“I’ll have him deliveryou, too.” She waved me through the lobby toward a corner booth in the back adorned with two litcandles and two glasses of iced tea. I followed at a distance. “Get cozy. I’ll bring some appetizers.”
There wasn’t another soul in the dining area, as if I was the only one expected. The last time Austin and I were here, we never came inside to order. Was she here then?
A tightness swelled in my chest the further I went inside. The surrounding air turned thick, and it was hard to catch my breath. As if by instinct, I stopped and backed away. The intensity of the fear was so primal. The werewolf side of me screamed a warning I didn’t quite understand.
“Who are you?”
“Willa,” she said, her sanguine lips pulling upward into a bewitching smile. “Willa Mosavi.”
“Shit,” I whispered, taking a shaky step backward, but it was like walking through tar. So she was the mayor’s wife.
Her seductive smile softened into something less threatening as she grabbed my arm.
“Oh, come on.” She pulled me along and pointed to the booth. “The food will be done in about twenty minutes, but I’ve been wanting to talk.”
“Are you going to put another charm on me like your husband did?”
“That naughty beast,” she whispered, sliding into the booth and pointing to the other seat across from her. “I told him to leave you alone from now on.” She lifted a glass of tea to her mouth and sucked it through the plastic straw, leaving a thin film of red behind. “I won’t force you to stay, but I would like to talk about what happened. My husband can be brash and heavy-handed. It’s a wonder he’s made it this far into politics.”
“Your husband’s sick.”
Her eyes rolled back, and she wet her lips. “Oh, I know.”
“I didn’t mean it in a good way,” I muttered through my teeth, reluctantly taking a seat.
She pursed her lips, seeming to feign disappointment.
“I guess since I’m here, you can answer some questions as well.”
“I often have the answers.” She placed the glass back on the table, stirring the floating ice cubes with her sharp, manicured finger before sucking the liquid away.
“You know I’m completely gay, right?”
“Of course I know. That’s why this is so much fun. You and my Darius have so much in common, you know?”
“I wish people would stop saying that. I am nothing like your husband.”
“You’re still a baby compared to him but give it a couple hundred years.”
Why was her presence so terrifying? It wasn’t just because she was Mosavi’s wife. She had this suffocating aura that made me remember the warnings of the Whasha ferals.
“Are you a witch?”
She sat up straighter, seemingly uneasy. “What a dreadful question.”
“Sorry. I’ve just heard some rumors.”
“I’m not a witch, Cody.”
I let out a relieved sigh.
“I amthewitch. The Nor-witch.” The woman let out a shriek of maniacal laughter, weaving her fingers through the air like spindly wands. She stopped and snorted a real laugh before taking another sip of tea.
“You could have just told me no,” I said, relaxing my clenched fists under the booth, trying to come across as nonchalant. I still wasn’t sure if she was lying or telling the truth.
“Any other questions?” she asked. “Do you want to know where I keep all of the human children I eat?”
“Ha ha. I’m gullible, okay?” Of all the personalities Mosavi’s wife could have had, this was actually not as terrible as Iimagined. She almost seemed like a smart, female version of Roscoe. “Why is your husband so interested in me?”
