday. It's already been hours since they took him! Would you have waited this long if I'd been the one taken?"
"If you were ever taken by vampires or hunters, god forbid, I hope I could keep my thoughts this clear and rational. Not to mention, tracking you would be far easier." Lisa's eyes softened as her gaze turned from Vivian to Jayla. "I'm sorry to sound so cold-hearted. Don't think Jesse means nothing to us. Far from it! But shapeshifters have a much better chance in this kind of situation than a lone werewolf. We'll get him free. We just need to be smart about it."
Being smart about things. My specialty. Jayla managed a nod, then let her head sink down to rest in the circle of her arms, the table's wood soothingly solid against her forehead and cheek.
"If we can't go to the hunters' camp, can we at least try to get one or two of them alone?" Vivian sounded like she was grasping for straws. "We're good trackers, Dorothy and I. Jayla seems to be a natural at it. I'm sure we could find someone to take in, even the odds a bit. We can leave as soon as Dorothy's finished baking."
The doorbell rang.
Jayla sat up straight, as did everyone else in the room. No one looked like they were expecting visitors. Especially not in the middle of the night. Then again, wasn't this the exact kind of house where people should show up past midnight?
"Who could that be?" Dorothy began heading for the door, anxiously drying her hands on a dish towel.
"I'll get it." Jayla got up from the table before anyone could question her. "All I'm contributing is a bad mood. Playing butler is better than sitting around whining."
"No one thinks you're-"
"Jayla, we'd never-"
Jayla waved off the well-meaning protests.
"I know, I know. I just need to move. Might manage to be as smart as Melissa and Arturo and get some sleep." Also, she had this faint hope that there would be a familiar face at the door. Very very faint hope, but still there. "I'm sure you've got a snazzy defense plan if the someone at the door turns nasty. I'll go play decoy."
Leaving the tense and now silent dining room, Jayla made her way to the front door. The doorbell rang again.
"Coming, coming! Hold your horses!" Disappointingly, she could see two outlines in the front door's blurry window glass. Over in the dining room, the others shuffled around, maybe taking up positions to enact a counter-attack should it be needed. Jayla's pulse decided to get going, picking up speed for each step she took away from the dining room.
The front door loomed.
"Just so you know," she said as she unlocked and began opening the door, "everyone in here has already had a bad night."
On the other side of the door stood the hunter.
"Shit!" Jayla took a step back, letting go of the door handle a second before she realized that was a super dumb thing to do.
The hunter held up her hands, mirroring Jayla's body language during their latest meeting.
"We're not here to fight," she said. "My brother and I want to talk. Please?"
Jayla forced herself to look at the second person in the doorway; a man in his very early twenties by the looks of him, who definitely could be the hunter's biological sibling. Was hunting a family business? Important thing to focus on here, brain, thanks.
"Uhm," was all she managed. She might have found more words if the hunters hadn't gasped in unison and taken a step back. Jayla looked over her shoulder, like a schmuck.
Arturo stood at the end of the hallway behind her, glaring daggers.
"Hi," Jayla said to him because that's the most coherent thing her bruised mind could think up. "You're awake. That's probably good."
Remembering exactly what stood on the mansion's threshold, she whipped her head around and widened her stance, hands on her hips.
"Talking, you said?"
"Y-yes." The hunter grabbed her brother's hand, quick as a snake, seeking moral support or preventing him from drawing a weapon. "I'm Isha Khatri and this is my brother Rahul. I know this probably will appear to be a trap-"
"Isha no, you're making this worse," her brother hissed under his breath, growing paler by the second.
"-but I promise we're here to talk. And possibly help. If all you said is true."
Wow. Okay. Wow.
Jayla threw another glance over her shoulder at Arturo. He remained stock still on the stairs, glaring, silent. The shuffling in the dining room had died down too, but no one came out in the hall to check on her. Up to me then? Are they prepping an ambush?
