by Holly Evans
“They were a witch faction, trained as mercenaries and assassins. They’ll be connected to someone with a lot of money and power, which means that someone would very much like us dead,” Kane said as he sat down on a stool in the kitchen.
He opened up his box of witch stuff and placed out the relevant pastes for me. I tried not to watch too closely as he peeled off his shirt and jeans. I’d seen him down to his boxers many times, but there was something about the way his skin glistened from the rain. I turned to Dante, who had a frown back on his face.
“Can you get some fresh cloths and a bowl of hot water?”
He opened a cupboard, and I looked Kane’s injuries over objectively.
“They’re all cuts, right? No broken bones?” I asked.
I hated healing the broken bones, the sound of them crunching back together was really unsettling.
“Just cuts. I don’t feel any additional magic in the wounds, so you should just need the purple and green pastes. The green for the deeper cuts,” Kane said.
Dante placed the cloths and bowl of hot water down on the table next to the pastes.
“You know this witch faction?” Dante asked as he took the stool next to me, his hand resting next to my lower arm.
“I don’t know them personally, but I’m familiar with the aesthetic. How do you not know them? You’re a highborn witch.”
Dante ground his teeth. “My family didn’t deal with such things.”
Kane snorted. “I’m sure you preferred to get your own hands dirty.”
I pressed the cloth against the large cut on Kane’s forearm a little harder than was necessary. His gaze turned to me, where I glared at him.
“I have some more contacts I can press about the blood, and I can ask around about the mercs,” Kane said.
Dante’s phone started ringing before he could say anything.
“I need to take this,” he said.
That left me alone with Kane, which would normally have made me happy and relaxed. For the first time, I tensed, unsure what to expect. He was my best friend, I could trust him with anything, and yet things felt as though they were changing, and I didn’t know if it was for the better.
THIRTY
Once Dante was out of ear shot, Kane caressed my cheek and gave me a gentle smile.
“Are you ok?” he asked, his beautiful sea-green eyes soft.
“Of course, why?”
The creased formed between his eyebrows. I reflexively pressed my thumb to it and smiled.
“You seem… off. I’m worried about you,” he said, running his hands up over my arms.
“You’re the one that’s badly injured,” I said as I applied the purple paste to his shin.
The pastes were already working, the cuts healing beneath them, pulling his skin tight and removing the redness around the injuries.
“Has Dante threatened you?”
I looked up at him. “No, he’s been a gentleman.”
Once I’d applied the paste to his final cut and washed my hands, he stood and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Talk to me, Wren,” he whispered.
I leaned my head on his shoulder. He was my best friend, my confidante.
“He calls to me, his blood. When his demon side comes through, the most natural thing in the world is to lay my hands on him and soothe him. And he said there was blood magic at the cult. What if there’s a blood witch up there and they’re a monster? What if I’m going to become a monster too? When we were fighting, I felt the witch’s blood calling to me, begging me to steal away her life essence,” I said, feeling the tears pricking the corners of my eyes.
Kane held me gently his fingers running through my hair.
“You’re not a monster,” he whispered.
I looked into his face.
“But I’m a blood witch. They were executed for a reason,” I whispered.
He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, a small kind smile on his face.
“You will never be a monster. Your magic is a small part of you,” he whispered back.
I reached up and brushed the lock of hair out of his eyes.
“What ever would I do without you?”
He smiled and kissed my cheek.
“You’ll never find out,” he whispered in my ear.
“That was one of my pharmaceutical companies, someone hijacked-” Dante stopped as he saw me in Kane’s arms.
I stepped back, feeling a blush form on my cheeks and guilt writhe in my stomach. I hadn’t done anything wrong. He stood a little taller, his eyes hard and his shoulders back.
“A large alchemical shipment was hijacked and stolen just inside the border from Montenegro. I’m awaiting details on what, exactly was stolen. It could be irrelevant, but, given the oddities at the moment, I felt it was worth looking into,” he said stiffly, his eyes darting between Kane and me.
Kane was leaning back against the kitchen counter looking very pleased with himself.
“I’m going to get a hot shower, so don’t kill each other,” I said.
“No need to worry, Kane was just leaving,” Dante said.
Kane smirked and pulled on his blood-stained jeans.
“I’ll see you for dinner, Wren,” he said.
I nodded and headed up the stairs, needing to clear my head. The situation was ridiculous. I refocused on the investigation we were supposed to be looking into. The guys were right. If someone had thrown a lot of money into sending masked mercs after us, then we were on the right trail. The only problem was, which trail was that? Was it the Olapireta and their love of purity? The cult? I didn’t know if I wanted it to be the cult. If there was blood magic there, then it could hold answers to who and what I was and possibly to my parents. It could also bring my secret into the light and show me a potential future I never wanted to face.
THIRTY-ONE
The afternoon was devoted to sitting around trying to think of who else to put pressure on to figure out what was going on. I didn’t have any contacts in the area, and the ones in Italy were no use, which was hardly surprising. Dante kept pacing around the room speaking in a number of different languages to different people. I pulled out my laptop and searched the internet for some tenuous link somewhere. Of course, the internet was full of fluff and bullshit. Zapped, the social media network for supernals, also wasn’t any use.
