A Curse in Darkness by Sherilee Gray

Chapter 12

Willow

“Willow,”a male called behind me.

Tearing my eyes from Warrick, I turned.

Tall, broad, and still tanned from holidaying on his boat, stood Clayton Whitlock. He was even more handsome now than he’d been in high school. I’d thought myself in love with him back then. He, on the other hand, had suffered from no such delusions.

Now he was the witch all the teens swooned over. Including my baby sister. And he worked hard to keep his followers happy. Mags had shown me the picture he posted earlier tonight, one of those bare-chested, only-in-a-towel shots taken in front of a bathroom mirror. Under it had been the hashtags #goingtotheball #princecharming #lookingformycindy.

He presented himself as therich playboy of the witch world. Regularly posting shots of himself by the pool, at parties, or behind a big desk like an important businessman, when everyone knew it was his mother who had taken over the businesses when her husband, Clayton’s father, died.

His smile was wide and genuine as he closed the space between us and took me off guard, giving me a quick hug. I returned it, pulling away would only draw more attention. I’d wanted to hate him all those years ago, I really had, but I could never quite manage it. I’d actively avoided him, though, for a lot of years, but there was something about him that had always been so…charming. Something he’d seriously tapped into as he’d gotten older.

“God, Wills, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Clay said, still holding my shoulders, and beamed. The guy had a great smile, and he knew how to use it. His gaze drifted over me. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks.” Warmth brushed over my skin like invisible hands, making me shiver, and it had nothing to do with Clayton. I was being watched, and I knew exactly who by.

That smile was still on his face when he tilted his head to the side. “You never returned my calls.”

“No,” I said, smiling right back, and offered no more.

His hands slipped from my shoulders, and he slid them into his pockets. “Okay, I see I have my work cut out for me here.”

As nice a guy as he was back then, and probably was now, we weren’t friends. We didn’t socialize or hang out or even text every once in a while to catch up. If he was calling, he wanted something, and whatever he was selling, I wasn’t in the market for. “What is it you want, Clayton?”

He huffed out a laugh. “Still the straight shooter.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to.

The smile lost some of its polish. “I ah…have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“I worked that part out for myself, Clay.”

He glanced around us. “This isn’t really the place. Will you come to the house tomorrow?”

“What’s this about?”

He looked up, and I followed his gaze. An older woman stood on the balcony edging the ballroom, and she was watching us. His mother, the formidable Olive Whitlock. He looked back down at me. “It’s a…delicate matter.”

I had no idea what this could be about. I didn’t even know the guy anymore, not really. But finding out could be in my best interest, especially if his mother was involved. “Fine, text me your address and I’ll try. But I can’t guarantee anything.”

His relief was obvious. “I’d appreciate that.”

I glanced over his shoulder and Warrick was still on the other side of the room, his gaze was bright and locked on me. A gorgeous woman in a skintight silk gown stood with her friend, an equally gorgeous woman in an equally gorgeous dress, and they were looking at him like he was god’s gift to womenkind—he was ignoring them completely.

I couldn’t really blame them, because in that suit, he kind of was.

Had I really just thought that? I hadn’t eaten much that day and the second glass of champagne was obviously going to my head. Or was it my third?

Clay hung around for a while, attempting to make small talk before he finally excused himself. I sipped my drink and looked around for food, and instead, spotted Sapphire Eldridge. She sat at the far end of the room, surrounded by a gaggle of witches and several familiars. Sapphire was a very distant cousin of Gran and Else, on the other side of the family, so not a Thornheart, but she acted like we were an extension of her coven and as such liked to keep tabs on us, much to Mom and Else’s annoyance.

They were not fans of the Eldridges.

As soon as her eyes caught mine, she waved me over with an impatient hand.

Great. Just great.

Plastering a smile on my face, I went to join her, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. She shooed everyone away when I reached her. The woman was formidable, a seriously powerful witch, and anyone who purposely pissed her off was an idiot, plain and simple.

“Sit, girl,” she said to me, and her familiar, a diminutive, surly, dark-haired woman, a bird shifter of some kind, dragged a chair over for me.

I sat.

“Your tasks, your trials,” she said, not beating around the bush. “I’ve heard nothing of substance about you, and I’m not happy about it. I like to know what’s going on. A witch was killed just this week during her trial, and I did wonder if it might be you.” She pursed her lips. “But here you are.”

I wasn’t sure how she wanted me to answer that. “Nope, not dead.”

She scowled. “People know of our connection—it’s distant, yes, but it’s still a connection. If you fail in this, if you shame me, I will not be pleased, not at all.”

I took another sip of my drink. “I’ll be pretty upset myself.”

