Cursed Witch

by September Stone

  Three acolytes surround the vine cocoon and work to free Calder and Taj. The forest echoes with the sound of dozens of feet rustling through the underbrush.

  Silas and Poe appear first, the latter with a limp and a gash above his left eye. Silas studies me curiously, but he says nothing.

  Brother Anson pushes his way to the front of the group, his expression both bewildered and relieved. “Casek,” he breathes. “After all this time. How could we not have seen it?”

  “I don’t know.” I wish I had some comfort for the man, but I know even if I spoke the right words, they wouldn’t be enough. He needs to come to terms with this revelation in his own way, in his own time.

  Taj and Calder emerge from their protective shell, Calder still holding the staff. Now that it’s no longer emitting a blinding light, it looks harmless again. Delicate. Small. Beautiful, but harmless.

  “I’m guessing you’re not going to stop us from taking this,” Calder says, his grip on the relic firm.

  Anson shakes his head. “It should be with Elowen. She’s the only one who was strong enough to defeat Casek. She’ll know how to deal with this.”

  Kari stands and offers her hands to help me to my feet. “I guess that means you’ll be on your way.”

  I nod. “We still have a curse to break.”

  She pulls me into a firm hug, and I wrap my arms around her. “Maybe you’ll find your way back here one day.”

  Tears sting the backs of my eyes. “Yeah, maybe.”

  Calder packs the staff into Taj’s backpack, and Poe allows Taj to look at his cut for exactly two seconds before announcing it’s time for us to leave.

  My heart aches as we make our way back toward the main road. I’ll miss Kari, and part of me wishes she could come with us. But this is where she belongs, and I can’t force her to go against what she knows is right. Besides, after tonight, I have a feeling the Order will need every one of their members to begin the healing process and return to the heart of their mission.

  Besides, like Kari said, I can return one day. Now that we have the staff, I have a whole life ahead of me to fill however I see fit.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Poe

  The roads are quiet and empty when we get back to Twin Rivers. Although it’s late, no one in the car is asleep. There’s nothing like a battle against the brainwashed acolytes of an otherworldly great mage to get the blood racing, I guess.

  At first, I’m just as excited as the rest of them. But with every mile closer we draw to Twin Rivers, a dark shadow casts its pall over me. It’s only a matter of time before the curse is broken. It should be good news—except, for me, it’s anything but.

  “I would kill for a cheeseburger right about now,” Silas says.

  Calder snorts from the driver’s seat. “Yeah. Good luck finding anything open this late at night.”

  “You could always try Shipwreck Tavern.”

  I don’t realize I’ve spoken until Taj twists in the passenger’s seat to stare at me. “Talk to me about this tavern.”

  I lift a shoulder, wishing like hell I’d kept my mouth shut. “Nothing. It’s just a bar that caters to shifters. It’s usually open till around sun-up. I can’t promise the kitchen’s open, but there’s a chance.”

  Calder chuckles. “Tell me where to go.”

  Within five minutes, he pulls into the tavern’s parking lot and slips out of the driver’s seat. The backseat clears of everyone but me. Taj unfolds from his spot in the seat ahead of me and slams his door, but lingers by my window. “You coming?”

  I shake my head. “I’m not hungry.”

  Taj’s eyebrows draw together like he’s not sure he believes me, but he doesn’t push the matter.

  “Bring me back some onion rings?”

  The sound of Bryn’s voice sends goosebumps rising down my spine. She must have moved only to let Silas out, because she’s back in the spot she’s filled for the last several hours.

  As the guys all nod and head toward the tavern’s brightly-lit front door, every atom of my body tunes in to hers. The pace of her heartbeat, her easy breathing, and the sweet-spicy scent of her skin.

  I should’ve gone in with the others.

  “Do you think Elowen knows already?”

  My eyes flick to her for the first time in hours. At some point, she stripped off the hooded sweatshirt she was wearing in favor of a dark blue tank top. Her brief foray into the chilly night air summoned goosebumps on her arms and nipples so hard I can see the peaks even through the padding of her bra. “Do I think Elowen knows what?”

