Page 9 of Coven

“Chamomile…and a faint hint of garlic,” Ember said, his voice soft as if he was thinking out loud. “Where did you get Hunter’s Bane?”

Stephen didn’t move his body, but his eyes slid to the right, in Kana’s direction.

Ember’s lips thinned and Stephen took a quick step back as if he thought Ember was pissed. Kana didn’t agree—there was the slightest upturn at the corners of his lips as if Ember were suppressing a smile. Although, Kana couldn’t say whether it was a smile of triumph or of amusement.

“I thought so,” Ember said. He turned away from Stephen to face the rest of the room. “Finish packing,” he said loudly so the entire room could hear him. “I’ll have someone escort you out.” He strode to Kana and stopped right in front of him. “I think you and I need to have a chat.”

“He’s a valuable member of our team!” Stephen said. “We can’t leave here without him.”

Ember cut his eyes to Stephen and Stephen’s momentary bravado shriveled. He scuttled back to stand within the crowd, all of whom had returned to packing as quickly as possible. Ember touched his earbud and murmured something too low for Kana to catch, but a few seconds later two wolves walked up the staircase. One was carrying a sheet, which he draped over Penelope’s body. She had stopped screaming, although Kana could still hear a sort of wheezing whimper every once in a while. She wasn’t dead yet, but Kana didn’t think she would heal. After she was covered, the wolf returned to his partner waiting by the stairs.

“They’ll escort you outside,” Ember said to the room. He turned to look pointedly at Kana, one hand outstretched to indicate Kana should start walking. Kana obeyed. Ember held open the door to the main house for Kana too, and he shut it firmly behind them.

The hallways of the guardhouse had been spartan, the sitting room had been simple and functional, but the main house… Kana stopped just on the other side of the door to gape.

Opulence didn’t even begin to describe the ostentatious glitter filling the entire hallway. The walls were covered in what appeared to be hand-printed paper with a pink-and-red rose pattern. A small side table was off to one side, the edges of the dark-stained wood carved into ornate swirls and fanciful leaves. A table runner lay down the middle, every inch of it covered in embroidery, and in the middle of the runner a three-branch candelabra stood. The candelabra was made of gold and gilt, the metal artfully twisted and as carved as the table. Shimmering crystals hung on thin gold chains from each branch.

“This way,” Ember said.

They walked down the hallway. Every step brought more grandiose, overly decorated opulence into view. Kana wasn’t sure if it was better to squint to save his eyes or stare because he would never get to see something so utterly ridiculous again. Ember led the way through another door. The contrast between the hallway and the new room was stark: the small space had white walls, a small, completely ordinary wooden table, and two wooden chairs on each side. It almost looked like a stereotypical interrogation room. Which was exactly what it was, Kana realized when Ember waved for Kana to take one of the chairs.

Kana sat where he was told, and Ember took the chair on the other side of the table. Ember just stared at Kana for a few moments, and Kana tried not to squirm. He hadn’t done anything wrong.

You want to run, we can take him, Sora said, his voice fierce. One wolf against you doesn’t stand a chance.

We don’t know anything about him, Kana replied. For all we know, he could be a superwolf, or spell resistant, or something.

Plus, Mika cut in, we don’t want to reveal ourselves if we don’t have to. Something’s not right here, and I’m going to sniff out what before we make any moves.

Be careful, Kana replied, his mental voice as firm as possible. Mika scoffed and then his attention faded away.

“Hunter’s Bane was a good choice,” Ember said, suddenly cutting into the silence of the room. “Except, Master Octavius was very careful when he chose this city to relocate to. There are no hunter groups close enough to take any notice of his activities, which means no one capable of selling it to you is in the area.” He paused to look at Kana again, as if evaluating what he was going to say next. Kana hoped he was successful at keeping his face blank; there was no need to advertise the jittery feeling growing in his stomach as Ember continued to talk. “I can tell you’re something more than the rest of those humans. You smell like a cool night breeze with a touch of ozone after a gentle rain. Most humans smell like whatever they last ate, or like sweat and their deodorant flavor. Each one has a unique scent, but they don’t smell like you.” He paused again, this time as if waiting for Kana to fill the silence.

Kana didn’t dare answer. He couldn’t let anyone know what he was. Ember wouldn’t be able to keep it secret, not if he had to report to Octavius. The story would spread through the magical community, and if his old coven found out he had created a potion powerful enough to kill a vampire on contact, they would have all the confirmation they needed to force him back into their fold.

“I did some research to find out if you might be a threat to my pack, but your scent wasn’t listed in our records. I did find a very similar scent, but they’re all supposed to be women.”

Uh-oh, Mika said, and at first Kana thought it was in reaction to Ember’s words, but Mika continued. They saw me. Turns out these wolves do know how to hunt. They’re pretty good at chasing. Even Mika’s mental voice sounded out of breath.

So run faster, Sora taunted, except his voice sounded a bit worried.

They’ve got big teeth. I’m running as fast as I can.

Saving Mika was more important than not confirming Ember’s guess. I’m going to grab you, Kana told Mika.

Ready, Mika answered immediately.

Kana’s fingers twitched as he organized his magic and pulled a touch of power from Sora. Ember tensed, but before he could do anything more, Kana yanked with his magic.

The channel between Mika and Kana was wide open and clean. Mika slid through without any resistance and popped into view on Kana’s lap, where he sprawled, panting for breath. Kana ran his fingers through Mika’s fur as he tightened the channel again so their magic wouldn’t spill.

“It’s not nice to chase harmless kittens,” Kana said, his voice soft but stern.

Ember’s lips twitched in that barely there smile, and he touched a finger to the earbud he was still wearing.

“Stop the search. The cat is with me.” He turned his attention back to Kana. “If that’s a harmless kitten, then I’m a shih tzu. You’re a male witch, and you brewed the Hunter’s Bane.”

“What are you going to do with me?” Kana asked. There was no sense in verbally confirming what Ember already knew.

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