Bracing myself, I turned. Where the cat had been lying upon the bed, there was now the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. A stunning brunette in a long white dress lounged on her side, her head propped in one hand.
“What do you think?” she asked, smiling eyes fixed entirely on me. “Shall we remove their gags so you can hear them scream as you end them?”
“O-oh. No, thank you,” I stammered.
“Are you sure?” The woman stood and leaned on Lee, who put an arm around her waist. She didn’t appear to be a monster, but her odd energy indicated that she was likely awitch. Her eyes narrowed coldly at Jon and Cliff. “There are few greater pleasures than watching the man who wronged you bleed out at your feet. With two, it’ll be twice as satisfying.” Her smile sweetened upon me. “Being the one to slaughter the famedAppalachian Reapersdoesn’t entice you at least a bit?”
The name sent me back to the swamps of Louisiana, and judging by the muffled confusion from the boys, they were just as stunned by the casual mention of the moniker. Their legendary hunt was whispered like a fireside tale in the realm of monster hunters, but these people were clearly not from that world.
“How do you know that name?” I asked.
“It’s kind of a rule of thumb to search someone’s pockets before you lock them in a closet,” Lee said, producing two wallets from his pocket and giving them a little shake. “Took a minute to find these buried under all the knives and guns. Didn’t take more than a few calls to our usual contacts before the namesJonathan NowakandElliot Cliff Everettbrought up some very interesting, blood-soaked stories.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Elliot?” Glancing back, I found Cliff staring back at me like a deer caught in headlights. But there was no time to dwell on it. “Forget the stories. They only kill to save innocent lives.”
I flitted toward Jon’s gag, blade in hand.
“Is that what they told you?” Ben called after me. “They’rehunters, Sylvia! They would have killed you in cold blood if they didn’t see the benefit of selling you off in this place!”
“I won’t keep entertaining your conspiracy theories!” I jabbed my dagger in his direction. “If you’d shut up for onefuckingsecond, you’d know they’re not like the others.”
I cut the cloth away from Jon’s mouth first, trying not to nick his cheek.
“Jesus, you people love to hear yourselves talk,” he growled, glaring between them. I caught the tail end of the cold hellfire in his gaze when it moved to me. “Are you okay?”
“Never better.” I traced his jaw with my free hand, shivering at the relief of him—warm,alive. My voice dropped to a whisper.“Would you hate it if I said seeing you tied up wasn’t the most awful thing in the world?”
Jon chuckled. “If we make it out of this alive, we might have to do something about that.”
Cliff groaned through his gag, grumbling something that sounded suspiciously like,Just fucking kill me.
I cut away his gag next, ignoring Ben’s very audible protests behind me. I locked eyes with Cliff as he sighed in relief, working his jaw.
“Elliot?” I whispered.
There was a guarded wariness in Cliff's eyes, a tight muscle ticking in his jaw. He dodged my searching stare like a child caught in a lie.
“Not now," he grunted.
Pulling away, I targeted the boys’ hands next, zip-tied at the wrists and bound together. Jon had shown me how to break free of these once, but he and Cliff were too restricted to perform the movement required. It was not for a lack of trying; raw, red rings encircled the skin under their sleeves where they had tried to snap the restraints off.
“Hold very still,” I warned them, steepling my fingers.
“That’s enough.” Delilah’s voice was like the snap of a whip.
She ignited a spell in her left palm and stepped toward the closet. I blanched at the sight of the amber magic swirling around her elegant fingers like a misty cloud circling the sun. A faint singed smell hit my nose—burning roses, like from the luggage room.
Witch magic gave me pause. It didn’t announce itself the same way fae spellwork did. I wasn’t sure if her threatened spell meant to kill us, put us back to sleep, or turn us into star-forsaken crickets. All of that could be on the table depending on my next move.
Delilah’s ruby lips quirked at the corners. “I won’t havehuntersloose here.”
“We’re not dogs, lady,” Cliff spat.
“Still, I prefer a short leash.”
Outrage burned in my chest, but to my surprise, Delilah reined in her spell when I lowered my hands in surrender—a simple act, but one that planted a weak seed of hope. Perhaps they really did think they were saving me from some terrible fate. A witch and a fairy had no reason to give hunters the benefit of the doubt, after all.
We would get nowhere if my only arguments were laced with threats and ice that would only further convince them I was brainwashed. But how could I convince them when the hunters’ presence made Ben look sick with nerves? Beneath that, something genuine sat in his gaze.
