Bedeviled

by Sable Grace

  Sixx tucked the knives into the sheaths at her waist. “They go where I go.”

  She knelt on the bed, smoothing the blanket under her knees, then pulled two small vials out of her cleavage. Apparently, her breasts were her pocketbooks. Kyana didn’t want to know what else she kept hidden in there.

  “Here. Sit.” Gesturing for Kyana to settle beside her, Sixx waved a free hand at a chair in the corner. “Nettles, you can sit over there. Just remain as silent as possible.”

  Nettles curled her little body on the ratty chair and wrapped her arms around her knees. The poor Seer looked ready to piss herself, and if the pallor of her face meant anything, possibly faint. Kyana offered her a sympathetic look before taking her place beside Sixx. As she sat down, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was a bad idea.

  Her gaze dropped to the weapons at Sixx’s waist. She had no reason to trust Sixx’s abilities, other than Silas’s brief recommendation. For all Kyana knew, she could end up with nothing more than a major headache when all this was done.

  But without Sixx’s magic, getting to Haven wasn’t even a possibility right now. If she was going to lay a trap, she had to become undetectable. Blind faith was required, and it soured Kyana’s belly that she had no choice but to place that faith in a Witch she didn’t even like. A Dark Breed Witch, no less.

  This could turn out very, very badly.

  She cleared her throat. “What do you need me to do?”

  Sixx handed her one of the vials. “Pop the cork and hold the vial to your lips but do not drink. Hold my hand, and when I squeeze yours, tilt your head back and let the contents run down your throat.”

  Kyana raised her brow. “Why do I have to hold it in my mouth?”

  “Because if you let go of my hands to lift it to your lips, you’ll no longer be in my circle. You want this to work or not?”

  “Fine. Fine.” She popped the cork, releasing a bitter scent into the air that was so strong, her eyes watered. How was she supposed to keep that so close to her nose while Sixx cast her spell? “What the hell’s in this?”

  “Other than lizard blood?” Sixx smiled. “You really don’t want to know.”

  The Witch placed the lip of the vial between her own, leaving Kyana to wonder how she was going to cast a spell with that thing in her mouth. But rather than waste more time with questions, she mimicked her actions. The glass vial clinked against her teeth, and she tightened her lips into a thin line, gripping the thankfully light weight as tightly as possible.

  Careful to keep her head down so the liquid wouldn’t spill too early, she let Sixx grab her hands, noting how icy the woman’s skin was. Like Kyana’s. Vampyric skin.

  “I could perhaps hold the vials for you both and pour them into your mouths when you signal me.”

  It had become so quiet in the room, Nettles’s suggestion nearly caused Kyana to fling the vial out of her mouth and across the room as she snapped her head to look at the Seer.

  “Yeah,” she muttered around the tube. “Lesh do tha’.”

  “Fine.” Sixx pulled the potion from her mouth. “I’m not used to spell crafting with other people. Nettles, come take them. Watch for my eyes to open. That will be your signal to pour. Kyana, keep your mouth open and your head tilted so that you’re ready when she is.”

  Kyana nodded, grateful for the feel of the vial being slipped out from between her lips as Nettles carefully claimed possession of the potion. Sixx grabbed her hands again and shifted on the bed so that they sat Indian-style, facing each other.

  “Get on with it,” she said.

  “Close your eyes.”

  She obeyed, fighting the urge to crack one eye open enough to watch Sixx, but afraid to do so in case that one act of defiance screwed up the spell. Sixx’s voice filled the small room. She was pretty sure the words were some form of Gaelic. Somewhere in the foreign language, she thought she heard a reference to chameleon, but that was only a guess.

  Sixx could have been summoning a camel for all Kyana could tell.

  It was in that moment that warm liquid flowed into her mouth. She sputtered, nearly forgetting to keep her eyes closed, and struggled not to flail and let go of Sixx’s hands. The potion tasted like taking a big gulp of freshly paved road that had just been engulfed in a wildfire. The instant Sixx dropped her hands; Kyana gripped her throat and let loose a string of coughs.