“Don’t be flippant, girl. I wasn’t pleased when you were chosen as Keeper, but here we are. Nothing to be done now.” Her creep of a son, I wasn’t sure which one since he was an identical twin, moved closer. He’d been watching from the sidelines up until that moment, but obviously didn’t like being left out. Which meant this was probably Isaac. The guy’s picture was in the dictionary under mama’s boy.

He was good-looking, a skilled witch, the more powerful out of him and his brother. He wasn’t the Keeper for his coven, though; his older brother by seven minutes, Elmer, had taken that honor.

“Willow,” he said, dipping his head, a smile spreading across his face. “You look lovely.”

“Thanks, Isaac.”

His lips curled up. “I’m flattered you know the difference between me and my brother. Not many do. I hear you’re still on your second task? You won your first trial, though, yes?”

Asuka obviously hadn’t wasted time spreading that around the ballroom. No, we didn’t spend time together anymore, but I still considered her a friend. I could admit her sharing what I told her, here of all places, stung.

“Yes, and yes,” I said, not elaborating. “That’s a nasty-looking cut on your cheek, Isaac. Run into some trouble during yours? Oh sorry, I forgot, Elmer’s your Keeper, yes?” I should shut up, especially since it seemed I was on the back foot in a lot of ways, but the champagne had loosened my tongue.

“Elmer’s doing exceedingly well,” Sapphire said, then her calculating gaze slid between me and her son. “Are you married?”

“No.” I didn’t like that look on her face. “And I have no intention of ever entering the state.”

“You don’t believe in love?”

“Not particularly.” That wasn’t exactly true, more I wanted to avoid it at all costs.

“Good, because marriage has nothing to do with it…” I opened my mouth and she shut me up with a look. “It’s a way to strengthen, to grow, to ensure one’s power is all it can be,” she said, and a small smile curled her lips.

It was the first time I’d seen the old bat smile. It was terrifying. I had no idea how this woman could be related to us. She was rotten to the core. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, and somehow I stopped myself from saying a cleansing spell to flush away her bad energy.

I needed another drink, and when a waiter offered one to me, I took it and downed almost half.

“You have that wonderful cemetery, don’t you, Willow?” she said, and her gaze slid to her son again, conveying something that had him straightening from his slouch against the wall. “And as unsuited to this role as I think you are, I have eyes and ears all over this city and know what a powerful witch you are, Willow Thornheart. It obviously comes from our side of the family. It’s only fair and right that we benefit from that as well.”

It was my turn to straighten. “Now hang on a minute…”

She smacked her walking cane on the floor, silencing me. “I’m proposing a union between you and Isaac. I’ll speak to your mother. She always was a meek, weak-willed woman, I don’t see her refusing.”

Had she really just said that to my face, right here in the middle of this ballroom? “Thanks for the offer,” I said through gritted teeth, “but I’ll have to decline.”

Her expression didn’t change. “I’ll give you some time, but this will happen. Once I make my mind up about something, I can’t be deterred.” Her gaze sliced to Isaac. “Dance with the girl.”

He immediately closed the space between us and held out his hand. I wanted to slap it away. I didn’t want to give the terrifying old crone the satisfaction of doing what she’d demanded, and I also didn’t dance, but she was right, nothing deterred her from going after what she wanted, or the lengths she had been known to go to in order to get it.

I needed to cut this line of thinking off at the pass. I didn’t trust her not to use magic to get what she wanted. One minute I’d be living my life, the next I’d be married to her wet mop of a son with no idea how it happened.

I had hex protection, Mom had tattooed the spell on our hips when we were infants, but one could never be too careful. There were ways around it if someone was motivated enough and willing to dabble in dark magic to get it.

Downing the last of my drink, I took his hand and let my cousin lead me to the dance floor. Yes, he was a very distant cousin, but still—gross. He pulled me into his arms and started to move.

I stepped on his foot. Hard. “Sorry. Two left feet.”

He smiled, or more grimaced.

“So, did you know she’d planned that?” I asked him.

He opened his mouth to lie, then shut it and nodded. “When you became Keeper, she deemed you worthy. Not worthy enough for Elmer mind you, she has loftier goals for him, but she thinks we’d rub along nicely.”

I couldn’t decide if he was being sarcastic or he was just that much of a dick. “And how do you feel about being married off to some random witch, your cousin, no less?” He thankfully kept the dancing uncomplicated, but as we turned, Warrick came into view across the room. His gaze wasn’t bright anymore, it was dark and seriously unhappy.