Of all the pack members she could picture plotting an ambush, Arturo would be at the top of the list. Was he going to act as a second decoy? Was there some sort of subtextual signal she was missing? Was he blinking Morse code? She didn't know Morse code!
"Like I said," she began, taking in the two stiff-necked and pallid hunters standing before her, "we've had a pretty terrible night. Your team kinda kidnapped one of ours. I can't promise people won't yell at you." She let her mouth keep running. No one showed up to stop her from talking. "Buuuut, I'm pretty sure you're safe from bodily harm and I'm definitely sure you're safe from deadly harm." 'No murder' seemed like a promise she could keep. "If that's good enough for you, welcome in!"
She took a step aside and made a mockingly exaggerated sweep with her arm because that was where this night was going and she might as well play along.
The hunters shared a look, gave simultaneous determined nods, and stepped inside.
Arturo kept to the stairway as Jayla let the hunters inside. He held fast to the railing, the metal creaking under the pressure of his grip. Every fiber, every instinct, every sensible impulse he'd ever had screamed at him to attack. The second he'd heard people approaching the house he'd been out of his room and heading up to the first floor. He'd spotted Jayla by the door at the same time as he'd seen Lisa standing in the doorway to the library.
Lisa had given him a look, one that said 'stay'. He'd gotten that look enough times to know to obey it.
"Welcome."
Lisa stepped out into the entry hallway when Jayla closed the front door. If Arturo hadn't seen her take a deep breath right before, he'd almost have believed her calm and collected presentation. Hopefully the hunters would be green enough to miss the insecurity underneath.
"Please take off your shoes before joining us in the dining room. We like to keep a clean house."
They did as asked. Just, took their shoes off, right there in the hallway, looking as awkward and nervous as if they were going in for a job interview.
"You'd be big on clean floors too, if you had our sense of smell," Jayla said, all brittle energy. "Or at least that's why I assume there's a no shoes policy. Haven't been here long. Lisa, is that why?"
"Partly." Lisa kept her regal posture, the one that told you she knew what she was doing and that you should listen to her. She gestured toward the dining room. "Why don't you join us for a meal? Arturo over there keeps a vegetarian diet, so there should be something for everyone."
"Even newly baked cookies!" Despite her continued friendly tone, Jayla had moved over to Lisa's side, edging toward the library. She clearly had more sense of self-preservation than Arturo first had credited her with.
The hunters didn't speak, only followed. The younger of the pair gave Arturo a wide-eyed look as he moved to make up the rear of their mismatched entourage, but he didn't pull any weapons or scream. Arturo chose to only nod at him. A meaningful nod. He tried to put all his menace into it.
Eerie quiet engulfed the dining room as they all took their seats.
Arturo pulled his chair closer to the doorway, not blocking it, but definitely ready to. To underline his message of 'do not fuck with us', he flashed his eyes at them. Most hunters had ways of seeing things they shouldn't.
He had not expected the younger hunter's eyes to flash back at him. Green.
The hunter yelped and nearly fell off his chair.
"W-what was that? What did you do to him?!"
"What? What happened? What was that with the eyes?"
It's a testament to the pure motherly power of Dorothy that she managed to quiet down the two panicking hunters with shushing and clucking noises. She pushed the plate of freshly baked cookies toward them before going back to the kitchen, as Lisa spoke up again:
"Unexpected, I must say."
Arturo could see her holding back the impulse to lean across the table for a closer look. In fact, the whole pack was doing a pretty good job of keeping their distance in a respectful way. Only Sledge had sat down anywhere close to their visitors, at the short end of the table right next to the younger hunter. Unlike Lisa, she looked like she'd rather have been anywhere else, despite her choice of close proximity.
"Wonderful," she said with no trace of wonder. "I'm not in the market for an apprentice."
"What, you mean you don't need a gingerbread architect?" Vivian said from where she all but bounced in her chair. "Not gonna demand a CV?"
