by Diane Nortje
“Why, so you can just run off and tell Jacin?” I ask him.
“Our orders were to go with you, not to tell him where we were going.” Bus says instead of Haven. What are they like all mentally connected or something?
I look at them carefully. I know I need to choose my words around them. What one says, the others might feel differently about it. Even if I don’t tell them where I’m planning on going, they are going to find out anyways. So, do I take a leap of faith and believe them that they won’t rat me out, either way, they are going to find out.
“I’m going to the library.” I say to them. I wait for the questions to come at me. I wait for them to jump up and start going off at how bad an idea this is. But nothing happens.
“What time do you want to leave?” I hear Lynx ask me.
“In the next ten minutes, if I can just have some coffee first.” I say back to him.
“I will go fetch the car then.” Lynx replies to me.
Before I could wait to find out if Jacin heard where I was off too, or if Weyland will just pop back into the kitchen, we were on our way to the library. Surely it can’t be this easy. Can it?
~ ~ ~
“Will you guys keep it down, I’m trying to concentrate.” I grind out to the guys that are sitting opposite me. The ride over to the library was rowdy and loud, they had music blaring from the speakers, not that I minded, but I was sandwiched between three massive men. It was not comfortable and way too much touching for my liking. But now we are in a library and we can’t draw to much attention to ourselves, but they are making that task next to impossible.
I glance over to the librarian’s station; Aunty Amber doesn’t seem to be at work today. Thankfully. I can’t have this getting back to my parents, and also getting my mother’s hopes up thinking I have someone serious in my life. The librarian that is on duty, is giving us a death glare from where she is sitting. Who would blame her, it’s not only that we are being too loud, its most probably also the fact I’m sitting with five men, who look as if they just came to hang out after a modelling shoot? Little does she know, this is the weirdest bunch on men on this planet. Not straight, not gay, not anything by the looks of things.
“You know this is bad idea, right?” Haven whispers to me. Now he wants to be quiet.
“Yes, and I don’t care.” I reply with a dismissive glance towards him.
“What if the Jacin finds out?” I hear Lynx ask one of the guys. I’m trying really hard not to pay attention to them.
“I guess we will deal with it then.” I hear Tray reply.
“You guys make it out like he is going to punish you for me doing this.” I ask the crowd of men. I don’t really care who answers me.
“Punishment would be an easy sentence if that’s the case.” Bus replies. What on earth?
“What on earth do you think he is going to do to you then?” I ask Bus.
“Bury us ten feet under, alive, if we really unlucky.” He says back. Now I’m really stunned.
“Well then go, I’m not trying to get you guys into trouble for this. I need to do this for me. I need to be prepared for the worst.” I say to the men.
I hear Even snort at my reply. He hasn’t said much, I don’t think I have heard him speak around me yet. I glare in his direction and he just snorts again at me. Apparently, my glare is not frightening to them. Only if they really knew what I hid.
“Why don’t you just let Jacin handles this, he is going to get it, we just waiting on Bishop.” Tray asks me.
“Did he, or did he not want to kill me before we met?” I ask Tray back. But he doesn’t bother to answer, he just looks down, breaking eye contact with me.
“Exactly. I don’t know what Jacin wants, and I told you before, go. I don’t need your help here, I’m quite capable of doing this by myself.”
“No, our instructions were not to leave your side.” Tray says back to me.
“Okay, if that’s the case, we are reluctant partners in crime then. Now will you guys please keep it down, so I can concentrate.”
None of them bother to reply to me. Thankfully, so I can start my planning with some peace and quiet. I pretend to be thinking about the book that I have placed in front of me. I have no idea what it is about, I just picked it up as we walked in.
I watch the blank wall that is directly in front of me. To any normal person, it would just be the back end of the library wall with two long book shelves sitting against the wall. But it isn’t, it so much more than that, it’s the entrance into the coven’s library.
I can make out the entire library of the coven from this angle. I see rows and rows of books, that look way too old to even be allowed to be touched, but its most likely the magic holding them together still. I don’t see anyone walking the rows, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t anyone there at the moment.
I don’t see any other door in the room, so clearly whoever wants to get inside will have to go through this libraries door. Odd. I would think there would be at least one more entrance to the place. The magic that surrounds the place must somehow keep track of the comings and goings of the books and people. What the hell is kept in there that they need this kind of magic to guard it.
I tasted the magic the moment I walked into the library. The magic is old, ancient if I’m going by the bitter, aged taste I’m getting in my mouth. But old it might be, it’s power is definitely not affected by its age. Its strong, powerful. It’s just a challenge I like to take. I can disable the magic quickly, I just need to get inside to do it.
I look about the room, trying to see any other way through. The only windows that are there are high up, and extremely narrow. I could possibly go through the window by sliding myself through it, but how the hell would I get so high up to have time to do so.
“What do you see?” Tray asks me. They can’t see in, now that I know witches blood doesn’t run through them. I’m not sure if they are the same as Jacin, or if they are just working for him. I haven’t gotten around to uncover the mystery yet.
“There’s a window, it could possibly get me in undetected before I can disable the magic, but its high, really high up.” I say back to him.
