He disappearedinto his house after I swore my end of the bargain and returned holding a small clay jar, filled with a glimmering substance. “Compulsion,” was all he explained it to be. More powerful than anything Ame could manage.
A forever kind.
Then I rode along in his sportscar to the bed and breakfast where Mor told me the Shelly parents were staying. The selkieowner watched with wide eyes as we passed through the foyer, but she didn’t stop us.
Helena was the one to open the door, expression somehow both curious and cold.
“Is this the one?” Sev threw the question over his shoulder.
“Who are you?” she’d asked the same time I nodded confirmation.
Instead of answering, the monster shoved a handful of whatever spelled substance the jar contained in her face, and she gasped, dragging it into her nose. Her mouth. Her lungs.
Sev pushed past her, toward where Alister lay on the bed, still asleep. Mor’s father got the same treatment, sputtering in surprise at the rude awakening.
Then the couple relaxed, gazes vacant, bodies swaying as if buffeted by a strong wind.
“You will obey me.” Sev crooned.
“I will obey you,” they responded in chorus.
Fear trickled down my spine.
Has he had this all along?
Why hasn’t he put the entire town under his compulsion?
“Forget your children. Forget Folk Haven. Return to your former home.”
“Yes.” Their heads bobbed, and my gut turned with trepidation. Their slack looks remained as they packed up zombie-style, drug their suitcases outside, and drove away.
The monster stood at my side, his focus on the taillights.
“You could do that to anyone you want.” My voice came hollow, knowing that my vow to him meant it was impossible for me to warn anyone.
Sev turned toward me then, and I flinched back at the blood dripping from his eyes and staining his teeth as he gave me a gruesome grin.
“God objects have limits.” He tilted the jar to show me there was only a tablespoon of the substance left. “And they have a cost.” He waved toward his face. “I’m going to be shitting blood for weeks after this.”
“They won’t ever come back,”I assure Mor.
“How do you know that?”
“Trust me.”
Mor will have to because I have no ability to explain the bargain I made. No wish to either.
But I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. My witch is too smart for me to maneuver around.
“You did something. Not a threat though. If Jack ripping my father’s hand off didn’t drive them off …” Her gaze narrows in thought. “You spelled them in some way.”
“Mor—”
“Not another witch. You’d need wealth you don’t have even if you could find one strong enough to override their protections.”
“Thehowdoesn’t matter,” I insist. “All that matters is that they’re gone.”
“Not threats,” she mutters to herself as if I didn’t speak. “Not witches. Not money. But power. It took power to make them leave.” Her eyes widen. “Sev.”