"My brother is not a witch!" The older hunter had a better hold of her emotions than the younger one but there was a fury brimming under the surface that set Arturo on even higher alert. "H-he's just-"
"A witch."
The younger hunter said the words with finality. His sister snapped her mouth shut. The wide eyes and slack jaw of the younger hunter spoke of shock only hinted at in his sibling's expression. His reaction had none of his sister's fury.
"Isha, please, it's not like it's a surprise. We both knew."
"Having magic is one thing," 'Isha' said, speaking more to him than the room as a whole. "You don't have to be a witch."
"No, you don't have to use magic just because you're a witch," Sledge cut in, her tone all business. "But not using magic doesn't unwitch you. We are what we are. Only werewolves and vampires are made. People like you and me," she gave the younger hunter a nod, "we're born."
"Ooooh, fuck," the younger hunter said under his breath. He looked like he'd been hit in the head with a baseball bat, minus the blood and the swaying that should have followed. Apparently having someone else confirm his suspicions took more of a toll.
His sister reached for him, taking one of his trembling hands in her own. Arturo had to admit they were putting on a good show.
"Rahul, please."
She got no reply. Arturo shifted his attention from her and her brother to Lisa. The rest of the pack, and Sledge, looked to her as well.
Lisa straightened up in her chair and pushed her glasses back up from where they'd almost slipped off her nose.
"Isha and Rahul is it?"
Both hunters looked to her. They kept holding hands, huddling in on themselves. Arturo gritted his teeth. They had no right to look that scared, that worried and young. They'd likely put scores of people their own age six feet under ground. Possibly children too.
"I'm Lisa and I am a werewolf. So are Vivian, Dorothy, Melissa, and Jayla, who I believe one of you have already met."
She gestured at each person in turn. Jayla gave a wave as she was introduced and mouthed 'that's me!', looking caught up in hysteria and adrenaline. Arturo couldn't blame her.
"Ava over there is a witch, as she's made clear, and Arturo is a vampire. I wish I could say it's nice to meet you both, but I think we could use more information before such things are decided. For starters, why have you come to our home?"
The older hunter opened her mouth to speak, but the younger beat her to it by blurting out, "I can't believe you all have names."
"The beauty of facts is that they don't care if you believe in them or not." Sledge did not smirk when she said that but she might as well have. "Why are you here, kids? You're not stupid enough to think you can take on all of us at once."
"Do we have to take you on?" The older hunter's breath sped up in time with her heartbeat. She clung to her brother as if he were a lifeline. She stayed in her seat though, made no move to go for a weapon or stolen spell.
Lisa sent Sledge a look Arturo didn't fully catch, but he could guess at it. Lisa had always been the better diplomat of the two, while Sledge had better luck in the interrogation department.
"That really depends on why you're here."
The older hunter laughed, a curt bark that made Melissa jump and Vivian brace to rush out of her chair.
"God, this is going to sound so stupid. I'm an idiot for coming here."
"I was an idiot for going to your camp." Jayla's smile had taken on a less brittle edge, finally reaching her eyes. "Guess we're a good match."
The older hunter blushed. Not beet red, but if you happened to be a vampire - which Arturo still sadly was - it was impossible to miss the way blood rushed to her cheeks, touching them with the faintest hints of color. Her pupils also widened ever so slightly.
"We know our mentors are in contact with vampires," the younger hunter said, once he realized his sister wouldn't be speaking. Whether he noticed she was busy staring in horrified fascination at Jayla was anyone's guess. "We want to figure out why and also stop the vampires from killing people. No offense, but they do tend to do that. Don't they?"
Arturo didn't answer the kid, didn't even nod, and took a small flicker of satisfaction in the terror he managed to inflict through silence alone. The next second, it caught up with him how terrible that thought was. He looked away, down at his hands, curled in his lap. He wished he had Ginger to pet, but the cat had settled in Jayla's lap.
Ridiculous, him a grown man and longing for a pet as a safety blanket.
