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Where is Steph?
What can I do to stop Jesse and the others from barging in here to save me and falling directly into the witches’ trap?
And how in the hell did I cast that spell to bring down the barrier?
40
MALEDICTION
I don’t know how long I’ve been hiding in this closet, but the light shining through the window has grown steadily dimmer until only the slightest glow remains. I know I can’t hide in here forever. The witches will eventually find Tamelen and realize I’ve escaped. They’ll be looking for me, and as much as I hate to admit it, hiding in a closet just down the hall from my cell wasn’t my wisest decision.
I’ve been studiously ignoring the fact that I somehow managed to take down the barrier spell that was supposed to keep me locked in my cage. I know I’m going to have to think about it, eventually. I’m going to have to figure out how that was even possible.
But all I can think about right now is finding Steph and getting out of here. Our plan to trap the witches was a colossal failure, and we need to save ourselves and find the vampires and Bernadette so we can regroup and come up with another plan.
First order of business––getting out of this fucking closet.
Trying not to feel like an idiot, I start whispering the spell Bernadette taught Steph to make herself invisible. I enunciate each syllable carefully, but nothing happens. I try again, and once again, nothing.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
I am stupid. That barrier spell was probably weak, and I broke it apart by sheer force, not by mumbling a few words I don’t even understand. I’m not a witch. I’m human, and I’m going to have to find a human way out of this mess.
A muffled shout rings out, and I leap to my feet. The shout is followed by a rush of pounding footsteps past the door of my hidey-hole, and I frantically search for something I can use as a weapon to defend myself. There are a few rags and towels on a shelf to my left. I reach for the wooden plank that serves as the shelf and give it a tug, but it’s bolted to the brackets attaching it to the wall. Looking around frantically, I see the bucket I was sitting on and a box full of spray bottles.
I grab a bottle and read the label. The spray contains bleach, and it might slow someone down if I manage to get them in the eyes. Gripping the bottle tightly, I try to listen for voices over the rush of blood pumping in my ears.
This is stupid. These people are witches, for Christ’s sake. I’m not going to stop them with a bottle of bleach spray.
Panicking, I start to recite the invisibility spell once more. Footsteps are thundering back toward me, and I’m out of time. Even though part of me knows it’s a fool’s errand, my brain is screaming that this has to work. Otherwise, I’m dead.
I feel a tingling under my skin just like before, in my cell, but before I can analyze it, the closet door swings open. A woman I don’t recognize steps inside and looks right at me. I lift my spray bottle and aim for her face, but before I can squeeze the trigger, she yells “clear” and leaves the room.
What the fuck?
I look down at the spray bottle in my hand, wondering if it somehow scared her enough to pretend I’m not here and run away. I see nothing. My breath thunders in and out of my lungs as I look down at my body. It’s not there, either. All I see is the stone floor of the closet.
Holy shit. The spell worked. I’m invisible, as is the spray bottle in my hand.
What does this mean? Could I be…?
No. I’ll unpack this shit later. Right now, I need to get the hell out of here and find Steph.
Stepping carefully from the closet, I keep my steps as light as possible as I tread down the hall toward the group of witches outside my cell. Shannon and Hyacinth are among them, and I tiptoe toward them, hoping they’ll say something that will lead me to Steph.
“She’s dead,” Hyacinth says.
She’s squatting next to the body––Tamelen. Fuck, I really did kill her. Pushing herself to her feet, she bows her head and mouths a few words.
“Aunt Hyacinth,” Shannon says, and a little shock ripples through me.
Aunt? I wonder if she’s Bernadette’s sister, or Steph and Shannon’s father’s. And how is she the leader of a coven across the country if she’s related to the witches here? I didn’t get that wrong, did I? Hyacinth was the witch Jesse was looking for the day he found me at the airport, right? She’d insinuated as much, but hell, she could’ve been lying.
Before Shannon can finish her sentence, a tall, imposing man steps into the corridor from a hallway at the other end. The group of witches moves as one, all of them stepping back from Tamelen’s body as he strides toward them.
“Tamelen is dead,” Hyacinth says. “And the human has escaped.”
The man bites out a curse and turns to Shannon. “Go to your sister. You need to do it, now.”
