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GOD HELP US ALL
My thumbs fly over the screen of my phone until Jesse’s large palm covers it, blocking my view. I look up at him with wide eyes, and the compassion in his expression nearly breaks me.
“What are you doing?” I snap, tugging at the phone as his fingers tighten around it.
“What are you doing?” he replies.
“Asking them for a time and place,” I say, desperation lacing the words. “We need to get Steph back. Now, before they hurt her.”
“We need to think this through, first, Eden,” he says calmly.
“What’s to think about?” I shout.
“She’s right,” Erik cuts in. “We tell them we agree, then kill every single one of them for touching Stephanie.”
The violence in Erik’s tone snaps me out of the hysteria consuming me. I look at him with wide eyes, my head shaking vigorously.
“We don’t need to kill anyone. I’ll give them my magic, and they’ll give her back. Then we can leave this place and never think of them again.”
“We should go discuss this elsewhere,” Leif says, finally joining the conversation.
“We should search the woods,” I say, the thought of leaving here without Steph making me panic. “Maybe they’re still close by. We can find them and end this, now.”
“I am all for ending this,” Erik growls.
“We’ll never find them. We need to make a better plan,” Jesse says, and a wave of calm settles over me.
I settle into it for a second, then realize it’s Jesse. Anger floods through me, erasing his efforts.
“Don’t do that,” I shout. “I don’t want to be calm. I want to find Steph.”
Jesse holds up his palms in a silent apology, then says, “I was only trying to help.”
“I know,” I say, some of the anger draining out of me. “I’m just so scared.”
“We should really go somewhere else,” Leif reiterates. “They could have spies in these woods.”
Realizing he’s right, I nod and climb into the passenger seat even though every bone in my body rebels against it. Leaving here without Steph makes everything hurt, but Leif and Jesse have a point. We didn’t know they were with us at the village. We heard nothing, saw nothing, and smelled nothing when they took Steph right from beneath our noses. We won’t find her on our own.
And they could be surrounding us right now, and we’d never know it.
Jesse closes the door gently behind me, then jogs around to climb in behind the wheel while the other two slide into the back. As we drive back toward New Orleans, my heart cracks, then I seal the fracture with anger.
Those witches lied to us. They ambushed us, stole my best friend, and are threatening her unless I give them my magic. Maybe Erik was right, maybe they do deserve to die.
Another thought occurs, and I groan as the anger dissipates, replaced by dread. “Oh, God. What am I going to tell Bernadette? We promised her we’d keep Steph safe.”
“We’ll worry about that when the time comes,” Jesse answers, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “Right now, we need to decide on the best course of action.”
My phone chimes again, and my hand jerks up as my thumb slides across the screen to unlock it.
Steph: A time and place will be determined when you agree to our terms.
As I finish reading the text, a photo comes through. My breath catches in my chest as I look at it with wide eyes. The picture is of Steph, sitting in a chair and looking at the camera with a mulish expression. There’s a gag tied across her mouth and ropes tying her wrists and ankles to the arms and legs of her seat.
“They will die for this.”
My head jerks to the left, and I see Erik leaning between the two front seats to peer at the screen over my shoulder. I swallow thickly and look back down at the photo, studying Steph’s face. She doesn’t look scared. At all. She just looks pissed.
