Chapter Six
~Katarina~
“The Lord Commander will see you now.” The wind elemental behind the secretary’s desk spoke up from her keyboard before motioning to the large golden doors beside her.
Katarina scooped up her daughter and hung her bored child on her hip.
Hopefully Blightwood has something for her to fiddle with in his office.
Isabella was usually a self-entertained child, but as she hadn’t been to school in two days, it was getting hard.
Thankfully, after climbing the flight of steps, they landed in a long, rectangular room full of zipping papers and floating books.
Isabella was instantly amazed. She wiggled out of her mother’s arms to follow a paper airplane through the office on a glittering breeze.
“Mrs. Hurley, welcome in.” The large man draped in heavy robes motioned her closer to the desk at the center of the room.
With a heavy thud, the doors shut behind her.
Katarina spotted her child following a new scroll doing a few loopty-loops through the air.
Aravis added, “Don’t worry, nothing at her height is actually important. ”
“Thanks,” Katarina wheezed with relief as she sank into a seat across the desk from him. Aravis Blightwood was an imposing sort. Massive, broad shouldered, face sharp enough to cut, she couldn’t imagine working with him.
“No, thank you for coming in. You’ve been busy, I hear.” Aravis said it with no change in tone, but she told herself the comment was friendly in nature.
Katarina shrugged, not sure what to say. The Lord Commander was a busy man, what he was doing with a meager case such as hers was beyond her. She didn’t understand but appreciated it regardless. “Taking certain precautions, I guess.”
“Good.” Aravis nodded, finally looking up from his work. Whatever that even is. It looked like he was reading over case files but she couldn’t read them. “I wanted you to receive this from me personally. Especially given your mailing address is a mystery right now.”
“Huh?” She furrowed her brow as a small stack of papers were slipped her way.
Only, on the top was a name change form that was already approved.
A form I didn’t fill out. She flipped to the second and found a stamped, signed, and sealed divorce filing.
“A divorce? You pushed it through? I hadn’t even finished filling it out yet. ”
“An uncontested divorce based on domestic violence is one of the few mercies I can provide in this life, Ms. Witchbane.” That time, his voice did soften and his face showed it.
Hearing her last name once more nearly caused her to tear up.
Katarina blinked rapidly to keep from running her eyeliner.
She’d barely gotten it straight that morning.
What with Isabella hyped up on pancakes, Sera losing her marbles over what happened, and the email from HR reminding her that they truly didn’t care about her…
it was a miracle she’d scraped herself together.
There are few mercies in this world. She inhaled sharply through her nose and straightened her spine.
“I’m surprised,” she managed to push out of her lungs.
“Well, given your physician’s testimony and what I personally witnessed, it was warranted.
” Aravis folded his hands over his desk and sat back.
Katarina froze, a deer in headlights. Isabella was cutely dancing around the office, giggling up a storm about the papers playing tag with her.
And there Katarina was, unable to say anything sensible.
“It wasn’t… I mean, he wasn’t like that all the time.” She hung her head, hair falling around her cheeks.
“Just because it could have been worse, doesn’t mean you are undeserving of safety,” Aravis’ soft voice bounced around in her skull.
“I just…I just keep thinking…maybe…”
“Maybe if you left sooner, it wouldn’t have gotten this bad?
” Aravis’ arched a brow. Katarina peeked up from her lap.
He cleared his throat. “Look, I can’t speak to what happened beyond that front door.
But I found a woman protecting her child, pressed against that door, who was terrified.
It’s different when you have to consider the life of another.
I think, maybe, you considered it weakness because you were thinking about what you would have done if you didn’t have her. ”
Katarina shifted to glance over the back of the chair.
Isabella wiggled happily in a spinning whirlpool of glittering breeze and bobbing wisps.
Would I have stayed if she wasn’t here? It stung deep in the center of her chest. A cruel voice creeping up into her skull, whispering how that sweet-faced fiend was the reason she took it.
Why she stayed…why she let him get away with it.
Younger Katarina, fed Katarina, wouldn’t have let him lay a hand on her.
But I got you, didn’t I? Katarina shifted back to face the Lord Commander.
“Tell me he’s staying in the dungeon.” The words fled her like they’d been punched out of her.
