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Conri ignored the witches. He turned to me, his grin back. “Lorie and Keeva are here to help me with something,” he said. “Be nice to them, and helpful. Mostly, stay out of their way. They will be coming and going often from now on.”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to kill them right here, right now. But what could a shackled wolf do against two powerful witches and a half-wolf, half-demon?
“Can I go now?” I asked.
Conri stepped aside and swept his arm wide, letting me pass.
I ran up the stairs and went to Minsi’s bedroom. I opened the door slowly, afraid of scaring her, but I shouldn’t have bothered.
Seated on her bed and rocking back and forth, Minsi was out of it. Lost to a deep panic attack. It had probably started with screaming, but now it had turned within.
Rue sat by her side and ran her hand up and down Minsi’s back. She lifted her tearful eyes. “There was nothing I could do. Once the witches entered the house, she lost it.”
My heart wilted.
Slowly, I approached Minsi. “Hey, pretty girl,” I called her, my voice soft. I sat on Minsi’s other side and glanced back at Rue. “Did they do anything to her?”
“They teased her, which I think only made things worse. I dragged her out of there as fast as I could, but she was so out of it, she fought me too. After a while, her energy waned, and she became like this.”
I cursed under my breath. I should have been here, if I had, maybe I could have lessened the blow, made this panic attack a little less intense. The way Minsi looked now, trembling and mumbling under her breath … this had probably been her worst attack to date. I leaned against the headboard and pulled Minsi with me. I cradled her in my arms, holding her tight.
“It’s okay,” I said, feeling ridiculous for lying, but what else could I say to her? “It’ll be okay. I’m here now. I’ll protect you.” And soon her brother would come too and he would save her.
Save us all.
We just had to endure a little while longer.
* * *
Rue leftin the middle of the night, after Minsi finally relaxed enough to sleep. The demons took her back to the school, where they would lock her in her classroom.
I stayed in Minsi’s bedroom all night, holding her close in her twin bed. I dozed off here and there, but I couldn’t relax, not when Minsi had had such a terrible panic attack and there were Nightmist witches inside the house.
Were they staying here? Conri mentioned they would be coming and going often. I hoped not. In fact, I had to talk to him. I would beg to not let them come in here again, for Minsi’s sake. I knew he didn’t care, but for some reason, sometimes he relented to some of my wishes, the ones that didn’t seem to affect his plans.
I hoped this was one of those.
In the middle of the morning, I dragged myself from Minsi’s bed. Relieved she seemed to be in a deep, peaceful sleep, I went to my bedroom where I took a quick shower and changed into clean clothes. Soon, it would be time to go to the school to help Rue make everyone’s lunch, but I wasn’t so confident about leaving Minsi alone.
If only Conri would allow someone else to help Rue, so I could stay with Minsi.
No, that would be two requests too many. I had to choose the most urgent one and forget the other.
But for now, I had to do only one thing: breakfast for Minsi and me. She would wake up soon, and if I could feed her before she had another panic attack, then I would consider that a victory.
With Phell and another demon following me, I went down through the back stairs to the kitchen. I looked around, but the house seemed empty, except for the demons, Minsi, and me.
Feeling a little lighter, I grabbed eggs, bacon, bread, and started on our breakfast. It didn’t take but three minutes for my mood to spoil.
The house’s front door opened and Keeva and Lorie walked in.
I braced against the broken island countertop as I glared at them.
“Good morning,” Keeva said in a sing-song voice as she strolled into the kitchen wearing a big smile. Today, she wore a deep red gown.
Lorie sniffed the air as she joined us. “Hm, it smells delicious.” She leaned over the island and grinned at me. “But not as delicious as you.”
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I raised a hand. “You know what? Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Just leave me alone. In fact, why don’t you just leave? There are plenty of empty houses in town. Pick one.” I turned my back to them and went back to the cooktop, where my scrambled eggs were starting to burn. Shit. I turned off the stove.
