“You want to be him.”
“I want to be better,” I snapped, looking away from her. “I’d like to be rich and handsome, but the other stuff—”
“Makes him whoheis,” Willa interrupted. “But his methods are driving you closer to the ones he’s trying to shield you from.” She sighed and examined my face. “You don’t want to be caught by a witch.”
“Are witches evil or something?”
“No,” she replied sternly. “But they’re not exactly good either. They don’t bother humans because humans are worthless, but werewolves with the vironoct…” Her eyes narrowed with intensity. “It’s a font of immortality, power, and endless insatiable sex. It’s like a drug.”
A person from the kitchen staff poked his head out from behind one of the doors and nodded at Willa.
She caught her breath and her countenance returned to normal. “Your food is done.” She slid out of the seat. “You should have leftovers for a few days.”
“You’ve never seen Roscoe eat,” I said, following her to the counter. “Why are werewolves all that to witches? What do they do to them?”
She stopped at the counter and gave me a nod.
“That’s a lengthy conversation, and unfortunately my time is short today.” Willa placed her dainty hand on my shoulder. “If what my husband has is what you want, don’t fall in with the Whasha. But unlike what my husband thinks, the Whasha path is not necessarily a wrong one to take. It just leads to a different future.” She started to turn but caught herself, squeezing my shoulder tighter. “Also, if you don’t want to end up a mindless husk, don’t chance an encounter with a witch of the wilds.” She let go and walked the rest of the way behind the counter. “In other words, stay the hell out of the woods. Darius owns everyone he encounters, human or werewolf, but like I said earlier, you’re a special case. He knows he can’t have his way with you.”
“He did. When I was in the jail with him. I was in this place—”
“Really?” she asked. “You thinkhedid that?”
“I didn’t feel in control. I think the lighter he gave me did something.”
She waved me closer, so I took a few steps toward the counter and leaned in.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
“I’m listening.”
“Whatever trinket he gave you does nothing but track your location. What you did the other night was all you, honey.”
“That’s not a secret. He told me the same thing.”
The kitchen staff brought out bag after bag of food and setting them on the counter. There’s no way they could have prepared all of this in the short time I was here.
“What is it you really want from me?” I asked.
She said nothing for a moment, then looked up at me expectantly.
“You said earlier that you didn’t know me.”
I looked at the full counter, the kitchen staff placing more bags on top of bags.
“Is this a bribe?”
“All I want is for you to come by again. Ireallywant to get to know you better. Plus, if you want to get back at Darius, I know his secrets and weaknesses.” The way she said that was almost tantalizing.
“Wait. Youwantme to get back at him?”
“Well, someone besides me has got to knock him down a notch every now and then, and after watching you handle yourself the other night, I think you might be able to use what you have to really get under his skin.”
My eyes widened. “What do you mean youwatchedme?”
“Honey, it’s a jail. There are cameras everywhere.”
“Oh…”
