Chapter 28
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
SAMANTHA
I felt like I was leading everyone on a wild fey hunt, except I was with werewolves, not fey. And we were hunting demons, not mortals. Whatever. It felt similar as we wove our way through the streets of Charleston. I lost the demon tie a few times. It was stretched thin and weak and if I wasn’t paying close attention, it would disappear into the noise of the rest of the spiritual realm.
After a while, I noticed that one of the SUVs was trailing behind us, so I stopped long enough to get in. I wanted to drive, but I didn’t trust myself not to wreck. I was barely able to follow the tie as it was. Add in driving, and yeah, no. That was a bad idea. So, once again, I found myself being driven around Charleston while I called out random course corrections.
It was hard because ties didn’t live in the mortal realm. They could take the shortest distance—as the crows fly—but the car couldn’t drive through buildings or houses. I had to try and figure out where it was going, backtrack, circle around. It was a slow, frustrating process.
“There,” I said finally. I was just thankful I wasn’t in the backseat for this drive. It was a lot of sudden turns and stops and all kinds of things. I would’ve barfed from motion sickness ages ago. “Stop. Right up there.” I pointed to a house where the red string disappeared inside it. I knew this was the one because the tie had grown brighter and more solid, not so elusive. This had to be it. “The gray one with the navy door. Third on the left.”
“I see it,” a familiar voice said beside me.
I turned to see Phoenix. “Wait. Have you been driving this whole time?” I honestly was so singularly focused, I hadn’t heard or seen anything else since getting in the car. I’d just been barking orders while leaning as close to the front windshield as my seatbelt would let me.
He gave me a smile, his dimple popping. “Yeah, babe. I have.”
Oh man. Had I been rude?
Phoenix found a spot to parallel park, and I looked away, trying to rethink the drive.
I seriously hadn’t been paying attention to what I was saying or how I was saying it. All of my focus had been on not losing sight of that demon tie. It was so faint and hidden and covered by layers of the ties of everyone who lived here. If I looked away at all, it would’ve been gone—totally indistinguishable from all the other ties in the city. There were too many distractions. Ties zipped and zagged all over the place. Humans were loosely bound to their relatives, friends, and—to the surprise of most people—sexual partners.
I always found it funny when I mentioned that as I cleared ties from people. They always responded with a mix of horror and shock, but sex wasn’t ever just a physical act. We aren’t just physical beings. The spiritual realm was always involved. Most didn’t realize—or like knowing—that they were leaving bits of their souls all across town.
Phoenix cleared his throat. “You okay?”
“Kind of.” I sighed. “I just was trying to think if I’d been rude to you when?—”
He gripped my arm gently, and I turned to him. “Stop inventing things to worry about. I’m not offended. You were focused. I was driving. We’re here now. Simple as that. It’s all good.”
“Okay.” I hoped he wasn’t just being nice.
I looked behind me, truly seeing the world around me for the first time, not just the spiritual realm. Tessa and Dastien were in the second row, with Garrett and Max in the way back. They must’ve been the ones following us in the car.
I wasn’t sure where all the other Wayfarers were, but it didn’t matter right now.
First things first.
I opened the door. “Be right back.”
“Wait,” Tessa said, and she turned to the back. “You have the chalk?”
Garrett nodded. “Yeah. One sec.” He leaned over the third row, into the trunk, and snagged a bag. “Here.” He passed it to Tessa, who passed it up to me.
I opened the bag. “Perfect. Thanks.” I pulled out the package, picking a thick, white piece of sidewalk chalk. I broke it in half so it would fit in my belt bag, and tucked it away in one of the pockets. As soon as I zipped it up, a feeling of peace washed over me.
It was like I knew everything was going to be okay.
It made no sense, but that was why it was important. Something—some one —whispered in my head, and I knew what I needed to do to win this fight. All I had to do was listen to His voice and be ready to do what I was called to do.
“I’m ready. For real this time.” I jumped down from the SUV.
“Wait. I’m coming with you,” Phoenix said.
“Okay, but just you. There’s a light on inside. Someone’s home. You guys will scare whoever this is without even trying.”
“It’s not like I’d show them my sharp teeth, Sam. You know I don’t do that,” Tessa said.
“Except that one time…” I teased her.
“Oh, shut up,” Tessa snapped, but she was laughing.
I hopped down from the car and waited for Phoenix come around the other side. Dastien got out and leaned against the car, leaving the door open. “Shout if you need help. We’ll be listening.”
“Will do.”
I paused on the sidewalk to take in the house. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was going on inside. Sometimes it was glaringly obvious. But aside from the tie that clearly ended here, the house seemed fine. There wasn’t any demonic activity around it. No evil aura urging me to run the other way. No dark halo. No sign of a portal. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.
