The Problem With Hexes

by Lexi Ostrow

  “You’ve heard?”

  “Indeed, I have,” Patrick grumbled. “I’m sorry we couldn’t understand what was happening at the meeting. But, now that we know, there are precautions we must take.”

  “Go on.” Jonathon preferred not to be given orders directly by the Warlock High Priest. Taking them from Lannow was more than he cared for.

  “I already discussed with Ivy, and while we’ll bring it up at an emergency Council meeting, it needs to happen immediately.”

  “Stop pussyfooting around it and just tell me.”

  “We’re going to lock you and Deidre in a hotel room. We’re going to cast magical dampeners around the room, and you’re not going to be able to come out… until we catch Remy. There’s a storm coming and it’s not looking good.”

  “You got it.” The High Priest’s plan might not save the city, but it sure as shit would help.

  “That’s it?”

  “It’s a perfect idea. I don’t know how much you’ve been told, and I obviously can’t tell you, but getting us somewhere we can’t cast and kill our powers seems like a damn good plan to me.”

  “I honestly wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Because you think I’d want to go hunt down the bastard.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Well, sure, I do. It doesn’t do me any good if I’m out and about when the time comes. I trust you will bring him in.” Jonathon tripped over selecting the proper words, afraid that even if Patrick knew, speaking to him about it could still result in his death.

  “You’re a good man, Jonathon Trevors. One I’d be happy to help learn the position from me.”

  Jonathon’s mouth went dry as the meaning settled over him.

  “It won’t be today – hell it won’t be for a hundred years or so – but I married a vampire. There’s no bloodline coming from me. I’ve watched you since Vexx. You hate it here, and you’d have to stay, but you’d make one hell of a replacement.”

  “Fuck,” Jonathon couldn’t string a sentence together. He’d never wanted to run a Coven, let alone the largest and most respected in the world.

  Patrick snorted. “We’ll talk more when this fiasco is done. For now, I want you to know how much I respect you. We’ve got it from here. No one is going to get hurt . . . except maybe the gator.”

  The line went dead. Still partially stunned, Jonathon slipped the phone back into his pocket. He’d never imagined a conversation with Patrick could take that turn. Shaking his head, Jonathon turned to see Deidre waving her wand, a trail of sea-green electricity coming from the tip.

  “What are you doing?” He strolled over, not attacking her, but merely curious.

  “I woke him and unfroze him. He was going to cooperate, and the cuffs make him unable to shift.”

  “I’ll go willingly. As long as you protect me, I have no problem throwing Remy under this bus. The torture wasn’t necessary.”

  “There was no other way to find you.” Jonathon narrowed his gaze at the man. “It’s not as if you stepped forward willingly.”

  “I protect myself. You’re offering me safety and life. I’ll cooperate as long as I don’t need to be used as bait.”

  “Let’s go,” Elijah grumbled as he wrapped his hand around Henry’s forearm. “Not that I’m ungrateful to you, but this shit isn’t going to fly. I’m not only going to punish Remy for the act but for dragging the city’s weregator population in on it.” Elijah shoved Henry forward, stalking past them.

  “Don’t mind him,” Ivy touched Deidre’s shoulder. “I really didn’t know what my vision of you both meant, though I’m happy it seems to have brought you to where you need to be.”

  “Ivy,” Elijah’s growl carried through the swamp.

  “On that note, Tanner is going to drive you guys back in. The wolves will stay behind. Lita and Sam will help get you set up somewhere. This will be over soon. I promise.” She dropped a kiss on Deidre’s cheek and hugged Jonathon. “You two endured far more than you should have, and I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, please. It’s not like I’ve traveled through time multiple times to save all of humanity.” Deidre’s lip twitched as she seemingly tried to hold it together.

  With a smile, Ivy jogged after her husband.

  “Okay, then.” Tanner let out a whistle. “When I said I’d come instead of checking out the latest woman to spend the night with me, I didn’t realize how much I’d be in for.”

