became nearly impossible. Her eyes
darted around, mindful of any other
surprises in the dark. She grabbed
Thane’s hand out of instinct and pulled
him behind her.
“What do you want, Kyle?” Was
it a coincidence or did he follow her?
Was Garren right? The thought that she
inadvertently put her friends at risk
turned her stomach. The man next to
Kyle seemed familiar but she couldn’t
place what little of his face she saw with
a name.
“I want to help you. Come with
me and I’ll go with you to visit
Rousseau. We’ll get this whole mess
straightened out.” Kyle held his hand out
in invitation.
She laughed. “You don’t get it.
There’s nothing to straighten out. I’m a
witch and nothing’s going to change
that.”
Kyle’s proffered hand fell to his
side.
The brute beside him chuckled,
absent any trace of humor. “I always
knew you were a weed, Ivy. I just never
knew you were a Weed. How ironic.”
Now she recognized him. There
was no mistaking that deep, obnoxious
voice. “If it isn’t Dougie Douchebag. I
see you grew into your big head.”
“Do you think it’s wise to
antagonize him?” Thane whispered in
her ear, nervous energy rolling off him.
“ I t ’ s Durlag, Weed,” Dougie
said as he pulled a gun from behind his
back. The light glinted off the silver
metal when he pointed it at the ground in
front of him.
She shut up. Her heart rate
doubled as she stepped into Thane and
pushed him back. The dagger hidden in
her boot wouldn’t do anything against a
speeding bullet, but she pulled it out
anyway.
Kyle stood with his arms crossed
over his chest, his feet firmly planted
shoulder width apart. He didn’t seem
concerned that his friend pulled a gun on
her. “I don't want to hurt you or your
friends.”
He
sneered
at
Thane.
“Rousseau only wants you. Come with
us, and they can go.”
Neither Garren nor Athena could
be spotted. With any luck, they’d gotten
away. Her nerves were already shot and
couldn’t handle any more surprises.
“Don’t believe him,” Zoo said,
suddenly appearing next to her.
She flinched. Is everyone trying
to kill me? “I’m not stupid,” she said to
the vampire. To Kyle she said “I’m not
going anywhere with you. If you ever
loved me, let us go and we’ll never
bother you again.” Playing the love card
was low, but desperate times called for
desperate measures.
It also didn’t work. Kyle
lowered his arms to his side. His hands
clenched and opened repeatedly. He was
pissed.
“I never stopped loving you, Ivy.
Apparently these Weeds have poisoned
your mind. Come with me now and I
won’t let anything happen to you. I
promise.”
Dougie raised his gun, aiming at
Thane.
She swallowed hard in an effort
to tamp down the rising panic. Dougie
stood too far away to attack before he
could pull the trigger. She needed to
disarm him. At that moment, magic
hummed in her belly. Using her magic
was their only chance of survival.
Man, we’re screwed.
“Zoo, promise me you'll get
Thane out of here.” Worrying about her
cousin would be a distraction she
couldn’t afford.
The vampire said nothing for
what seemed like hours, staring at her
with a blank expression before nodding.
Sure, take all the time you need.
It’s not like we’re in a crisis or
anything.
“Ivy, what are you doing?”
Thane asked. He grabbed her arm to pull
her back.
“Enough!” Dougie yelled.
She snapped her head towards
him and concentrated on pulling the gun
out of his hand. He was dangerous. She
tugged on his weapon with her magic but
only managed to jerk his hand sideways.
Time seemed to slow down. Her world
zoned in on the barrel of the gun now
pointed at her. Before she could push it
away, a light flashed. A loud bang
blasted her ears at the same time a
burning pain ripped through her right
shoulder. Her useless dagger slipped
through her fingers. She stumbled back
but stayed on her feet.
“No!” Kyle screamed, lunging
toward her.
Another shot rent the air. The
force of the bullet knocked her over as it
tore through her right thigh. She cried
out, landing on the hard pavement.
Kyle dropped down beside her.
“Oh, gawd. This wasn’t supposed to
happen.” His trembling hands fumbled
over her, causing more pain.
She tried to smack his hands
away but her arm wouldn’t move.
“Stop,” she said between quick, shallow
breaths. The clack of metal hitting the
ground got her attention. Dougie dropped
his gun before his lifeless body slumped
to the ground. An angry, Asian vampire
loomed over him.
Good riddance.
