“You mean keep killing,” Jewelsnapped.
“If that’s what it takes,” Sly said, attempting to help out his partner. “You can’tgiveup.”
“We aren’t murders,” Annatoldthem.
“We don’t think you are, but youaresurvivors. If you don’t figure this out, you won’t survive long. How will your mates feelaboutthat?”
“Don’t bring them into this.” Jewel practically growled. “How will they feel when they find out their mates arekillers?”
Z laughed. “As if they aren’t killers? They’re wolves. Predators. They’ve killed their fair share, believe me. So don’t kid yourselves into thinking they’re little fuzzy puppies.” He glanced at Sly and saw the same worry in his comrade’s eyes that he knew was showing inhisown.
“We need a break,” Anna said. “And a sick as this sounds”—she shot Jewel a sharp look—“but we don’t really need to have multiple bodies found in thesamecity.”
Z sighed. She was right about that. Athirdperson found dead under mysterious circumstances in two days might draw some heat. The human police might start putting two and two together. Not that they would come up with four, of course. They wouldn’t figure out that two witches and two warlocks were canvassing the city looking for innocent girls to convert or kill, but any police attention, however ill-informed it might be, would be unwelcome. And for all they knew, the L.A.P.D. just might have someone on payroll that was familiar with supernatural entities. Best not to take anychances.
“I agree that there doesn’t need to be another body found in L.A. That means we need to get on a plane and fly somewhere else, tonight. You can’t take a break, no matter how much you want to.” He looked at Jewel and then Anna. “Volcan won’t tolerate failure. You have to know that. And Jewel, you also know it won’t be you he punishes. He will figure out a way to hurt those you care about until you aresuccessful.”
Anna narrowedher eyes at the two warlocks. “What are you guys not telling us?” She watched them squirm under herscrutiny.
“We just know Volcan,” Z said. “We aware of what he’s capable of, and we know how heworks.”
Anna was certain the warlocks were keeping something from them, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. It’s not like she could force them to tell her. She turned back to Jewel who was still staring at the shop across the streetfromthem.
“What do you want to do?” she askedJewel.
The girl took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her eyes were clearer now, and Anna could tell her friend was beginning to get her emotions undercontrol.
“We need to do some research,” Jewel finally answered. “We can’t just keep doing the same thing over and over and expect differentresults.”
“What kind of research?” Annaasked.
Jewel began to pace, and the two warlocks stepped back, giving her room. “We need to figure out what the connection is. What does it take to make a normal female become a witch? We’ve tried it on two women who were obviously interested in the occult and the like, but that wasn’t enough.” Jewel pinched the bridge of her nose as she paused in her pacing. “There has to be something that makes a female compatible with the magic thatchangesthem.”
“So, you’re saying it can’t just be any woman? There has to be something special about them?” Zasked.
“Exactly,”Jewelsaid.
“That’s not what Anna told poor River back at the store,” hecountered.
“I was just trying to get her to trust us.” Anna barked. “You think I know more about this than anyone else because I ran a voodoostore?
“So where do we need to go to do this research?” Slyinterrupted.
“Ideally,” Jewel said with a humorless laugh, “we would go to Volcan’s library. I bet he has some helpful information, and he doesn’t evenrealizeit.”
Anna felt sick at the idea of being anywhere near Volcan. Feeling his magic running through her veins was bad enough. As she considered Jewel’s words and thought about the work ahead of them, she suddenly felt very tired, like a balloon whose air has been released. Her body sagged, and her limbs felt heavy. When she looked at Jewel, she noticed her friend seemed to be in the same condition. Anna pulled her phone from the pocket in her skirt and checked the time. She was surprised to see that it was nearly three in the afternoon. How long had they been with River? Did time move differently when they were connected to the women, attempting to fill them with Volcan’s magic? Those were questions she’d have to ask Jewel. Perhaps she knew something about that, or could figure it out, considering she was the genius of thegroup.
“I vote that we get some sleep before moving on. Jewel is as dead on her feet as I am,” Annapointedout.
Sly and Z looked at both of them, and Anna knew they saw whatshedid.
Sly nodded. “Alright. We’ll go back to the motel, and you two can rest while Z and I make travelarrangements.”
“Where are we going to go?” Jewelasked.
“Let me and Z think about it, and we will let you know when youwakeup.”
They caught another cab and rode to the motel. No one spoke. There wasn’t anything to say. Anna was heartbroken over having killed another woman, and she knew Jewel was feeling just as devastated. It was in that moment that Anna began to feel a sense of hopelessness. What if they couldn’t figure out how to use Volcan’s magic to make witches? Would he kill them? Would their lives be snuffed out at such young ages, just like those other two women? Then again, did they deserve to live after having already killed twopeople?