"Not all vampires are murderers, just like some humans are," Lisa said, startling the older hunter out of making eyes at Jayla. Jayla, on the other hand, seemed unsure of where to look and grateful for Lisa calling everyone's attention. "But yes, these particular vampires are bad news for all involved. Ava here has called in more people to help deal with the issue. As I'm sure you understand, we'd be more than grateful if you had information that could aid us in locating the vampires. The sooner we find them, the sooner we can help the people they've hurt."
Arturo dug his fingers into his thighs. He sat on the edge of his chair, ready for whatever would come next. More hunters could come storming the house. The two hunters inside their home could be rigged with curses and hexes. He could be in for another music box.
"I'm going to take something out of my jacket," the older hunter said, throwing Jayla a look Arturo couldn't place but that made Jayla smile even wider. "It could be helpful."
No one moved, other than Lisa giving a nod of permission.
The hunter pulled a lock of brown hair out of a pocket. It had a thin gold thread bound around it. Even with his limited knowledge of spellcraft, Arturo knew a communication weaving when he saw one.
"Whose hair is that?" Vivian asked, sniffing the air like a bloodhound.
"Vampire!" Jayla all but clapped her hands. "That's vampire hair or I'm a weregoat! Oh, are there weregoats?"
Lisa lowered her glasses and squinted at the lock of hair. Arturo couldn't smell it, not like a werewolf could, but its color matched the vampire that had snatched the shapeshifter. The sight of it tinted the edges of his vision red.
Sledge had gone into full investigator mode, one arm thrown over the back of her chair, face carefully blank. "That's mighty convenient. Exactly what we'd need to track the vampires. You're going to share that with us out of the goodness of your hearts?"
"Eh, kinda?" the younger hunter said. "Maybe?"
Before Sledge could continue, Lisa cut in. "We will use this lock of hair to scry on the vampires on one condition."
The older hunter let go of her brother's hand and scooted closer to him, putting herself between him and the pack. Her lower lip trembled with either rage or fear. The rest of her face became a carefully blank mask, good enough to rival Sledge.
"What?"
The tension in the room couldn't have been cut with a knife. You would have needed to take an ax to it. Arturo had the time to exchange a look with Vivian, who mouthed "Plan 4" at him as if he was supposed to remember what that meant, before Lisa said:
"You agree to a truth spell."
The tension went out of the hunters like marionettes having their strings cut. They looked rather surprised.
The older hunter straightened up. Her mouth worked, made attempts to form words, before finally coming up with, "All right. We can," she gave a short exhale somewhere between a gasp and a laugh, "we can do that."
Arturo didn't take his eyes off them. Spellwork left witches vulnerable. This could still be a trap, if an elaborate one. He couldn't let his guard down, and yet…
And yet this was starting to actually look hopeful.
He kept giving the hunters the evil eye. You dangle this in front of us only to betray us and you'll regret it, he willed at them, tried to put that thought into every muscle in his face. He was not letting anyone ruin the safety of their home again. Never again.
The setup for the truth spell had all the workings Isha had come to expect for a longer interrogation. Emma used black, thick candles instead of regular white, thin ones, but the circle set up around her had the same salt-drawn symbols. The witch had even offered to have her and Rahul take turns, so they could be sure one of them was free of influence.
In a week of surreal events, this one came close to being familiar.
"You feeling okay?" Rahul whispered to her. He'd remained hovering by her chair through the proceedings, earning annoyed glares from the witch as he kept almost stepping on her work.
"I'm fine." Rahul hadn't pulled her out of the circle so she had to trust the work was clean. He would have seen if the witch tried to weave harm into her spellwork. "Step back a bit, would you? Don't want to mess this up."
With clear reluctance he obeyed her request. He took up guard position in the nearest corner, steadfastly ignoring everyone but her and the witch. Her poor brother. What had she dragged him into?
