30 Ways to Fool an Angel (Tales of a Midlife Witch #7)

Chapter 6

Chapter Six

I woke up in the late afternoon. When I rolled over to face the bars keeping me inside the cell, I saw a giant woman staring at me through them.

“Be careful there, Jessing. She’s a testy one.”

“Why have you not given her clean clothes? She’s still in her pajamas. I would also be irritated if I were standing in her slippers.” She looked back at me and grinned. “You do not look like your mother. You must look like your handsome yet wicked father.”

I lifted my head and blinked at her. “Do I know you?”

I watched the woman’s head swivel too far on her shoulders to glare at the guard. Her body never turned. I sat up to pay better attention.

“Stop that, Jessing. Ya aren’t supposed to be doing that in the office. Save it for yer interrogations.”

“Get her some clean clothes before I hack up a squirrel skeleton on your desk.”

He pulled himself upright and gasped. “Ya wouldn’t dare.”

The woman stared at him without blinking. “Do you want to know what I did to get my current position in this organization? I would be happy to share my story.”

“Alright, I’m going.” My jailer hustled away to do as the woman asked. I didn’t know who she was, but she had clout enough to demand things. Maybe I could talk her into getting me out of this cell.

“How do you know me?” I asked.

“I knew you when you were a babe though I rarely saw you. Your mother trained me when I first came to work for the Shadow Breakers.”

I nearly sighed in relief. “If you contact my mother, tell her I was abducted and that I’m being restrained against my will. Also, tell her they turned Gigi into a zombie.”

“I will travel to see your mother very shortly. She also has many problems. Perhaps you should attempt to resolve your problems without seeking her help this time.”

“Mom told me to contact the Shadow Breakers. She said they would help me and train me. Does my situation look like she was right? ”

The woman chuckled. “You are truly her daughter.”

“Thanks,” I said, sitting on the edge of my cot. “That doesn’t get me out of here.”

She waved her hand at me. “Use your artifact.”

“It thinks we need to be here. I don’t agree, but I haven’t been able to win an argument yet.”

“It is most definitely wrong,” she said. “There is a division here. Some support the fairy. They do not believe he has done what he has done. I believe he has. So does my significant other. He is a powerful witch. When my mate returns, he will get you out.”

I sighed in defeat. “If the two of you seriously want to help me, go check on my grandmother. I’m worried about what they did to her.”

“Yes. We will do that.”

“They did something to my angel too. He got lured away from the house before they abducted me.”

“Ah...” the woman said, snapping her long fingers. “So he is the one they put in chains.”

“What chains?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Dragon chains that can hold any being. I cannot free you, but perhaps I can free him.”

“Why can’t you free me?”

“For my current job, I took specially worded vows. If your mother had not returned to serve the group, I could have demanded they release you. However, I cannot reverse the fairy’s order to detain you. My life mate took different vows.”

I nodded. At least she’d given me some hope. “Anything you do will be greatly appreciated.”

“Your mother trained me to think for myself. It is a vastly underestimated talent around here. I will do what I can.”

“Thank you.”

“Have faith, daughter of Aran O’Malley. You have found the friend your mother sent you to find. I’m sorry I can’t change your fate faster.”

“Thank you for making him get me clean clothes. They didn’t let me dress this morning.”

“Thoughtless cretins,” Jessing said.

Her words made me laugh. “I guess they’re not used to being kind to prisoners.”

“They are never kind to prisoners, but you are not their prisoner. You are in protective custody. You should be made to feel at home and allowed to move about freely.”

I snorted. “Wow. If this protective custody, I’d hate to see how they treat prisoners then.”

Jessing smiled. “You will soon learn. One day, perhaps I will show you around. Let us hope the situation improves soon. My mate and I are worried it might not.”

When the guard returned with clothes, Jessing took them and handed them to me through the bars of the cell. They were my own clothes, right down to the underwear. My abductors must have taken them from Gigi’s house after they knocked me out. I’d slept in Gigi’s room but my clothes had been in the guest room with Tony. These bastards had my clothes all day and hadn’t bothered to give them to me. They’d probably planned to trade them for good behavior until Jessing’s insistence disrupted their plot.

I suddenly had great empathy for what my mother endured all those years in prison. The demon hunter guards had bargained with Mom using her favorite tea and occasional jars of honey. I wished now I had showered my mother with all kinds of luxuries when I visited.

Of course, I’d been a child and hadn’t known the truth of anything. I also didn’t believe my mother when she tried to explain things to me. Even if I had known back then, I was likely too self-absorbed to understand. That was one major thing that came from today. I would never take my freedom for granted again. I would never again denigrate Mom’s sacrifice of staying there, either.

My mother had my father to blame for her incarceration. I had the artifact I was supposed to protect to blame for mine. My mother hated my father for what he’d done. I could easily see my resentment growing to biblical proportions toward the ring, which was ironic given the ring’s allegedly sacred purpose.

Did Danu send Jessing to help me? Or did Jessing come on her own? This was why I had never chosen a religion. I liked things that were clearly what they seemed. The ring wasn’t being honest. Tony wasn’t being honest. Mom was trying to be honest, but nothing in her world was ever simple.

I was starting to think that today was inevitable, even though I didn’t believe Shadow Breaker prison was part of my magickal destiny. My incarceration taught me some valuable lessons about trusting and not trusting.

Being here was an uncomfortable way to learn about friends and enemies, but I was getting better at telling the difference, even amid chaos. I was also getting why Conn, Mom, and Mulan had been worried about me.

Giving up my preference to see the world I moved around in as a helpful, friendly place didn’t sit well, but neither did spending time in prison. Nor had I taken steps to protect those I cared about from being included in my dilemma. Gigi didn’t deserve to be a zombie.

I got it in the end. If I wanted to stop this shit from happening to me and mine, I was going to have to toughen up and train with a need for serious protection in mind. What I needed to learn was the kind of protection my mother innately understood.

Instead of brooding about what I couldn’t change, I perched on the bed in my cell and planned what I would do once I got out of this place. It was all the positive thinking I could muster, but it felt better than complaining.

And I would get out of here. Jessing would help me. Her good intentions had been in her eyes. Plus, the fresh clothes I wore proved it. I was going to reap the good my mother had sown with the Shadow Breakers, which could be the most valuable lesson I was learning.