Schwint released my hand and reached for her, fingers clenched like he was going to wring her neck.
Before he’d closed half the distance, his arm froze in midair. Hazel muttered a single word, and he flew backward toward the wall of glass separating us from the fish.
“No!” My scream broke through the silence. I could picture his body ripped to shreds in the shattered glass even as he flew through the space.
Inches before he made contact, he froze and hovered, suspended in midair. For a moment, I thought I’d somehow managed to stop the collision. Then I saw his dragonfly wings beating fiercely in the air, and I realized he’d done it himself. I wasn’t sure if it was the force of his wings, or a combination of that and his magic.
With a growl, he shot forward. He looked like he was going to shoot right into the witch, but he stopped beside me, still hovering a few feet off the ground. “Fuck you, Hazel. We’ve known each other too long. You try to hurt me, or threaten Finn more, and I’ll kill you. I don’t care if you have more magic than me or not.”
She ignored him. “What do you think of that, warlock? How pathetic am I now? You with more power than you know what to do with and all you did was scream.” She gestured down at her dress. “And me, a lowly shop owner at the Square, so unworthy of your approval because of how I choose to look, and I could have taken your lover from you in front of your eyes.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I’ve never said I was better than anyone, but the words stuck in my throat. Her mocking felt familiar. Taunting me that I claimed to be superior, but that I couldn’t even use my power. As if she resented my importance somehow. An importance that made no sense at all.
Unable to stop myself, the jumble of thoughts connected like an insidious puzzle. I took a step forward and leaned into her, as if doing so would give me the answers I sought. “You’re the voice!”
She didn’t pause any longer than it took her to let out a laugh. “No! My particular capabilities weren’t what was desired to do that job!”
“Do what job?” Being the voice was a job?
She sobered and waved me off. “Never mind.” She suddenly seemed flustered.
“No. Tell me! You obviously know. I didn’t even have to tell you about the voice. You just knew about it. If it’s not you, then who is it?”
Regaining her composure, she took a step back from me, the first sign of submission she’d shown. “It’s not time yet. Your questions will be answered when they’re ready.” Frustration crossed her face as she realized her misstep even before I did.
“They? Who are they?”
Schwint was looking back and forth between us. I glanced at him. Something about his expression told me he was closer to figuring it out than I was.
She waved me off again. “As I said, it’s not time. You’ll know soon enough.”
I reached out and grabbed her arm. To my surprise, and probably hers, she didn’t pull away. “The last time I saw you, you told me that I wasn’t asking the right questions. You told me that I wasn’t looking for a vampire for the reasons I thought. Am I asking the right questions now?”
She didn’t answer. Her eyes darted down to my hand tight around her wrist. “Let me go.”
I did. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I hadn’t even meant to grab her in the first place. If a woman asks you to stop touching her, you do. Of course, even if I hadn’t, she probably would have made me, or sent Schwint really flying through the glass this time.
She took a couple of steps back, then turned. She began to walk toward the back door that she had led the Middle Eastern woman through.
“Hazel!” The force in my voice surprised even me.
She turned slowly, her eyes narrowed. “Find your balls, little warlock?”
“You wanted me to ask the right questions before, and now you’re just going to walk away?”
“Who says you’re asking the right questions now?”
“I am.” I knew I was. I could feel it. The knowledge wasn’t accompanied by a sense of clarity or peace however. Foreboding coursed through me, weighing me down as if I’d had a suit of armor slid over my body. I was on the right track. I was almost there, answers just out of reach. Answers I wanted desperately but somehow knew would hurt more than they would help.
Hazel stared at me. Her gaze felt like she was looking into my soul. Then it slipped, so she was focused on something far beyond me.
Schwint took a step forward.
I reached out and grabbed his arm, afraid she’d not hold back this time. “Don’t. Please.”
He turned and gave me a small, reassuring smile. “She won’t do anything. Not really. She won’t hurt me. And it sounds like she’s not allowed to hurt you.” He looked back at Hazel but didn’t go any closer. His voice lowered to a whisper. “Hazel?”
No response.