I was getting bored and desperate, and I hoped to stumble across someone talking about the cult, the fae-vampire things, or something else we could use. Nothing. It was just the usual gossip between packs and covens with some conspiracy theories about the fae.
When Kane rang, I did a whoop of joy that something had happened. Even if it was only dinner reservations, it was better than banging my head against that investigation.
Kane had a lead! The blood from the fae-vampire came back, and it was tainted with blood magic. Fuck.
“Kane will be here in ten minutes. He finally got the results back from that blood. It was tainted with blood magic,” I said.
Dante’s face lit up. He grinned and put his phone down.
“This means there’s a tie back to the cult then,” he said.
I laughed. “You just want an excuse to break in there.”
“I do hate when I can’t get into somewhere. They’ve piqued my curiosity now,” he said with a grin.
“Are you sure you’re not a corvid or a fae?”
He laughed again, a genuine deep laugh that lit up his eyes.
“I’m quite certain that I know what I am, Wren.
I hadn’t thought it possible for him to be this relaxed and happy. All because he had a chance to try and break into the cult and poke around there.
“We’ll need some supplies, and I’ll need to get another look at that magical barrier of theirs,” Dante said.
He frowned at his phone when it buzzed with a text.
“Ah, it looks like that will have to wait. The Council have just said we can’t go near the cult land until we have solid evidenc
e.”
I sighed and stretched back on the sofa. “I hate bureaucracy.”
“Not everything is going to be excitement and fights,” Dante said with a smile.
He tucked his hands in the pockets of his pants, which pulled his shirt a little tighter across his broad chest. I tried not to look too closely. We were meant to be work colleagues, and I was sure I wasn’t supposed to be lounging out on the sofa on a job, either.
I sighed melodramatically. “Then I might have to look into another line of work.”
He grinned at me. “You’d miss this too much. You’d miss the chance to make the world a better place.”
I wrinkled my nose. “You have me there.”
Kane let himself in.
“The blood contains traces of blood magic, and I don’t mean the sacrificial kind, I mean the kind from a blood witch.”
Fuck. Triple fuck. Was that good or bad? I mean, on one hand, they were making weird fae-vampire things that had attacked us twice. On the other hand, they might be able to help me learn about my magic! Maybe they had answers about my family, too.
Dante’s expression soured.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Kane said firmly.
“Is there some record of things like this?” I said.
“Blood witches tend to be hidden due to the fact they’re illegal and the Council has a kill-on-sight policy,” Dante said.
I knew that all too well, but that didn’t stop me from hoping that maybe, just maybe, there was a big book of answers lying around somewhere. Kane came and sat down next to me on the sofa, his thigh pressed against mine. I nudged him with my shoulder.
“Thanks. I know you came here for your ink paint stuff. I appreciate your helping,” I said.
“Ink paint stuff?” Dante asked.
“I’m not sure I should tell you. If I do, you could take the idea out from under me.”
Dante smirked.
“I’m refining a magical paint that can be used to make temporary sigils and spells,” Kane said.
“When you have it refined, we’ll talk. If it’s good, I’ll make you a business proposition,” Dante said.
“Not interested.”
I frowned at Kane. He wasn’t doing badly for money, but something like that could make a big difference.
“I am not selling out,” Kane said.
“Think about it,” Dante said.
“Wren, we should go and get dinner,” Dante said.
Kane grinned and put his arms out along the back of the sofa, a territorial gesture if ever there was one.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
THIRTY-TWO
By some miracle, dinner went off without a hitch. We ate in a nice little restaurant hidden in a corner near the perimeter walls. The food was absolutely divine, good enough that it made up for the complete lack of conversation. The guys kept glaring at each other or sniping, and, in the end, I left them to it and headed back to the apartment alone.
It felt as though someone was following me, but I couldn’t pinpoint a bloodsong that stood out. Yet there was the feeling of being watched that raised the hairs on the back of my neck and made me keep pausing and looking into the shadows. I stopped checking when the torrential rain started again and ran the last stretch back up the steps to the warm, dry apartment.
Inside the apartment, the feeling of being watched continued. I shrugged it off as being paranoid. There were no bloodsongs there, and I was just being ridiculous and paranoid. I made the most of having the space to myself and took a luxuriously long, hot shower where I lathered myself in a wonderful lemon and chili shower gel. It was the little things.
I was just crawling into bed when Dante got back.
“Wren?” he called from the hallway outside my room.
“In bed,” I called back.
“Sweet dreams,” he said before I heard him pad to his room.
I knew that night wasn’t going to go well. I should have listened to my instincts. Instead, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall into blissful dreams. The world was beautifully vivid and technicolour, everything was perfect. I didn’t have to worry about money or the Council, I could go on whatever adventure I felt like without any restrictions. Then I woke up to find a shadowy figure leaning over my bed with a blade in their hand glinting in the faint moonlight coming in from the open window.