Huh. Weird.
But the tie definitely ended in here. I couldn’t see the end of the tie exactly. I knew that it was stronger here, which usually happened at the other end of a tie.
This had to be it. I was sure of it.
And if I was wrong, I’d apologize for ringing someone’s doorbell in the middle of the night.
I walked up to the door with Phoenix a step behind me and pushed the doorbell.
I waited a second, but no one came.
I pressed the doorbell again.
Waited.
“Maybe no one is home?” Phoenix said.
“They could be asleep. It’s really late.” But the light was on. I banged on the door harder. “Hello!” I yelled through the door. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to speak to whoever lives here. It’s a matter of life and death. Please .”
I hit it one more time, and sure enough, a moment later, the door opened.
The man in front of me started to ask a question and then froze. Exactly how I’d frozen as soon as the door opened.
He was wearing black sweatpants and a black T-shirt with a print of a knight in armor holding a flaming sword in his hand. The knight was white, but the flames on the sword were yellow and orange and red. Under it, it were the words Ephesians 6. Know it. Live it.
I laughed when I got to the end. “Great shirt.” He always had the best shirts. Dang it.
He leaned against the door jamb. “Thanks.”
“You never gave me the website for where you got them.”
I could almost feel Phoenix holding his breath. I didn’t know how, but I could.
“Yeah. I didn’t want to give up all my secrets. If it was the one reason you thought I was cool, I couldn’t afford to give that up.”
He’d intentionally kept them from me? That was annoying. “I had no secrets from you.”
He looked down, and the regret on his face was impossible to miss. “Yeah. I know.” He cleared his throat and looked at me again. This time all the shock and humor were gone from his face. “What brings you to my doorstep in the middle of the night, Sammie?”
“How do you know him?” Phoenix asked softly.
I dropped my chin to my chest and closed my eyes. “My past. This is my past. This is what the Black-Eyed Children were talking about.”
Car doors slammed behind me, and I didn’t have to look back to know that everyone was out of the car now.
“Eli must think he’s really funny right now,” I said softly. There was no way he didn’t know where the tie led. And he just let me come here and ring the doorbell completely unprepared, like a moron.
No wonder he’d used that cocky, arrogant tone with me. I thought he’d been trying to annoy me—as usual—but nope. This was why.
I was going to have to talk to him about that. “Look, Hunter. I didn’t know this was your house.”
He crossed his arms and stared at me. “You didn’t?” He sounded as confused as I felt—maybe even a little disbelieving.
That was frustrating, but if he wanted to think I waited years to track him down…and then, on top of that, waited until the middle of the night to talk to him…
No. I wasn’t going to even try to address that. It wasn’t worth the time. “I’m here on a work trip with the Wayfarer Pack.” I motioned behind me without looking back. “Earlier tonight, I ran into a particular demon. I was given advice to follow a demonic tie to its source, and it led me here.”
The smile slowly melted and the color drained from his face. “What?”
“There’s a demonic tie on your soul.” I pointed to his chest. “Do you live alone?”
He was quiet for a beat, and then yelled, “What?!”
“It’s not your fault. I know you’re a good guy. I’m not saying anything?—”
“I don’t get it.” He waved a hand when I tried to defend what I said. “No. Stop. I’m not saying you’re wrong. I know what you can do. I just… how ? I’m so careful.”
This was the tricky part. If the tie was in him, then someone in his house was the boo hag. “Are you married? Dating someone? Or do you have a roommate or…” I needed to find the end of the tie.
“Why are you asking me that?” His gaze went behind me. “I was sleeping, so maybe I’m being slow, but this is…” He scrunched his brows. “Am I having some sort of nightmare?” He looked at me again. “This is a nightmare, right?”
“Great. Now seeing me is his nightmare,” I said under my breath. “Again. That feels… special .” That was one of the things he’d said to me when he left. I was a nightmare. His worst nightmare.
Phoenix’s hand came to my shoulder, and he leaned close. “Don’t let him bother you like that, but to be fair, I don’t think he meant it that way.”
“Who are you?” Hunter asked, and not very nicely.
This was so not going how I’d planned.
Actually, I hadn’t gotten as far as planning this part of it, but this sucked. “I…um…” I looked at Phoenix, whose brows rose, as if to tell me it was up to me what I said.
Great. I sucked at this kind of thing. “This is my…” Dang it. What was I supposed to call him? “…Phoenix.”
“ Your Phoenix?” Hunter sounded shocked.
I was messing this up.
I looked back at Phoenix, who gave me the smile that I was pretty sure he absolutely knew made me melt. It was the dimple. It wasn’t fair he had that.
