20
Ness
Balls,I thought.
The witch eyed Ryder like he was a four-course meal. My hound rose to the surface with a furious growl. The hound clawed at my insides because she was eager to get out and teach the witch a lesson.
However, I knew that the witch wasn’t looking at Ryder like that because she wanted a chance to be with him. That look was all about power. While Alvin had given the witch money, there were other forms of power to be had.
I had access to arcana that the witch had never tasted before. That gave me the upper hand in this negotiation, even if I didn’t want to give myself up like that. I’d done it with Beryl. Now I had to do it with the witch.
Ryder owed me big time.
I sighed. No, he didn’t. We were working to give the Lakesedge Pack a new start. I would do anything to give them the peace of mind that they deserved. Every small sacrifice would be worth it in the end.
“Ask anything of me,” I told the witch. “I’ll let you call in one favor—within reason—if you help us today. I’ll help you find a rare ingredient. I’ll give you some of my blood. Anything that doesn’t involve hurting someone else. How’s that for payment?”
Ryder made a small noise that sounded very much likestop. I didn’t stop, though. Instead, I approached the witch.
My body rebelled. The sensation of beetles crawling across my skin returned, making me shudder, but I held firm and stared the witch down. A slow, hungry smile curled across her lips. She wore a partially unbuttoned shirt that parted to reveal a small crystal hanging between her breasts as she closed the space between us.
The witch reached up and cupped my cheek. She trailed her fingers down my cheek until she could slide her hand around the back of my neck. Though Ryder growled in the background, my senses fell away from the present. A prickling sensation pierced my skin and delved into my body, taking my attention with it.
I knew what I felt was the witch’s prying arcana. When her power brushed up against the greedy arcana conjured by the ritual, she recoiled. The ritual arcana lashed out at her, but she snatched her hand back. While the witch’s chest heaved, I swayed on my feet. The ritual arcana flung itself in every direction in a rampant tantrum.
All because it couldn’t get the witch’s arcana.
I’d thought it would answer to her, since she was the one who’d compiled the ritual in the first place. To see it attack her, too, left me wary. This thing inside me was a hungry worm trying to rot me from the inside out, and it would latch on to everyone around me, apparently.
“I’d really hoped that you would escape that ritual before he had a chance to get it started. It seems that I had higher expectations than you deserved.” The witch gave a condescending smile.
I stifled the urge to slap it off her face.
“I gave you all the tools you needed,” the witch said as she knelt in front of a cabinet.
I thought she would pull out an altar or some magical tools. Instead, the witch grabbed a bottle of brown liquor and stood. When she pushed the bottle into my hands, she gave me a snarky wink.
“You’re going to need this.”
“Have I mentioned how much I hate you?” I said with the weight of the bottle in my hands.
The witch laughed. This time, she went to a filing cabinet in the corner. The metallic beast of a cabinet screeched and groaned when she yanked it open. From its maw, she pulled out a manilla folder marked with unrecognizable sigils. Just seeing it made my skin crawl for reasons I couldn’t discern.
“I don’t approve of what Mr. Combs has been up to lately.” The witch slapped the folder against Ryder’s chest. “I did what he asked because he paid well enough that I could leave town for a while, but… Even I have some morals, and he’s doing his damnedest to sully them all.”
I sidled up to Ryder when he cracked the folder open. A couple of cashed checks sat on top of the contents. One check hadn’t been cashed, though. It had adeniedstamp across the front, which made me toss a glare in the witch’s direction.
“This isn’t about your morals. He doesn’t have enough to pay your exorbitant prices anymore.”
The witch grinned and lifted a glass to her lips. Still, there was a shadow over her eyes that made me believe that she hadn’t been dishonest. This didn’t sit right with her, even if money hadn’t been involved.
Ryder pulled a sheet from the folder and scanned it. A list of items filled the page, all with small checks next to them. Censers, herbs, blood. The ritual arcana stirred within me, as if in recognition of these ingredients.
“Alvin is going to cast another ritual,” I said. “He didn’t get to finish it the first time. That’s why Marcus and Jackson keep trying to kidnap me. Alvin wants to make sure the ritual sticks this time. If he can get me…”
My hand rose to my throat. I couldn’t feel the command arcana, as it was trapped behind the ice still nestled in my chest, but the memory of my power remained. It couldn’t fall into the wrong hands, or the pack would be screwed.
Ryder put a hand on the small of my back. “We’ll keep a closer eye on you. Alvin isn’t going to get away with this.”