Page 40 of Bitten By Desire

Chapter 13

Double Double Toil and Trouble

“That sounds like a dangerous plan.” Zoe glanced at me, brows drawn.

“Don’t worry, not for real,” Hazel said. “We’re going to use a volunteer and witchcraft to disguise someone else as Char, and they aren’t actually getting traded.”

“Hold on,” I said putting my hands up and reclaiming their attention. “First of all, no fairy bargains. Second, no one else is putting themselves on the line for my sake.”

“No one’s bargaining with fae.” Hazel rolled her eyes. “This is to get Binx back from MorningStar.”

I let my arms fall to my sides. “You want to make a fake deal with the major? None of this is okay. It’s too dangerous.”

“Stop assuming we don’t know what the hell we’re doing,” Hazel said, flushed. “Zo? Open a portal for us from the vamp estate, please.”

Zoe waved a hand through the air, and the requested portal appeared.

Lydia stepped through. My former-lab-assistant-turned-vampire smiled sheepishly and wiggled her fingers in greeting as the portal closed behind her. Instead of her usual goth garb, she had put on one of my favorite outfits—a teal silk blouse, black slacks, and heels. It was ridiculously long on her, but Hazel pointed a finger, and it shrank to fit.

“She still looks nothing like me,” I complained, crossing my arms.

“Hi to you, too, doc.”

“Let Hazel and I work on that,” Zoe said, stroking my arm.

“We have a plan, Char,” Hazel said. “We’re sending Lydia in, and she only needs to convince the major long enough for Zoe to send you through a separate portal to give a command. Then we all come through, find Binx, who will hopefully be close by her at the facility, ready to trade, and boom. We’re out of there.”

I pressed my lips together in a thin line, trying to get my temper under control before I responded foolishly. But Julian jumped in before I could gather the words.

“There’s merit to this idea,” he said.

“What?” I turned toward him, chin dropping.

He smiled. “Did you or did you not recently tell me that you would not try to control my choices if I decide I want to help you?”

“Well…not in those exact words,” I sputtered.

He leaned in, swathing me in the scent of bergamot. “Give your friends and sister the same courtesy, love.”

My stammering dried up and I straightened, clearing my throat. “Fine. You know what? If you all insist on being picked off, one by one, far be it from me to stop you.” I gave a harsh laugh.

Somehow, they all took that as permission instead of sarcasm. Hazel and Zoe set about changing Lydia’s appearance until it was almost too creepy to look at her because she was me but not me. So I grabbed another cup of coffee and went out on the balcony to wait in peace.

When the doors opened again, not twenty minutes later, Zoe called me back inside to see their handywork. Lydia smiled at me then extended her fangs a little. Vampire me. It was oddly exciting to see myself as I’d decided I wanted to be. I shot a glance at Julian, who nodded slightly, letting me know he understood.

“Okay. The meeting is set.” Zoe rubbed her palms together.

“How?” I asked, incredulous.

“I contacted them,” Tabitha said. “I told them you wanted to trade me for Binx. She thinks I’m your prisoner. I know the major. She will take the bait by preparing her own trap, not that she gives a crap about me.”

“Julian will go through with Lydia and Tabitha,” Hazel said. “Then Zoe will open another portal, and you can do your thing.”

I sighed, deflating as I did so. I didn’t like any of this. But the fact was, it was my own personal feelings and not anything to do with psychic warnings. No alarm bells was a good sign. Not a perfect one, but…decent.

“Okay,” I finally said throwing up my arms, and Zoe clapped in glee.

We took our places, and she opened a portal for Julian, Lydia, and Tabitha. I noticed that he stepped through in front of my double like he would have with me. But I somehow knew that he was doing it for my benefit, protecting my friend.

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