“I can’t,” he sighed, shaking his head. “Even pressing charges, property damage is 30 days minimum and a fine. Now that you’re divorced, you can take him to court for the damages, but…the best I can do is 30 days.”
Katarina took a deep breath in, nodding. 30 days? I can work with that. “But you can promise he’ll be in there for 30?”
“Minimum, you have my word.”
Katarina took the papers and tucked them into her purse, slinging it up and over the arm she didn’t carry Isabella in. “I can work with that. Thank you, Lord Commander. I appreciate it, truly.”
“Ms. Witchbane, just one more thing,” Aravis grimaced, stopping Katarina before she could rise out of her seat. He raised a singular, crooked claw before slowly lowering it onto the desk. “I’ve heard a thing or two, that you’ve been seen at Bare Bones Cars & Repairs?”
“Yeah?” she squinted at him with confusion.
“Might be best to get your car repair done quickly and move on,” Aravis nodded grimly as he grabbed up his pen. “Not a safe lot for a single mother to hang around.”
Cold fear crept up her spine and made her back sweat.
Why’d he say it like that? All the reviews online were glowing.
Even the deep, hard to find reviews, six pages back and from over a year ago, the reviews were fantastic.
For a shop that handled the public, it made her feel confident she could do one right thing when everything else was going wrong.
“Why’s that?” she leaned forward over her lap, lowering her voice.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss ongoing cases, Ms. Witchbane.” On going cases! Panic. Straight to the heart. A spear that pierced her flesh and twisted up her guts. On going! Meaning still investigating!
“Well, seeing as I’m crashing on the owner’s couch, I’d like to know if I’m finding a new couch to crash on,” she hissed lowly to keep Isabella from catching on.
“Which owner?” Aravis huffed, arching a thick, onyx brow. “Titan Bonesaw, the original shop owner…or Jessie?”
“Jessie.” She glared, her teeth gritted.
Aravis sighed heavily and her stomach flipped. What does that mean? What has he done? His gaze fell to the papers. “He’s a good kid. Too bad he’s in charge of the family business.”
Family business? Katarina furrowed her brow.
There’s no way…Jessie? The adorably goofy minotaur?
He got flustered just because she stumbled on him changing.
He was a softie. Well, this morning he wasn’t exactly soft—whoa, calm down, hungry-hungry-succubus, no touchy.
Katarina’s gut told her that Jessie was a good person.
Maybe a little immature at times, and probably a tad bit too flirty for his own good.
Seeing as he was a few batted lashes away from getting snacked on.
But she knew bad company and Jessie wasn’t one of them. Nikolai either.
But am I really the best judge of character? Would she even be able to tell? Would she even know?
“Thanks for the heads up,” she offered Aravis a polite smile before climbing to her feet, “I’ll be careful.”
“Good to hear. And, if Gillian Hurley ever darkens your door, do not hesitate to reach out.” Aravis stood, offering her a hand to shake.
She gave it a strong squeeze and shake, but she didn’t stick around.
The longer she was in the building, the closer she was to Gill.
Aravis promised her 30 days, but who knew how good that word was.
I need to work like he could get out tomorrow.
Survival instincts were never her strong suit, but she wasn’t about to let that stop her from protecting them.
Isabella and Katarina Witchbane were going to get out of this alive.
Even if that means getting out of dodge.
“Thanks for letting me use the car,” Katarina exhaled heavily as Sera dropped them off at the townhouse.
The lights were on inside, meaning she didn’t have to backtrack to the shop.
The succubus sat back in the seat, glancing over the arm at the car seat in the back.
Isabella was fully focused on the mini whiteboard.
She’d gotten a handful of markers and was going to town on some masterpiece.
“Of course, babe, you know I’ve got you.
” Sera flashed a toothy grin at Katarina.
Her best friend was a blond-haired, golden-eyed, gnomish woman.
She had that fashionable side shave on her head where she used her art degree to paint new designs with hair dye every month.
Sera sat on a booster with the little foot pedal stilts, all in matching cheetah print like the rest of her car.
A pair of purple dice dangled from her rearview that smelled of strawberry shortcake.
All a part of the many reasons Katarina loved her so much.