To distract herself, Isha took in the rest of the room's occupants. After they'd pulled the table out of the witch's way, they'd all lined up along the far wall. The two who looked to be the youngest - Jayla and a girl Isha thought was called Melanie or Melinda - had gone off and brought back household items the witch requested. The red-haired motherly woman had returned with promises of future sandwiches and brandishing even more cookies. Cookies that most of the werewolves dug into, while watching with intense focus.
Isha noted that they weren't all concentrating on the same thing. The pack leader had eyes only for the witch, tracking her every move with patient attention and affection. Jayla and the woman dressed in a mechanic's work clothes were abuzz with energy, eyes darting from one thing to another, whispering back and forth between themselves. The youngest-looking werewolf nibbled on a cookie, shyly sneaking glances at her and Rahul, quick to look away when spotted. The motherly woman returned with sandwiches and began fussing over the other werewolves, focusing on each one in turn, as if there wasn't any spellcasting at all occurring in the room, only prep for a long hike.
Of all present, the vampire alone truly unsettled her. He hadn't spoken since they'd arrived and had barely let them out of his line of sight. He stood in the farthest corner of the room, leaning against the wall like a half-starved shadow, his searching gaze heavy as a block of concrete around her neck.
The threatening look was only slightly ruined by the ratty gray t-shirt he wore. Isha couldn't make out all the words of its washed out text but it appeared to have once formed a pun related to computer programming than included the word 'phising'.
"All set."
The familiar coolness of a truth spell activating wrapped itself around her throat. Emma's version of the spell had always felt like a noose. One that couldn't hurt you, of course, but a noose none the less. This one had more of a scarf-like quality.
"In the interest of time, we'll keep this brief," the witch said, straightening up from where she'd been crouched on the floor, arranging salt into runes. "What is your name?"
Isha didn't answer. This took her by surprise. Where was the compulsion?
"What is your name?" the witch repeated with no little impatience. Along the opposite side of the room the werewolves shifted from foot to foot, cookies half-eaten and words half-said. Isha gripped the chair seat with clammy hands.
"Isha! My name is Isha Khatri. My brother is Rahul Khatri."
She had no trouble speaking, the words slipped out as unhindered as if they were having an ordinary conversation. What the hell?
"Please tell me you're ten foot tall."
No words came and no pain either. The salt around her feet had begun to glow a faint blue that flickered to red when she thought about the requested lie, which the witch seemed to take as some sort of confirmation.
"Great, that's the baseline established." The witch exchanged a look with the werewolf leader, who nodded. "Now, why are you here?"
"To help you find the vampires." She hadn't realized it was fully true until she said it. "We had no idea our mentors were working with them. Finding that lock of hair was what clinched it, but, eh, Jayla?"
The woman in question gave her an encouraging nod.
"Jayla talking to me was what set this whole thing in motion. We had no idea there were werewolves and vampires that didn't just run around eating people. Honestly!"
"Have either of you ever killed anyone?"
"No."
"Isha, I-"
"No!"
She glared her brother into submission, which took effort because she had to fight not to grin at him or break down crying. She could say it. She was telling the truth. Rahul had never killed anyone. Neither had she. The relief set her knees shaking.
"There was an accident with Rahul's magic when we were kids but no one got hurt then. We've never been on 'active duty', so to speak." She paused, felt for any trace of compulsion. None came. When she spoke, she chose to do so. "We have helped get rid of a few bodies. Mostly… mostly wolves."
Someone gasped. Isha wasn't quick enough to catch who, but all of them save their leader appeared openly unsettled. Even Jayla flinched when looked at, which sunk Isha's heart.
The witch pulled out a notepad and began writing, noir detective style.
"How long have you two been hunters?"
"We're current apprentice hunters, since we haven't completed a hunt," Isha managed to answer, not wanting to look at her audience any longer. "Our mentors took us in when I was eight. Rahul was four. This morning was going to be our first big hunt."
"Where is the rest of your group?"
