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Clawdia looked at me wide-eyed. I moved so I was at the front, facing the bars, and she was behind me. “Pretend you’re still asleep,” I whispered.
I recognized the witch who gave us food and water. He was dressed in his usual jeans and a polo shirt reminding me that it was warm outside the cave, which only fueled my hate for him, and no matter how much I tried to get a rise out of him, he did his job silently and only glared at us.
This time, however, he was joined by another familiar face—Debs. “Good morning, gentlemen,” she greeted.
“Oh, morning, is it? Hard to tell in here. Not a lot of natural light in a cave. You’re looking lovely, Deborah. Feeding on the souls of children again? I hear it does great things for the skin.”
She didn’t look great. In fact, she looked like she’d had the worst few days of her life. I didn’t bother to hide my grin at having thwarted her evil plan. Very Scooby Doo of me.
I sat in a casual pose, one knee slightly raised enough to rest my elbow and my face on my hand. I smiled widely, loving how her eyes glared at me. She wanted me dead. But she hadn't killed me. I couldn't figure out why, but while she still needed me alive, I was going to make her wish otherwise.
Debs moved her gaze to Clawdia, who pretended to be asleep on the floor. “I see sleeping beauty has yet to awaken. Shame. With every passing day that she lies there clearly unwell, her chances of survival weaken. And so do yours.” There was a small smirk curling the corners of her lips. It infuriated me.
Smug fucker. And how does she know Clawdia is my familiar now?
Even though I knew Clawdia was fine, it pissed me off that Debs was happy to watch us die. “If you offered medical attention instead of leaving us in this fucking cage, we’d both be just dandy. But that’s not what you want, is it, Debs?”
Her calm façade crumbled into an ugly sneer, and she growled. “You deserve to be here. You all deserve to die for what you did. Centuries of ancestral work ruined, and all for the fire of a demon.”
“But our death wouldn’t help your new plan.” I knew we were still alive for a reason. I just needed her monologuing so I could figure it out.
“Oh?" But maybe she was too clever.
She's probably seen the cartoons when the bad guys start telling the hero the plan. Fuck's sake.
I hid my disappointment and continued with my strategy. “Well, we're still alive. You’ve been waiting for Clawdia to wake up. Clearly something’s going on, or we'd be ingredients to a potion right now.”
She scoffed, but I saw something flash on her face.
Are we going to be ingredients to a potion?
She crossed her arms and shifted on her feet. “It’s interesting to us that a familiar may be passed on. It is also interesting that the otherworlder was able to form a bond with her too to ensure her survival. Call it a professional curiosity.”
“How do you know she formed a bond with … the otherworlder?” I was cautious about using names now. I didn't know what they needed to cast spells and curses or to capture someone.
“Those interesting tattoos on her forearms. Such side effects are not created from a familiar bond.”
Alarm bells rang in my head. “And how did you see them?”
“Charlie, you should know that we haven’t let you stay down here without supervision.” She smiled cruelly.
“What?”
She laughed. “You thought we’d let you chat amongst yourselves? Try and escape? Maybe even succeed since your powers are so new and sporadic?”
“Shit.” I looked over at Clawdia.
“Shit, indeed.” Debs followed my gaze. “Might as well get up, Clawdia dear. I know you’re awake.”
She didn’t move. “Good girl,”I thought.
Shockingly, she replied, and I heard. “Let me know when I should get up.”
I schooled my expression to hide my surprise so the old hag believed that nothing strange had just happened. Of course, she probably knew, but I enjoyed the subterfuge.
I pouted mockingly. “Looks like she dozed off waiting for you to leave.”
She glared. “I think you are lying.”
