Maddy walked over and rested on the hood of Leah’s car. “I’ll be out here. If you don’t come out in ten minutes I’ll send backup.” She was like the getaway driver of our ragtag group.
Brayden gave her a curt nod and then looked over at me. “You don’t need to come. I can try to get Leah’s powers bound and the note deciphered and—”
“I’m going,” I snapped, sharper than I meant to.
He sighed as if he was annoyed with me and I wanted to flip him off. We had this weird angsty thing going on where I was constantly vacillating between ripping his clothes off or punching him in the face. I was mad at him and I didn’t know why.
Brayden stepped up to the door of the shop and slipped his hand into his shirt, using his cloth-covered fingertips to pull it open for us.
What? These witches could lift DNA off of fingerprints or something? Geez.
A waft of incense and herbs greeted Leah and I as we stepped through the open door.
“Hello, wolfie loves,” a young chick with a black pixie cut and smooth dark skin greeted us from where she was stocking herbs into jars.
Wolfie? So she knew what we were, just like that? I inhaled and tried to tell that she was a witch from all the way over here, but it was hard with all the incense. Maybe that was the point.
“Hey,” I responded, hoping no spittle left my mouth. She could probably suck it up off the carpet and do a spell on it or something.
Leah was shocked into silence, which was rare. Instead of speaking, her eyes flitted about the place, looking from the small jar of bones to another that appeared like it held an entire bat.
“I need to see the Witch Mother,” Brayden boomed as he stepped into the room. The girl stopped what she was doing, her head snapping in his direction.
She narrowed her gaze at him and he cleared his throat. “Please.”
Nice touch. That almost took away from the dominating don’t-mess-with-me tone he’d just used.
Her eyes relaxed as she fully looked him over and she stood. “Brayden Greywolf. The Witch Mother will be pleased to know you are in need of a favor.”
Brayden stiffened. “I wouldn’t call it a favor.”
The witch grinned and an uneasy feeling settled over me. She was absolutely beautiful, too beautiful, and she knew it too. She eyed him with a sultry gaze and stalked forward like a cat, hips swishing left and right.
I wanted to throat punch her for looking at Brayden like she was undressing him with her eyes.
“Oh, honey, you haven’t been around in years. Mother deals only in favors now.” She took one step closer to Brayden and I couldn’t help the growl that ripped from my throat.
It startled her at first and then she grinned, looking at me. “Hello, Lena.”
Her absolute certainty of calling me by that name was enough of a shock to my system that I was left speechless.
Leah cleared her throat and the witch smiled, looking Leah over. “Or maybe not Lena.”
Anger flushed through me from head to toe. She was messing with us! Manipulating us.
“I need to see Morgananow, Tara,” Brayden said, and Leah moved to his side in a protective gesture.
What the hell, man? Were my bestie and I going after the same guy? That was going to get awkward real fast. I needed to have a talk with her sooner rather than later.
The witch, Tara, walked over to a table and fixed a few jars so that they were in a perfect line and then leisurely made her way to the back of the room, where a single black lacquered door stood. It was like she was taking her sweet time to remind Brayden and all of us that we were guests here.
“What kind of favor?” Leah whispered.
Brayden shushed her. “Not here. Talk in the car.”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t know for sure, but I could assume that owing thisWitch Mothera favor was a very bad place to be in.
When the black door opened, a new witch came out, one even prettier than the previous. She was in her mid-forties, with dark purple dyed hair that fell to her waist in glossy waves. A streak of silver at the front ran all the way down to her navel. She was mesmerizing but also made my skin crawl at the same time.