"Out on a hunt. It got rescheduled, but I don't know the details as to why. We generally don't hunt at night. Too risky. We came to Merrihollow to find a powerful talisman. I think whatever they're doing has to do with that, but I don't know their current location."
The runes on the floor upheld their faint blue glow. On impulse, Isha attempted to lie, attempted to say that she actually knew where the others had gone and why.
She couldn't speak. That was all. The cold sensation around her neck didn't tighten, didn't burn. There were just no words, no moving her lips.
She bit the inside of her cheek to hold back tears. More crying wouldn't help.
The werewolf leader stepped away from her pack and came around the table to stand by the witch.
"That's satisfied me. Which I guess means it's my turn."
The witch snapped her notepad shut. "Right. Kid, get over here," she said to Rahul. "You're getting one free lesson out of me, but that's it."
Isha could only stare at them. Now her racing thoughts, rather than the spell, kept her from speaking.
"I don't follow," she managed at last.
The werewolf leader offered her a hand. She took it without thinking and got pulled out of the chair. The invisible scarf unspooled from around her neck.
"You let us truth spell you, it's only fair we let you do it to us," the leader said matter of fact, taking off her glasses and putting them on the table. "Seeing as one of my allies set up your questioning, Ava will help your brother spellcraft mine. Is that agreeable?"
Dumbfounded, Isha nodded and stepped back. She watched as the witch led Rahul through the steps of the spell. It took minutes but felt like weeks. The witch kept her eyes on Rahul in a steady, searching way Isha didn't like, but she couldn't put her finger on why. The casting looked ordinary to her and it wasn't like her brother had gotten more nervous.
"We're ready when you are."
The witch's words startled Isha enough to make her jump, which earned her an amused smirk.
"Thank you."
She hurried over to Rahul and grabbed his hand to anchor herself, ignoring the fresh blood under his nails and scratches on his arms, fearing she'd trigger another out of body experience if she didn't. Overwhelmed, she struggled to think of what to say next.
"What are your questions?" The werewolf leader looked perfectly at ease; like she were seated at a help desk in some museum, ready to take on inquiries from visitors.
Rahul nudged Isha, which was the only reason she managed to say, "Have you ever killed anyone?"
"Not that I know." A distant look stole across the werewolf's face, a hint of sadness and worry, before it returned to the bland customer service expression. "There is a trick to staying in control of oneself during the full moon transformation but the person who bit me didn't stay around to teach it to me. I had to figure it out on my own, together with Dorothy over there."
"How long have you been a werewolf?"
"Since April 2003. Hiking accident."
"What will you do with the vampires when you find them?"
"Free our kidnapped acquaintance and hopefully other hostages. Make sure the vampires leave, preferably with Ava's special defanging medicine in their veins. We'll fight them if we must but we won't kill. The only exception to that rule is self-defense and I've never had to go that far."
Isha noted that "I've" but didn't comment on it. It wasn't like she could judge. More importantly, the werewolf leader had used "we" when talking about having no intention to kill.
"What will you do if you run into our people?"
"We'll defend ourselves if we have to." The werewolf leader smiled, a sad, soft expression. "We'll make sure they leave town. No killing."
Unless they had to. Of course. Like she herself would do if people with guns came after her or her brother, or after a stranger. She'd protect people when needed. That was the essence of being a hunter. At least I thought it was.
"Do you have any more questions?"
Isha didn't dare speak. Anything she said would surely come out strangled and tear-stained.
Rahul didn't look any steadier, but he managed to ask, "What do you do? Like, do you have a job?"
The werewolf leader chuckled, a kind rather than mocking sound.
"I run an antiques shop and do research within the field of the preternatural. What I suppose you'd call the unnatural. Vivian is a mechanic, Melissa studies medicine, Dorothy keeps us all fed, and Arturo works with computer security as well as mobile games. Jayla," she paused, looking past Isha and Rahul, "how was it you'd prefer I put it?"
"Aspiring barista!" came the giddy, shaky reply.
