White Charms and Dark Secrets (Grey Witch Book 2)

by Cece Rose

  “Let me ask you a question... If it wasn't Kier's father, would you ask me for this?” he demands, though he keeps his voice soft.

  I pause in my pacing, the question taking me by surprise. I didn’t even think about helping to find the criminal until I knew it was Kier's dad. Sure, I planned to tell Kier everything I knew, but until then, I didn’t intend to get involved. I know it shouldn't make a difference, but it does to me. I can't help but feel more obligated, knowing Kier’s history with him.

  I know Kier, and in a weird way, I even care about him. Yes, he stalked me in his efforts to catch a murderer, but he also saved my life. He brought me home, and he made sure I was safe. He didn't even report me when I resurrected Jay to try to find his real killer. If anything, he helped me with it. The answer to Rhydian's question is obvious.

  “No, I wouldn't, but that doesn't matter because it is Kier's father, and it is still my fault. Please, Rhydian, I don’t know any other way I can make things right,” I beg, turning to face him so I can try and implore him with my eyes.

  He stares at me for a few moments without speaking. It's so damn quiet I swear I can hear my own heartbeat.

  “I admire your honesty. Fine. I will allow you, and only you, to use the artefact. However, you cannot tell Kier how you found his father, and you cannot ever speak of this to anyone. This artefact must remain hidden. It's bad enough your murdering little friend knows about it.”

  So glad he's helping, I choose to ignore his jibe about Lizzy. “Thank you—”

  “Don't thank me just yet, sweetheart. I want something in exchange,” he says, cutting me off with a wave of his hand. He stands up, stalking towards me slowly.

  “What do you want?” I ask with a heavy sigh. Knowing Rhydian, it won't be anything good.

  “No need to sound so dismayed. You want something, and I want something in return. Isn't that how all transactions in the world work?” he volleys, his green eyes seem to contain a mischievous glimmer in the light.

  “What do you want?” I insist again. I don't have time for childish games.

  “You just have to take the fun out of everything, don't you?” He's smiling as he says it though.

  “Rhydian,” I groan, my patience running out.

  “Kiss me, Kayla,” his soft voice demands as he leans down just enough that I can reach him if I reach up. I look at him, my eyes widening for a second. He cannot be serious. His expression tells a different story, though. He's serious. Incorrigible, flirtatious fae, can’t resist snagging a kiss from anyone I bet.

  I roll my eyes at him, before leaning up and pressing my lips against his in a quick, light kiss and reeling back, not giving him a chance to return the faint kiss. There.

  “You can do better than that,” he teases.

  I showed way too much optimism in expecting him to accept that ghost of a kiss, but I had to try.

  “You're an asshole,” I mutter, glaring at him, before wrapping my hand around his neck and tugging his head down to me. I shove my guilt at kissing Rhydian aside for a moment with the reassurance that I'm doing this for a good cause. It’s not like I want to kiss him, right?

  Our lips crash together, and I feel his arms slip around my waist, yanking me closer against him. His tongue pushes past my lips, tangling with mine as he kisses me with a reckless fervour. A moan escapes my lips when one of his hands moves up to clutch my throat, holding me with just enough pressure as his lips move from mine and down to my jawline. My eyelids flutter shut as he continues the trail of kisses to my neck.

  As suddenly as it all started, it stops as he steps away, a satisfied look on his face. I'm left breathless and confused at my frustration with him pulling away so quickly.

  “Better?” I use the sarcastic taunt in an attempt to hide my fluster, granted, only after taking a few calming breaths. My heart races, and I can feel the flush in my cheeks. No alcohol here to blame it on, though. I lick my lips, nerves keeping me on edge.

  “Perfect,” he hums. “Now that we worked out some of our frustration with that bit of fun, we should discuss what you’ll give me in exchange for letting you use the artefact.”

  “You absolute dick!” I snap with a shriek upon realising his trick. He totally fucking played me!

