Witch Undecided by Debbie Cassidy

Chapter Ten

Sloane’s hands shook as she reached for the wheel and then her knuckles turned white.

“This cannot be happening,” she bit out.

“They must have planned this. It had to be in the works for a while,” Jessie said.

“What do we do?” Poppy asked.

I stared out the window at the unsuspecting humans, the prey for the revenants who’d use this place as a feeding ground.

“We need to get in there and kill revenants,” Jessie said.

“No!” Sloane snapped. “That’s a fucked-up idea. We could be walking into a trap.”

“They think we’re an Elite down,” Jessie pointed out. “They won’t expect us to attack.”

“Then what?” Sloane said. “We attack, and then what? You think they’ll just let us walk out? That’s the fucking lions’ den, Jess.”

“I never pegged you as a coward, Sloane.”

“I never pegged you for a fool.”

“Enough!” Poppy glared at them both. “I miss Brie too. I want revenge for what those fuckers did as much as you guys, but we can’t do any good if we’re dead. Right now, we’re at a disadvantage.”

Jessie exhaled through her nose and nodded. “Go on.”

“I suggest we scout the perimeter and get a lay of the land, then we head back to Grimswood, report this, and come up with a plan of action.”

She was right. “There must be plans of this place being converted. The council will have records. We can do some digging and find out what the Order is up to.”

“While revenants feast?” Jessie looked at me in disgust.

“I never said that. We need to come up with a new way of hunting. A stealthier way. And we’ll need hardcore glamour.”

“She’s right,” Lauris added. “It’s the smartest call.”

Sloane started the engine, and a red blur caught my eye amidst the throng of humans.

Oh fuck. “Stop.”

“What?” Jessie snapped.

I pointed out the window. “Look, do you see it? Trailing that couple.”

Everyone surged toward the windows to peer out. The crowd parted and there it was, the revenant, a crimson blob in the air hovering behind a man and woman as they broke from the throng and headed into the shadows at the edge of the parking lot.

“Looks like we’re gonna get to kill a revenant after all,” Jessie said.

We followedthe couple into the shadows where a chain-link fence cut off the parking lot from the brush beyond. The couple was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’d they go?” Jessie scanned the gloom.

I moved away from The Elites and walked a little way toward the club. Movement caught my eye.

“You see something?” Lauris asked.

A reedy wail hit the air and I broke into a run, boots clipping against cement. The fence ended and an alley lined with bins shot to the right. Figures tussled up ahead.

Lauris grabbed my arm. “Slow down.” He slipped ahead of me. “Let me do my job.”

The Elites rushed up behind me and then we were hot on Lauris’s heels as he rounded the bins. I took in the scene.

The woman dead on the ground, the revenant in full skinless humanoid form, and the human male with dark cropped hair and an oval face, standing with his back pressed to the wall, wide-eyed.

“It’s okay,” Lauris said. “We won’t let it hurt you.”

The revenant turned to face us, opened its mouth, and screamed, blasting us with its fetid breath.

Gag.

“Patrick, stand down!” the human snapped.

The revenant drew back, and the human stepped forward, standing taller, broader. His eyes bled to black as he tilted his head.

Gooseflesh speckled my skin. “What the fuck are you?”

“Human,” Jessie said, hands up, palms out as if testing the air. “Human and…something and revenant. Oh fuck.”

The human thing smiled too wide. “Do you like my pretty new suit? First time taking it for a test drive.” He looked down at the dead woman. “She seemed to buy it.”

He jerked his thumb in the revenant’s direction. “Patrick needed a snack.” He smirked. “Although it’s not like we’ll have a problem staying fed now.” He frowned at Patrick. “You didn’t need to kill the human. Sips, remember; lots of sips. They’ll keep coming back and you’ll stay fed, but if you kill them…” He wagged a finger in a tut-tut motion. “Now we need to dispose of the body. Or…” He fixed his gaze on us. “We could leave the mess to the filthy witches.”

“Fuck this,” Sloane said.

The negation chant filled the air and my mind. It spilled from my lips like honey and trickled through the air. The revenant behind the human thing melted into the wall and the human thing’s eyes went wide, mouth falling open in horror.

It was working. He had a revenant inside him, no idea how or why, but the negation spell was working. Maybe we could help him.

The human thing jerked once, twice, and then sighed and stood straight, staring at us with an arched brow.

“Sorry, ladies. That shit won’t work on me.” He grinned. “But now I get to play.”

He flicked his wrist in our direction and the negation spell died on my lips.

What the fuck were we doing? Sloane should know better. She was supposed to be a leader; instead we’d wasted time arguing when we could have saved this woman.

The human thing was no longer important. Only having my say with Sloane mattered. I turned on her to find Jessie yelling at her.

“Fuck you too!” Sloane said. “You could have saved her; you were right next to her.”

“You’re blaming me?” Jessie screeched.

“You guys are both to blame!” Poppy added.

I took a step toward the trio, anger a pit of simmering lava in my belly. They had no right….no right to…to what? What was I pissed about?

The lava was still there but it was cooling.

“Cora?” Lauris touched my shoulder and I spun to face him, curses wanting to launch themselves off my tongue. “Whoa.”

I pressed my lips together. This was wrong. Where was the human thing? What were we doing?

“He did something to you,” Lauris said. “This anger isn’t normal.”

No, it wasn’t. I needed to shake it off if I was going to help the others. I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth, over and over, until calm settled over me.

Sloane, Jessie, and Poppy were in a full-blown screaming match now. Jessie punched Poppy in the face and the witch went down.

“Bitch!” Sloane made a grab for Jessie.

Lauris grabbed the back of Jessie’s shirt and yanked her back, and I stepped in front of Sloane and pressed my hands to her shoulders.

“Stop. Sloane, stop.”

But her gaze was dazed, jaw tense, hands fisted. She wanted to fight. She needed to fight. I could feel it.

Fuck. “Sloane.”

She shoved at me, trying to get to Jessie. I needed her to focus on something else, anything else. I cupped her face and pressed my lips to hers. Hard.

She struggled for a moment, curses trapped between our lips. No. No, you will calm the fuck down. I kept hold of her, pressing my body to hers and keeping our lips locked.

Come on, Sloane, come back to me. Jessie was still mouthing off behind us, but my focus was entirely on Sloane.

Come on, I willed her. Fight it.

She stilled, her body softening against mine, then her hands were in my hair and her mouth was moving against mine.

She was kissing me, and shit, I was kissing her back—raspberry lip gloss, cheap whiskey, and tongue, loads of fucking tongue.

Jessie’s angry words and Poppy’s exclamations faded into the background. All that existed were Sloane’s fingers massaging my scalp and her luscious mouth devouring mine.

She was the first to break the kiss, mouth hovering inches from mine, electric-blue eyes dark with desire.

“Thanks, cupcake.” Her voice was husky and raw.

A crack sounded behind us.

Sloane released me, and I turned to find Lauris rubbing his cheek and Jessie covering her mouth.

“What was that for?” Lauris whined.

“You fucking kissed me,” Jessie growled.

Lauris shrugged. “It worked for them.” He jerked his head in our direction.

Poppy rubbed her forehead. “What the fuck just happened?”

Sloane looked down at the dead woman. “I don’t know, but we need to clean this up, get back to the mansion, and figure it out.”