by D. N. Hoxa
I flinched. “Nope.” I probably should have, but I just never got around to it. And to be honest, the way the past two months had gone, nobody had wanted to have anything to do with me, so protection spells would have been a waste of money.
“We’re going to need to do something about that,” Bender said when we walked inside and closed the door behind us.
“Tomorrow.”
“Can I use your shower?” he asked.
“And the couch. I’ll leave some clean sheets in the room. Get some rest. You’re going to need it.”
I’d taken the couch the night before. My desk would be just fine for me.
“You, too,” Bender said and disappeared inside the bathroom.
As soon as I got him a fresh set of sheets, I sat at my desk and opened my laptop. Finn’s software connected his agents to most of the ECU archives, but mine only gave me access to a few things. I searched for Blood witches, their magic, their coven—anything I could think of—but in the end, I didn’t have the patience to do my job properly. And wasn’t that why I’d hired Finn?
I ended up reading useless articles about the human world and their troubles, and I must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing I knew, someone was knocking on the door, and I was on my feet with my gun in hand, eyes still half closed.
Sunlight streamed through the windows. In front of the door, I could barely make out Ms. Riley’s smiling face. With a sigh, I lowered my gun. My phone said that it was already nine a.m. Where the hell had the time gone? Bender must have still been sleeping.
Dragging my feet to the door, I opened it and let my landlady in.
“Good morning, Winny. Did you sleep well?” She walked right to the desk and placed her silver tray with three cups, her kettle, and a plate covered in a pretty pink dish towel on it.
“Ms. Riley, you really didn’t have to,” I said, though my stomach growled.
“Oh, nonsense. You need your morning tea,” she said.
I would have preferred coffee, but I was still thankful.
“I’ll be right back.” Changing my clothes meant going inside my room, and I did not want to see how Bender slept. For now, I just washed my face, brushed my teeth, and combed my hair before braiding it again. The four stones I’d put there looked pretty useless, but I still took them with me, even if I wasn’t sure they’d work.
When I got back to my desk, the first thing I did was put the ring in the drawer. I did not want it on my person for longer than necessary, and I definitely didn’t want to think that I’d slept with it in my pocket. Ms. Riley had already filled my cup with green tea. Cookies of different shapes and colors were on the plate she’d brought. I smiled. It really was nice to be taken care of. I was starting to like my landlady more and more each day.
“These look delicious, Ms. Riley. Thank you,” I said and sat down at my desk.
“Make sure you leave some for Mr. Bender, dear,” she said, beaming with pride. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
I nodded. “Still asleep, I think.” The cookie melted on my tongue. It really was delicious. If Bender didn’t wake up soon, I was going to eat all of it myself.
“I didn’t hear you come in last night. You must have stayed out late,” my landlady said.
“Right before sunrise,” I mumbled, my mouth half full.
“You should be more careful, Winny. The world is full of bad people, and whatever you are working on, it isn’t worth your life.”
I stopped chewing for a second and looked at her. She wasn’t smiling. In fact, she looked like a completely different person.
“What do you know about what I’m working on?” I asked and swallowed hard.
Ms. Riley opened her mouth to answer when my phone rang. Finn’s name filled its screen, and my heart skipped a beat.
“Finn,” I breathed and stood up. I was never comfortable talking on the phone while sitting.
“Where the hell are you hiding?” the werewolf said. It was easy to notice that he was pissed off.
“I’m not hiding anywhere. I’m in my office.”
“Where is your office, Bone?” Finn hissed.
I grinned. “You don’t know where my office is?”
That’s pretty shameful for the guy who considered himself the know-it-all king of intel.
“Of course I know where your office is!” Finn shouted. “Nobody can find it. I have your address, and I’ve sent two of my people there this morning with the contract, but they can’t find it. It’s not there!”
The blood in my veins froze. Bender came out of my room, his eyes still swollen from sleep. He smiled at my landlady and at the tea and cookies she’d brought us.
My landlady.
“I’ll call you back,” I said to Finn.
“Don’t you dare hang—”
I hung up.
“Ms. Riley, you’re too kind,” Bender said.
I couldn’t even look at him. I couldn’t look away from my landlady.
“What did you do?” I whispered.
She looked at me, eyes wide. “What do you mean, dear?”
“What did you do, Ms. Riley? Why can’t people find my office?”
Realization hit her, and she looked down at her hands. I knew it. Holy shit, I knew it.
“People can’t find your office?” Bender asked, taking a sip of his tea.
“I just got off the phone with Finn. He sent two people here this morning, and none of them could find the office.” I stepped in front of my landlady and crossed my arms in front of my chest. “What did you do, Ms. Riley?”
She slammed her hands on her knees and sighed loudly. “I was trying to help you, dear. Some bad people were watching you all night long, and they didn’t look like they wanted to speak to you,” she said.
“What bad people?” Bender asked.
“Vampires,” she whispered. “They filled the street a few nights ago. I only did this to protect you.”
“What did you do?” I asked again.
“A confusion spell,” Ms. Riley said. “My husband was a powerful witch. He left me the means to defend myself when he passed, but it looked like you needed that one more than me.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. “But I didn’t even smell anything!”
