Page 9 of Stolen Oath
I also refused to ask Char.
The city was a blur that passed by as I watched unseeing through the window, my mind racing with other things instead of the guilt that's been trying to suffocate me lately. If anyone thought being on a kill list had no pros, I could've assured them that they were absolutely wrong. I for one was grateful for it, as things stood. It gave me other things to think about instead of how I messed up the lives of those around me simply by breathing.
In reality, I didn't need any additional complications; yet my intuition was a hot poker in my sternum ensuring I paid attention.
Something was really off about the whole thing.
Bell senior was much more refined and sophisticated in his approach of plotting a murder or setting up someone's destruction. Hiring hyenas to come and attack us in broad daylight was seriously not his style from what I gathered about him. The old male probaby felt smug as shit and secterly rejoyced at how elegantly and smoothly he slid the dagger between our ribs.
As we drove deeper into the city, I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease settling in my stomach. The reality was sinking in and I knew that whoever wanted us dead wouldn't give up so easily. Obviously, the lowlife had no problem delivering low blows or harming humans in the process. Aggited, I yanked my cell from my pocket when it chirped.
We needed to find answers and fast before it was too late.
"Damian will be waiting for us at the hotel," I said, and tucked my phone in the back pocket after pressing send on the text. "He said he might have something to help us get the information about who could be behind this."
Char twisted in the passenger seat to look at me and nodded, no doubt as grateful for any lead we could get as I was. "I don’t understand why the two of you trust this guy so much but as I promised, I’m not going to ask too many questions for now. Do you think the person who hired the hyenas knows about you being a witch?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"It's possible. We cannot rule it out," the alpha spoke up clutching the steering wheel as if he wanted to strangle it, his eyes on the road ahead. "But we can't jump to conclusions just yet. We need to find out everything we can from the hyenas before we make any assumptions."
The wolf seemed restless as he shifted in his seat, his animal making itself known occasionally through the glow in his irises every time he glanced at the rearview mirror and our gazes met. Char, on the other hand, seemed eerily calm - almost too calm. I couldn't tell if it was a facade or if she started forming some sort of plan already. The sorceress seemed locked in some internal dialogue, so I left her to it.
The rest of the way we stayed silent, all of us lost in our own thoughts. Our arrival at the hotel and our trek up to the room were also uneventful, thank the stars. The only hiccup occurred in the few minutes Dimitri and I had to stand guard so Char could drop a sleeping potion on the shifters. They’d stay in la la land until she wakes them up with another. I didn’t feel bad at all that we left them in the trunk like some badgage.
It wasn't a surprise that Damian was already waiting for us, his dirty blonde hair tussled, seated in a comfortable armchair with a book in his hand. The writing on his skin twisted and turned where the sleeve was lifted higher up on his forearm but he covered it up as if he knew I was watching.
"Hey, nice to see you again." Char chirped as soon as we entered the room like she was talking to a stranger.
Damian looked up from his book and set it down on the small table next to him, his features set in stone. If it hurt him that the sorceress didn’t recognize him, although he didn’t show it. All my senses came alive the moment their eyes met. The ticking of the clock on the wall, the rustle of pages as he pressed the book on the side table, the distant sounds of traffic on the streets. All those sounds were drowned out from the blood rushing into my ears the next second.
Dimitri pressed a hand to my lower back which pulled me out of whatever it was that was happening to me.
"I've been doing some poking around and it seems like we have bigger problems than questioning your hyenas.” Damian didn’t waste breath on pleasantries. “There's a group of witches who have been causing trouble in the supernatural community the last forty-eight hours," the Druid said, his tone serious.
"Witches?" I gasped, my heart nearly punching out of my chest. "What kind of trouble?" My voice cracked as I asked, feeling a knot form in my stomach, tightening with each breath.
That was bad. Really, really, bad.
"They've been targeting powerful supernaturals and trying to eliminate them," Damian explained, his gaze steady on Dimitri as if daring him to contradict him. "There are rumors on the black web that they're trying to gain more power for themselves and integrate into society. But I'm sure the wolf shared that info with you ladies."
"It can't be connected." I blurted out, feeling sick. "Why would they want me dead? I didn't know there were any witches left apart from me until just now."
Damian's eyes narrowed as he regarded me, his lips pursed in contemplation. "It's hard to say for sure, but it's not uncommon for witches to target others within their own kind to eliminate competition. Your kind was not known for being friendly even among themselves."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There was a chance my own kind was trying to kill me? The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, and I had to sit down on the bed before my legs gave out from underneath me.
"What are we going to do?" I asked Char, my voice barely louder than a breath.
“Kill them if they are after you.” My bestie’s tone suggested that I’m daft for even asking that question.
Tears prickled my eyes.
Dimitri stared passively at Damian, his clenched jaw the only indication he was still fuming from the ordeal in the store. "We have to interrogate the hyenas first," he growled. "We can ponder other options for discovering more about these supposed witches later." Eyes narrowed, he had skepticism written all over his face about the information the Druid shared with us. "That is, if there really are witches behind these rumors and not just smoke screens to divert our attention away from wherever the danger is coming from."
"And what about me?" Char spoke up, her eyes flashing with internal fire that meant heads were about to roll. "They came after me, too. I want to come face to face with the brave souls who want me dead to show them how it’s done."
The alpha turned to her, his eyes dancing with mirth. "We'll make sure you're safe," he mockingly promised. "No witches will be harming you on my watch, Miss Marietti."
Char laughed good-naturedly, punching him in the shoulder.
