“Good night, then.”
“Night.”
But she still stood there like she wanted to say something.
“Wren, do you need something?”
She bit her lip. “I’ve lived among mortals before,” she finally said.
I was missing something. “And?”
“It went badly.”
“How badly?”
“I am the daughter of a goddess,” she said, as if I needed to be reminded. “I am not always able to control my powers.”
I nodded to let her know I understood, but my mind reeled as I thought about the implication of her statement. The daughter of a goddess and a necromancer, who didn’t know how to use her own gifts? That spelled danger of epic proportions.
“We’ll work on it,” I said. “I’m sure Ambrose has a book somewhere.”
“Ambrose?”
“Talbot’s dad,” I explained. “He owns Eternity Road, the shop below us.”
After she went to bed, I took off my shirt, which made my charms clack together.
I usually slept in the nude, but it wasn’t a good idea. Not with a gorgeous woman in the other room. I didn’t trust her, but I had a very bad feeling that I couldn’t resist her. At least not for long.
I downed five beers before the couch was anywhere near comfy enough to sleep on.
Wren’s bloodcurdling scream woke me from a dreamless sleep. I bolted to the bedroom, athame in hand, but there was no one in the room except Wren. She was sitting up, rigid with fear, still screaming.
“Wren, are you okay?”
Her eyes were wide open, but she wasn’t responding. I touched her shoulder gently. “It was just a dream.”
Her eyes gradually came into focus. “Not a dream,” she said. “A wraith. Here in the room.” The mention of a wraith sent my scabby scar throbbing in remembrance.
“There’s nothing here,” I soothed. “You were dreaming.” She clung to me. She was cold with dread.
“I wasn’t dreaming,” she insisted. “I woke up thirsty, so I reached over to get a drink of water. I felt it. It was in the room with me.”
“It’s not here now,” I said. It was possible that a wraith had been there, but if so, where had it gone? Why hadn’t it attacked?
“Stay with me,” she said. “I won’t be able to sleep otherwise.”
I slid under the covers and tried to make sure I kept a safe distance between us. She finally fell asleep, but I couldn’t close my eyes.
It wasn’t easy to call up a wraith, but a skilled necromancer could do it. Who in Minneapolis hated me? That list was a long one, with my aunts at the top, but if I factored in the ability to command a wraith, it became a very short list.
Wren let out a little snore, which I thought was unbearably cute. I watched her until my eyes finally drifted closed.
She was still sleeping when I woke up the next morning. Our bodies had managed to tangle together somehow during the night. Her head was snuggled into my shoulder and I had my arms around her.
Her curly hair fanned out on my pillow. She’d kicked off the covers, and the nightgown she’d borrowed from Naomi had ridden up to reveal a smooth expanse of leg.
I tried to ease away quietly, but she yawned and stretched. “Nyx?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said. I noticed her eyes on my bare chest. She put a tentative finger out. I steeled myself to resist, but she only hooked a finger under the silver chain I always wore and sent the charms tinkling.
“Where did you get these?” she asked. This time, her hand wandered down my chest. Her touch sizzled my skin and I had an immediate reaction.
Her cheeks flushed and she moved infinitesimally closer to me.
I cleared my throat. “Are you hungry?” I set her away from me gently and crossed to the dresser, which I hoped would give me time to control my raging libido. She wanted me. Elizabeth didn’t. Even though Wren’s ardency was suspect, it was a balm to my wounded ego.
I grabbed a tee and put it on. “I’m going to check on things.” If there were wraiths waiting for us in the kitchen, I didn’t want Wren to see.
“It was time for me to get out of bed anyway,” she replied. She stretched and the nightgown rode higher. I looked away.
“I thought I’d run to the diner and get us breakfast,” I said. “There’s not much food in my fridge right now.”
“Can I come with you?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“So I’ve merely exchanged prisons?”
I hated the thought of being anything like her mother. “It’s not that,” I said. “You don’t have any clothes.”