“I was having such a nice dream,” I groaned.
The attacker thrust their dagger at my face. Nothing wakes you up quite as quickly as a dagger being thrust at your face. I rolled away and the attacker’s blade caught in my pillow, giving me time to grab my own daggers.
“You really shouldn’t try and stab people in the face. Not only is it rude, but it’s also inefficient,” I said.
The attacker pulled their dagger free as I was trying to push up into a standing position on the bed. They leapt onto the bed and swiped at my stomach. I shifted my weight just enough to stop the blade from slicing me open, but it still cut through my favourite sleeping cami. Their bloodsong was deep and rich. I was sure it would taste like high end chocolate if it had a taste. It was so tempting to grasp onto their blood and squeeze, to crush the life essence out of them. Dante was in the room next door. He’d be able to feel the magic. And I wasn’t like that, I reminded myself as I hopped to one side as the attacker slashed at my stomach again. I wasn’t a monster.
I managed to get a better footing, although the bedding was in a messy heap and it made it difficult to step clearly. The attacker darted right, and I caught sight of a dark mask covering their face. Fantastic, another one of those. They tried to circle around me and push me towards the edge of the bed. I took the risk and leapt off the bed, glad to be back on solid ground again. Well, it was solid until a vine appeared out of nowhere and ensnared my ankle.
“Now you’re not playing fair,” I said.
I expected a maniacal laugh, but it didn’t come. The vine sank sharp claws into my bare leg, and I cut myself free of it, which gave the attacker an opportunity to try and stab me through my ribs.
“That’s not even where my heart is,” I said as I moved away.
Their dagger drew blood and cut through muscle, but it glanced off my ribs.
They stood in a cocky stance with their feet too wide and their stomach exposed. They thought that I was an easy target. That pissed me off. I spun my blades and grinned at them, a positively feral grin. It was enough to make them tense and shift their balance. I shot forward as though I was going to gut them. They side-stepped to the left, which I anticipated and side-stepped with them to slit their throat.
Deep blue smoke curled around their ankles and hands the moment my blade bit into their skin.
“No, don’t you fucking dare!” I shouted as I grabbed onto the black shirt they were wearing.
“Wren!?” Dante shouted as he burst into the room.
The attacker was nothing but a wisp of smoke when he raced over to me.
“You’re bleeding? What happened?” Dante asked, putting his hands on my upper shoulders and looking me up and down.
“Someone tried to kill me. They were wearing a dark mask and black clothes. As you just saw, they turned into fucking smoke, so I don’t have anything to trace them with,” I said.
“Hey,” Dante said gently as he pulled me to him.
He stroked my hair, and I allowed myself to be calmed and soothed.
“We’ll call Kane, and he can heal your injuries,” he said as he caressed my cheek.
“I suppose this means we’re on the right track, if they’re trying to kill us again,” I said.
Dante smiled, and I didn’t miss the flicker of amber in his eyes. “Yes.”
I sighed and looked around the room. It didn’t feel safe anymore. I knew the world was never that safe, but my bedroom was where I was vulnerable, as the attacker had demonstrated.
“Damn them, I was having a nice dream too,” I said.
Dante laughed and led me out of the room.
&nbs
p; “Was I in it?” he asked.
I thought for a moment.
“No, you weren’t,” I finally said.
He smirked at me, clearly unconvinced.
“Kane is going to be pissed,” I said.
THIRTY-THREE
Kane burst in the door like a hellhound was on his tail, skidded across the tile floor, and bundled me into his arms.
“Don’t do that to me, don’t worry me like that,” he said as he held me close.
I rested my head on his shoulder and allowed his bloodsong to wrap around me, enjoyed the familiarity of it. The anxiety of the evening slowly faded in his presence. He carefully pushed me down onto the sofa, where he set about inspecting my injuries. It was quite a rigmarole trying to treat the cut on my ribs without lifting my cami too high.
“Have you given her some sugar? She’ll need sugar after an incident like this,” Kane said to Dante.
Dante raised an eyebrow before he went and fetched me a bar of chocolate.
“You’ve been hiding this from me?” I teased.
Dante grinned back at me. “I was keeping it for a special occasion.”
The cool fizzing sensation of Kane’s salve settled into my ribs and made me squirm. It felt wrong and ticklish.
Kane placed his hands on my shoulders and looked at me, his face a mask of concern
“Stay still, let the salve work,” he said firmly.
It took everything I had to stay still and not fidget as the fizzing sensation got deeper under the skin and in between the ribs. I picked at the bar of chocolate while I waited for it to stop. The chocolate was a brand I couldn’t normally afford to look at, let alone eat. It was rich, velvety, and had a wonderful fruit note that sat on my tongue. Dante watched me eating it with a delighted smile on his face.
Once Kane had finished applying his salves, he sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders.
“I can’t lose you,” he said softly.
I grinned at him. “It’s going to take more than one measly assassin to get rid of me.”