AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not,” she said. “There are forces at work here that are way beyond my control. If we leave now, he can go back to work, and everything will be fine.”
“Poppet, what is going on?” Matteo asked, folding his arms. “I asked you here because I thought you could help with that thing on her arm.”
“I know. I figured you would.” She rolled her neck and took another step towards me.
I stepped back. The puzzle pieces were starting to click into place. “You planted the cuff at the house?”
She pushed up her left sleeve and revealed a cuff identical to mine around her wrist. “I went to the house and found the cuffs. I took one and keyed the other to my will.”
I backed up another step. “How did you even get through the front door?”
“We have to go, Rebekah.” She lowered her sleeve and flexed her fingers. “If I have to use the cuff again, I will.”
“Poppet, stop this!” Matteo lunged forward, trying to put himself between us. “Tell me what’s—”
“Silence.” She hissed and a flash of red energy struck him in the chest. Matteo fell in a heap over his cushions.
“No!” I shouted, taking a giant step in his direction.
Poppet stepped in my path. “He’s asleep. Now, let’s go!”
I jerked away from her before she could grab my arm. “I told you. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Poppet snarled and made a quick gesture through the air with her left hand. Red magic flashed around her wrist, and a high-pitched wail burst through my ear. I dropped onto my hands and knees. The pulse hit, and everything stopped. Total whiteout. Again.
32
Poppet
Poppet chuckled in the darkness. “You can wake up now.”
My head throbbed like she’d taken a sledgehammer to it. I groaned, opening my eyes….No, my eyes were already open. I blinked and the world around me came into focus. My eyes were open, and I was standing in an entirely different room. “Where am I? What did you do to me?”
The room was covered in white cloth. I could make out the shape of a couch, a few lampshades, and a coffee table, but nothing more. There were shadows on the wall where pictures had been removed, and the air smelled faintly of burnt wood.
“You don’t remember this place, do you?” Poppet asked, leaning against the wall on the far side of the room. I arched an eyebrow at her and she sighed. “I suppose that’s to be expected. I didn’t either. Not at first, but we’ll give it a minute.”
I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward.
“Uh, I wouldn’t go too much further if I were you.” She pointed at the floor, and I saw the source of the smell. A few inches from my toes were runes burnt into the hardwood. Poppet chuckled. “That’s a nasty spell. Believe me. Crossing that line hurts like a bitch.”
I growled and clenched my fists hard enough to leave a series of bloody crescents across my palm. I’d never felt so helpless in my life. “What do you want from me?”
She rolled her eyes and walked closer. “I want you to remember.”
“Remember what?”
She threw her hands out. “Everything. Look around you, Rebekah. What is this place? Tell me where we are.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why does it matter? Why should I help you?”
Poppet’s arms dropped and she laughed. “You haven’t changed a bit. Just as stubborn as I remember.”
I didn’t take the bait. Instead, I took a step back towards the center of the circle and took in the room again. There was something vaguely familiar about it, but the white drop cloths made it hard to put my finger on what that was. It wasn’t until I spotted the dining room table to my right, uncovered and glittering in the soft light of the morning, that it clicked. We were in my parents’ cabin. Where I was born; where Viktor died.
“The cabin? Really?” I exhaled. “Why here?”
Poppet groaned. “Seriously? Do you even remember growing up here? When’s the last time you went upstairs?”