“That’s because the stone is on the roof. I’ve hidden the whole building from everyone other than you and me, and the people we bring with us.”
Laughter bubbled from my chest, and Bender joined me. This woman!
“Ms. Riley, why didn’t you tell me?”
Confused, she shrugged. “I thought you would be mad.”
I leaned down and gave her a very well deserved kiss on her cheek. “I’m not mad, Ms. Riley. I’m thankful.”
“I knew something was going on,” Bender said, shaking his head, then he raised his cup at me. “Here’s to your awesome landlady.”
Ms. Riley smiled like the whole world was hers. “If I’d known you’d be so happy, I would have told you before,” she said, her cheeks bright red. “I’m going to leave you two, now. I’ll come back for the dishes later.”
“You’re awesome, Ms. Riley,” I said.
She waved her hand as if to say oh, stop it. I never thought I’d say this, but I was a lucky gal to have her as my landlady.
“I’m going to need one of those stones when all of this is over,” Bender said to me when she left. “Who’d have thought to use a confusion spell for something like this?”
“Genius,” I mumbled and dialed Finn’s number.
“What?” he shouted. Still pissed off, it seemed.
“Feel free to send your guy to me again, but give me a call once he’s close. He won’t be able to find me otherwise.”
“What the hell are you using?” Finn asked, but that was a secret I was going to keep for myself.
“One of the most powerful protection spells in history.” I might have exaggerated it a bit, but he’d have no choice but to believe me.
“Quit playing games with me, Bone. And chec
k your email. I’ve sent you some stuff.” The line went dead.
Tea and cookies forgotten, I grabbed my laptop and logged into my email in seconds. The subject of Finn’s email said Blood. Subtle. And the email: You have 4 minutes to print the file, meaning a virus would erase the whole thing and any trace of it. Asshole. He knew very well I couldn’t afford a printer. Good thing I had my phone, and I could take pictures.
“Any update from Ammic?” I asked Bender as the file downloaded.
“No. I just texted him,” Bender said. “He says he needs more time.”
“Time is what we don’t have. Those beasts didn’t get their last target on time. I wouldn’t be surprised if that changed their whole schedule.”
“I got word from the coven leaders. They’ve already sent the announcement,” Bender said.
Goose bumps covered my arms. I’d meant to call Amelia, but it looked like I wouldn’t have to.
On the first page of the document Finn sent me was a map, marking Garden City, Hempstead. The second page listed the names of the three coven leaders and their phone numbers: Meredith Cole, Simon Reed, Richard Bailey. The third, a list of the most populated Blood witch areas in the States. From then on, he’d listed some of the most common Blood magic spells. I didn’t bother to take a picture of them on my phone. The phone numbers were more than enough.
“Are we going to do this like last time?” Bender asked as I watched the screen on my laptop freeze, then shut down. When I opened my email again, Finn’s email would be gone.
“I think we should call first.” Why not, since we had the numbers?
I dialed the first number and put the phone to my ear.
Saying that I didn’t expect the explosion that happened the next second was putting it mildly. Glass shards flew towards us and had it not been for Bender pulling me down behind my desk, they’d have made a bloody mess out of me.
Bender put a finger in front of his lips as if to tell me to keep quiet. When the last shard hit the floor, silence fell in the office—and out. No car noise, no footsteps—nothing. My heart sank. I conjured my shield, even though Bender was so close to me, he could probably smell it. Good thing I'd told him before I had enough magic for a shield.
Slowly, I got my gun from behind me and stretched my fingers wide to prepare my beads. Bender shook his head. I held up a thumb. We needed to see who was attacking us because these weren’t vampires. The sun shone bright in the sky, and there was no kind of magic that could shield them from it.
Bender closed his eyes for a second and took in a deep breath. He reached for his holster and took out two spell stones. I had no idea what they did, but they were better than nothing. Maybe the time had come for me to test my own stones.
My desk was the only thing between us and whoever had broken down the door and the front wall of my office. I wasn’t sure why they hadn’t started shooting yet, but we couldn’t afford to wait. Adrenaline made the blood rush in my veins and made me believe that I had a chance. That was good enough for me. I nodded once at Bender, and without waiting for his approval, I jumped to my feet.
My gun was aimed at whoever was in front of me, my beads already halfway to them.
But when I saw who it was, I froze.
Twenty ECU soldiers were posted like fucking statues in front of my office, all of them with two guns in their hands, aiming at me. Not only that, but they weren’t just werewolves. There were witches among them, too, and one of them took a step forward. He was shorter than his colleagues, his hair blond and his eyes colorless.
“Winter Wayne, you’re under arrest for obstruction of justice by the laws of the Executive Control Unit. Drop your weapon, and put your hands where I can see them.”
You’ve got to be shitting me.
Bender stood up, his arms raised. He looked at the ECU soldiers like they’d lost their damn minds.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked but didn’t lower my gun. A tornado went on in my head, turning each one of my thoughts upside down and for the life of me, I couldn’t come up with a plan of action through which I could escape and still be alive. Shit. I was in big trouble.