Isaac’s blue gaze moved over my face. “I agree with Mother, it would be advantageous for both of us. Alone we are powerful, but together we’d be unstoppable. I’m more powerful than Elmer, and everyone knows it. I should be Keeper. But this way if he fails, we still gain power even if it’s not through my brother.”

I shouldn’t be surprised by this, some of the covens were on a never-ending search to increase their power, but I still had trouble believing what I was hearing. “You’re willing to marry me, even though you don’t really know me, for more power?”

His gaze dipped, moving over my body, and I didn’t like the look in his eyes when they came back to mine. “You’re a beautiful woman, Willow. Do you find me handsome?”

“You’re all right,” I said, because this guy was obviously used to being flattered and I wasn’t going to boost his already massive ego.

He chuckled, knowing exactly how good-looking he was. Oh yes, he knew all right, and he thought I should be flattered by his attention, that maybe I was and playing coy. I’d never played coy in my entire life.

“No, we wouldn’t be a love match, but I’d want a true marriage, a partnership. And that includes sharing a bed.”

This asshole was beyond cocky. “So you’d be a faithful husband?”

“Sure, why not? If that’s what you want.” He smirked. He was lying through his teeth. “But we can revisit the topic in a few years. I can’t imagine getting bored of fucking you, but who knows how either one of us will feel in the future.”

“So true.” I shouldn’t be letting him think I was even entertaining this whacko idea. I should be dissuading him, but he was just so goddamn arrogant I couldn’t help myself. “So you guys are rich, right?”

His grin widened; he thought he had me. “Very.”

“I want kids.”

“Me too. Genetically our children would be attractive and extremely powerful.”

I felt someone move up behind me, someone big enough to cast a dark shadow over us. The shadow moved over Isaac’s face, like the moon being eclipsed by something bigger and darker.

That actually took longer than I thought.

Isaac frowned and stared over my shoulder.

“This is my friend Warrick,” I said without looking back. I didn’t need to. “He’s alpha of the hellhounds. He also has a bad habit of killing anyone who touches me.”

Isaac released me instantly and stepped back. Warrick crowded my back, his thick arm circling my waist, and he tugged me against his front. “Fuck off,” he said to Isaac.

Isaac’s eyes widened, then he looked down at me. “Willow?”

“Best you do as he says, he’s kind of unpredictable,” I said and watched as Isaac’s face turned red with rage. If I was trying not to piss off Sapphire, I’d gone the wrong way about it. That’ll teach me to drink copious amounts of champagne at one of these things.

Judging by the look on Isaac’s face, he wasn’t giving up yet, though. And he proved it by opening his mouth. “Now hang on a minute, we’d be a good match…”

“You’re kidding, right?”

His gaze flicked to Warrick again, then back to me. “You need to think…”

“I don’t need to do a damned thing. I’ll never marry, and if I did, it wouldn’t be to you.” Warrick’s arm tightened around me and he growled a warning. It lifted happy little tingles all over my skin. Nope, I really shouldn’t have had that third glass of champagne, or was it four? I couldn’t remember now.

“You’re making a mistake, a big one,” Isaac said and strode off.

Warrick’s beard brushed my neck, and then his lips were against my skin. “Watching you with that fucking cockroach has made me very unhappy.”

“How unhappy?”

“I crave the scent of his blood and the sound of his screams while I tear him to pieces, one limb at a time.”

His deep voice rumbled right through me and I shivered. I should push him away, but I couldn’t make myself do it. “That’s seriously unhappy.”

“Yeah.”

“He wants to marry me,” I heard myself say. “Their family and mine are both powerful. A mutually beneficial union, apparently. They want access to what we have.” Everyone wanted our cemetery. It was coveted by nearly everyone in this room.

His tongue flicked my earlobe, and I shivered. “I’ll kill him first.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” He breathed deep, scenting me. “Come home with me. Let me pleasure you, dove. I’ll show you why I’m the male you should choose.”

I wanted to say yes—badly. But even seriously tipsy I knew I shouldn’t. “That’s not a good idea.”

“No, it’s an excellent one.” One of his hands was curled around my side, the other resting on the curve of my belly. His fingers flexed against the delicate silk. “Just once, that’s all I need to have you craving only me for the rest of time.”

Warrick was immortal; he had the rest of time. I, on the other hand, did not. I laughed, even as heat curled under his wide palm. “That’s pretty arrogant.”

“I have reason to be.”

“You’re that sure of yourself?” I needed to stop talking, to stop thinking about what he was offering.

“Yes.” His lips brushed my jaw. “I told you before, we worship our females.”

A scream echoed through the ballroom.

And it was followed by a howl so mournful, so terrible, it lifted the hair on the back of my neck.