“And that’s a problem, why?” Haven asks me.
“Well I’m sure people would notice if I started lugging around a super long ladder. And me sprouting wings, is not a possibility. So, I have no way to get up to it, and to have time to get through it.” I say back to him with a little bit too much snark in my voice.
“If we get you up there, would you be able to get yourself inside?” Haven asks me, ignoring my narky comment from before.
“Yes, that won’t be a problem.” I say back to him.
“Well then, we will get you up there, and then you can do the rest.
A plan starts too form in my head of the possibilities of me getting up there, and I think it could possibly work. There are enough men to help me up to the window, now I just need some of my stuff from the office that Ariana is sending over.
“Okay, great, let me just make a quick sketch of the place and we can be on our way before the Caveman and Jacin start asking questions on where we were.” I reply to Haven. This might just be easier than I thought it would be.
“They haven’t yet. So, make fast.” Tray says back to me.
I just nod and get on with drawing my plan out. I’m going to need it if I’m going to go through with this.
~ ~ ~
The house was empty when we arrive back at the house. After sitting like a stuffed sardine in a can, my legs had started to cramp up and I needed to walk it off. The plan that formed in my head was simple. Really simple. Sometimes simple is best. Over complicating things just make things worse.
After I walked off the cramp in my legs, I went back inside the house to check if anything had arrived for me while I was in the garden. Nothing had come, and I was starting to worry all over again that I had dreamed up this life of mine. I pull out my phone to make sure the mess
age was still there from Ariana. It was, and she said the box was on its way.
While I was pacing in the hallway, waiting for my box to arrive. I ran through the plan again, I had to somehow get the covens calendar, somehow figure out a date that would be best to do this. They needed to be preoccupied to hopefully not notice the magic being disabled. Maybe I should check home again, maybe my mother has somehow left a calendar lying about in her rush to get to the taxi.
If I had only known leaving the coven after that first day almost stepping into this house would be a bigger inconvenience than actually staying in it, I would have just grinned and bared it up until now. If only I could see the damn future.
The door bell ringing brings me out of my own thoughts. I hope this is my box that has come. I don’t wait to see if anyone is coming to answer the door, I march up to it and open the door. A massive box is held up in the air and all I can see is tiny female hands, nails painted bright pink holding the box. My box. Ariana.
“Ariana?” I ask. I still can’t see her face, but I’m guessing she would be the only one carrying a box.
“Will you let me in already, there’s a bunch of men out here that look like they will eat me for dinner.” I hear her huff out at me. Normally she enjoys all the attention she gets from men. And she gets a lot, and why wouldn’t she? She is stunning.
“Oh shit, sure come in.” I say back to her, while moving out of the way.
“Where can I put this?” She asks me, while I’m looking out of the door to see the men she was talking about, but I don’t see anyone. Odd.
“Anywhere, I’ll move it to my room. I thought you were sending it, you didn’t have to drive it down yourself.” I say to her, while watching her place the box near the staircase.
“I wanted too. After I couldn’t get hold of you, I started to worry, I even called Eric. And you know how I feel about him. So, I decided to drive here and see what the hell is going on.” She says to me a little out of breath from carrying the box.
“Oh, please don’t tell me you told Eric where I was. I have enough on my plate already. And I really don’t need him coming here and deciding for me I need his undying attention and help.” I say to Ariana, giving a silent pray to whoever is listening that she didn’t do it.
“Are you mad? I would never throw you under the bus like that.” Her tone sounding offended that I would even think she would do that to me.
I breathe out a sigh of relief. I don’t think I could handle Eric at this point. I should just sit him down when I get back and break his heart. I think it would be kinder like that for him anyways.
“Your credit cards.” Ariana says to me while handing over my cards. “I’m guessing you would like some money while you are here.”
“Such a life saver. I forgot to ask you to bring them, thanks.” I say to her while taking them from her.
Ariana just nods and starts to take in where she actually is. I can see her eyes running down the hallway, into the many rooms she can see into from where she is standing. The house is big and screams money with how it’s been decorated.
“Your parents must be pretty wealthy too live in a place like this.” She says to me.
“Well, actually, it’s not-.” Before I can finish my sentence, Jacin’s voice comes booming down the hallway.
“Natalie. What the fuck is going on?” He shouts at me from the end of the hallway.
Great, just great. He came home in a mood. Are we already like an old married couple?
I watch him start to stalk towards me, because he doesn’t walk. He glides or stalks, and right now he is stalking towards me. Like I am his prey and he is the hunter. I stand my ground, cause hell, he forced me to live here with him, not the other way around.
“I was just talking with my friend, Ariana, she dropped off some of my stuff from the city, I was just about to give her a tour.” I say to him as he gets closer to me.
That’s when he notices Ariana for the first time. I know the effect she has on men, I’ve seen it countless times. Men stopping in their tracks, stopping what they are doing just to look at her. Like they can’t believe their own eyes. I just never thought Jacin would be like that.
I saw it before he could cover it up. Hunger, need. Like all the other men look at her, except they don’t try cover it up. I shouldn’t be jealous, because one night against a wall doesn’t mean a thing, and I should know that, I should know better, but hell I can’t shake the hurt I felt for those few seconds.
