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From the sick look on Kyla’s face, whatever was bubbling away in Hannah’s huge pot smelled even worse with her werewolf senses. Virtus merely let out a sigh and lay in a patch of sunlight near the window.
Danica was the one who’d first begun talking to Hannah. She’d needed Hannah’s help so she could steal from Samael’s dragon.
When I was a kid, black witches were the outcasts of our world. They crossed lines that white and gray wouldn’t go near, like sacrificing animals, and—for some of the worst of them—children. Then I grew up and realized that while witches were considered black or white, life was rarely that simple.
Hannah might be a lot of things, but she’d fought with us in the underworld. In fact, she’d saved hundreds—if not thousands—of lives. Sure, she charged out the nose for her services, but it was dangerous for any witch to live alone these days. She needed to keep herself safe, and that meant expensive spell ingredients.
Regardless, we all understood each other. Danica, Kyla, and I were all willing to look the other way for some of her more worrisome activities, and we put up with her sucking down our negative emotions if we happened to come to her feeling angry or upset. But she knew if she ever turned to human sacrifice, either Danica or I would strike her down. If Nathaniel or Kyla didn’t get there first.
Kyla had always been wary around Hannah, but that wariness had turned into loathing after the last time Hannah had decided to give her a few words of wisdom. I hadn’t been there, but Kyla had quoted Hannah’s words to me over a drink at Meredith’s.
“You will lose everything one day,”she’d told her.“When you are ready, you will come here and allow me to feed on your misery, and I will give you the advice you will need. Eventually, if you’re not an idiot, you may find happiness in the place you least expected it.”
To say Kyla had been unimpressed had been an understatement. I couldn’t blame her. Not many people wanted to think about losing everything and hitting rock bottom.
Hannah waved a hand at the stools next to the wide island in the middle of her kitchen. Kyla and I took our seats, and Hannah prodded at whatever it was she was cooking in that pot.
“You want me to help you with the human hate group,” Hannah said.
Poke, poke, poke. Noxious steam poured from the pot. Kyla gagged.
I wasn’t surprised that Hannah knew what was going on. She’d always been good at keeping one ear to the ground.
“Yes,” I said.
“What about your little coven of white witches?” Hannah gave me a sly look that told me she knew Gemma was dead. I narrowed my eyes, and she sniffed.
“So, I’m your last resort.”
“Do you want the job or not?” Kyla grumbled.
Hannah gave her the beady eye. “What’s the plan?”
I knew exactly what she wanted to hear. “We’ll go in as a team. The lab we will hit is the one where some of the worst experiments have happened, on some of the most powerful paranormals. There will be humans, witches, fae, and likely demons in the lab, all contained, all having survived torture.”
Kyla got up and walked out.
I couldn’t blame her. Entering the labs would be horrific, and the people who had been unfortunate enough to have ended up there would likely have wished for death a hundred times over. And I had to sell the place to Hannah. Had to lure her in with the pain and suffering, which she would suck down and use for her own spells.
“Vicious, that one,” Hannah said, as Kyla slammed the front door behind her.
Virtus opened his eyes and pinned her with a look. He let out a hint of a growl, and that was enough for Hannah to go still.
“You dare threaten me in my own home?”
Virtus just kept his gaze on her face.
My heart rate tripled.
Hannah was the first to look away. She scowled.
“It just so happens I could use a good meal. But my services won’t come cheap.”
“They never do.”
By the time I left Hannah’s, I had a bad taste in my mouth. And it wasn’t entirely due to whatever she’d been cooking in that pot. Virtus shoved his head beneath my hand in an effort to steady me as I walked down the stairs.
“Thanks. How are you feeling?”