“I have to go out eventually,” she said.
I gave in. “We can buy something for you to wear at Eternity Road.”
She’d been wearing the red robes of a Hecate acolyte when I’d snatched her. Parading Wren around in that outfit would just be rubbing Hecate’s nose in it, and she was already pissed enough.
She nodded. “Then I’d love some breakfast. And coffee,” she said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a decent cup of coffee.”
“Before we leave, I need to try a spell on you,” I said. I explained the basics of the occulo spell and she agreed.
I managed to duplicate the occulo spell. It wasn’t as good as the one I’d purchased or as strong, but it would mask Wren’s resemblance to Naomi, at least for a few weeks. We’d have to figure out a more permanent solution eventually.
*
The store was already open and Ambrose barely raised an eyebrow when we came in. “Ambrose, this is Wren. Ambrose Bardoff is the owner of Eternity Road.”
“Wren?” he repeated. “Where have I heard that name before?”
I tried to look innocent. “She needs something a little less noticeable.” I gestured to the red robe she wore, which was embroidered with silver keys. Any sorcerer worth his salt would know she was Hecate’s.
“I see.” There was a long pause from Ambrose. Then he added, “We got some vintage stuff in yesterday. It might fit her.”
I pointed Wren in the right direction and then went back to fill Ambrose in.
Even tacky seventies polyester couldn’t hide Wren’s hotness. She posed next to a vase filled with feathers.
She plucked an ancient peacock feather from its resting place and brushed it against my cheek, then held it there. “Peacock blue,” she said. “That’s the exact color of your eyes.”
The touch of the feather sent me somewhere else, under a hot India sun. I heard the screech of the peacocks and felt the sun blazing on my face. My head spun. I reached out a hand to steady myself and felt something smooth beneath my hand. I gripped it, looking for something, anything to stop the spinning. The pebble pulsed in my hand and everything stopped. I was in a void, somewhere with neither heat nor light.
From very far away, I heard Talbot’s voice saying, “What the hell did you do to him?”
Then I snapped back. I was lying on the floor at Eternity Road, gazing at Wren’s bare feet.
My throat was dry, like I’d swallowed half a desert. “How did you do that?” I rasped out.
“I didn’t mean to,” she said.
Ambrose took the peacock feather from her. “I’ll take that,” he said.
I realized there was something clenched in my fist and I uncurled it. There was a crimson bead in the palm of my hand.
The bright color attracted Wren’s attention. “What is that? It’s so pretty.”
“It came back with me.” I thought about giving it to her, but changed my mind and pocketed the bead instead.
She pouted adorably, but I held firm. I wanted to hold on to it until I figured out what it was and why I’d ended up with it.
I coughed several times before I finally said, “Wren, why don’t you see if you can find a pair of jeans?”
“Jeans?” she asked.
“Where’s my girlfriend when I need her? She loves to shop,” Talbot said. “I’ll
help you find something.”
He and Wren went to the other side of the store where we kept a few pairs of old Levi’s. Ambrose would buy anything he thought he could sell to the mortals, but he made most of his profits by selling large-ticket magical items.
“What happened to you when you were out?” Ambrose asked.
“I was in another time and place,” I said. I held up the bead. “Ever see this before?”
He shook his head. “Maybe it’s a bead of power,” he said. “But I’ve never seen one like that. It looks like something you could buy at any tourist trap. There’s no energy emanating from it.”
“I’ll hold on to it anyway,” I said. There were ways to hide magic in plain sight. “Have you ever heard of anyone being able to do that? Transport someone with one touch?”
“Not anyone from the House of Zeus,” he said. “But she is the daughter of a goddess and a necromancer, so there’s no telling what she can do.”
“Do you think she did it on purpose?” I asked. “She seemed as surprised as I was.”
“Or maybe she’s just a good actress,” Ambrose said.