  Deidre scoffed. “I know Lita and Sam swear you’re a good man underneath it all, but goddess be damned if you aren’t the cockiest man I know.”

  Tanner grinned, the smile lighting up his face only served at making him more attractive. “He’s in there. I just like to play the field until Mrs. Right comes along.”

  Jonathon couldn’t stop his eyes from settling on Deidre. His heart was going to crumble if she left him once they caught Remy, but at least he finally understood the stupid things men do for women. He’d do them for Deidre. You’re going to do them for her.

  “Tanner, before we get to that hotel, I need to swing by my place and cast something real quick. A protection of sorts.”

  “Fine by me.”

  Deidre slipped her hand into his. She would never have to know what came next.

  Nineteen

  Deidre wanted to be happy. She should be happy.

  They’d finally gotten their secret out, and the danger shared with people who could help. She no longer had to live in fear of what she and Jonathon might do.

  The icing on the cake? She couldn’t remember feeling the way she did about Jonathon ever, even for Gerard. She loved her husband dearly. They shared a whirlwind romance and marriage. Deidre never questioned her love for her husband, but she couldn’t help but wonder if what passed between her and Jonathon wouldn’t one day be stronger.

  If you live to see that day.

  “I know that face.” Jonathon cocked his head to the side as he sat down across from her at the small table in the living room of the suite. “That’s your something is wrong face.” His hand slid over the circular tabletop and took hers. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

  Deidre snorted. “You’re far too perceptive for your own good.”

  “I’m a detective. My business is reading people and getting answers when others can’t. Even if you think I suck at it.”

  “I thought it was protecting the city from the bad guys?”

  He smirked. “That too. Stop avoiding. It’s been nearly two months of daily contact, whether you want to admit it or not, I know you enough to know your moods.”

  With a sigh, she contemplated pulling her hand off his, but she didn’t. His small touch comforted her, made her see just how much he cared.

  “I want to be happy. We did everything we could except stop the hex entirely.” She gestured around the opulent Ritz Carlton suite. “We’re even trapped away as effectively as we can be. We’re nowhere near any known caster businesses or homes. We’re trapped inside a glamorous hotel with five-course meals and the cushiest bed I’ll ever slept on. Our powers are dampened. The storm is coming in a few days and is still showing to be nothing more than a tropical storm.”

  “But you’re concerned everything can be overridden, and we’ll cast the hex and drown the city in a few days?”

  “Exactly,” her lip quivered as the urge to cry began to overwhelm her.

  “Hey, come here.” He stood and walked around the table, stopping just beside her chair.

  Rising to lean into his embrace was as second nature as breathing at this point. They’d given in to their desires, and instead of just sex, she’d formed an emotional bond with the least likely person.

  “I’m terrified it’s not over.” His lips brushed across her forward. “Hey, Patrick.”

  The vibration of his shout echoed against her face before the door swung inward.

  “Everything good?” Patrick didn’t seem nervous, but his eyes narrowed as he stepped inside.

  “Yup, just talking
this through with Deidre,” Jonathon let her go and took a step back. “You’re outside. You’re not leaving?”

  “Not a shot in hell. Whatever the hell Remy did to the pair of you went deep and is far too dangerous. While no one is going to kill you if you start to someone how to cast something, we’ll sure as shit freeze you.”

  “Not trap us.” Jonathon wasn’t asking.

  “Never. I’m not going to isolate you with a full-blown hurricane possibly forming over your heads. I’m not a murderer. Not of good people, at least.”

  Jonathon still didn’t understand the High Priest’s role in an alternate timeline beyond that Patrick held memories very few others did. Jonathon only found out about them a few months ago thanks to his circle of friends. They seemed to indicate a different person than he was now.

  “And you’re staying because?” Deidre spoke up.

  “I’ve been through hell and back for this city. I’m not going to stop now.”

  “Oh,” she sounded displeased with the answer.