"Ah, yes." The leader gave a nod in the witch's direction. "Ava, as said previously, is a witch and private investigator. She and her colleagues keep the local preternaturals safe, both from outsiders and from ourselves."
"And I need to get in contact with my coworkers a-sap now that it's confirmed the hunters are on the prowl." Cellphones shouldn't go with the word 'bizarre' but coupled with the ongoing conversation it did looked wrong when the witch pulled one out of her pocket. "They clearly haven't followed you here and my own perimeter alarms haven't pinged, so unless they're backstabbing vampires right now, I might be down a friend or two."
The werewolf leader, who slowly was sticking as 'Lisa' in Isha's mind, shook her head. "A valid concern. Are we done?"
"We're done." Isha was more than done. She could sleep for a year.
"Finally!" the werewolf mechanic shouted. "Time to make like the cavalry and go save people!"
"A minute." The witch nailed the mechanic with a glare, already dialing.
The whole room waited with bated breath as the phone rang. Isha grabbed Rahul's hand and squeezed it. He'd regained more color, knocking part of the weight off her shoulders.
The click of the call going through echoed loud and clear in the room, quickly followed by the witch saying, "Yumi? It's me. Have everyone check-"
The other person on the line interrupted, frantic words loud, but not loud enough for Isha to make out their meaning.
"I was afraid of that." The witch's eyes had a faraway, calculating look to them. "You're not being overly cautious, there is a threat out there. That big group of hunters has been on the move for at least an hour and I don't have their current location. They're likely trying to take out all our defenses. Stay safe and stay low. Warn everyone."
Isha couldn't make out the tone of the next reply but it sounded less frantic.
"I'll get back to you as soon as I have a target location. Keep preparing!"
The world kept moving both in slow motion and far too quickly. Isha clung to Rahul's hand and stepped in closer, ending up shoulder to shoulder with him.
"How bad?" the werewolf leader asked.
The witched heaved a sigh of either irritation, relief, or both.
"Not terrible, but our back-up will be delayed at least an hour. They'll have to play hide-and-seek for a bit, repairing whatever defenses the hunters take out without getting caught by them. Yumi will sort things out. The others will take her worries seriously with my word backing her up."
The motherly werewolf dried her hands on her apron. "I'm so glad they're safe."
For now. Isha shooed that thought away.
"Better get on that scrying spell." The witch cracked her knuckles. "You could use some charms too if you want a chance at a surprise attack, and we should prep capture circles, if there is time."
From her corner of the room, Jayla stage whispered to the mechanic, "What exactly are those capture circles people keep going on about?"
The mechanic replied with, "It's a magic thing. Don't ask me how to make one, but if you step in one you can't leave. Doesn't hurt unless you try to brute force it," which is where Isha stopped listening. The mechanic was either playing dumb or had no idea how to weave the spell of a circle. Or Isha's spell knowledge was all wrong all over and she'd been lied to about capture circles as well. Very possible.
The witch waved at Rahul, barely looking at him as she did.
"Kid, you're with me. I'm running out of juice and you're brimming with it. Get your focus and make yourself useful."
"What?"
"It won't hurt, you wimp. Get your ass over here and help me scry on the vampire hair. It's easy."
Isha managed to find her voice before her brother could speak. "He doesn't understand what you want him to get."
The witch froze in her tracks, the glance she'd thrown over her shoulder at Rahul morphing into a scrutinizing stare.
"A focus," she repeated, holding up her notebook and pen as if they should mean something. "The thing that helps channel your magic."
All eyes were on them again, but this time with an air of people watching a train wreck in horrified fascination.
"I," Rahul wet his lips, "I don't have anything like that."
Part of Isha took note of all eyes but Jayla's going wide at her brother's words. The rest of her was busy panicking over where this conversation was headed.
"Your people are looking for a talisman! You can't seriously tell me that and also have me believe you don't know what a focus is."
"Sorry."
"Do you at least have a center to go back too?"
