by Lexi C. Foss
The young man’s brow quirks. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
More like I’m looking to cause trouble.
“No, not really. I’m hoping she’ll know how to find a veiled realm.” I probably shouldn’t have shared as much with him, but again, he doesn’t seem to be a threat.
Perhaps he’ll help me, too.
“Well, I don’t know much about realms and all of that, but I do know where you can find Persia,” he answers. “You definitely came to the right place, I’ll tell you that. Persia’s a brilliant creature. Powerful as all hell, too.”
Might be how distrustful I am of my own kind, but something about this seems way too easy. “What’s the catch?”
“There is no catch,” he laughs, slowly closing in the distance between us. “You said you need help finding Persia, so I’m helping. I’m Smee, by the way.” A beaming grin spreading his lips, he holds out a hand.
I glance between it and his face at least five times before finally slipping my palm in his. “Your name is Smee?”
Never would’ve guessed that.
He laughs again, though this time, the amused sound carries around us. “Smee is my surname. Samuel is my given name. You can just call me Sam.”
“Well, Sam...it’s nice to meet you. I’m Loey.” Not entirely genuine, but not disingenuous either.
Sam smiles and gives my hand a good shake. “Nice to meet you, too. Just fair warning, it’s a bit of a trek to where Persia and her coven reside. You’re not in a hurry to get home, are you?”
My brow quirks. “How far are we talking?”
“I’d say about ten miles or so, to and from.”
That’s about two hours. Not terrible, but I definitely wasn’t planning to be gone so long. “If that’s what it’s going to take for me to find Persia, then we better get moving. You will bring me back, right?”
“Of course.” He nods, then tips his head toward the sea of trees. “I wasn’t planning to be there late. Just trying to make amends.”
“Amends? Did you piss off a witch?” I jest, following his lead.
“Try two,” he snorts.
The way he rubs a hand down his face tells me that laugh was more self-deprecating than anything else, though.
“I see… Wanna talk about it? He probably doesn’t, but we’ve got quite a ways to go before we even make it to Persia.
“Not unless you wanna hear how I got between two hearts and broke them both.”
My footing stalls. Of all the things he could have said, that is not what I was expecting. It hits so close to home, especially after today, that I’m rooted to the spot. He continues on a few feet until he realizes I’m no longer following him.
“Loey? Are you okay?”
No, I think to myself, because as much as my heart sings when I’m around Giselle, I’m so utterly terrified that I’m going to come between her and Travis, too, and then we’ll all be nursing broken hearts.
***
Rosewood has to be one of the most beautiful realms I’ve ever seen. Silver Sanctuary, the witches’ domain, according to Sam, is something out of a storybook with its stone temples and prosperous gardens. The whole place is really. At least everything I saw looked like something I would’ve found in all of the fairy tales I read as a little girl.
The islands’ inhabitants seem to be beautiful, too. Sam is that all-American boy type of handsome, and Persia? Fucking goddess is what she is. Long dark hair, tawny skin, regal yet kind brown eyes you’d think would never hurt a soul. The confidence in her demeanor says otherwise. She might look sweet, but it’s clear she won’t hesitate to rip a throat out if necessary.
“The name sounds familiar, but I honestly wouldn’t know where to start,” Persia states, scanning the wall of shelves.
“It sounds familiar,” another witch adds. Fawn is her name, and she has the most beautiful rusted orange hair I’ve ever seen. “Why does it sound familiar?”
Persia’s only reply is a shrug of her shoulders as she continues browsing the shelves.
“I know why, Mommy,” the sweetest little girl adds. She’s beautiful and, according to Sam, she’s one powerful little witch.
Perdía peers at her daughter from over her shoulder, puzzled expression claiming her features. “And why is that, darling?”
“‘Cause I read about it in one of Grammy’s grimoires. It’s a bad place, worse than the Hollow.”
No one moves.
No one says a word.