“Ivy.” Thane knelt next to her.
“Stay awake. We need to get you back to
the hotel. I still have some healing
potion left.”
She wanted to tell him there was
no way she could sleep through all this
pain but as soon as he mentioned it,
fatigue settled over her like a warm
blanket. As if she didn’t have enough to
worry about, now she had to struggle to
stay awake, too.
Thane pressed a cloth to her
thigh causing her to wince as pain bolted
through her leg. Kyle squeezed her left
hand and held it to his chest while
talking to her. For a fleeting second, she
thought it was Garren but Kyle’s voice
brought her back to reality. His words
were nonsense to her as she focused
instead on the melodic murmur as he
spoke. Occasionally he brushed his cool
fingers over her brow. A welcome
gesture but she wished for another’s
hands to comfort her.
Where is Garren... and Athena?
Are they all right?
“Ivy, we need to move you. It
may hurt,” Thane explained. She tried to
laugh at his miserable attempt to play
down the excruciating pain she was
about to experience, but she only
managed to grunt.
“Can you lift her?” Thane asked
Kyle.
Zoo stepped forward. “I will
take her. I don’t trust him.”
“No, we need you to take out any
other Eradicators who might get in the
way.”
Zoo nodded and went on alert,
scanning the area. Kyle placed his hands
gently under her body. But Thane put his
hand on Kyle’s arm to stop him before
he picked her up.
“You pull any funny stuff and
you’ll be choked by Weeds.” Thane
glared at the Eradicator. Pride swelled
inside her at her cousin’s growing
backbone that she almost managed to
smile.
“You ready?” Kyle whispered.
She licked her dry lips and
croaked out “Yes.” He hoisted her up
and she screamed through gritted teeth.
More warm blood flowed down her leg
and into her boot. Resting her head
against Kyle’s chest, she counted each
beat of his heart to distract her from the
agony.
“You have a car?” Kyle asked
through strained breath.
“Over there,” Thane answered,
blurring in and out of focus. Blackness
narrowed down on him. Her eyelids
were too heavy to keep open anymore.
Kyle jostled her body. “Don’t go
to sleep, Ivy. You die on me and I’ll kill
you.”
“What the hell happened to
him?” Thane practically shouted. She
pried her eyes open to find Garren on the
ground, slumped against Athena’s chest
as she leaned against the car.
Oh my gawd, he’s dead. Then
the darkness of the night swallowed her
up.
Chapter 17
Where am I? The scent of blood
and dust filled Ivy’s nose. She was
laying on something soft and warm. A
light shone on the other side of her
closed eyelids. Her nose itched but
when she attempted to raise her hand to
scratch, pain pulsed through her arm.
I can’t believe that bastard shot
me, twice.
An image of Garren lying still on
the ground settled in her brain and took
root. Her throat constricted with
remorse. Who else died because of her?
Pushing down the guilt before it
consumed her, she opened her eyes. A
dirty ceiling fan spun lazily around.
Beyond the foot of her bed sat an old TV
and an ugly painting of a bowl of fruit.
She was back at the hotel.
Garren slouched in a chair next
to her. Garren! He’s alive! But his dark
hair was too short and his skin too tan.
When did he get his nose pierced?
Her heart sank. It was Kyle. Did
he bring me here? His hands rested on
his stomach, rising and falling with each
even breath. Although his presence was
comforting, she wished the person sitting
beside her had slightly longer hair and
bright blue eyes.
Unable to stop it, a tear trickled
down her cheek as exhaustion claimed
her once again.
*****
Cool liquid filled her mouth,
choking her. Instinct urged her to spit it
out but a soothing, familiar voice at her
ear told her to swallow. She gulped the
substance down. It tasted like cinnamon
gummy bears. Immediately, her blood
grew hot, like molten lava flowing
through her veins. Her skin burned from
the inside out. She scratched and clawed
at her arms, belly, legs, face, anywhere
she could reach in an attempt to find
relief from the scorching pain.
Get it out! Make it stop! Her
throat ached from her screams as she
thrashed about.
Hands grabbed her wrists and
held them down. A weight across her
body kept her still. The worst of the pain
radiated from her leg and shoulder.
“What did you do to her?” Kyle
shouted right by her head. His body
pressed down on her side.
“The potion is repairing all the
damage. I know it hurts, but it won’t last
long,” Thane said.
