I winced and tried to sit up straight. “Witch, actually. Though, technically, I’m also a demon-hunter. Surprise,” I said, lifting my hands palms-up.
Zoe’s mouth opened and closed in shock, and then she threw back her head and pulled me into a hug. “I don’t care what you are. Honestly, you’ve always been a little odd, but you kicked Jake’s ass! You also killed him. Jeez, Elle, you killed him. I’m not even going to ask what that blade did to his body.” She paused, glancing back and forth between me and the empty spot on the floor. “But you’ll tell me later, right? ’Cause I might want to know later.”
“Yes, I’ll explain everything later. But first . . .” I grabbed her wrist to bring her attention back to me. “Where’s the book, Zoe?”
Zoe scrunched her features. “All this for that stupid book? I hid it in the storage room behind the loose grate. You almost caught me when you came down to get that box of wine.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No. I thought you knew something was up and you’d make me give it back. I saw it a month ago on a field trip. They were talking about how rare it was and how it could be a significant find, and then I saw it again at Professor Roberts’ party. Except Jake had it, and he took it outside to his van.”
“Wait—so, Jake stole it first from Professor Roberts?”
“Yeah, I watched him take it. He was such a jerk all the time to me that I thought it wasn’t fair he had it when I could use it more. So I met him outside while he was on a smoke break, made out with him for long enough to swipe his keys, and then took it from his van when he went back inside.”
“And then you hid it in the storage room?”
“I thought I could sell it and make enough money to pay for my tuition. But then the accident happened, and I freaked out. It’s still there. I’ll show you.”
We climbed to our feet, and then I heard a ringing sound. I scanned the ground for the source.
“Is that your phone, Elle?”
“Yeah, I must have dropped it during the fight. Do you see it?”
“Here.” Zoe bent and tossed me the phone.
Caden’s name flashed across the screen, and I almost closed my eyes in relief.
“Elle? Are you all right? Where are you right now?” He sounded panicked when I answered. I could almost picture him grabbing the ends of his hair and pacing the room.
“I’m fine. I’m at the country club. Jake’s dead. I bagged a demon. You should have seen it! Oh, and we have the book. I’m literally killing it at this demon-hunting thing.” In my excitement, I forgot about Caden’s past, his lies, and everything in between, but his tone tempered my enthusiasm.
“Elle, listen to me. I’m on my way to you right now.” The line crackled with static, and I groaned.
Not again! The service here sucks.
“There’s something you need to know about . . .”
Static hissed in my ear.
“There’s a reason you weren’t properly trained. It’s all connected!”
More static. I tried to move to another spot to get a better signal.
“Caden? I can’t hear you. Say it again.”
“It wasn’t an ambush. They aren’t dead . . .” Caden’s voice garbled, and then he said, “They’re coming for you.”
The line cut out, and I stared at my phone.
Who’s not dead?
A ping lit up my phone, and a text bubble popped up. My stomach dropped when I saw the name. With trembling fingers, I swiped to open the message. The last few texts in the conversation appeared, and I read through them, remembering when I’d written them a few weeks ago.
Elle: Are you in town? We should get coffee.
Elle: But only if you want to, and if you have time. You’re probably busy.
Elle: Which I totally understand! It was just an idea.
Elle: Hope we can get together soon!
My gaze landed on the new text message.
Ivy: Still want to get that coffee?
I clicked out of the messages. When footsteps tapped across the linoleum behind me, I turned toward the sound.
Ivy stepped out of the shadows. “Hey, Elle. Did you miss me?”
Chapter 23
“Wow. The look on your face is priceless.” Ivy angled her head, sending a glossy stream of blonde hair over her shoulder.
Statuesque with an athletic frame, Ivy wore black leather pants and a silver dagger strapped to her thigh. A crimson jacket covered a tight black midriff tank top. The pointed heels of her boots looked like a weapon in their own right and had probably seen more action than any blade in my arsenal.
When I remained frozen, locked in some blurry universe where time had ground to a halt, she wrinkled her nose and tucked her cell phone into her jacket pocket.