“No.” Is all Jacin says to me, while he is looking at Ariana. God men, they can’t even take their eyes off her for one second.
“That’s being rude Jacin.” I say to him, while looking back and forth from him and Ariana. And I really wish I hadn’t.
Ariana is now acting all shy and shit. Eyes down, cheeks blushing. I don’t think I haven’t ever seen her act that way before. She is picking at the hem of her extremely fitting baby pink dress. I can’t help but look down at what I’m wearing. God I could just smack myself. Nothing exciting to see here.
“Its fine Natalie, I should be on my way, anyways.” Ariana says to me, just above a whisper.
“No.” Is all Jacin can say. Well a man of many words again. “I would like to speak with you in my office. Come.” Jacin says to her and I look back and forth between the two of them. Ariana is just nodding her head, looking down. Jacin however is unreadable. Like normal. What the hell is going on.
Before I get the chance to ask, Jacin turns back around and walks off in the direction of his office, Ariana following behind him. I’m not sure what to make of this whole situation. And then the anger hits me, more than the jealousy does. Does he think he can force me to live here, play his games with me and then go fuck my friends in his office. Oh, this man has another thing coming.
I walk over to where Ariana put my box, I lift it up and stalk off to my room. I’m going to get this damn prophecy and I’m going to figure out how to end it and soon. The sooner I’m out of this fucking house, the sooner I can burn this fucking house to the ground.
~Jacin~
I hadn’t been home since I last spoke with Natalie. I don’t know what I was expecting. But I wanted to come home to her. That feeling was new to me, and I didn’t know how the fuck to handle it. Once I faded into the house, her smell over whelmed me, it lingered all over the house. I should have been more prepared. I wasn’t. Need took over me. I wanted her. Right then.
I saw her standing by the open front door, and I thought she was trying to leave, and she couldn’t leave me. The beast wouldn’t allow it, I wouldn’t allow it.
“Natalie, what the fuck is going on?” I shout at her from down the hall. I need to be near her, I need to touch her. So, I make my way towards her. She is the only thing I want, what he wants. That’s a bad combination when we both agree we want something.
“I was just talking with my friend, Ariana, she dropped off some of my stuff from the city, I was just about to give her a tour.” Natalie says to me, and that’s when I realize she wasn’t alone.
The fucking scent that comes from that woman catches me off guard for a moment, normally it wouldn’t have, but with Natalie’s’ scent combined, it throws me. Fucking sex fae. What the fuck is she doing in my house and what the fuck is she doing with Natalie.
“No.” Is all I say to Natalie. I watch the woman she called her friend. This woman is not walking freely around my house until I know what the fuck she wants. Why the fuck is Natalie friends with a sex fae. Does she even know what her friend is? The Fae know they are not allowed here without permission and I don’t ever fucking remember giving permission to this woman.
I hear Natalie saying something about being rude or something, but I couldn’t care less. Her friend finally fucking realizes who I am and the shit she is in. I highly doubt when she walked through those doors, she knew whose house this was. If she did, then she was fucking stupid to think I would not have known.
Her friend tries her luck, I’ll give her th
at. She tries to leave, but she won’t, I won’t let her. I haven’t got my answers yet.
“No.” I say to her friend. I’m trying fucking hard right now to be polite in front of Natalie. I can’t have her knowing what is going on, especially if she has no clue who her friend is. “I would like to speak with you in my office. Come.” I ask again nicely. I can’t even look at Natalie, I’m not sure if my eyes have changed colour, and I don’t want to scare her. So, I turn around and walk off to my office. And all I hear is the woman’s heels clicking behind me as I do so.
Chapter Fifteen
“Demons run circles, round and round in my head.” - Natalie
~Natalie~
“Are you real.” I ask the Witch standing in front of me.
“Why would you think I wasn’t?” She replies calmly.
“No one else can see you, you never here when I’m with someone else.” I murmur out to her again. The cold air running through my hair as we stand in the open field where she lives.
“That is because you are special Natalie, I will always be here for you.”
I wake with a start, the sun beating down on my face and I have no clue what time it is. But judging from the sun, I’ve been sleeping most of the day. I’ve been dreaming again, at least it wasn’t about Jacin this time torturing some poor soul. I’ve come to realize Evelyn has been in my life way longer than I realized at first. She has always been the constant thing I ran to when I felt something was wrong, when something was coming for me. I now know that it was always Jacin coming for me.
Even though it’s been days since I last saw Ariana walking behind Jacin to his office. I can’t say that the sting of hurt doesn’t still linger but it does. I think it always will. I’m going crazy in this house. Jacin hasn’t been around much either, he either has been avoiding me or he just been too busy to even say hello. But I push the hurt away, I can’t allow myself to get attached to a man like him.
I search Jacin’s house while he is busy with whatever it is he does. One thing I notice its always clean, the fridge is always stocked but, yet I never see anyone cleaning or doing the shopping. The five men that are always with me are dotted around the house and Weyland keeps popping up to check on things, on the men and to make sure I have everything I need. Jacin’s brother is who I like the most, he comes over often and keeps me company.