The warlocks were waiting directly outside the doors to the lobby when Jewel and Anna walked up. They looked well rested, which made Jewel a little irritated. And then it made her even more irritated that she was irritated over something so petty. She wasn’t usually a pricklyperson.
“We need to get to the airport,” Z said. “We can grab some food there. Our flight is at twothirtya.m.”
Jewel pulled out her phone to check the time—midnight. They hadn’t gotten much sleep. Maybe that was why she was prickly. Oh, and the two women she’d killed. Killing people was sure to make a person prickly, unless, of course, they were a psychopath … which she was not. At least she didn’t thinkshewas.
“Did you know that every person has psychopathic characteristic to some degree, and psychopaths on the high end of the spectrum actually have a brain that is physically different from everyone else on the low-end spectrum?” Jewel asked, lookingatAnna.
Sly looked at Z and then back to Jewel. “Why exactly are we talking aboutpsychopaths?”
“I think a better question is whywouldn’twe be talking about psychopaths?” Anna said withagrin.
“I can think of several,” Z said. “It’s creepy, it’s creepy, and it’screepy.”
Sly interrupted them before Jewel could explain that having knowledge about a creepy subject actually somewhat alleviates the creepiness factor. Facts arepowerful.
“Cab is on its way,”Slysaid.
They stood under the tall, buzzing streetlight just past the motel. Z and Sly hadn’t said a word since she’d spouted out the psychopath babble. She supposed itwassomething odd to say in everyday conversation. But to Jewel it was interesting. She’d always loved to learn anything and everything. She’d gone through a phase when she’d read anything she could on the brain and how it worked, especially in regards to tendencies of the mentally ill, including sociopaths and psychopaths. It was fascinating to her. Her mom had been a little creeped out when she’d gone through that phase and had been quite relieved when she started reading books about natural disasters. She’d watched a documentary on hurricanes and had become enamored with that subject and out went thepsychopaths.
The cab pulled up, and Jewel pushed away the old memories. She felt as though they’d occurred a lifetime ago, rather than just a couple of years. It was as if those memories had no place in the life she nowlived.
They loaded up in the cab, and Sly told the driver to head to the airport. She and Anna still had no clue as to where they were going. Jewel wondered, probably a little too late, if they should trust the warlocks to lead them in the right direction. But she still felt the pair were allies rather than enemies. She didn’t get an evil vibe from either of them. But there had to be some reason they were working for Volcan. He must have had some sort of leverage over the warlocks, which she totally understood, because he had leverage over her as well. And itsucked.
The airport was bustling, even at this late—or early—hour, depending upon how you wanted to look at it. They checked their bags and got their tickets from a kiosk, and that was when Anna and Jewel finally found out where they weregoing.
“Salem, Massachusetts?” Jewel asked, a deepVappearing in her forehead as she frowned. “You do realize that, more than likely, all those historical witch hunts were done in vain. Those women probably weren’t actuallywitches.”
Z chuckled. “Sometimes having too much knowledge blinds you to the truth, Jewel. It can make you trust in only what you can see, what you can verify. But you should realize by now, there’s a lot more to this world than can be quantifiably measured. And legends aren’t built on lies. Exaggerations and embellishments, maybe. But there is always a morsel of truth mixed into the myth. It’s just a matter of being willing to find that truth,” Z said. “Take my word for it. The witches were real, at least someofthem.”
Jewel couldn’t argue with that, especially since she’d been undeniably introduced to the supernatural world, a world she thought only existed in books andmovies.
Anna shrugged. “It’s not like we have any other ideas at themoment.”
Jewel couldn’t argue with thateither.
They queued up for the security checkpoint, and Jewel nearly laughed when a TSA agent pulled Anna out to be patted down, as if the girl looked like a dangerous terrorist. When they finally got to their terminal, they had five minutes to spare before theirboardingtime.
While the others found seats to wait, Jewel remained standing. She was too antsy, that’s what her mom would call it, and she needed to be moving. Jewel could feel Volcan’s magic in her, the darkness pulling at her own will to do what he wanted. She felt as though her body was being highjacked, and she was fighting with all she had to remain in control of her own will. Her eyes were restless, constantly scanning the environment around her, and her jaw was clenched so tightly it hurt. When the flight attendant began calling seat rows to board, she let out a relieved sigh. But her reprieve was short-lived because now she was going to confined to a tiny seat in a narrow rectangle packed in with a bunch ofstrangers.
Jewel cursed herself. She was being ridiculous, and she knew it. That was the frustrating part. She was aware of her behavior and she knew it was irrational, but the knowledge didn’t help her stop. Her restlessness had to be caused by Volcan’s magic at work in her. From what she’d learned about gypsy healers, they were pure, all light, goodness, and selflessness. Volcan had forced his dark blood into her veins, and now her light magic was mixing with his dark magic like a white blood cell fighting off an infection trying to invade the body. How could she possibly feel okay or function normally when all of that was going on insideofher?
Jewel startled when she felt a nudge on her arm. She swung her head around to see Anna staring back at her with raised brows and a slightly openedmouth.
“They called our row,” Anna said quietly, as if she didn’t want tospookher.
Jewel nodded and let out the breath she’d been holding. “Okay, yeah,I’mgood.”
When the plane was finally full and the last passenger on, the door was closed and the plane began its taxi to therunway.
“Did you know eighty percent of plane crashes occur either within three minutes of takeoff or eight minutes of a scheduled landing,” Jewel said, just before the flight attendant began her presentation on how to use thesafetygear.
“Did you really have to tell me that right before we take off?” Annaasked.
Jewel felt her face flush. “Sorry. Sometimes the facts come out of my mouth before my brain has registered what I’m abouttosay.”
Anna quirked an eyebrow at her. “I really wish Peri was here to respond to that statement. I have a feeling it would be something along the lines of, ‘Are you sure you’re a genius because that kind of behavior generally happens among the hopelessstupid?’”
Jewel laughed and it felt good, as if that little act of showing delight somehow pushed the darkness back a bit, at least for the timebeing.