  “That we have the staff,” she clarifies. “Do you think she knew Casek was using it to communicate from the Darklands? That that’s why she wanted it?”

  I shake my head. “I have no idea. But if she does know that we have it, I figure we’ll be seeing her soon.”

  She looks down at the dark mark on her left palm. “I talked with Calder and Taj about… Well, you know.” Her cheeks flush when she meets my eyes.

  I don’t want to have whatever talk she’s dialing up in her head. Calder was pissed as hell when he put it together, but he’s since chilled out. I can come up with a couple of reasons for his about-face, but I’m not sure which one I’m hoping for.

  I turn to her, ready to make up some bullshit excuse about being too tired to talk right now, but when she shifts in her seat, the heady scent of her arousal drives all rational thought from my head. I want to taste her again. Her skin, her mouth, her pussy. I don’t care that we’re in a parking lot in full view of anyone who might stumble out of the bar. Her delicious aroma makes me want to strip off her clothes and fuck her here in the back seat until she’s screaming my name.

  A small voice in the back of my head warns me against doing just that, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why.

  “I want to talk to you about it.” Her brow furrows like the words didn’t come out the way she wanted. “I need you to know it meant something to me. More than just something. I… Poe, I care for you. If you don’t feel the same way, I understand. But if you do, I think we can make this work. All four of us.”

  Her last statement should fill me with a bucket full of oh-hell-no. In my years working for the elders, I’ve slept my way through the female bounty hunters at least twice. With each of them, we entered in knowing it wouldn’t last, that we’d be fuck-buddies for a few weeks or so before ending things and moving on. But even though I wouldn’t describe any of those pairings as exclusive, there was an unspoken agreement that when we were fucking each other, we wouldn’t be fucking anyone else. But looking back now, it wouldn’t have mattered if any one of those women were spreading their legs for a dozen other guys when she was with me. I respect all those women as equals who are just as good at their job as I am. I would even call a few of them friends. But my heart was never in it.

  My chest tightens as the truth crashes over me. It’s not like that with Bryn. At some point since she was little more than another bounty to mark off against my debt to the elders, I’ve started to care about her. And the idea of sharing someone so special to me with two other guys should be a giant red flag. But somehow, that’s not the thing that’s holding me back.

  It can’t be. It’s as simple as that. I bought some time away from the elders to go on my wild goose chase for Amos’ real killer, but it’ll end soon enough. And then I’ll be back with the elders until I’m too old to be of use to them. Or until I die on a hunt gone wrong. Either way, I’m trapped.

  I can’t let myself imagine waking up with Bryn beside me in bed or making love as we watch the sun rise. There’s no point in even trying to figure out what life could look like with Taj, Calder, and me all worshipping at her altar. Because it can’t be.

  I suck in a breath, forcing my face into the expressionless mask I wear so often when standing before the elders. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to have to pass.”

  Bryn’s face falls, her disappointment crushing something inside me. “Oh.
”

  The quiet sound is like a dagger to my chest. I want nothing more than to take it back, to say to hell with the elders and give her the answer we both want. But I’m not some naive, lovesick kid. I’ve been around the block enough to know that life’s not fair and things usually don’t shake out the way you want them to. It’s a hard lesson, but it’s one Bryn has to learn sooner than later if she’s going to survive out in the world.

  Real life doesn’t come with happily-ever-afters, no matter how hard you work for them.

  The squeal of door hinges cuts over the general din from the bar, and the smell of greasy burgers and onion rings doesn’t quite mask the scents I hadn’t realized had become so familiar. Cardamom, spruce, fire pit.

  In less than a minute, Taj, Calder, and Silas are back in the car, already devouring the food they couldn’t live without. I do my best not to notice how Bryn only picks at her onion rings.

