“I don’t know. What do you think, Stevie? Is she the weakest link?”
“I mean, she was dumb enough to walk around town after what they did to you,” Stevie replies.
“What they did to us,” I correct her. I lean against the door frame, seeming almost disinterested in the conversation. “This is how it’s going to work, Clover. You tell us what we need to know and we let your home wrecking ass back out into the wild where you can live another pathetic day as a mediocre washed up witch. How does that sound, hmm?”
“I won’t tell you anything,” she says, trying to tug on her restraints.
“But I think you will. What should we start with, Stevie? Her toe nails?”
Clover sputters on the bed, shaking back and forth. “You wouldn’t!”
“Have you ever known me to lie about torture, Stevie?”
“Nope, never. You’re a very honest captor,” Stevie says with a straight face and nodding her head. Getting the point across that this isn’t good cop bad cop. It is double bad cop, so don’t fuck with us.
“I’ll make you a deal, leftover Clover. You eat this tasty little truth truffle. Tell me what I want, and I’ll clean up the bed so you don’t have to lie in your own piss.”
She looks between Stevie and me, weighing her options. “I’ll tell you what you want, but you have to set me free.”
“No can do, little three leaf. See what I figure, is whatever ritual you and your gang of merry skanks were trying to achieve required the entire coven. If, I don’t know, one little mousey witch was missing, it wouldn’t be able to be performed. You’re my insurance policy. If you want to continue to be in a piss free bed and fed daily, I think you really need to consider the next words you say to me.” I look at her like I could easily make her life a living Hell. She swallows loudly and nods her head and opens her mouth. Stevie plops a truffle right on her tongue. I watch as she chews and swallows.
“Why was the coven trying to sacrifice me?”
“We didn’t have a choice.”
“Why not?”
“She’s powerful. She promised that if we gave you to her that the coven would become powerful, that we wouldn’t need you anymore.”
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know, only your mom met with her in person.”
“What does she want with me?”
“I don’t know. You know, we just do what Josie says. She said that we needed to do this, that your power would be distributed throughout the coven. That we would be stronger.”
“You’re sure that there was an outsider? This isn’t my mom just trying to get rid of me?”
“Like I said, I didn’t meet with the woman, only Josie did. I can’t be sure that she isn’t making it up.”
I groan, frustrated, and tug at my messy, unbrushed hair. “Did you believe Ryan when he said he wasn’t dating me?”
She tries to keep her mouth shut. “No.”
“Unfortunately, you weren’t worth the effort that it took to lock you in here. I hope you find your amenities comforting until the next moon, Clover.”
“That’s almost a month away!”
“You should have thought about that before you slept with my ex-boyfriend and tried to kill me. You’re lucky this is all I’m doing to you.”
I wordlessly untie her restraints. I tighten the wards so that she can’t leave the room.
“What’s the plan now?” Stevie asks me as we walk up the stairs.
“Find out who is stealing at Hex, then we need to track down my mother.” The thought makes my stomach hurt and Stevie and I groan in unison.
Chapter 13