  “You wanted me to say it’s because we’re friends?” Patrick stepped past Jonathon.

  A strange sense of jealousy passed over Jonathon. He realized he didn’t know how the High Priest tied into the witch's life.

  “It wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Well, there’s always that. I know things didn’t work out between Ivy and me, but we spent nearly one hundred years of drunken nights and social gatherings together. I might be distant now because I have my family and my coven, but it has nothing to do with not considering you a friend since Ivy dumped me.”

  Jonathon let out a small sigh of relief. While it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, knowing Deidre might have been involved with a man as powerful, handsome, and charismatic as Patrick didn’t give him warm and fuzzy feelings.

  “And your wife doesn’t mind you spending an unspecified amount of time here?”

  “We’re both staying in the room next door when I need to sleep if that’s what you’re getting at, but no, she doesn’t mind.”

  “Which is likely due to me assigning her the front entrance of the hotel.” Renard knocked casually on the inside of the door frame. “Invite anyone?”

  “Come in,” Jonathon couldn’t help but chuckle. Of all the things vampires had overcome since their creation, a spell to grant them access to any building was not one of them.

  “Thanks,” Renard stepped in. The usually fashionable vampire had no change in his pristine outfit, but the usual flare didn’t shine in his eyes. “As I indicated, I decided it was time to add my people into the mix. There are two vampires on every floor and six outside. Since we don’t need sleep, they’re here for good.”

  A wave of unease rolled through Jonathon, and he fought back the gag reflex as if he needed to vomit.

  “They haven’t caught him?”

  Renard’s head moved sullenly. “No, which is why I’ve thrown my lot in. We can’t transport. We can’t turn into bats. If this city floods, we go down with it, and despite not needing to breathe, I suspect many would find themselves impaled on objects or even tree branches.” He fixed his sports coat. “While this gesture isn’t entirely self-serving, it does fit the bill.”

  “What about the evacuation?” Deidre stepped forward, chewing on her lower lip.

  “It’s done. The city itself was cleared out with a little magical help. We weren’t taking chances. There’s no telling how bad this will be, and we didn’t need money affecting whether people left.”

  “And the storm?” Guilt wrapped around him. They had a television and phones, there was no reason they didn’t know all this except they’d spent the last three hours stressed and not speaking, let alone doing research.

  “Still on track to hit tomorrow evening or the next morning. Still just a tropical storm. One day the weather will be nothing but magic and they’ll know these things for certain.” Patrick cracked a small smile, clearly amused with his joke.

  “Unless the hex kicks in.” Deidre sighed and went to sit on the couch in the front hallway of the suite. “We’ve got approximately eight hours before the hex could start again. And we might die if we can’t cast the hex because the burning sensation will rip through Jonathon’s throat and burn my arm to bits.”

  “That’s why you’re in here with a dampening spell and charms. The hex shouldn’t even be able to kick in.”

  Jonathon sat beside her, taking her hand in his. “I should have known your brain moved to those assumptions.”

  "Did yours?"

  "I’m a little offended you think that’s something to ask me.”

  A small smile lifted her lips. “Sorry, I forget you’re perfect.”

  He tugged her against him, shifting so she could lay across his lap. “Not perfect, just damn good at my job.”

  “That he is.” Sam and Elijah walked in. Both wearing grim expressions. “How are you guys doing?”

  “Miserable,” Deidre didn’t bother to sit up. “And terrified. Please tell me Lita left.”

  Sam nodded. “She did. Took a lot of pressure, but the reminder of her pregnancy was enough to push her up to Baton Rouge until we catch Remy.”

  It was Jonathon who blew out a breath. “I worried she’d stay.”

  “She sure as shit tried. Ivy almost had to force her through magic.”

  “Ivy stayed?” Deidre groaned, sitting up.