  When her eyes stopped watering and her throat stopped burning, she swallowed and found her voice. “Thousands of years of Witchcraft and not a one of you can make a potion that doesn’t taste like ass.”

  Sixx looked at her speculatively, then shrugged. “It’s magic. Not fine dining.”

  Kyana ran her tongue around her mouth, grateful there was no lingering aftertaste. “Did it work?”

  “It will work in conjunction with the amulet I gave you.” Sixx eased off the bed, slung her bag over her shoulder, and waited for her to stand. “When we’re ready to disappear, put the charm around your neck, grip it in your fist, and Haven will not be able to sense you.”

  Kyana stiffened. “I didn’t say anything about Haven.”

  Sixx eyed her and smirked. “Not all blonds are stupid. Everyone knows who you’re hunting, so it’s pretty easy to figure out who, exactly, you don’t want tracing you.”

  “You won’t touch her,” Kyana warned. “Whatever you think you know, the only thing you need to remember now is that she is not your prize to catch.”

  Sixx shrugged. “Whatever. You’re the mighty Huntress. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble bringing her down on your own.”

  Rising to her feet, Kyana inhaled deeply to find calm. She froze. “Some of my scent . . . your scent, is already gone.”

  The Witch nodded. “By the time we get downstairs, it should be completely untraceable. But you need the potion and the charm to make all other evidence of your presence disappear.”

  As Sixx had predicted, by the time they were outside, she couldn’t have traced the Witch even if she’d shifted into Lychen.

  “You’re good,” she offered reluctantly.

  Sixx grinned. “I know.”

  They walked with Nettles nestled safely between them. After they’d traveled a couple of blocks, Kyana fingered the charm in her pocket.

  “Haven makes me Illusion Charms so when I shift back and forth from Lychen, the rest of the world sees me clothed.” Which, by the way, had led to one of her most embarrassing moments this century—finding out Ryker and all gods/demigods, could see through the illusion. She had been strutting around naked in front of him and hadn’t realized he’d seen every bit of her for hours on end. “Why does this one need a potion to make it work?”

  They turned down a side street and onto the cobblestone path that would take them to Nettles’s townhouse. “Because you’re using both an Illusion Charm and a cloaking spell together. If you don’t use them as a pair, the Illusion Charm will wipe away the effects of the spell and vice versa. You’ll be invisible but your scent will return.”

  Interesting. She would have to remember to ask Haven if she knew of the combination when all this was over.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked Nettles. “We can take your belongings back to your house. Enough of your scent should be on them to make Haven think you’re there.”

  Instead of answering, Nettles stubbornly lifted her chin. Sixx looked at Kyana with raised eyebrows. “She on a mission or just got a death wish?”

  “Seers are an odd bunch.” Of course, since Nettles was the only Seer she had ever been around, she wasn’t sure if Nettles was the exception or the norm, really. “She had a vision and feels if we don’t do everything as she saw it, then I won’t catch Haven.”

  “Hmm. And did she see me in her little vision?”

  “Didn’t ask.”

  “You might have been under your Illusion Charm in my vision. You could have been there,” Nettles said, sounding miffed.

  “Okay. I’ll buy that.” Sixx turned back to Kyana
. “What happens if we don’t stop your friend?”

  Not liking the we in that question at all, yet knowing there was no way around it, Kyana sighed. “Haven will cut out Nettles’s eyeballs and find a spell that will give her the answers she wants.”

  “Ew.”

  “Ew, indeed.” She quickly ran down her plan of attack. “When Haven makes her move, I’ll bring her down.”

  “And me?”

  “Protect the Seer and get her to safety if your spells don’t work and Haven gets past me.”

  “You’d better not let it get that far. Your threats aside . . .” That smug look filled Sixx’s face again. “If she comes near the Seer, it’ll be the last move she makes.”

  Kyana spun around and pinned her with a glare. “Don’t even think about laying a hand on Haven or I swear—”

  “There’s a bounty on her head. She’s fair game and your threats don’t hold weight when it comes to the wishes of the gods.”

  “I am the gods now. Understand?”