“So, I guess that’s a no on the coffee. Too bad. We have so much catching up to do.” Her gaze roamed the kitchen, landing on the spot where I’d killed Jake. The ice had mostly melted, leaving behind a slushy puddle of coffee grounds. “What a mess you’ve made. Good thing we took care of the security cameras—you’d probably have to pay for all this.”
Ivy chuckled to herself and snapped her fingers. A man who looked as if he’d just walked off the set of a monster movie stepped forward and flanked her side. His eyes were flooded black, and scars ran down the side of his face. He cracked his knuckles, showing off his meaty hands.
Another crony built like a boulder. Didn’t any of them come in a smaller size?
Ivy gestured to Zoe. “Take the girl and retrieve the book. Leave Elle to me.”
The demon lurched forward and grabbed Zoe’s arm, twisting it behind her back. She yelped as the monster snarled and bared a set of crooked brown teeth. He pushed her toward the swinging doors leading to the storage room.
My mind buzzed with static. I was having an out-of-body experience—the kind where you looked down at yourself and watched the scene unfold from a bird’s-eye view. I felt numb. It was all a lie, a dirty trick, and I had fallen for it like a complete fool.
“You faked it,” I whispered, still staring blankly at my cousin. “You were never really dead. All this time . . . I don’t understand.”
Ivy buffed her manicured nails on her leather jacket and shrugged. “I’m not so different than you, cousin. We are family after all. I had a goal, and I achieved it. My goals just aren’t as academic as yours. I think bigger. Unfortunately, your friend Caden blew the cover on one of our planted allies and created suspicion among the council. I had to get out or risk being discovered as a traitor. It’s kind of epic if you think about it—going out in a blaze of glory, everyone stunned by the tragic loss of such a talented hunter, and yet knowing you conned the brightest minds in the Spellwork Organization. Total ego-booster. Highly recommended.”
The knot in my throat loosened, and my voice grew bolder. “How could you do that? What about our family? Our friends? We all looked up to you.”
Ivy snorted. She placed her hands on her hips and pursed her lips in a pout. “Poor, straitlaced Elle Graves. Did you lose your idol? I thought you’d get a kick out of being in the spotlight for once. I did you a favor! Though, if I’m being honest, I thought you’d be dead by now, and you gave me a little shock when you called my burner phone from Jake’s van.”
“That was you? You hired Jake.”
“Bingo. All he had to do was collect the book and get rid of the professor before she sounded the alarm, but he screwed it up! Men always screw up, don’t they?” She breathed deeply through her nose and made a Zen-like motion with her hands. “If you want things done right and all that nonsense. It’s fine though—we have the book now. The professor’s dead, and you got to live a little. Not too bad, if you ask me.”
A rush of anger flowed through my body at her flippant attitude. My cousin wasn’t the touchy-feely type, but she’d never been this cold. It made me wonder if I ever really knew her at all; if maybe we all saw what we wanted to see and not what was really there, rotting beneath the
surface.
I reached for my demon blade. With a flick of her wrist, Ivy sent a jolt of magic into my hand, sending the blade skittering into the shadows.
“Cute, Elle, but cut the act. You got lucky with Jake. That’s all it was. It’s not as if you have the guts to stab me with your dagger. I’m surprised you even know how to use it. Though, you were always a good study, and it seems your promotion has gone to your head.” Ivy shot another stream of magic at me. The spell wove around my limbs, tightening like rope and making me immobile. “Just in case you get any more heroic ideas. Take a seat.” Waving her hand, she sent me flying back a few feet to land on my tailbone.
Her heels cut through the slush as she stepped closer. She leaned over me, a placating smile plastered across her lips. I twisted my arms, struggling to break her spell, but it held fast. I wasn’t strong enough to counteract it. I didn’t have the experience to remove her magic, and she knew it.
Ivy’s eyes narrowed on the silver chain around my neck. She made a tsking sound in the back of her throat and wrapped her fingers around the chain. Giving it a hard tug, she removed the charmed pendant and let it dangle in the air between us.
“I believe this is mine. Thanks for holding onto it for me.” Her mouth curled into a smirk. “It’s kind of fitting, huh? A hand-me-down hunter’s gift for the girl on standby.”