Rahul lowered his eyes, assuming a hunched over, shamed posture Isha had seen far too may times.
"I don't know what that is either. I'm so sorry."
"Awwww fuuuuuck." The witch covered her face with her hands and let out a muffled shout. "That's why you were scratching yourself up through the whole truth spell. Let me guess, some older hunter has been giving you 'lessons' and bleeding you?"
"I've been taught spellwork!" It shouldn't have been a surprise that Rahul chose that moment to get defensive. He'd always taken great pride in his craft, no matter how dangerous it could be. "Emma might be a shitty person, but the magic I know is real. I can make a capture circle just as well as you can, lady!"
"Bullshit."
The werewolf leader stepped in, laying a hand on the witch's arm, placating.
"What Ava means is that you've been taught a very harmful way to do magic. Channeling without an object to focus on or a place or state of mind to center yourself in can lead to bodily harm, particularly internal damage. Those who've also had their magical energy drawn by others and used for outside spell weaving, which I assume has been done to you, are especially vulnerable to such injuries."
"He's definitely been bled," the witch bit out between bared teeth. "She," a nod at Isha, "has his energy all over her but none of his weaving."
The nosebleeds. The bloody tears. Isha dove into memories of late nights soothing her brother as he lay cramping and anemic, earning only mild worry from Woxell and Jamersson. From Emma they'd only ever gotten comments that contained words like "wimp" and "gotta toughen up".
As numb as Isha's rage had been up to that point it now turned icy and solid, an anger so cold it burned in her chest.
"I'm not going to label what's been done to you for you," the witch said, eyes locked with Rahul's, "but if I ever meet your 'teacher', know that I will punch her in the face. Repeatedly. She's done you wrong."
Rahul grimaced, then cracked a smile that had a touch of his usual carefree attitude. "I'm starting to get that."
The witch gave a curt nod, as if they'd just agreed to the terms of a sale.
"Good. We don't have time for me to show you all of the ropes, but I'll give you a crash course and at least a temporary focus. I'm not going to manage scrying alone unless I go back to my center, which we don't have time for." She beckoned him with another wave. "Hope you're a quick study."
Isha nudged Rahul toward the witch. Rahul hesitated, but acquiesced. She watched them huddled down at the table that had been pushed up against the wall, so far away and so close. Her thoughts kept disconnecting, distancing her from names and places other than what she had her eyes on.
"Thanks for coming."
She whirled around to face Jayla, managing to not draw her dagger, thank god. The whole pack had been so quiet during the witch's revelations that she'd honestly forgotten they were in the room.
"Whoa, sorry!" Jayla smiled down at her, fidgeting in place, curling and uncurling her fingers. She looked ready to run a relay race, gearing up to receive the baton.
"Didn't mean to crowd you. I get that this must be messing with your head a fair bit. It's messed me up pretty bad and I'm not even on Team Murder." She snapped her mouth shut. "That was impressively insensitive even for me. I'm so sorry! My tongue does a lot of talking without asking permission from my brain. C-can I get you anything?"
Isha stared up at her. Jayla was tall. She'd been a wolf the first time they'd met, a big wolf. But this close she looked like any woman you'd run into while out grabbing a bite to eat or sneaking off to go clubbing. She looked like a person who enjoyed dancing and talking and goofing off. The kind of person who'd get a tattoo while drunk or comfort a crying stranger in a public bathroom. She looked like someone who'd only hurt you if you'd done something awful, and possibly not even then.
How many people like Jayla had she missed out on meeting because she'd been sequestered in a trailer, memorizing traps? She could have been out there in the world, going to school, applying for jobs, flirting with normal people. She could have not been an accessory to murder. Rahul could have grown up learning proper magic and never cried himself to sleep, blaming himself for the loss of their parents.
"Yeah, there's one thing you can help me get." Isha held Jayla's earnest gaze. Even knowing how foolish and cliché it'd sound, she still said it:
"Revenge."