“ Help, ” I mouthed. I didn’t know what I was supposed to call him. We were grown-ups. Boyfriend felt so…adolescent. And temporary. What we had was more than that but calling him my anchor sounded so bizarre. No one on God’s green Earth would understand what that meant, especially when I wasn’t even sure I understood the full implications of it.
Phoenix stepped around me and held out his hand. “Hi. I’m Phoenix. Samantha’s boyfriend .” He tipped his head down to look at me as he said the last word.
My heart picked up at that, and he winked at me.
“Anyway.” My voice was way too high, and my cheeks were flaming. “Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “Man, I’m messing this up.” But this was not what I’d been expecting at all.
I heard Tessa laugh from the sidewalk and then try to stifle it. I sneaked a peek, and sure enough, she was shaking her head. “Shut up,” I whispered as softly as I could, knowing she could hear me just fine. But that just made her laugh even harder.
Okay. Fine. This was awkward, but I was well and fully shocked.
And son of a biscuit eater. Frank mentioned something about Hunter moving to South Carolina, but he hadn’t said where. And even if he had, how big was Charleston? What were the chances that I would knock on the door of the only person I knew here?
No. Wait. This was a God thing. Only He could set things up like this.
I’d been thinking of Hunter and expecting Phoenix to behave similarly, so He made sure our paths crossed.
I looked up at the night sky. You have some sense of humor.
It was too late to back out now. I came here to rid someone of a demonic tie. That it turned out to be Hunter didn’t matter all that much. “Phoenix, this is Hunter. My ex.” I looked at Hunter. “Can we come in?”
He looked past me. “Those guys with you, too? Are they coming in?”
I glanced back at the SUV. Everyone was out of the car and waiting on the sidewalk, ready for me to wave them forward. “They’re with me, but we’ll leave them outside for now.” I looked at Hunter. “I don’t want to overwhelm you.”
He stepped back from the doorway. “Alright. Come in.”
“Thanks.” I stepped into his house. “Sorry to show up here and barge in unannounced. I know it’s a little late.”
“It’s fine.” He looked beyond us to the street, and then his gaze slid to mine. “You said they were pack? Like werewolves?”
“Yes. I’m the resident demonologist for the Sanctuary pack. I took the job a while back, but I travel around with other packs that need help as part of my job. Today, that job is in Charleston.”
“Got it. And Phoenix is…”
I shrugged. “Just Phoenix.” He wasn’t a werewolf if that was what Hunter was asking.
Hunter’s eyes grew wide. “Like an actual bird that goes up in flames?”
Phoenix stepped into the house. “Nah, man. I’m not a supernatural. That’s just my name. Thanks to my hippie mother.”
“Got it.” He studied Phoenix for a second. “You look familiar.”
“Yeah. I get that a lot.” He didn’t say anything else—no confirming or denying—just left it out there. I’d noticed that he never told anyone what he did or who he was, even if they sort of recognized him. He didn’t seem to mind attention, but he didn’t go looking for the spotlight.
When Phoenix didn’t say anything about why he might look familiar, Hunter closed the door and showed us to his living room. There was a big TV, a small couch and two love seats on either end making a U-shape. There was a black and white patterned rug and a marble-topped coffee table. He didn’t have a ton of knickknacks, and I didn’t see too many signs of a lady living here.
“What’s this really about? There’s no way I have a demonic tie,” he said, and I realized I’d been scrutinizing his living room. Not my best look.
I sat on one of the loveseats and stared at him. The faint red tie disappeared into his soul, and man, this wasn’t going to be fun. “Have you ever heard of a boo hag?”
He looked at Phoenix for a second, who was standing next to the loveseat. Hunter seemed to decide something and sat on his couch. I had no idea what just ran through his head, but he focused back on me. “Yeah. Yeah, I have.”
At least I didn’t have to explain that part. “There’s really no easy way to say this, and I’m sorry. I know it’s going to absolutely suck coming from me. But tonight I saw a boo hag at a restaurant. I followed its tie to its lair. It led me here.”
“Give me a break.” He rolled his eyes. “You had me going there for a second, but I’m not a boo hag, Sammie.”
I swallowed down my frustration with him. He didn’t need that. “I’m not saying you are. You don’t look like one to me.”
“Great. Then, we cleared this up, and you and your boyfriend can go so that I can go back to bed.” He started to get up.
“No. I need to get rid of the tie. It’s important, but the boo hag lives here. Do you have a roommate or a girlfriend or?—”
“No. There’s no one , Samantha. I don’t have a girlfriend who lives with me. I’m not married or anything. Are you satisfied now? Knowing that I regret what happened?”
Oh, boy. “That’s not what this is about. I’m sorry you have regrets about the way things ended.” I shoved down all the awful things he screamed at me the last time I saw him. That wasn’t important right now.