  “Hey, I never said the kiss constituted your part of the exchange, you just assumed. Never assume anything, Kayla.” He winks at me. He freaking winks. Rage boils inside of me. “Now, as far as the deal goes, we'll just say you owe me one, considering I can't think of anything right now.”

  “I hate you,” I grumble, turning away from him so I don’t give into my urge to smack him from pure frustration.

  Why did I have to fall for it? Why am I such an idiot around him?

  “You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart. That sure didn’t feel like an ‘I hate you kiss’,” he retorts, sounding way too damn chirpy about it.

  “Are you going to help me or not?” I snap, staring at the stupid, flowery wallpaper I still haven't gotten around to replacing.

  “Of course. I'm a man of my word.”

  I turn back to face him and see he holds out a golden-coloured chalice. Stunning, green stones line the outside, stones that just so happen to match the stupid colour of his way too pretty eyes.

  “How is that supposed to help me find someone?” I question him, reaching for it regardless of my scepticism. He holds it just out of my reach.

  “You drink from it and picture the person you wish to find. You'll then be able to find them wherever they are for the next three days or so,” he answers, finally letting me take it. It feels ice-cold in my hand, like he just pulled it out of a freezer or something. I try not to dwell on the chill I feel rushing through my hand from holding it.

  “What do I need to drink from it?” I ask, wondering if it requires me to put something creepy in it. Please don’t let it be blood. Kier may be a blood drinker, but there's no way I'm drinking blood to find his dad. Blood drinking is a hard limit for me.

  “You don't need to put anything in it. Just tilt it back to drink from it as you would a normal glass of water or something. Trust me, it'll work,” he explains. “You'll need to take your bracelet off first though.”

  I fiddle with the bracelet on my wrist, apprehension engulfing me, making me hesitant to take it off. It's become like a safety blanket. I like not worrying about falling over every five minutes. Or about getting arrested and thrown into The Tomb again.

  “Kayla,” Rhydian prompts, as if trying to rush me.

  I bite the bullet, yanking it off and setting it down on my coffee table. “I just need to picture the guy, right?” I check, wanting to make sure of his instructions before drinking whatever mystery liquid may pour down my throat.

  “That's all,” he confirms.

  “It doesn't hurt right?” I ask, looking into the empty chalice with concern.

  What if it's like swallowing thousands of tiny glass shards?

  “Kayla,” he growls, his exasperation bleeding through.

  “Fine, fine. I'm doing it,” I grumble, holding the chalice to my lips to placate him. Slowly, I tilt it back. An ice-cold liquid flows into my mouth on contact. It tastes almost metallic, but not like blood. After a moment, a richer aftertaste fills me, it hints of a spicy flavour.

  “Picture him,” Rhydian mutters, reminding me that I'm not wine tasting here. I'm trying to catch a damn killer.

  I picture Elias. His face. The ruthless look in his eyes. His empty voice. Suddenly, the liquid in my mouth turns sour, surprising me, and I choke, dropping the chalice. Rhydian catches it with ease, and wraps an arm around my waist, supporting me as he pulls me down onto the sofa with him.

  “Close your eyes,” he instructs. “Follow the path from your mind to his. If you can, tell me what you see.” I feel fuzzy, only now realising that Rhydian's voice echoes inside of my head again. “Follow the path, Kayla,” he insists, the thought almost takes complete control of me, the command’s power ringing in my head. I begin to und
erstand the strength of Rhydian's compulsion. He could have me do anything, anytime he asked, and yet he doesn't. He's never really made me do anything. He may trick me a little, or play games, but he never forces his control over me, despite the obvious power he possesses to do so.

  A silver light begins to dance in my head, and I latch onto it, feeling my surroundings rush around me as I feel tugged forwards. My eyes fly open, and I look around at the beautiful room I'm in. Wait, they're not my eyes, things look too sharp—too focused and the colours all so vibrant.

  I sit by a fireplace in an amazing library. Any girl who loves books and watched Beauty and The Beast as a kid wished for a library like this. Set over multiple floors, with several reading nook areas, a gorgeous mahogany table dominates the centre of the room. This place’s beauty stuns me.