  As Calder steers the car through downtown Twin Rivers toward the trailhead that will lead us back toward Elowen’s cabin, I keep coming up with—and rejecting—things to say to make a measure of the sadness disappear from Bryn’s eyes. But no matter how carefully worded, I know nothing I can say will help. She wants the one thing I can’t give her, because I already belong to the elders. And if she knew the kind of monster I am to have ended up that way, she wouldn’t want anything to do with me anyway.

  The sun is already up over the treetops by the time I wake, the sight disorienting me. No matter how rough the night, I’ve always been one to wake with the dawn.

  The only explanation I can come up with is I never wanted this day to come.

  Taj greets me when I walk down the short hall into the cabin’s large main room. For some reason, it surprises me that it hasn’t changed since we left. The books and scrolls Elowen provided to research the staff’s whereabouts still line the shelves and sprawl across the table. I don’t know why I thought things would be different. After all, it isn’t as if the great mage does light housekeeping when she’s not too busy tending the Healing River.

  When we leave this place, she’ll probably just make it disappear back into whatever magical void it resides when not in use. If I ever find myself in this clearing again, there won’t be any trace of this structure to remind me of this adventure. I can’t decide if that fact should be comforting.

  I head for the kitchen area where Taj is using a low, pulsing flame to warm a burger left over from last night’s late meal.

  I can’t help a quick glance around the room as I walk. Bryn’s bed has been made, but I don’t see her anywhere.

  “They’ve all gone out to try to scare up Elowen,” Taj says, and I hate that he’s so perceptive. “I’m not sure what time a mage wakes, but it’s well past daybreak, and I’m guessing she wants that staff just as much as we want to be healed.”

  I pull the plate across the counter and pick up the burger. “Why aren’t you out with them?”

  “If I were out with them, who would make your breakfast?” He offers a half smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

  I fix him with the gaze I use when I’m sussing out a suspect’s location. “Out with it.”

  He presses his lips together, exhaling through his nostrils. “Bryn told me about your talk last night.”

  I stuff my mouth full of burger and chew slowly to buy myself time. There’s one thing I can grant Taj: He’s got a helluva poker face. I can’t get a read on his thoughts about how things went down.

  I swallow long after the food has turned to mush in my mouth. “Figured you’d be relieved to hear I’ll be on my way. Don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen, if you know what I mean.”

  “Hard to be relieved when the woman you love is so upset,” Taj says, his voice even.

  His admission hits me like a punch in the gut. “Love? That’s a pretty loaded word.”

  He lifts a shoulder. “Perhaps. But it’s also the right one.”

  I lift another bite, but it doesn’t make its way into my mouth. “I don’t get you, man. You love this girl, and you know what went on between us when you were out of commission. I figured me leaving would be good news to you.”

  Taj opens his mouth to answer, but before the words come out, a shout echoes through the forest.

  My muscles tense as I go on high alert. What if those deranged priests from the Order decided they don’t care if they’ve been listening to an evil mage for rivers know how long? But a second shout comes on the heels of the first and my body relaxes. Calder.

  Taj moves toward the door. “Can you make out what he’s saying?”

  I nod. “Elowen’s coming.”

  He darts out the door, but I take another bite before following him. By the time I’ve made it to the center of the clearing, Calder and Silas are emerging from the woods. Bryn follows behind, a walking stick clutched in her right hand. A second later, the great mage herself appears.

  Elowen looks just as eerily beautiful as she did the last time we saw her. Her hips sway slightly as she walks, sending the tassels on her skirt swinging. Her breasts, unbound by anything but the gauzy fabric covering her chest, bounce gently. And even though last time we saw her I vaguely recall deciding I’d bone her if given the opportunity, I can no longer see what I found so appealing. The gauzy pastel material of her dress seems gaudy and over-the-top. Her calculated sashay is almost mechanical, as if the movement is for show. It’s like she aced every test on how to be sexually appealing but never once stopped to consider how to be sensual. True sensuality is effortless. It’s in the casual elegance that comes from not caring what others think. It’s in the easy smiles and simple touches—the brush of fingertips along an arm, the nudge of an elbow. Sensuality is natural, not manufactured. And where Elowen misses the mark, Bryn exudes it in spades.