Everyone just stares at the little witch in astonishment.
“Which grimoire is it, Izzy?” Fawn questions after a silent beat.
“Ummm…” She scratches her dark head, craning back to observe all the spines on the shelves before her. “I can’t remember now. I think it had an obsidian crescent moon on the front.”
“Book of shadows.” Persia and Fawn say in tandem.
I watch the two of them hurriedly scour the shelves for this supposed grimoire. It’s not that I don’t believe the little girl; her answer was spot on. I just don’t want to get my hopes up. What are the chances that of all the realms I’ve traveled to, a pint-sized witch is the only one to know anything about Shadowed Sanctum?
“Is it okay if I ask her a question?” I query.
Persia stills and glances over her shoulder. “Depends on what it is you’d like to ask her.”
“I just want to know if she remembers reading anything else about it.”
She holds my stare a moment longer, then flicks her gaze onto her daughter, who seems eager to answer. “Very well. Go on then, baby love. Tell us what you read.”
“It said the realm had been veiled for a long time. Their people don’t want to be found.”
That was a given.
“Anything else?” Fawn asks, dropping to her haunches beside the little witch.
Izzy closes her eyes and brings one of her little hands up as if somehow skimming the pages within her mind. “There was something about a witch, a beautiful witch from another realm with ice white hair. I think Grammy said that the witch knew how to find Shadowed Sanctum.”
“Pale Province,” Sam’s voice sounds as he re-enters Persia’s space.
I guess he’s done doing what he needed to do, or perhaps the witches wouldn’t hear him out. I’m going with the latter based on what he told me on our trip over here.
Persia spins to look him in the eye, arching one of her perfectly kept brows. “How do you know about Pale Province?”
Sam shrugs noncommittally. “My family originated from there. It wasn’t until the last several generations that they left glacial lands behind and settled elsewhere.”
“So you know how to get there?” I ask him.
“I sure do,” he nods.
“We should find the grimoire first,” Fawn suggests. “Before we send her with possible false information. Not saying Izzy girl isn’t brilliant, but…”
“It’s better to be safe than sorry—yes, I agree,” Persia hums. “Loey, you and Fawn look on those shelves over there. Izzy and I will search through these. It has to be here somewhere.”
9
Travis
“I can’t believe we’re really doing this,” Ellie hisses beside me as I’m picking the lock. “She’s got a dog, you know. She told me today. A big one, too.”
I scoff through my nose. “It’s a dog, Ellie, not a wolf.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she hisses again. “We’re breaking and entering into our could-be girlfriend’s house while she’s at work and—”
“Correction, into your could-be girlfriend’s house. She’s made it quite clear she doesn’t want anything to do with me.” The last bit sounds more bitter than I intended, cocking Giselle’s dark head aside.
“So is that why you’re doing this, why you’re creating shit about her in your head? ‘Cause you think she doesn’t want you? Neither one of you have given the other a chance!”
Complete and utter bullshit. I did try that first night.
“I’m not creating shit,” I counter, mentally rejoicing as the telltale click sounds. “She’s hiding something, I’m telling you. There’s no way she can afford a first-floor apartment on the Upper East Side on a bartender’s salary, even with tips.”
I’ve been thinking about it all day. Once she and Ellie got off the phone, I sat there wondering how anyone could survive off that type of pay.
Cracking the door open, I poke my head inside first and scan the darkened space. It’s dead silent, and from what I can see, no supposed dog. “Looks like she lied about the dog.” Pushing the door open, I cross the threshold with Ellie hot on my tail.
“Or the dog could be locked up. You remember how it was when we had Vito. We had to crate him every time we left.”
She’s got a point.
Not that I’m going to admit that aloud.
“Just look for anything that screams suspicious,” I whisper, taking careful steps through the living room.
