Page 36 of Pitch a Witch
“Don’t be immature, Hazel Byrne.” Sniffing haughtily, she stared down her nose at me. “I’ve gone to great lengths to keep you alive, so don’t make me regret it.”
Judging by the pity I saw on everyone’s faces, she was already regretting it plenty. I just didn’t point it out to her. It was written all over her face for the world to see. It hurt like a bitch, but I pushed it out of my mind, taking strength from Sissily’s squeeze on my arm.
“I say we stick to the plan.” Alex cut off the stare-down between Danika and me. “It’s as good as any.”
My grandmother nodded once, but as always, I was left out of the loop and had to ask, “Which is?”
“The attacks on the pack lands to get to Hazel follow a pattern. Our teams know ahead of time exactly when and where they’ll happen.” The Alpha locked gazes with River for a long moment in some silent conversation the rest of us were not privy to. “We will capture one of the vampires if we can’t get hold of a demon. It’ll make things slightly more complicated, but not by much thanks to what we now know of Hazel’s magic.”
“Hold on, hold on.” My hand rose in protest, and I turned between the two men in the room. “What do you mean ‘what we know of Hazel’s magic?’ Hazel”—My thumb jabbed at my chest—“knows nothing of her weirdo magic apart from that it kills people. In very disturbing ways, I might add.”
“That’s what we need it to do.” Alex smiled as if that should’ve made me feel better. “The wolves we killed showed nothing, but those that your magic killed released their demonic spirits or shades. If we capture one, we can interrogate it.”
“Do I have a say in this?” But it was a useless question. I knew I didn’t. “Whatever, fine. I’ll do whatever you need me to do, but let me tell you all one thing: if you can’t contain that thing and it attacks or possesses someone, I’m out. I’m not getting blamed for this, too.”
“No one is blaming you for anything, Hazel.” Danika sounded put out.
“You blame me for breathing instead of my mother.” It was out before I could stop it.
Danika Byrne, queen bitch of the Gatekeeper’s coven, had nothing to say to that.
Shocker, I knew.
Alex cleared his throat awkwardly, and I almost laughed. “That’s where Mr. Blackman comes. If the demonic entity proves difficult to contain, he can destroy it or back you up, Hazel.”
Understanding dawned, and my eyes locked on River. I knew the accusation was there for him to see, and I wanted him to. In case I denied his request, the asshole had gone behind my back and recruited me to help find his mother through the Alpha. It really was a shitty thing to do, and I wanted to kick myself for even considering trusting the damn manipulator for even a second. What better way to fish for information about an abusive angel than asking a demon about it.
The plan was perfect.
He’d betrayed the fragile truce we had, but his plan had been top notch, I’d give him that.
He had the decency to flinch at my cold smile. “I’ll do it.” My words were for the Alpha, yet I didn’t look away from River. “Fetch us a demon, Alex, and let’s get to the bottom of things once and for all.”
“Consider it done.” The shifter breathed a sigh of relief, but Danika eyed River and me shrewdly.
“If we are done here, I’d like to return to my room. I’m still a little dizzy from the blood loss.” Amber and Sissily stiffened, their attention intently locking on me. They knew the tea had fixed everything, and that meant I’d lied. With everything in me, I hoped River would call me out on it, but he kept his trap shut.
“Of course.” As I expected, Alex rushed to send me back to bed.
I was too pissed to feel guilty about what I’d done, so with a forced smile, I moseyed out of the office. Danika tracked me but didn’t say goodbye, much to my delight. It seemed like a perfectly good day for burning bridges, and I’d done a number on two already. Hopefully, I’d reached the limit for the day.
The door closed behind me with a finality that chilled me to the bone.
24
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, I stared at the thick leather tome in front of me. Betrayal burned a hole in my chest, but I ground my teeth, refusing to allow the tears that prickled the back of my eyes to fall. I’d be damned before I shed one tear for that jerk. I should’ve expected it, yet I dumbly let myself believe that something would change if I tried hard enough. What a dumbass.
People sucked. Big time.
Supernatural and human alike.
Maybe at some point through the history of the human realm there were more who believed in honor, loyalty, and connection. Being honest and kind to one another without any motivation or ulterior motive. As time passed, the number had dwindled until finding one of those people was equivalent to finding a talking cat riding a purple unicorn. In my world, apart from Sissily, and now Alex and Amber, everyone else had some hidden agenda pushing them toward me. They needed to use me for something.
River thought he’d jump ahead of the line and corner me so I couldn’t say no. What was sad was the fact that I’d almost told him I’d do it, actually. So, the joke was on me.
My fingertips grazed the ancient book, and I gently flipped it open. Empty pages met my eyes, but that didn’t stop me. One by one, I turned each page, inspecting them thoroughly as if the secrets were hidden in whatever adhesive was used to hold it together. The thick, yellowed paper rasped over my skin with each flick of my wrist, the sound as soothing as the smell of dust and aged ink coming from it.
The Alpha’s voice bloomed in my mind and pulled me back to a day not that long passed, though it felt like it was three lifetimes ago.