Her muscles seized up and she
arched her back off the bed. How was
she not already dead from the pain?
The same soothing voice spoke
to her again. “It’s okay, Ivy. It’s almost
over,” he said over and over. She clung
to his words. The pain was almost
bearable when she focused on the low
timber of his voice. Soon the blaze
cooled to a warm burn. Her energy
drained away with the heat. The weights
holding her down lifted.
But the voice didn’t stop. “That’s
good. Take nice, deep breaths. Good.”
Cool air filled her lungs with each deep
inhale. If she didn’t know any better,
she’d swear it was Garren whispering
words of encouragement to her, perhaps
his ghost. She blinked her eyes open
enough to catch a glimpse of black hair
hanging over blue eyes.
“Go to sleep now,” Garren
whispered. She did.
*****
Loud voices pulled her from
unconsciousness, though her eyelids
refused to open.
“He’s not leaving this room.”
Athena demanded. “How do we know he
won’t go straight to his buddies and lead
them right back to us? No, he stays.”
Tension saturated the air, prickling her
skin.
“While
I
understand
your
reasoning,” Thane said in a placating
tone. “He’s the only one who knows
really believe he wants Ivy to recover as
much as we do. Now, if it will make you
feel better, Garren can come with us.”
Garren? He’s alive?
The bed shifted next to her. “No,
I’m not going anywhere.”
Her heart practically thudded out
of her chest. He’s alive! The heavy
chains of shame she wrapped herself
with shattered and fell away. They were
all alive. Relief bubbled to the surface
and escaped as a sigh. A warm hand
tightened around her fingers. Garren’s
hand?
“Ivy, are you awake?” His warm
breath brushed across her cheek.
She opened her eyes. Kyle,
Thane and Athena stood around her bed,
staring at her. Garren sat next to her. She
tried to speak, but her dry, raw vocal
chords wouldn’t respond. She did a
great impression of a fish out of water,
though.
“Here.” Kyle brought a glass of
water with a straw to her mouth. Her dry
membranes soaked up the liquid like a
sponge. He pulled the water away
sooner than she wanted, but the small
sips were enough to find her voice
again.
“Hey.” She sounded like sand
coated her throat. “What’s going
on?”
She cast a glance toward Garren and
squeezed his hand.
He yanked it away. “Uh, we’re
going out to find some ingredients Thane
needs to make some more strengthening
potion.” He barely looked her in the eye.
So much for Garren not going
anywhere. “Great. I’ll take a nap while
you’re gone.” She tried to smile to hide
her disappointment, but her dry lips split
in the middle and bled.
Now I could use that lip balm
Garren teased me about.
“Wait,” Kyle said. “What if she
does that… thing… she did last time.
You were the only one who could stop
it.” Everyone’s focus shifted to Garren.
Oh gawd, what did I do now?
“She’ll be fine,” Garren said. He
stepped away from the bed, found his
shoes and slipped them on. “We won’t
be gone that long. I’m sure Athena can
handle it.”
Handle what? She looked to the
werewolf, hoping to get some answers
from her. Athena raised her hands and
swirled them over her head .
Not again. She didn’t want
Garren to leave. She didn’t want to
spend any quality time with him, but for
some reason his presence calmed her
down. Who’d of thunk? But by the way
he practically sprinted for the door she’d
rather face a hundred magical tornadoes
than admit her feelings to him.
“Sure, sure,” she said. “Just be
careful.”
Kyle knelt down next to her and
brushed a stray curl off her forehead.
“Are you going to be okay with the
werewolf?” he whispered.
She smiled gingerly, trying not to
damage her lips further. “Yeah, don’t
worry. She’s more bark than bite. Keep
them safe, okay.” She wasn’t sure if the
Eradicators would go after him after
botching up the raid or if they thought he
was captured and held against his will.
Hopefully, they’d avoid being seen by
anyone he knew.
“Can we go already? Your
girlfriend will still be here when we get
back,” Garren said, one hand on the
doorknob.
She tensed. Did everyone think
that she and Kyle were a couple again
because he was there? Did Kyle? Did
Garren? She peeked over at Kyle to gage
his reaction. He glared at Garren while
stroking her hand.
Talk
about
your
mixed
messages.
Kyle leaned in and whispered,
“Your friend’s a real jackass. You sure
you want me to bring him back?” He
smiled and winked at her before
standing up to leave. Why did she break