  “If you hope to catch your friend, you need to learn not to threaten those trying to help you.”

  She couldn’t help it. She lunged for Sixx, wanting to smack the sass right out of her. But before her hand could close around Sixx’s throat, the Witch began to flicker as though she stood in the middle of a hundred candles.

  Then, she disappeared leaving Kyana holding nothing but air.

  “Oh my,” Nettles gasped, blinking as though trying to clear her vision.

  “What the—” Kyana felt a tap on her shoulder, spun around, and found herself standing nose to nose with Sixx.

  “Something in the genetic Vamp DNA,” she said, grinning. “Cool, huh? Only lasts a couple seconds but has saved my ass more than once.”

  Kyana expected her to try to throw a punch, but Sixx surprised her by broadening her smile. “I’ll leave your friend alone, Kyana, if you can handle her on your own. But in return, you’re going to have to cool your temper. You can be badass without being a bully.”

  She picked up one of the bags Nettles had dropped in her moment of shock, and slung it over her shoulder before continuing down the path. Kyana contemplated popping Sixx’s braids out of her head one by one, but discarded the idea. She might not like the Witch, but Sixx had piqued Kyana’s curiosity enough to make keeping her around intriguing.

  Who the hell is this woman and what other tricks does she have up her sleeve?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Nettles’s house was as dark and quiet as when they’d left it. There was no trace of Haven, and Kyana was hoping against hope that this meant she hadn’t yet arrived. She and Sixx made quick work of turning off most of the lights while Nettles did her part and prepared for bed. This, Nettles had insisted, would be the most believable scenario for Haven to walk in on since only Dark Breeds tended to be awake at this hour.

  Besides that, this was how she’d seen it in her vision, so this was how it had to go down.

  When Nettles reappeared in the hall outside her bedroom, Kyana stopped her task of turning off lights. Her hand dropped to her side and she blinked in disbelief, her jaw agape as she struggled to hold back her laughter.

  Despite her efforts, a snort escaped. “You actually wear that to bed?”

  The Seer’s pink pajamas were covered with tiny gray mice and there were feet . . . feet . . . sewn in, a hood stitched into the back.

  Nettles shrugged and wiggled her mousy feet. “I get cold.”

  When she lifted the hood and gently placed it over her spunky hair, Kyana couldn’t help it. Her struggle to keep her laughter quiet made her eyes water.

  “You . . . have . . . ears!”

  Nettles pierced her with a glare that might have killed her if the old Seer had been bigger than a mouse herself.

  “You just make use of your charms so I can get this over with,” she grumbled.

  Sixx appeared at the end of the hall, took one look at Nettles, then looked at Kyana and rolled her eyes. “Oh my gods, turn around. I have to know if you have a tail.”

  Sixx was just teasing of course, but Nettles turned around, and sure enough, about seven inches of pink yarn hung from her saggy little tush. Kyana was going to have to use her charm. Right now. If she didn’t, Haven would hear her laughter long before she arrived. But it felt so good to laugh. So good to forget, even for half a second, what they were here to do.

  She pointed to the bedroom and fought to clamp down her laughter. “You go . . . get in . . . bed. Sixx will be watching you . . . from the hallway.”

  Nettles shook her head so hard the ears on her pajamas came around to pop her chin. “You both should be in the room with me. I’d feel better knowing you were there even if I can’t see you.”

  Her composure finally gathered, she gave Nettles’s shoulder a pat of reassurance. “I need to have a clear view of the house so I can see Haven and make sure she’s alone.”

  “It’s going to be fine,” Sixx said, wrapping her arm around Nettles’s shoulder. “You lay quiet and I’ll be in the corner until the psycho bitch shows.”

  “Watch it,” Kyana scolded. “She’s not to blame for what she’s become.”

  “Just go do your thing and let me do mine.”

  Forcing herself not to draw the woman into another round of who-hated-whom-more, she nodded at the bed, then at Nettles. “Let’s get this going before Haven realizes something is up and decides to be a no-show.”

