Belle’s scornful scoff rang in my ear. “She’s in a fucking drug induced coma. That’s what happened. She activated it and started screaming and holding her head. God, the sounds Martha made…I can still hear her screaming.” Belle choked on a sob. “She wouldn’t stop screaming. She…I called an ambulance, and they came and picked her up. The doctor said she had to give Martha way more drugs than usual just to get her to stop screaming. Even then, her heartrate was too elevated and the doctors were worried about her having a stroke. They put Martha in a medically induced coma. It was the only choice.”
“Dear Gaia.” I placed my forehead in the palm of my hand. Hikaru sat up, his cold nose poking at my chin. When that didn’t work, his rough tongue licked my cheek. Pushing down my anger and fear, I asked, “Where is the charm now?”
“How would I know and why the fuck should I care? That damn charm is the reason why?—”
“Belle, I know you’re upset and rightly so, but I need to know where that charm is. I’ve been trying to get ahold of your sister for a few days. Some of my charms were tampered with, they were changed to?—”
“You’re trying to blame someone else?” Belle sounded incredulous.
“I’m trying to save your sister,” I snapped back. Inhaling, I forced myself to calm. “If I can get ahold of that charm, there’s a chance I can undo what has been done.”
This time, Belle’s voice sounded wounded and small. “You can save Martha?”
I swallowed hard. That was a promise I couldn’t make, no matter how desperately I wanted to. “I’m not sure.”
Belle choked on a harsh laugh. “Yeah, that sounds about right. What use are you?”
“I’m not sure, but I’d like to try. Please, try and remember where the charm is.”
“Why should I trust you? Your shoddy work is the reason Martha’s in the hospital, you’re the reason she might not…God, I can’t even say it.”
Hikaru transformed, his arms wrapping around my shoulders as he rested his cheek in the hallow of my neck. It physically hurt, having someone call my workshoddy. “Listen, I know I’m asking a lot, but I really think I can help, I just can’t guarantee it. Please, let me try.” So far, Belle hadn’t mentioned contacting the Warlock Council. I could only hope that was truly the case. I needed to get to that charm before Danzig or one of his minions did.
Belle huffed and I could hear her sniffles through the connection. “Last I saw the thing, it was on the floor beside Martha’s bed. I’m not sure if it’s still there or not. The EMT’s walked all around the bed and I sure as shit wasn’t touching it after what that charm did to Martha.”
“What’s the address?”
“You’re going there now?”
I glanced down at Hikaru. Our eyes met and my kitsune gave me a slight nod. “I’ll be there within a minute once I have the address.”
“Oh.” Belle obviously didn’t know what to make of that, not that I blamed her. I was a warlock, not a brownie or fairy. Regardless, Belle rattled off a Nevada address. I repeated the address out loud so Hikaru could hear. I didn’t even get a chanceto properly end the phone call before Hikaru’s form dissipated, pulling me along for the ride.
Twenty-Four
Hikaru
“That was…”
“Awesome,” I helpfully supplied when Niki seemed to struggle finding a sufficiently amazing word to describe his transport. I inwardly preened and my tails merrily flicked back and forth.
“Not exactly the word I was looking for.” Niki hunched over, clutching his stomach. His pale features had a slightly greenish cast I was unfamiliar with. My tails stilled.
“Are you sick?” How had I missed that? I shuffled forward, placing the back of my hand on his forehead. “You don’t feel hot. I didn’t think warlocks got common human ailments.” Did Niki have the warlock equivalent of the flu? Maybe he ate something that didn’t sit well with him while I was resting in my fox form. That had to be it. I nodded, satisfied with my theory.
“Remind me to pack an antinausea charm the next time you decide to disassociate my atoms and put me back together again.” Niki held onto his stomach a little tighter and stifled a belch. The disgusted look on his face made me think warlocks didn’t burp either.
Cocking my head to the side, Niki’s words dawned on me. “You think you’re nauseous because of what I did?” I placed a disbelieving, clawed hand to my chest, my eyes wide. “Pfft, I think it’s something you ate.” I waved Niki off when he tried to argue with me. I dissipated and reformed all the time and it had never mademenauseated. I refused to believe any action I had on Niki was less than positive.
Dismissing Niki’s obvious delusions, I placed my hands on my hips and began looking around. Martha Phillips lived in a decent enough apartment. She kept a clean space. A blanket was tossed on the couch, unfolded, and a few pillows were scattered here and there. Honestly, it looked perfectly homey to me. Niki could learn a few things from this human woman.
That lived-in feeling transferred to the kitchen and bathroom—clean but used. It wasn’t until one got to the main bedroom that chaos took over. The bedsheets were tossed about, one pillow on the bed and two more on the floor. The nightstand had a clock that was hanging over the side by its cord, and the lamp had lost its battle with gravity and was laying on its head on the floor. There was a large painting of a sleeping cat above the bed that was all catty-wampus. A few stray pieces of clothing were scattered about, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“Gaia, it looks like a tornado went through here.” Niki followed me into the room, his dark eyes scanning the mess.
“Exaggerating much?”
Niki shrugged. “Maybe, but even you must think this is a mess.”