  Despite never having been here before in my life, everything looks familiar. I know his exact location, able to feel a route laid out between the two of us in a silver-coloured rope in my mind.

  My eyes open. My actual eyes this time. I stare into Rhydian's face and smile. “It worked.”

  “Huh, I'm a little surprised, in truth. I didn't know if it would work for a witch,” he replies, shrugging his shoulders as he stands up. My eyes dart around, looking for the chalice, but it's vanished from sight.

  “Wait, you let me do that, not knowing if it would even work? What if it was harmful for a witch to try?” I exclaim, fury rising in my chest.

  “Well, aren't we both lucky that it wasn't?” He leans down, pressing a quick kiss to the corner of my mouth stepping away again before I can do anything about it. My stomach twists as I realise I don't know how I’d react if he didn’t pull away. Would I keep kissing him or kill him... It's a toss-up, really.

  “As always, it was a pleasure seeing you, sweetheart,” he drawls, turning a transparent blue before vanishing completely. The after effects of fae magic, once again, leave me dazed and a little nauseated.

  “Asshole,” I mutter, leaning back and resting my head on the cushion behind me. I close my eyes, feeling a throbbing beginning in my head.

  I just need to rest for a moment... Ten minutes tops.

  Nineteen

  Chaotic Magic

  “Take the next left,” I mutter, keeping my eyes closed as I lean against the car window. The cold against my forehead feels nice and soothes my headache. My head has hurt for the last few hours, since I woke up from my way too short, hour-long nap. It's now the wrong side of midnight, and I'm exhausted way deep into my bones. The only reason it took so long for us to begin tracking his Elias was how damn stubborn Kier behaved about the whole thing.

  “You know, this would go much easier if you’d just tell me where we're going,” Kier points out as he makes the turn, sounding understandably irritated. He’d tried to insist that I just tell him where to find his father, wanting to go alone. He didn’t understand, nor could I explain why I couldn’t just tell him where to go.

  “It would be, but where's the fun in doing anything the easy way?” I grumble. We hit a pothole, and my head bashes against the window with a loud thud. “Fuck.” I lean back, rubbing my head and turning as I open my eyes to glance at Kier. He stares back at me with a mixture of pity and amusement in his eyes. At least he's not still bitching about how unsafe it is for me to come along anymore. Now that had been infuriating.

  I can feel us getting closer to Elias’ location. Every inch we drive I feel the connection in my head pulse stronger, as the silver rope of light guiding the way gets shorter. We're probably only minutes away now. We've been driving for over an hour.

  Earlier, Kier offered to portal us, but of course, that wouldn't have worked, considering he’d need to know the exact location, and I don’t know it. The only way I can pinpoint Elias is by following this path in my head. I’m assuming this works a lot easier for the fae, since they can just phase walk the journey to their desired location in seconds.

  “How long until we get there?” he asks, and I hear the impatience in his voice. He’s showing significant trust in me by following my lead; I’ve shown him no evidence to prove I actually know where to find his father.

  “We’re a few minutes away at most,” I answer with a shrug. He slams on the brakes, and I lurch in my seat. My seat belt is the only thing that saves me from crashing through the windscreen. “What the hell!?” I exclaim angrily. “You could have killed me!”

  He gives me an incredulous look. “I wouldn’t have braked like that if it had a chance of causing you harm.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I grumble, rubbing my collar bone where the seatbelt dug into me. Asshole. “Why did you stop anyway?”

  “You should have told me we were closing in. What was your plan, for us to just drive up and knock on the door?”

  I bite my lip. Shit. I hadn’t even thought that far in advance. A too stupid to live moment, Kayla. I knock my head against the cold window in frustration before turning back to Kier.

  “So, what’s the plan?” I question, ignoring his previous one.

  “Well for starters, if you would share more information, it would be much easier for me to come up with a plan,” he growls. I notice his hands cover the steering wheel in a death grip, holding it so tight his knuckles turn white.