  If that happened, they’d be right back in the middle of a guessing game. Haven wouldn’t give up until she had the Eyes of Power. She believed Nettles could find them for her. The old Seer didn’t stand a chance of avoiding Haven for long.

  She made her way back through the house, shutting off more lights as she went, bathing the house in enough darkness to create the illusion needed to bring Haven out of the shadows.

  She sat in the dark for what felt an eternity but in actuality was only a couple of hours. The sky outside was lightening, but only by a fraction. Gray skies instead of black loomed overhead, and it was becoming difficult not to doze off. Sixx had surprised her with her ability to stay alert. So far, she hadn’t complained once about how long it was taking for them to see action. Maybe she wasn’t half bad.

  Or maybe Kyana was just too tired to care anymore.

  Finally, a soft birdcall whistle brought her back to the stairs, where she found Sixx waving her down. The Witch pulled her charm out of her pocket. “Time to don the accessories. Your friend is on her way.”

  Kyana sniffed the air. Only Nettles’s scent hung in the room. “How do you know?”

  “The Seer said so.” Sixx rubbed at her arms as if trying to massage a sudden chill from her body. “And there’s a charge in the air that wasn’t here two minutes ago.”

  She felt it too. It was as though someone had poured a static fog into the house, making every hair on her body stand at attention. “Protect the Seer. Leave Haven to me.”

  Sixx pulled the charm over her head and disappeared from sight. With a sigh, and a tiny prayer that this time Haven wouldn’t get the upper hand, Kyana slipped her own charm over her head, moved onto the front porch, and waited.

  No more than ten minutes had passed before she picked up the sound of determined footsteps coming up the deserted street. There wasn’t a trace of Haven hanging in the air, but by the electricity dancing on the wind, she was close.

  Bracing her hands against the railing, she watched the street. A lone cat, bathing itself on the walk, suddenly stilled. A low hissing, almost a growl, filled the night air. Slowly, the cat pushed to its feet, watching the darkness. With a screech, it shot down an alleyway, knocking over a trash can in its rush to escape.

  The footfalls closed in and she found herself holding her breath. When her head started to spin, and still Haven hadn’t arrived, she forced herself to pull in small breaths. When the sound of her heartbeat faded from her ears, she realized the footfalls had stopped too.

  Adrenaline set fire to her blood. Her gaze d
arted around the yard, the darkness hiding nothing but silent houses. Had she imagined the footsteps? The feel of Haven on the wind?

  She’d just about convinced herself that it had all been in her head when a sound pulled her gaze back to the door. Haven stood two feet away, her hand on the knob, her head tilted as she peered through the gaping hole in the door.

  Kyana quickly played out all the options in her head. Bringing Haven down before she entered the house was her best bet. If she failed to stop her, maybe Haven would flee without going after the Seer.

  Not bothering to uncloak, she threw her invisible form forward, hitting Haven square in the back. Haven let out a loud oomph, her eyes wide as she tried to see her attacker. Wrapping her arms around Haven, Kyana shoved her to the ground, landing on top of her, her forehead connecting to the back of Haven’s skull.

  Haven hissed and shimmied away, but Kyana grabbed hold of an ankle, jerking her back to the ground. As she knelt with one hand braced on the rough wooden planks of the porch, Haven’s gaze darted in every direction, searching.

  “Come on, Kyana,” she all but sang. “You won’t get the satisfaction you want if you don’t fight fair.”

  With the fluidity only a goddess could possess, Kyana pulled the chain from her neck and launched herself forward. Her fist connected with Haven’s jaw at the same time her leg swung out and knocked Haven into the porch railing behind her. Fully visible now, she straddled Haven and looked her in the eye. She didn’t recognize the person staring back at her, but she had to believe that somewhere in those black depths, Haven still existed.

  “I’d offer to help you, but I’m guessing you still won’t accept.”

  Much like her eyes, Haven’s laugh was cold and bitter. “Don’t you think you’ve helped me enough?”

  Guilt loosened Kyana’s hold, but not enough for Haven to break free. “I can’t take back what I did, but I can make it better. You don’t have to be a pawn. You don’t have to do these things. He can’t control you if you don’t let him.”