Before he could start his rapid fire of questions about them, the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. He tipped his chin to it. “This is her floor,” he said, a slight flush moving over the bridge of his nose.
He reminded me of the promised introduction as I exited. If other witches behaved like obsessed superfans, I understood why the kinborn witches kept to themselves.
After knocking on Paige’s door the third time, it swung open. A petite, harried-looking woman in her mid-thirties stood at the entrance. Strands of copper-colored hair had unraveled from her French braid. Freckles smattered her nose and cheek.Blotches of dirt clung to her blue long-sleeve shirt and white leggings. A sheen of sweat covered her skin.
Pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, her ivory skin flushed pink. “I didn’t respond did I, Kara?” At least an introduction wasn’t needed.
She blew out a breath. “We finally meet.” Paige gave me a withered smile, wiping her hands on her pants. It didn’t remove any of the dirt on it, but I shook her hand, anyway.
“We’ve met a few times,” I pointed out.
Studying me, her lips dipped into a frown. “Of course. I remember.”
She was lying and pretty bad at it. Working for the vampires had given me an appreciation and fondness for bad liars. Stepping aside, she invited me in.
“Rachel contacted me. I saw the messages but got preoccupied with Jazzy and Anna, and my other lovelies.” She waved her hand toward a wall of plants. Trellises covered in climbing roses and jasmine created living walls. Raised beds overflowed with herbs and vegetables, and hanging baskets dripped with trailing flowers. Ferns cascaded from macrame hangers, succulents decorated every windowsill. And a massive monstera dominated one corner. The air was thick with the earthy scent of soil, herbs, and fragrant scent of flowers.
It was a slice of paradise, nine stories above the bustling city streets. The wall opposite the flowers had a large abstract canvas leaning against it. I had no idea if the art piece was included in the “lovelies” and which plant was named what. She named her plants and treated them as if they were sentient. The witches of the Earthroot Coven weren’t even attempting to beat the weirdo allegations.
Her warm demeanor had cooled some when she said, “Rachel didn’t give any details why you wanted to meet me. I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with the Houses of Hollowsor Knight.” She offered a tight smile, her eyes flicking to the door behind me. I got the message: If it did, she was politely inviting me to leave. It was time to admit that the Houses of Hollows and Knight had a public relations problem.
“It has nothing to do with them,” I hurried to reassure her.
Her clenched jaw relaxed, but she continued to scrutinize me with narrowed eyes.
“It’s personal. I need wolfsbane,” I said. Her mouth parted and snapped close. “I’ll pay whatever you ask,” I rushed out, hoping it was a reasonable request.
Deep perceptive eyes held mine, reading the desperation that I was unable to hide.
“I don’t have any.” Before I could press further, she said, “I did. Two pots of it.”
My eyes followed hers to a corner where empty and cracked planters were stored. “Whatever information Rachel acquired that led her to sending you to me also brought the notice of the pack. Walking into my apartment to find the Alpha and four of his wolves making themselves at home is something I’d rather not experience again.”
Her hand brushed over her flushed cheek, leaving a small smudge of dirt. They’d left the rest of her plants intact. Something they weren’t known for doing. When wolfsbane was found, they tended to take the indiscriminate destructive approach to get rid of it. Anything near the wolfsbane became collateral damage.
I wanted desperately to check this item off the list. Now to Indiana in hopes that the rumors that the local covens had wolfsbane were true. If they weren’t, I was screwed. Was there a chance the pack saved some or was it simply, see wolfsbane, destroy wolfsbane?
Paige moved to the rows of plants and flowers and kneeled to touch the broken planters. “They even salted the soil.” Sheshook her head. That had been a symbolic action that served as a warning of permanent destruction. Paige looked worried to be on their radar, and I didn’t blame her.
Her fingers traveled gingerly over another plant, her expression softening. Gesturing to another plant whose purple flowers were similar to wolfsbane, she said, “This is monkshood. It’s in the same family.” Her voice was wistful and I gathered what she was suggesting. “It’s not as potent and can’t harm them. So, they left it behind.”
“This situation doesn’t call for close enough,” I said. The flush that crept over her face revealed her embarrassment at the suggestion. Whatever my face had showed led to the placating proposal.
“I should have been more careful after that visit from that witch. I told him I was mistaken. I don’t mind helping witches from other covens. But he didn’t have a coven affiliation, and his vibe was off. The day I turned that weird witch away, I should have known something would happen,” she mumbled. It seemed like she was confessing it to her plants instead of me.
“Let me guess. Male with dark hair? Attractive—and very aware of it? And had the look of someone who, in a few years, we’ll be speculating about his villain origin story?”
She choked out a laugh, nodding emphatically. “I didn’t let him in. He claimed to be a Lunar Veil witch, but his aura was darker, tainted in a way. Maybe because his magic is old. Or maybe new.” It was apparent she’d been ruminating over this for a while.
I’d never considered that Jonah’s magic might be new. But it was different. Very different. Was it ashinwa-type different? Everything Cirrian said about ashinwa magic could easily describe Jonah. I added making a visit to Jonah and his cadre of misfit witches to the things I needed to explore sooner rather than later.
I wasn’t sure why Jonah wanted wolfsbane. He was nursing a broken wrist and wasn’t directly involved on the attempt on my life. But could it be the work of one of the witches in his makeshift coven? New or old magic, I needed more info about him.
Leaving Paige in a rush, I debated on my next stop: Jonah or Indiana. By the time I was a few feet from my car, I’d decided to get the wolfsbane. Having all the ingredients for the spell would make things easier if a visit to Jonah turned out to be fruitless.
Fuuuuck, I groaned under my breath, but the slow smirk on Terran, the Chicago Alpha’s face made it painfully obvious how I felt about him leaning against my car. Our first meeting left me with only one way to describe him to Amelia: He was justtoo. Standing at a little over six eight, he was too tall. His facial features weretooas well. A series of sharp angles and defined edges, right down to a striking v-chin and nose that was a strident line and slightly upturned at the tip. And he was too fit. Not in the way a bodybuilder had too many bulky muscles. Lean, striated muscles couldn’t be hidden by his clothes. His physique looked as if it had been created in an art studio.
The combination of deep fawn-colored skin and dark-brown deeply defined curls long enough to tumble over his brows, the sides and back tapered into a fade, left me curious about his ethnicity, which he seemed to enjoy keeping a mystery. His hazel eyes flicked on their eerie glow. The hunter shape of them made his appearance menacing. A woman passing him caught sight of them and gasped.