It’s a nice place, honestly. High ceilings, large windows from what it looks like behind the blackout curtains. All the furniture seems to be made up of light, neutral mix-matched pieces, one of those swing chairs hanging in the corner, too. She’s also got plants everywhere, which I wasn’t expecting at all.
Has a green thumb now, does she?
“Yeah, she definitely wasn’t lying about the dog,” Ellie comments behind me, rooting me the wood floors beneath my feet. I glance to my right, and sure enough, there’s the dog. A huge Doberman Pinscher...and I do mean huge. He’s gotta be mixed with Great Dane or something along those lines. Stature aside, though, he or she doesn’t seem to be an attack dog. It’s just standing there, regarding us quietly.
“I think she told me his name is Roscoe,” Ellie whispers.
The dog perks his head sideways, a sure sign my wife is probably right on the money.
“Roscoe, hey buddy,” I try, holding a hand out for him as I sink to my haunches, prompting Ellie to do the same.
He starts for us slowly, snout high in the air as he sniffs us out. That lasts a whole five seconds. He’s licking my face almost as quickly as I can pet him, smelling me a million miles per hour before he turns to Ellie and repeats the same process all over again.
Ellie giggles at his friendly attack and falls back onto her ass as Roscoe covers her face in kisses.
Shaking my head, I stretch back to full height and whip out my flashlight from the inside of my leather jacket. “Just like his owner. Even he likes you better.” There’s that bitterness again, shining bright as fuck through my tone in a vivid green hue.
Giselle doesn’t respond but instead rises beside me and positions herself in front of me. When I drop my gaze on her form, her small hands smooth up my chest and around my neck. “I’ve told you a million and one times to cut the broody, observant shit. It may work in certain scenarios, but she can’t want you if she can’t read you. Show her the real Travis, the suave, deliciously dominant man I fell in love with. The one who knows where to lick and kiss and touch with his eyes closed.” Pushing up on her toes, she pecks my lips, teeth yanking at the bottom one as she pulls away. “You saw how she reacted when I pinned her to the pool table by the throat. Guarantee she’ll be all kinds of wet if it were you with your weight on top of her while you grit that dirty shit in her ear.”
The images that flicker through my mind… I have to shake them free. I can’t focus on Loey right now, not that side of her anyway. She’s hiding something, she has to be, and I want to know what it is.
“We’re not getting into this again. We don’t have time for that right now. C’mon, let’s look around.”
Ellie sighs and rolls her eyes as she pulls out her flashlight. “When we leave here empty-handed, expect me to say ‘I told you so.’”
“Sounds good. You look around here, I’m gonna check out the back.”
Fifteen minutes later, I’ve gone through the bathroom, what looks like her bedroom, and her closet. There’s one room left, and I hate to say it but...Ellie might be right. I haven’t found anything thus far. This room, though, is relatively empty, save for a desk with papers and files strewn all over the top, and a small couch. The desk intrigues me, or really, the mess is what intrigues me. Loey doesn’t seem to be the neatest person based on what I’ve seen through each space, but she’s also not the messiest.
Flashing my light over the chaos of papers and folders, I try reading what I can without touching or moving anything. At first glance, it looks like different realm names, some of them crossed out, some bearing a question mark beside it.
“There’s literally nothing out there,” Ellie’s voice sounds from the doorway with the dog’s footsteps echoing behind her. “Did you find— Woah. What is that?”
I peer at her from over my shoulder, brow arching curiously. “What’s what?”
“That.” She hits her light to the wall on my left.
Following the stream, I take in what’s hung there that I completely missed upon first walking in. It’s a corkboard filled with aged drawings of the same realms she has written down, some that could be straight from a grimoire, and more recent clippings from the internet, all of them connected by red string. Most have bright red Xs drawn across them, while others are untouched. In the very center of it all is an image of five hooded figures. It’s been circled over and over and over again...
“What the hell is she up to?” The question slips past my lips in a whisper.
Ellie shrugs and comes to stand beside me, examining it as well. “Is it me, or does it look like some sort of hit list?”