The word actress reminded me of Elizabeth, which reminded me how easily I’d been betrayed. I wasn’t going to be that gullible again. If Wren was out to scam me, what was in it for her? Besides freedom from her mother?
“That reminds me,” I replied. “Do you have any books I can borrow about Hecate? Specifically, about how my aunts managed to trap her in the underworld?”
“There are many books about Hecate,” he said. “But nothing about how your aunts trapped her. I’ll keep a lookout, though.”
“Thanks, Ambrose,” I said. “The aunts won’t tell me anything. I’ve even tried to get a glimpse of the Book of Fates.”
“Be careful. And I’m not just talking about Wren’s powers, Nyx. Any scorned woman is powerful, but it’s another thing when you add magic to the mix.”
“I’m not going to hurt her,” I said. I wasn’t sure of the reverse, though.
He gave me a stern look. “You mean you don’t want to hurt her,” he said. “There’s a difference.”
“I don’t know what else to do,” I said. “She can’t stay at Claire’s or Naomi’s.”
“Just tread cautiously,” he said.
“I’ll try.” Caution wasn’t one of my finer traits.
Wren came back wearing a pair of jeans that fit her like a second skin and a Victorian lace top. Her feet were bare. The sight of her made me want to carry her upstairs and stay there until we’d had enough of each other.
“She’ll need shoes,” Talbot said, interrupting some very vivid fantasies.
“We’ll get her some flip-flops at the convenience store.”
After Wren was properly shod, we headed for Hell’s Belles. Bernie was working the counter and nearly scalded some poor House of Poseidon merman with his herbal tea.
“Hey, Bernie,” I said. “Can we get two blue-plate specials and a couple of cups of coffee?”
“Are you out of your mind, bringing her here?” she shouted. Conversation around us ceased. She lowered her voice. “Her mother is tearing apart the underworld right now.”
“Thank you for—” I didn’t get to finish thanking her for saving us in the underworld.
“Shut your gob, Nyx Fortuna,” she hissed.
Bernie was scared, but of who? I glanced around the diner, but didn’t see any other demons. A group of businessmen sat in a booth in the far corner, clearly in the middle of a meeting. I didn’t see anything to worry about, but Bernie’s gaze drifted over there.
Sean Danvers was one of the businessmen, and I realized Bernie didn’t want to talk in front of him.
“Can you get a message to Hecate?” I said softly. “Let her know that Wren is unharmed.”
“She’s not going to believe that her daughter is safe in the hands of someone from the House of Fates.”
“I’m not from the House of Fates,” I said sharply.
“She won’t see it that way,” Bernie replied. “You’ll have a legion of demons at your door before you know it.”
“She wouldn’t dare,” I said.
Bernie frowned. “Maybe. Maybe not. Now what can I get you?”
After we ordered, Wren stared at Bernie’s retreating back. “She’s right, you know. My mother will try to kill you.”
“Haven’t you heard? I can’t be killed.”
“Do not joke about death,” she said. “My mother will find a way.”
The dark pronouncement didn’t faze me. Hecate wasn’t the first one to try and she probably wouldn’t be the last.
*
The rest of the day was uneventful. I waited until Wren was in the shower to hide the bead. I taped it to the back of a framed picture of Elizabeth and then put it in my closet. Anyone snooping would assume it was nothing more than a painful reminder of a failed relationship. For good measure, I grabbed the only photo I had of the two of us and stacked it on top of the first photo.
We’d gone to bed when they came for her.
She shook me from sleep. “Nyx, wake up,” she whispered. “There’s someone here.”
“At the door?” I yawned.
“Inside,” she said.
Wide-awake now, I grabbed my athame. “Wraiths?”
“No, demons,” she said.
“Stay here,” I said. “No matter what you hear.”
“I’m coming with you,” she said.
There wasn’t any more time to argue. I stopped and listened. I could hear someone breathing. There was a demon in my living room.