  I turn away from him and close my eyes, trying to garner any information possible from the connection. Images from Elias’ surroundings flash through my head. “It’s a big place. I’m not sure how many people are there, but there are definitely others around in the building. Maybe you should call for back up...” I trail off, my nerves getting the better of me as I open my eyes.

  “I can’t.” His voice sounds oddly empty.

  “What do you mean you can’t?” I demand, whirling back around to face him.

  “I'm not... Well, the truth is, I'm not supposed to be working this case,” he falters, his admission slow to come out. He starts driving again, this time at a much slower pace, and looking around as if trying to find the ideal spot to park the car.

  “Are you being serious right now?” I ask, just as he pulls off the road and onto the grass. He drives right up to the tree line before cutting the engine and getting out without answering me. “Hey!” I yank off my seatbelt and follow him out of the car.

  “Which way?” he asks.

  “You can't do this by yourself.” I cross my arms. He can't honestly think this is a good idea. Even I know this is a dumb plan with little chance of success.

  “Are you questioning my capability? I can take him, Kayla. I wouldn't have come if I didn’t think I could handle this.” He glares at me, as if furious that I would dare to exercise some common sense.

  “Okay, so maybe you can take him, I’ll give you that, but there are others in there too. You'll be outnumbered, and you don't know what you're walking into. You wouldn't even know where in the house he is!”

  “I can’t just sit back and let him get away with it!” he roars.

  “I’m not asking you to, Kier. Just call for backup, let them go in and sort this out. You’ve done what you can.” I try to step closer to him, hoping to try and reassure him somehow.

  “I have to do this, Kayla. Me. I have to be the one to do this. Don’t you understand that?” he implores, his blue eyes pleading with me for understanding.

  I suck in a shaky breath. Isn’t that exactly what I’d told Rhydian? That I had to do it? I bite my lip, trying to think of an argument that won’t make me a hypocrite, but I find I can’t. How can I fault Kier for his need to be the one to fix things, when I made the same request of Rhydian?

  “I understand,” I finally concede.

  He releases a long, deep breath. “Will you help me? I know I shouldn’t ask, but if we’re being smart about this—at least as smart as we can be while doing something this insane anyway—I’ll need you to watch my back if we come across others in there.”

  “I’m with you.” I glance away from him, not able to look into his eyes while I’m hiding secrets fro
m him. “Don’t ask me how I know, but he’s in a library on the ground floor, and he’s alone in the room right now. So, if we can sneak into the room, maybe I can focus on blocking the door, making sure nobody else gets in while you... you know...” I trail off. I can’t make myself say the words. Elias may be evil, and his death may even be sanctioned, but I’m so uncomfortable with the idea of killing anyone. I swallow, while repeating assurances to myself in my head. I won’t be killing anyone. He will. It’s not the same. This is his job. This is okay. It has to be.

  “I won’t ask how you know, but I will ask, are you certain?” Kier presses.

  “I am.”

  “Hold still. I’m going to cast a shielding charm on us. It’ll hide us from sight, as well as other forms of detection,” he explains, stepping close. He moves his hands in the form of a sigil in the air above us. I watch the movements, curious as I’m not familiar with the spell. He whispers the charm quietly, too low for my ears to pick up the actual words. I feel a tremor run down my spine as a cool rush of air brushes over the both of us. “It’s done,” he announces.

  “I can see you just fine,” I tell him sceptically, as I run my eyes over him. Yep, every inch of the sexy, black witch detective is visible. My eyes catch on a small scar just above his collar bone, and I wonder what or who caused it. It must have happened before he was turned, because I’m pretty sure vampires don't scar too easily after.

  “And I can see you too. Luckily for us, nobody else can,” he replies. He glances around us. “Which way?”

  With a slow blink of my eyes, I take a second to find the silver pathway in my mind. “This way will be quicker,” I instruct, leading him through the trees.

  We walk in silence, keeping in perfect pace with each other. I turn my face away from him, closing my eyes to make sure we’re still on track, and that Kier’s father remains in the library. He doesn’t seem to be doing much of anything, just sitting in front of the fireplace.