Page 54 of The Soulless Witch

“You must be wondering why I’m calling,” he said, and I growled in frustration, refusing to agree with him. “I’ll get straight to the point.” I held my breath, looking at Allison, who seemed equally on edge. “The hunters are working with the witches, and it’s likely that they are behind the disappearances happening around the city. I assume you know what I’m talking about?”

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t reply—my throat was too dry and my heart was beating too fast.

“How…?” I choked out, reaching for my coffee. I took a big gulp, wincing as the hot liquid burned my throat, but at least my ability to speak returned. “How do you know that?”

“We have surveillance of a high-ranking witch meeting with at least one hunter, and we have noticed increased movements around the Order’s headquarters. As for the disappearances, I hope you are smart enough to have figured out by now that this is not the first time members of your kind have gone missing on such a scale. This has happened before. The last time was…”

“...eighty years ago,” I finished without thinking and Roman made a noise of approval.

“Good, that will save some time. The previous time it happened, it was again witches and hunters working together. We assume the same is happening now.”

“We?” I asked with a frown.

“Celeste and I,” he replied, and I could feel the smile growing on his face. A snarl formed in my throat at the mention of her, but before I could say anything, he continued. “She seems to have taken a liking to you, so I’m doing her a favor by sharing this information. I think she might get upset if you end up dying.”

I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief.

“If what you are saying is true, I’m sure she only wanted you to share it with me as part of her plan to destroy my pack! Again!”

Roman was silent for a moment, then he let out a long, exasperated sigh.

“I honestly can’t tell what she sees in you, you’re such a blind fool.” There was a sharp sound on the other side, then steps followed as if Roman was moving again. “I don’t care if you believe me or not. I don’t even care if the hunters kill your pack again. Celeste thought working with you might be beneficial for all, so I wanted to respect her opinion. Clearly, she was wrong.”

“You expect me to believe that?” I snapped.

“I expect nothing from you, wolf. You don’t matter to me.” Roman sighed again, the noise sounding strangely gentle through the phone. “If you come to your senses, call this number. If not, lose it. Goodbye.”

Without waiting for a reply, he ended the call. Snarling in frustration, I slammed the phone against the table, making the whole thing wobble. My coffee splashed from the cup, soaking the closest pictures, while Allison leaped to her feet to grab a paper towel.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. Allison stayed silent, and by the time I let my hand fall, she was watching me with her arms crossed.

“What do you think?” I asked, sinking in my chair.

“Well, Beta James mentioned it too. That’s two people who have nothing in common sharing the same information.” She slid her hands over the table, sitting down as well. “I think…I think we need to look into it. If they are telling the truth, we might need allies, even if they are not people we like. You can’t let your personal feelings get in the way of protecting the pack.”

“I know,” I murmured, rubbing my face. “I know.”

We sat in silence while I stared at my cold coffee.

“There is one thing I don’t get,” Allison said suddenly. “The vampire said ‘I don’t care if the hunters come and kill your pack again’, but wasn’t it the witch that killed them all?”

Sighing, I shook my head.

“I thought so, Ally. The last thing I remembered was her facing the warriors of my pack after she killed my father,” I said as the memories of that night flashed before my eyes. I saw her face, full of anger and desperation; I saw her screaming at them. She didn’t attack them, though. Every time she used her magic or killed someone, it was they who made the first move.

Could it be that she was just protecting herself? But she had murdered so many. Their corpses were lying at her feet. Yet…I saw the hunters kill her after she had supposedly disposed of my people. How did they know when to come? How did they know where to find her? I had thought I was the only survivor, so there was no one to tell me the whole story from that night. No one but me…and her. But why should I believe her?

Sighing again, I looked at my Beta.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

Chapter 29

Celeste

I’vealwayslovedsunsets.There was something immensely beautiful about the death of the day, about the way the light showed its most exquisite colors right before it was swallowed by eternal darkness.

I continued to lie on my side under the warm covers, eyes locked on the waning light peeking through the window. I wasn’t sure how long I had been awake, but I didn’t feel like moving. Moving meant getting up, and getting up meant getting back to the wicked, complicated, and ruthless supernatural world out there. Even with my magic cracking beneath my skin, eager and awake, I preferred this quiet, simple moment, to getting blood on my hands if things went wrong. Again.

---