I flicked on the light, hoping it would take her by surprise, but she only smirked at me. She was tall and slim, with shiny black hair.
“You took something that doesn’t belong to you,” she said. “The goddess wants it back.”
“Wren doesn’t belong to anybody,” I said.
“I’m not going with you, Antara,” Wren said.
“You know her?” I asked.
“She’s one of Hecate’s personal bodyguards. Martial arts expert,” Wren warned.
Antara’s skills soon became evident. She punched me so hard that my ears rang. I feinted and slashed out with my athame, but she kicked it out of my hand effortlessly.
She hit me hard and I skidded and fell. She was on top of me within seconds. She grabbed a handful of my hair and bashed my head against the kitchen floor tile.
“Hey, I want to get my deposit back when I leave,” I said as my blood splattered all over the white tiles.
“I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you,” Antara grunted.
That was the last thing she said, because Wren grabbed Antara by her hair, exposing her neck, and sliced clean through it with the kitchen knife I’d used to chop the salad I’d made for dinner.
Drops of demon blood fell on my bare chest and scalded it. I shoved the demon’s dead body off me, careful to avoid as much of her blood as I could.
“Now your mom’s going to be really pissed,” I said.
Wren looked at me. Her brown eyes had turned amber and her gaze was unfocused, like she was somewhere far away.
“Are you okay?”
“I’ve never killed anyone before,” she said. “I find it quite…” But I never found out how she found it, because she pitched forward in a dead faint.
I carried her to the couch and then went to the sink to wet a cloth. I dabbed her face and wrists. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she sat up. “What happened?”
“You fainted,” I said.
She was all big eyes and trembling lips. Her gaze went to Antara’s body, which I’d left lying on the floor. I cursed myself for being an idiot.
“Why don’t you go back to bed,” I said. “While I clean up.”
She nodded and then stood, swaying slightly. I picked her up and carried her to the bed. “I’m going to go out for a bit,” I said. “I won’t be long. Will you be okay by yourself?”
She’d just killed a trained fighter. She could o
bviously take care of herself. I didn’t know why I was reluctant to leave her, but I was.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “But where are you going?”
“I’m going to return Hecate’s bodyguard to where she came from,” I said.
I used a concealing spell, dragged Antara’s body to the gate leading to the underworld, and dumped it there. Hecate would get the message.
Chapter Nineteen
I was on edge all week, but Hecate’s demons didn’t make an appearance. Sometimes, late at night, I heard the sound of a baying hound.
I managed to keep my hands off Wren, despite her best efforts. She had insisted she was too scared to sleep alone, which meant temptation was within easy reach. I’d tried everything short of bringing someone else home to keep her at a distance, but Wren was determined.
I woke in the middle of the night to absolute quiet.
“Wren?” I called out, but there was no answer. She was gone.
I searched the apartment. The front door was unlocked, but there was no sign of a break-in. The wards were in place. Nothing was out of place or broken. It seemed as though Wren had left on her own.
I reached for the absinthe bottle I kept in my fridge and chugged it back. I watched the clock as the hands moved slowly toward dawn.
Had she gone back to the underworld? The thought disturbed me, which agitated me even more. Did I have feelings for Wren? Was I jealous? Getting involved with Hecate’s daughter was possibly the dumbest thing I’d ever done in my long history of stupid actions.
Sickly yellow light streamed through my kitchen window. It was almost morning and she still wasn’t home.
I was putting on my Docs to go look for her when she returned. She wore her acolyte robe and her feet were bare. The robe was heavy with dew.
“Where have you been?” I knew my aunt had been messing with my head, but I couldn’t seem to shake Deci’s proclamation that I’d be betrayed again. There was a good chance Wren was playing me, but she was hard to resist.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “So I went for a walk.” She yawned.
“In the middle of the night? In this neighborhood?”
“I know how to take care of myself,” she said. “I thought you said I wasn’t a prisoner here.”