“Are there many of those in your pack?”
“Not many,” I say.
“Ah,” she says, then speaks quickly. “I again apologize on behalf of my coven for this. This was my plan, it was unsanctioned; Anya wants that known.”
“Okay?”
“I only intended to take my coven’s artifacts back, leaving him and Danica unable to chase. No permanent harm. Not only are those artifacts ours, it’s also that my love is gravely ill and I needed the wand for a specific spell to save him. But those artifacts weren’t in the bag, and you weren’t Danica. I held you to get answers, not to harm.”
“Well, I’m not sure what to say about that but I will say we would appreciate no further harm.”
“Your hotheaded dog down there might forget to tell his council and that ridiculous little coven all that and seek out revenge. I hope you’re a voice of reason in your pack.”
She’s not sorry; she’s covering her ass.
“We have no hotheaded dogs in our pack, only beings who don’t take too well to being knocked unconscious, abducted, detained and restrained while being disabled by toxins and witchcraft, not to mention the fact that you hit me in the face in order to rile him.”
“We’re leaving,” she goes on like I didn’t say a thing, “but I’d like assurances we won’t have him seeking revenge against me. I will defend myself and I have access to magic that your brother and his coven are too wet behind the ears to even know about.”
“You’re doing yourself no favors by making threats and I can’t make assurances on behalf of my pack or my brother’s coven. You’d have to ask Jason and I suspect he won’t give you much unless we’re safely home. Can I use the restroomfacilities, please? I’ve been uncomfortable for hours thanks to you restraining us.”
“Pass on those messages. Make sure your mate doesn’t seek revenge against me for this or I will fight back. I’m facing sanctions for this, but I have ways of striking back.”
“I’ll pass on your message.”
She gestures down the hall.
I move into the modern bathroom and close and lock the door.
An argument between them breaks out in their language. She’s crying while shouting. One of the men is shouting. The other man is trying to placate by the sounds of it.
I shakily use the facilities, wash my hands, and splash a few handfuls of water on my face before dabbing it with Kleenex. I pull out my ponytail holder and detangle my hair with my fingers before retying it up.
Seeing my reflection, I steady myself with my hands on the sink and stare at myself. I look and feel shaky and kind of… traumatized.
I hear his voice in my mind.
Color me shocked as fuck, because guess what? It’s you.
The anger in his eyes when he said that…
The way he practically spat out those words?
Or maybe he spat the other words at me, but not those… I don’t even know. My brain feels like it’s whirling. And I’m so,soangry I can’t even linger on the things Jason said. I just… can’t even fathom anything other than getting through this thing right now, getting home. Trauma and anger. I don’t know which one is stronger.
“Hurry up!” the guy outside the door shouts.
He leers at me as I walk back to the stairs, muttering something in his language that sounds offensive when I pass him.
As soon as I’m going down the stairs, the door slams and the lights go out, plunging us into darkness and nearly making me fall.
Grabbing the railing, I pause and listen, not understanding what they say as they leave, but I can pluck out a few words here and there, including arcano, which must be about us.
10
JASE
Though the lights go out while she stomps back down the stairs I clearly saw she’s looking like that shit sandwich is floating under her nose. She’s intentionally not looking at me, but she’s fully aware I’m watching her. My eyes have already adjusted and hers probably have, too.