Page 113 of Untraced Magic
When his head angled up to look at me, my gaze locked onto a set of green eyes I placed instantly.
Everything became clearer, the last few moments in the library returning to me.
“Wesley?” I whispered.
He barely looked at me. Remained silent.
Why was he in different clothes? How long had I been here?
The woman passed Wesley a large key, and I watched as he took it. His head dipped low.
“Wesley? I don’t understand…” I trailed off, unable to make sense of what was happening.
He didn’t lift his eyes from the ground as he walked to the door, sliding the solid key into the lock of my cell. He pushed the door open, and it groaned as it swung wide.
“Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be,” he said, his tone flat.
“Wes!” I said with urgency this time. “What the hell is going on?”
He moved toward me, but I couldn’t decipher the look on his face. Was that desperation?
I didn’t understand his reason for being part of this. How could he do this? To me? To Tyler? He’d known Tyler since they were kids. None of it made any sense.
His hand gripped my upper arm, and I tried to shove him off, pushing and pulling against his grasp, but his grip held tight. I tried every move known to me, my fists pounding into his chest repeatedly, but it was no use. His strength overwhelmed me.
I lowered my voice so only he could hear me. “Don’t do this, whatever this is. Whatever is going on, we can fix this. Ty would do anything for you, you know that.”
Wes faltered, an almost pained expression tormenting his face before it disappeared just as quickly, before manhandling me from the cell. It was then I got to see the face of the stranger I’d been speaking to between solid walls.
His beard concealed his mouth and long hair tangled over his ears. The eyes that sank into his frail form were fierce, slashing imaginary scars into the woman’s sides.
“Let her go, don’t do this,” he said, stumbling to his feet, his milk-white knuckles wrapped around the bars.
She ignored him as if he was never there. “It’s time,” she said with a twirl of her finger. Wesley stiffened beside me. “Come along.”
He nudged me forward and I tried to escape from his grip again, but he held firm. I turned back to look at him, forced my face closer until my breath muddled with his, staring daggers at him, imagined piercing his bright green eyes with my nails until they bled.
“Tyler will kill you if anything happens to me,” I hissed.
His voice dipped low. “Just do as she asks.Please.”
“What the fuck?” I side-eyed him, my head spinning in confusion.
He edged me onwards, my bare feet inching forward as he maneuvered us into a large room that resembled a church.
The building was a fortress of stone, layers upon more layers of gray, like depression had embedded itself in its block walls. But theunusedsmell hit me first and foremost. Musty. I could almost feel the dust rising through my nostrils.
My head turned to the front of the room, where the brown-haired woman sat on a throne-like bench, one knee crossed over the other.
Who was she?
I wrestled against Wesley’s grip to no avail, my efforts swiftly rewarded by his arms wrapping around my front, holding me in place.
“Behave,” Wes hissed against my ear.
I threw him another death glare over my shoulder. “Fuck you!” I spat, trying to shove my elbow into his side.
I turned my attention back to the woman, who watched me with intrigue.
