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I handed Ram over to the paramedics and turned to Jag, Elliot, and Moe. “Go with him. You might need treatment for dehydration too, and he’ll need somebody with him. I’m going to find a place for everyone else to stay, then I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
Elliot nodded and climbed into the ambulance. Jag opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. “Get your fine, bare ass in that ambulance now.”
Moe glanced between us and jumped into the EMS. Jag sauntered up to me and leaned close. “Lucky for you, I’m very turned on right now.”
I burst into laughter. He winked and stepped up into the now-crowded wagon after the others. A paramedic pulled the door shut, and the ambulance pulled away.
I watched them go and watched the golden ribbons that bound us—well, four of us—stretch but never break.
I wondered if there was something between Ram and me that didn’t break either, though I couldn’t see it. It was then that I realized I wasn’t worried about him attacking Juniper at the hospital. I didn’t think he’d do it.
While Minnie and her mates—who all showed up to help—and Liam got an emergency shelter open at a school gym, I checked on the Eclipses who didn’t need to go to the hospital. They filled me in on their miserable week watching their home crumble. It had started when Juniper and her mates visited Free Jinx. Minutes after their arrival, Azea had made off with the Astrosmos. Nobody had even seen her coming.
Fuck, that meant she had another relic somewhere. Azea was sneaky and a skilled thief, but not skilled enough to best Juniper and dozens of other witches on her own. It also meant she had been watching Free Jinx and had planned her attack to coincide with Juniper’s visit to take out Juniper and all the Eclipses at the same time.
She was lucky the cops had hauled her ass to the pen before I could kill her. Actually, why hadn’t I killed her? Weird that I had turned my attention from my rage and murderous desires to opening portals and saving people instead. Maybe Ram wasn’t the only one who had changed recently.
Soon, the cop’s witches were flying groups of my people to the shelter. They still had no homes to go back to, but they were safe for the moment.
With the crowd thinning, I started to weave an invisibility spell, but hands clamped around both my wrists and jerked my arms behind my back.
I sighed. Of fucking course.
A gruff, angry voice said, “Alyssa Woodrow Beaver, you’re under arrest. Any spell you cast can and absolutely will be used against you in a court of law.”
Chapter 37
“Ithoughtyoubrokeout,” Volos sneered as he sauntered up to me in the prison yard.
I flicked my wrist to slide the tampon applicator out of my sleeve. “I came back for you.”
His eyes widened, and I jumped. Throwing my weight against him, I forced him to the ground, landing on top of him. He squirmed and squealed, but I grabbed his chin and jammed the applicator into his mouth, squeezing the plunger until his screams turned to gags.
“That one wasn’t even for Oscar,” I growled in his face. “I enjoyed it.”
None of that was true. It was for Oscar, and I wasn’t here for Volos. I was here to serve my time so that I wouldn’t have to live on the run.
I stood, stepped over Volos, and strolled away. When I heard him start coughing again, I knew he had pulled the tampon out of his throat.
Even though the yard was busy, nobody even glanced my way as I jumped Volos. They all thought I could use magic within the ward, and I was happy to let them think that so none of them would bother me.
There was one exception.
“Hello, monster,” Azea drawled behind me.
I turned. The mice’s bite marks were still healing on her face. “Clearly, they don’t care about prisoner safety if they locked you in here with me.”
She ignored my threat. “I can’t believe you let them arrest you again.”
“Admittedly, me neither,” I said.
This time, I had plenty of reasons not to go to prison, but I still wanted the new start of a clean record—well, sort of a clean record. I had committed a hell of a lot of crimes that the authorities had not linked to me yet. But I didn’t want to be on the run anymore. I didn’t want to hide.
I was just glad that Jag, Elliot, and Moe weren’t here. They had the sense to go on the run rather than to get arrested to see me. I wasn’t sure how to feel about Ram being free. He should still be behind bars like me, but maybe he was happy or, at least, at peace wherever he was now.
Azea stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Some of our old friends are here.” I knew that. We had been avoiding each other for years, and even Ram had largely stayed away from them. “Me and them are going to make your life a living hell.”
I rolled my eyes. “That is the most generic threat I ever heard.”
