I was alone with nowhere to turn. For so long I liked it that way, but right now I wished I had one friend I could share my nightmare with, someone to give me advice. There was only one person that could help me right now, yet again someone who wanted something from me. Carefully, I walked through the shadows to her cottage.
“Evie? You look like hell.” Bess said with a wrinkled nose.
I was in a dress that had seen better days, my hair was a tangled mess and I was barefooted. I could only imagine how bad it was. “Can I come in? I have nowhere else to go.”
Her expression turned sympathetic. She led me inside and shut the door. “We’re about the same size, why don’t you shower and change then we can talk?” she suggested and right now that sounded like heaven. I nodded and continued to follow her through the house. She gave me a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, having met a few times before she knew I favored the simplicity. “I’ll go make some coffee.” She left me alone in the bathroom.
I set the borrowed clothes down and looked in the mirror. Bess had been kind when she said I looked like hell. I looked far worse. There were superficial scratches on my bare arms, the straps of my dress were barely holding on. I took it off and twisted it into a ball, it was trash now. My panties were still somewhere at Caleb’s and I hadn’t been wearing a bra. The dress was all I had on since leaving his place.
I tried to think of what happened between us and my mind kept coming up blank. I couldn’t figure out a reason I’d have a memory lapse. Perhaps my mind was trying to protect me from the images. Caleb was forbidden and if I couldn’t remember it, then he’d always remain forbidden.
I climbed in the shower and just let the water hit me. It stung against the scratches before it began to feel rather nice. I washed everything twice, even my hair, until I started to feel like myself again.
I dried off and moved to get dressed. I found between the shirt and jeans a pack of unopened cotton underwear. With gestures like that, I couldn’t keep being mad at Bess. Thankful for her help, I quickly got dressed and went to meet her. “Thanks for all the help.” I wanted her to know that. She wasn’t selfish like I wanted to believe.
“It’s fine, nothing better to do with this day anyway.” She shrugged.
“Except run a whole department?”
“That’s later.” She smiled then let it slip. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“There are a few people who want me dead and then someone who wants me to submit to his control so he’ll fix it all for me.” I slumped into one of the stools at the kitchen nook.
“Caleb? Is that really such a bad thing?”
“I grew up with someone telling me what I could and couldn’t do, what was proper and what wasn’t. They controlled every minute of my life.” I knew it wouldn’t be like that with Caleb but he was an alpha, it was in his nature to lead and control. All under him had to submit; and I couldn’t.
“You have control issues, got it.” she grabbed her green mug of coffee and took a sip. “But not everyone is going to want to make you their puppet.”
“He wants me to join his pack and you want me to join your team.”
“Two very different scenarios; I am offering you a job and I know you’ve had one before, like with any job you have choices and can always quit. I have a very elite team and I know what you are capable of. With talents like that you shouldn’t be someone’s waitress. I won’t tell you what to do, hell Zoe is my sister I know something about headstrong people.” That made me smile, that Zoe girl sounded like she was a real riot. “But,” Bess continued. “you can’t keep going on like this. No one can run forever.” That statement looked like it meant something for her.
“What are you running from?” I asked softly on the off chance she’d answer.
“My father is just like your Coven, he wants to dictate what I do for a living, who I report to, and who I even marry. He’s two for three.”
As I stared at her and saw the anger and sadness in her eyes I realized she understood exactly how I felt. “I’m sorry for judging you at first and for being a royal bitch. This hasn’t been the best time in my life and you came crashing through.”
“This skin isn’t soft, I deal with bitching all the time it’s one of the perks of the job. Speaking of…”
“Oh no.”
“What kind of business woman would I be if I didn’t take this clear opening? You may like what I have to say; Caleb isn’t your only hope.” She grinned, knowing exactly what to say.
I became very interested in what she was trying to sell. “Meaning?”
“What I do is legal, where I come from is very powerful. Join me and no one; witches, wolves, and vamps wouldn’t risk touching you.”
I liked her option much better than submitting to Caleb. “How would this work?”
“Think of it as an even exchange; I take care of your problem and you work off the debt with the SCF. You wouldn’t need a pack to back you up, you’d have the whole High Order. Do you know what that is?”
My eyes went wide. “Yes. Rulers of heaven?” I heard about it through the grapevine along with a lot of other whispers about supernatural races during my long shifts at the restaurant.
“Something like that.”
“And you can swing this deal?”
“I know someone who can, yes. Do we have a deal?” she asked without explaining any farther and I think I preferred it that way. I didn’t know what would be said to the Coven or done.
I looked at her outstretched hand for a moment while I considered the deal again. I couldn’t find one con about it, it was the best solution in front of me and way better than anything I had thought of. I’d still be in control. I slipped my hand in hers. “Yes.”
Her smile widened, she was happy. “I want you to stay here while I go handle this. I don’t want you finding anymore trouble yet.” She said that like she knew eventually I’d manage to find trouble somewhere.
“Ok.” I wasn’t in the mood to fight. I wanted to sleep for the next week and wake up when the world wasn’t so dark.
“If you’re hungry feel free to have anything you find.” That was her exit line, she smiled once more then left out the front door. Her cottage wasn’t that much different from my place. There was a slight hallway connecting the kitchen and living room together, both rooms of a fair size.
I finished my coffee and went to the living room. I lay on the couch and willed myself to sleep.