The demon returned with Zoe in tow. He had the Soulbinder in his massive palm. It looked exactly like it did in the pictures: old and unassuming. The kind of book you’d find covered in dust in the back of an old bookstore. But there was the lesson I’d learned firsthand. Evil never looked the way you expected.
Ivy took the book from the demon and slid her hand down the cover. A beam of light glimmered beneath her palm. Satisfied it was the real thing, she snapped her fingers, and the demon holding Zoe shoved her to the floor.
Zoe scrambled to my side. Fear glazed her eyes. Her hand gripped my arm, and I wished I could have pulled her into a hug—something to give her comfort at the end.
“She’s going to kill us, isn’t she?” Zoe’s voice trembled.
Ivy crouched in front of me. “No, I’m not going to kill you.”
For a moment, there was an odd look in her eye. A flicker of the old Ivy—the one I knew as a kid. An image of us bent over a Ouija board, wearing twin braids and matching black tulle skirts, flashed in my mind. We had summoned spirits together, our hands sticky and smelling of strawberry candies. Best friends first; cousins second. As we grew older, we’d giggled over my mother’s tarot deck, asking the cards probing questions such as if we’d marry vampires or if our favorite boy bands could be charmed by a love spell. Innocent fun. Before Spellwork. Before the rigors of training. Before I understood we were different—not only in magic, but in circumstance.
Even now, I missed those days. I missed what we had.
Neither of us was innocent anymore.
She held my gaze, weariness etched into her perfect features. Her tone was almost soothing, most of the snark gone. “It’s over, Elle. Go back to your normal existence and pretend none of this ever happened. For as long as you can. That’s all I can do for you.”
“And what—in the meantime, you go about destroying the world? I don’t know if I can do that.”
Ivy nodded. “Understandable for someone like yourself. But if you don’t give up, if we cross paths again, it won’t matter that we’re family; I won’t give you another chance. So take this one. I’ll even make it easy for you.” She reached out her hand and pressed her cool fingertips against my forehead.
A wave of magic flooded my body. Shadows crept into the corners of my vision, and I fought to keep her in focus. Ivy’s spell grew stronger. My eyelids drifted shut, and the last thing I heard before everything went dark was Ivy telling me it was all a dream.
I hoped it was.
Maybe it was better this way.
***
I woke with a start.
Blinking, I stared up at the ceiling in my dorm room. A movie poster tacked into the surface stared back, breaking up the field of white paint. My gaze lowered to my desk littered with textbooks. My history book sat on top of the stack, and an earworm whispered that I still needed to finish my midterm paper.
And probably do my laundry.
Oh my god, the taco stand! I groaned and ran a hand down my face. How the heck was I going to pay back that tab? Even with my catering job I’d be eating ramen noodles until winter break. My stomach grumbled in protest at the thought of a future guacamole withdrawal. Life was extremely unfair.
The bedside lamp was on, casting the room in a warm yellow glow. My comforter tangled around my legs as I rolled onto my side, trying to force my brain fog to dissipate.
In the corner, the television played an ominous tune as the words “GAME OVER” dripped in pixelated blood down the screen. The controller sat forgotten on the tray table. A half-eaten bag of cheese puffs lay next to it.
Had I taken a nap after my game with Tanya? What time was it?
I stretched my muscles and searched under my pillow for my phone. It wasn’t there, so I scanned the floor. My gaze snagged on a crumpled catering vest, a pair of black polyester pants, and a wrinkled white tuxedo shirt. Jerking my head up, I peered between the blinds. It was completely dark outside.
Crap! I’m late for work. Angela’s going to fire me.
Scrambling out of bed, I almost stumbled over a pair of sneakers and reached for my uniform. I kicked off my shorts and stuffed my right leg into the pants.
The door creaked open, and I froze, bent over, half-undressed. A verbal lashing about knocking sat on my tongue.
“Elle, why are you putting on my uniform?” Zoe asked from the doorway. She had on my favorite sweatshirt and a pair of jogging pants. Clearly, she’d changed into my clothes, and I suddenly noticed her country club name tag attached to the vest.
