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So why were they here in my car with me and not with either of them?
Could this day possibly get any stranger, or, dare I say it, worse? I fucking hoped I hadn’t just jinxed myself by thinking those thoughts because shit could always get worse and I was stupid for ever thinking any different.
“Why would she go back to that place?” Tyson asked quietly from the backseat. “I don’t understand it. What was the point of returning? Was she looking for something specific? I can’t wrap my mind around it. Should we be worried about any of the others returning there? Fuck, I should call Trenton and Simon and have them keep a close eye on the boys next door. I’m not taking any chances with Brighton.”
“Chill, nephew. The boys are fine and so is my brother. They’re not ever going back to that place. They’re safe and at home where they belong and they’re going to stay that way.”
I didn’t know how Quinton could be so confident when I didn’t understand why Isobel had gone there in the first place. I had zero confidence in anything at this point.
Isobel never spoke about her time there but some things were starting to make more sense to me about her now.
I got why she had nightmares that resulted in her thrashing around and screaming as if she were being murdered. I now got why she’d acted so weird and terrified of the water when I’d taken her out on a date.
I just wished she’d been comfortable enough to have talked to me about it at the time. Maybe then she would have been comfortable enough asking me to go with her and she wouldn’t have gone alone.
Things were going to change when we got her ass back. No more secrets. No more bullshit. Everything was getting put out on the table. I didn’t give a fuck what the other guys thought about it.
“Park around back,” Quinton instructed me and I rolled my eyes as I pulled around the back of the building.
He just couldn’t help himself and never passed up an opportunity to be a bossy dick.
We all got out after I parked and I locked my ride up. Couldn’t be too safe these days, even when the Alexander coven owned most of the block. I was sure there were most likely security spells in place that warded off people with ill intent, but I wasn’t going to take any more chances with my shitty luck today. I didn’t need to go around inviting in any more.
I needed to get smart and quick.
Tyson unlocked the back door and held it open for Quinton and I to walk through.
I followed behind Quinton to a door that he unlocked and then we were headed down the stairs. This building was old and I wasn’t surprised to see they were horror movie stairs with open backs someone could easily reach through and grab hold of your ankles from the other side.
Of course there would be horror movie stairs that led down to some old, dead witches blood magic basement.
The further down the stairs we went the colder the air got and the vibe completely changed.
I was a firm believer that energy stuck around and clung to places, objects, and people. The hairs on the back of my neck and arms rose with the force of the bad energy that slammed into me when I reached the bottom of the stairs.
It was suffocating.
It was cloying and made me want to burn my clothes when I left this place and bathe in a bathtub full of bleach.
The walls were covered in black drapes. The floor was cement but broken up in spots and nothing more than dirt. There were bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling, giving off light but leaving the corners dark and dank.
The lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling weren’t the main source of light in the room though. That, I assumed, came from the hundreds of candles placed all over the floor. Some were melted down to tiny stumps of wax and others looked newer, definitely taller, and there was layer upon layer of wax all over the floor in a bevy of different colors.
There were chalk markings all over the floor. There were so many and so worn and smudged that not a single one of them could be made out.
“A lot of it’s been cleaned up, if you can believe that.” Tyson said as he stepped off the stairs. “And the walls were covered up because it didn’t feel right to paint over them.”
I eyed the fabric covered walls with renewed curiosity. I wanted to know but at the same time I did not. Nothing good could come from what was hiding behind those drapes. Nothing good could come from anything in this room at all.
But, fuck it, I was willing to give anything a try when it came to Isobel.
She was worth everything.
“Let’s get started,” Quinton ordered quietly, slipping right back into boss mode. “The others won’t be too far behind, I fear, and I have a bad feeling in my gut. I think Isobel needs us now more than ever. Ty, get the chalk. Finn, when he’s done you need to remove all over your clothing and step into the circle with the items of Isobel’s you brought with you. And get ready to bleed.”
None of that sounded good either but I was down for all of it.
In this one instance I could also not fault Quinton for taking charge. My mind was too fucked up at the moment and I needed the direction.