“I’m Agent Sebastian Connor. We spoke on the phone, if you remember.”
Oh. He looked like an even bigger asshole than his voice had led me to believe.
“Well, Agent Sebastian Connor, I’m afraid this is a big misunderstanding. I haven’t obstructed justice in any way.” Talking wasn’t going to get me anywhere, but I was going to have to try, because though I could only see twenty people in front of me, I was willing to bet my right arm that twenty more were right behind them. I couldn’t take that many single-handedly. Not without blowing my cover and showing my magic to the world.
“Please drop your weapon and put your hands up, Ms. Wayne. Nobody needs to get hurt,” Connor said, half a smile on his face. God, how I wished it was just him and me in the room. I’d slap that grin off his face first before breaking every bone in his body with my bare hands.
My stomach dropped. I had no way out of this. They caught me underprepared, not to mention by surprise. I should have known when I heard the explosion. The ECU were the only ones who had the means to break Ms. Riley’s confusion spell.
But it didn’t matter anyway.
Moving slowly so they could see me, I put my gun on the desk. Bender was now looking at me like I’d lost my mind. What other choice did I have? I wasn’t about to open fire against twenty people, and using my magic now meant I’d never see the light of day again, even if I managed to escape today. No, I was backed right into a corner. This wasn’t a battle I could win. I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this. I was letting the ECU arrest me.
“The ring is in the drawer. Take my phone. Call the Blood coven and meet with them. You have to do this without me,” I whispered to Bender as two of the soldiers approached the desk.
“This is a mistake,” Bender said and shook his head, but he also took a step to the side because he knew there was nothing he could do.
“Call my aunt, too,” I said to him as one of the soldiers grabbed both my arms, pulled my hands behind me and put his cuffs around my wrists. A strange feeling. I never knew it would be this surreal to get arrested.
With my head high, I didn’t wait for the soldiers to push and pull me, or even grab me by the arms. I walked towards Connor all by myself. He smiled like a mischievous little kid as he escorted me to one of the seven SUVs that had completely blocked the street. I climbed in the backseat by myself without a word. Who knew I had it in me?
Ashamed, I didn’t dare look at Bender as the ECU drove me away. A rush of tears grabbed me by the throat all of a sudden, but I held them in. No matter what would happen now, Bender was free. He would get the covens to help and he would find a way to take those beasts down himself. He had to, or we were both never going to be able to sleep again.
Twenty one
They took me all the way to Greenwich and into one of the biggest ECU offices in the city. I was flattered.
I had five soldiers with guns in their hands with me at all times. After they searched every inch of me, even touching me where it wasn’t appropriate, they put me in a small room with only two chairs and a metal table in it. Just like in the movies, I thought as I casually turned my head to the side so that my braid would fall over my shoulder. The braid that those soldiers hadn’t checked.
There was no clock on the white walls so I had no idea how much time passed, but I was beginning to get a little sleepy while I waited. Trying not to think about what Bender was doing and what those beasts were doing got me exhausted. I was constantly fighting my own mind, and finally, it surrendered and wanted to shut down.
Just when I began to consider shutting my eyes, the door opened. I would have stood up, but they had secured my cuffs to the thick chain in the middle of the table, so I stayed put.
Two men came inside, and to my delight, neither of them was Sebastian Connor. I’d hate to further make his day by answering his q
uestions.
I straightened my shoulders and raised my chin as one of the men sat down, and the other stood right behind him. I expected them to start accusing me already, but instead, they just stared at me.
A minute went by. And another…
Anger strengthened my impatience. “Are you just going to continue to feast your eyes on me, or are you going to tell me why the hell I’m here?”
The man sitting in front of me raised a thick brow. His brown eyes were big and his nose crooked. He was at least ten years older than his colleague but definitely stronger looking. A werewolf, if I had to guess.
“Miss Wayne, you made a phone call to one of our agents the day before,” the man started.
“Since you know my name, isn’t it only fair I know yours?”
“You can call me Detective Murphy,” he said with an uncomfortable smile.
“Well, Detective Murphy, I did call Agent Connor yesterday, and he did tell me that I would be brought in for questioning after you resolved the case of the Green coven attacks,” I said. “Let me repeat that for you. For questioning, and after you resolved the case.”
Murphy crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Instead, I have been arrested, and as far as I know, you’re not even close to solving the case.”
“Agent Connor reported that you had information regarding said case, Miss Wayne. Confidential information about a private investigation.”
“So he said. I don’t believe he mentioned that William Peterson hired me for the case, did he?”
“He did. He also reported that Mr. Peterson fired you three nights ago. Is that correct?”
Asshole. “He did. So why am I here?”
“Because Agent Connor also reported that you seemed to know more than you let on, and also claimed that you could lead us right to the attackers.”
Laughing was inevitable. That sonovabitch Connor. Not only had he sent me to hell when I called him, but he also lied about it, too. “So that’s why you arrested me.” It was crystal clear to me now. “You want to know what I know, and you want me to tell you how to get to those beasts because you’ve figured out that you can’t do it yourselves.”