“Umm . . .” I shoved the mess of hair out of my face and let the pants fall to the floor, then I reached for my shorts. My brain was starting to click back into place, and an eerie sensation prickled the back of my neck.
Someone moved behind her into the room. Caden’s deep rumble of laughter sent heat straight to my cheeks. This was not a dream. This was a nightmare!
“I have a better question, Graves. Is all your underwear witch-themed?”
Eyes wide, I glanced down at my bikini-cut bottoms covered in smiling orange pumpkins. I angled my head up with barely held dignity. “Just the weekdays, actually.”
Caden flashed me a sexy grin that made my pulse jump. “Ah . . . so, like, from a combo pack?”
Sexy or not, I shot him a death glare, hoping his pulse would stop altogether, just as two figures sailed through the wall. One was from another century; the other was my emotional support ghost dog. Loki trot-floated over and nuzzled his head against my bare ankle.
“Good boy,” I murmured.
“Oh my word, not again.” Oscar gasped as he spotted me. He covered his eyes with a ghostly hand and cleared his throat. “My humblest apologies. We assumed you were decent.”
I dove for the bed, wrapping the comforter around my waist. Pain shot through my ribs, and I winced, pressing a palm against my midsection. All of a sudden, every inch of me hurt. My fight with Jake blared through my mind. At least I’d won, but, man, I was sore.
“Easy, Graves.” Caden crossed the room in three quick strides and placed a warm hand on my back. “The pain relief spell I cast is probably wearing off.” He murmured an incantation, and a pulse of magic infused my body. The ache in my ribs and back slowly ebbed again, and I exhaled in relief. He helped to ease me against the pillow and sat on the edge of the bed.
Everything came rushing back. Caden and Oscar’s lies and the way they’d used me. The fact I’d killed my first demon—which was awesome! Go me. But also, that Ivy wasn’t dead, and I’d let a humanity-destroying book fall into evil hands. Somehow, to top it all off, I’d flashed everyone my pumpkin-covered derrière.
&nb
sp; Yeah, that sounds about right.
Caden’s hand slid up my shoulder to cup the side of my cheek. His gaze was dark with concern and something else that made my heart weaken, but I turned my face away. I already missed those few blissful moments of ignorance.
Caden emitted a growl of frustration but dropped his hand and gave me a little space. He paced to the corner of the room. I didn’t need to look at him to know he was still watching me with that pensive, engrossing stare.
Everyone around me had kept secrets—betrayals, even—that I still needed time to process. What was worse: finding out my cousin was evil and the man I was falling for had betrayed me, or that I’d failed to stop the end of the world as we knew it?
Probably the end of the world thing, but somehow, the first two hurt worse.
“What happened after I blacked out?” I asked.
“Your cousin and that huge monster left,” Zoe said, sliding onto the bed next to me. “They took the book. I couldn’t stop them.”
“Zoe, it’s not your fault. I couldn’t stop them either.”
She gave my arm a reassuring pat. “Next thing you know, Caden and these two ghosts come flying in. By the way . . .” She paused, darting a glance between Oscar and Loki. “I guess I can see ghosts now. It’s trippy. Not gonna lie, I’m still getting used to it. But at least the dog is cute.”
Loki barked and preened a little at her praise.
“After he checked you over, Caden picked you up and carried you in his arms to the car. It was just like in the movies.” Zoe sighed dreamily. “Super-romantic. Like, I probably should have filmed it on my phone so we could watch it later.”
I rolled my eyes and waved her forward, doing my best not to glance at Caden. “Don’t get hung up on the details, Zoe.”
She made a face. “Fine. Then we were on our way back here. After we got you settled, Caden got a call, and we stepped outside for a minute so we wouldn’t wake you up.” Zoe fixed me with a serious stare and continued. “There’s been a development. I’m ready to help in any way I can.”
Oscar grumbled and tore at his bow tie. “I already told you, young lady, this is for team members only. We don’t take on human projects.”
A Grave Spell (The Spellwork Files Book 1) Page 19