  She smiles benignly as she and the others approach. “Now that we’re all here, we should get on with this, should we not?” The smile deepens as her eyes skim over Taj, but the effect isn’t reassuring; it’s unnerving. “And where exactly is the staff? I do hope you didn’t summon me to inform me of your failure. We settled on a price, and I can’t break your curse until it’s paid.”

  I suppress a snort at the assertion that there’s something the mage can’t do if she really wants. It’s more accurate to say that she won’t help unless she gets what she wants.

  “We didn’t fail. It’s right here.” Bryn taps her walking stick against the ground, and it begins to shimmer from bottom to top, shrinking as it goes, until whatever spell she cast drops and the truth is revealed.

  Elowen’s eyes widen, but she quickly suppresses her surprise when Bryn holds out the Staff of Rahn. “How did you manage that?” Elowen asks as she curls her hand around the scepter. “I didn’t detect the glamor at all.”

  Bryn opens her mouth, but Silas’ arm darts out, cutting across her stomach as he takes a half step forward.

  “Probably a product of the staff itself,” Silas says, his tone easy. “It probably lent some power to her spell and she didn’t even know it.”

  Elowen’s gaze rests on Silas for a long moment and, to his credit, he doesn’t flinch.

  I clear my throat. “So—not to rush you or anything, your mage-ness—but how long is this going to take?”

  Her eyes cut to me, and I catch a warning in their icy depths. “It won’t take long. I need the five of you to form a circle around me.”

  We’re in motion before the words are out of her mouth. Taj and Calder stand on either side of Bryn. Silas ends up on my left, and it strikes me that a week ago I would’ve made damn sure not to be standing so close to a daemon. It’s amazing how much can change in just a few days.

  Once we’re in place, Elowen begins chanting in a language I don’t understand. Her voice crests and falls like waves on the ocean, and with each swell, my left palm tingles more and more until it feels like the skin is on fire. I grit my teeth, breathing through my nostrils.

  But then, as fast as it came, the pain recedes and
Elowen falls silent.

  I stare down at my palm, both pleased and overwhelmed to see the skin unblemished. “That’s it? The curse is broken?”

  Elowen lifts her chin. “It is indeed. Our business is concluded. The cabin will remain in the clearing until sundown.”

  “Thank you,” Bryn calls, but the mage is already on her way back into the trees. Apparently someone as powerful as she has little need for thanks.

  “There’s one more thing we need to tell you,” Calder calls after Elowen.

  She doesn’t slow. “Our business is concluded.”

  “It’s about Casek.”

  The mage stops, spinning slowly on her heel until she faces us once more. “Go on.”

  Instead of obeying, Calder nods at Bryn, who takes a step forward.

  “We found the staff with the Order of Theurgy,” Bryn says, her voice firm and clear. “They’ve been using it in their meditations for who knows how long. When we took it from them, a figure spoke from the staff. They were convinced it was Rahn, but it wasn’t. They were talking to Casek. He had them convinced that he was going to return and they were going to ascend. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but they were pretty devoted to the idea.”

  Elowen’s mouth twists and her forehead creases. For a moment, she looks much older than before, as if all the years she’s spent roaming these woods have finally caught up to her. But in a blink, she’s back to her serene self. “Thank you for the information.”

  Without another word, she turns and continues her trek back into the heart of the forest.

  “I was expecting more of a reaction,” Taj says, sounding vaguely disappointed.

  Calder shrugs. “I think I’d be more worried if she started freaking out. Are there still leftovers?”

  Everyone starts for the cabin, but my feet won’t move. The building won’t disappear for hours yet, but I really have no need to return to it. The supplies inside were all provided by Sophie and Valor. Nothing I own is within those walls. The backpack, the clothes, the cabin—they were all borrowed items to be used on borrowed time. But now that the curse is lifted, I can’t delay the inevitable.