“It does.” I turn back to the desk and carefully flip open one of the folders. My eyes bulge at the documentation inside. It’s not just any documentation, though. It’s an official report of sorts based on the emblem at the top. In the center, it says E.V.I.E., but it’s the words circling it that raise every hair on my body at attention.
Eliminate Vampiric Influence Everywhere.
“Sooo, I guess you were right,” Ellie states from somewhere else in the room. I spin on my heel in a flash to find her standing before the closet, the now open closet revealing an arsenal of rifles, pistols, dozens of jars clearly containing holy water, crucifixes, and wooden stakes.
She’s a slayer… She’s a fucking vampire slayer.
10
Loey
It’s late as hell by the time I make it back from Rosewood.
Honestly, if I’d taken just thirty minutes longer, I would’ve been stuck underground for the rest of the day. The sun’s just starting to rise as I’m shoving my key in the lock, shuffling into my apartment, dead on my feet. I’m exhausted, hungry, frustrated that the Sacred Six couldn’t help me other than pointing me to the next realm I should try.
Setting my keys onto the entryway table, I kick off my Doc Martens and start for the kitchen wondering where Roscoe is. He’s usually at the door, ready to greet me the second he hears the locks coming undone.
And that’s when I see him—sprawled out on the couch over Ellie’s lap. My feet root the floor beneath me as I take her in along with Travis in the armchair, and what looks like my entire slayer arsenal spread out on the coffee table.
Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!
“So, were you ever planning to tell us you’re a vampire slayer?” Travis asks, his fingers steepled before him. “Or really, you were ever going to tell her, ‘cause you couldn’t give three fucks about me, that I already knew.”
“Trav,” Ellie tries, but he lifts a hand, waiting for me to answer his question.
“No,” I admit, lifting my chin as confidently as possible. “I didn’t want you guys to know.”
Ellie’s head rears back ever so slightly as Travis’ expression darkens. “Why? ‘Cause you were planning to kill us?” he spits venomously. “Were we your next marks to add to your pretty little corkboard?”
I shake my head and make way to advance further in the room, but he swipes one of my stakes off the table and points it at me in warnin
g. My footing stalls a second time, hands flying up in surrender. “I wasn’t, I swear it! I’m not after just anyone!”
“The five hooded figures… Is that who you’re after?” Ellie questions, prompting me to nod.
“They’re known as the Malefictums.”
“Why are you after them?”
“Because they’re the ones responsible for turning me after they took turns assaulting me.”
Both Ellie and Travis’ eyes flare, and not in the accusatory way I saw just moments ago. “Wait, wait, wait, they assaulted you?” Travis hedges. “How exactly?”
“They didn’t leave me black and blue, I’ll tell you that much,” I answer, not wanting to say the exact word.
“Start talking, Lo,” Ellie growls. “What the fuck did they do to you, and why?”
Sighing, I scrub a hand down my face. There’s no way I’m getting out of this. “It was three years ago, almost four,” I start, skin prickling as the memory flashes through my mind in real-time. “There was a blood moon that night. I’ve always been drawn to them, so I faked being sick to leave the bar early. The Malefictums grabbed me as I was making my way through the park and threw a bag over my head. I didn’t know who they were at first. I knew they were vampires, but I had no clue who they were exactly and why they were grabbing me, aside from the need to feed. They dragged me to Belvedere Castle, and the second they removed the satchel, I knew who they were without even seeing their faces, knew what they wanted.”
“What did they want?” Travis queries.
I sigh again, shivering at the unforgettable sound of their deathly whispers. “Revenge.”
“Why revenge?” Ellie chimes. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything, my mom, however, did. An eye for an eye is what they said before they immobilized me…” I gulp, bracing myself to add, “And then… And then raped me.”
Silence engulfs the room, a thick, tense silence at that. Travis and Ellie exchange a look before turning back to me.