  “She did. As Council Elect and High Priestess there was little chance she’d leave. Toss in her best friend on the line, and she dug her heels in so hard I had no choice but to give in and accept she wasn’t getting out of dodge.” Elijah crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s downstairs with enough coven members from the witches and warlocks to break up as much of the storm as we can when it hits.”

  “Dee, you aren’t going to like this, but would you mind if I talk to them alone?”

  “So you can tell them to shoot you if you start to cast any spells?” Her eyes burned with fire. “Not a shot in hell.”

  “I swear to you, I have no intention of having anyone shoot me.” Not a lie.

  “Fine, but if I find out you’ve lied to me, this is done between us. I won’t start out on a lie, not after everything we’ve been through.” She rose, seemed to remember something, and dropped a kiss against his lips. “The three of you do anything to convince him shooting him is a good idea, I swear I’ll have the war of the century with your wives on my side.”

  Jonathon held back the snort of laughter. Two days ago, Deidre didn’t think the attraction between them was anything more than the hex. Now she seemed ready to throw her lot in with his.

  Which makes this harder, but still needed.

  Jonathon waited until the door to the bedroom closed before lowering his voice. “I need to talk to you about a hex I had to cast.”

  “It’s not going to stop.” Deidre pressed her face against the window, letting the frigidness seep into her skin.

  “I don’t think so,” Jonathon stepped beside her. “They’re fighting it, Dee. This can’t be our battle. We can’t help.” His arm wrapped around her waist, but he didn’t pull her against him. “We can’t risk leaving this room, Dee.”

  She knew Jonathon was right, she just didn’t like it.

  Three hours ago, the rain pounding against the window, and the howl of the wind woke her. It took little effort to wake Jonathon as she sat up and rolled off his bare chest to stare out the window. In that time, she’d spent the entirety of it trapped in the bed with the covers drawn up to her neck like a scared little girl.

  And she was.

  Scared, not a little girl.

  “Dee?” Worry traced the single word.

  “I hear you. I don’t like it, but I hear you.” A shiver raced through her as she stared down onto the street – the flooding street.

  “Your arm doesn’t burn, right?” He tapped her on the shoulder. “Look at me, please.”

  It took everything Deidre had to tear her gaze away from the ground where witches
and warlocks stood in circles combating the storm. When she did, the intensity in Johnathon’s gaze frightened her.

  “N…no,” Deidre stammered, trying to remember Jonathon was likely as terrified as she was – and younger. “Are you okay?” She shook her head, clearing the cobwebs. “I’m so selfish. I was so worried about what I might do and what I saw out the window.” If she’d had any tears left, they’d flow free.

  “I’m fine.” He tugged her against him, dropping his chin on top of her head. “Not even the slightest tingle of fire anywhere.”

  She sucked in a breath through her nose, held it for longer than she should have, and hastily breathed out through her mouth.

  “How?”

  Jonathon cocked his head to the side. “How what?”

  “How are you, okay?” Her voice trembled. “Any minute now the entire city could drown thanks to us.”

  “Are you going to blast me with witch fire if I kiss you to comfort you?”

  She resisted the small urge to smile. “I might if you don’t.”

  His arms lowered to her waist as he angled his face to meet hers. Warmth rushed over Deidre as their lips touched. It wasn’t a calming sensation, merely what she’d felt each he kissed her, like a part of her became whole when he did.

  Jonathon lifted his lips from hers, taking the warmth itself, but not the contentment.

  “Now, I’m okay because I know this is the end. Remy must be close enough to witness this, and I’m betting once the hex passes without completion, whatever he’s done to block him from locator spells will fall. We’ll be free, the city will be safe, and Remy will be behind bars for a very, very long time.”

  Deidre wanted to find comfort in the words – they were the truth. “I just can’t help but think the hex is stronger than the wards.”

  Jonathon’s hands ran up and down her back. “I get that. For now, we have to assume everything is fine. This storm was brewed up by mother nature, and it’s just a nasty one.”

  She frowned. “Which makes it worse that I’m not down helping the covens keep the city safe.”