Someone had to live here. Otherwise, what on earth was he doing with the boo hag’s demon tie? “The boo hag that I saw had curly, strawberry blonde hair. Thin, not too tall. She was wearing a long, black puffer coat. Does someone live here who looks like that?”
“My sister. Sophia. You never met her. She was the one going to college in the UK.” He paused, and a look of fear crossed his face. “She has curly, strawberry blonde hair, but she doesn’t technically live here. Her job…there was a problem. The family she nannied for was going through something, and she was fired. She moved in a few weeks ago. It’s just temporary.” He closed his eyes. “You can’t honestly think she’s been taken by a boo hag.” His face hardened. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m so sorry, Hunter. I wish I was wrong.”
“You’re wrong .” His face was turning red, and I knew this was about to get ugly.
“I wish I was wrong,” I said softly, calmly, but there was no easy way to say this. Nothing I could do that would help. “But I’m not. I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this. I really, truly am.”
“No, you’re not. You’re enjoying this.”
I leaned back. He really thought the worst of me if he could say that. “No, I’m really not. This is awful. For everyone. You especially, I know.” I took a breath. “Has your sister been acting off at all? Anything?—”
“No!” He left no room for convincing. “You’re wrong. You have the wrong house. My sister is fine .” He got up and started pacing. “You always do this, Sam. Always .” He waved his arms as he said the worst things about me. About how I caused so many problems. That evil was drawn to anyone who dared to spend any time with me. It wasn’t as bad as it had been years ago, but none of this was exactly fun or nice or anything remotely pleasant.
I leaned against the seat and looked up at Phoenix.
He raised a brow and then motioned with his chin. “Don’t listen to what he says,” he whispered to me while Hunter continued his rant. “He’s hurting?—”
Hunter said something super inappropriate that I wasn’t about to repeat.
“Scratch that. He went too far with that one. Want me to beat him up?” He gave me a wink to let me know he was joking.
This moment was why I was here. This.
Phoenix had noticed something off with his sister so he tracked down Frank, even though he didn’t know what his sister was into. He just knew something was wrong. When I told him to run from his sister, he didn’t argue. He trusted me.
Hunter always fought with me. I’d forgotten that part. I remembered all the fun times and brushed off all the times he questioned what I saw or how I did things. I’d been so glad for a friend that I never minded explaining myself. But I’d forgotten it was never just an explanation. It was an argument. An argument that sometimes got a little ugly.
Phoenix was different. He believed me. He wasn’t holding back, and yet, I was. I kept waiting for him to be like Hunter. But he never would be.
Hunter was still ranting, and I knew it wasn’t going to get any better. I had to just fix this and leave him to grieve. Me being here wasn’t helping him at all.
I rose from my seat and reached out to Hunter as he paced by, grabbing a hold of the tie. I closed my eyes and let my power rise, relaxing enough so that I felt the fire in my veins.
And then I poured it into the tie.
Hunter gasped and stumbled back, falling onto the couch.
“There. The tie is gone,” I said, trying to keep my frustration out of my voice. “I’m so incredibly sorry about Sophia. I know you don’t want me to stick around, so I’m going to try to get out of your way. I just broke the tie it has to you. The boo hag will be racing back here now. I’ll take care of that, too. I just have to check the house for one more thing, and then I’ll wait outside to deal with the hag. It seems the best thing for you is for me to leave. I hope you know that if you need anything, you can call me.” I started to walk away, but Hunter let out a little helpless noise.
“Shit, Sammie. I’m sorry.” He swallowed and bent down over his legs. “What do I do when my sister comes back? What do I tell my parents? I can’t…”
I didn’t have any way to make this easier. Not really. “Again, I’m so sorry, Hunter,” I said it softer this time. “I have some friends who will help you with what happens after. Counseling and getting proper death certificates and all the details that comes with a loss like this. They’ll also help you decide what to tell the rest of your family and friends. But I want to make sure I get the last demonic tie. I’m going to look for a doorway in the house so that it can’t come back and hurt you. Is that okay?”
Hunter didn’t answer, so I took that as a yes.
“Will you wait with him?” I asked Phoenix.
“I can. You’ll yell if you need me?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” Hunter was crying, but I knew he didn’t want me to comfort him. I was probably the last person he wanted around him right now.
I needed to get this done so I could hand him off to the experts. They’d take care of him, and he’d be more open to accepting their help.
I made my way through the house. There was a small office off the dining room. A guest room. A bathroom. And then I hit the jackpot. It looked like it had been a guest room, but this had to be her room. There were clothes on the floor.
I stepped over them and made my way to the closet. I could feel the doorway’s pull.
I opened the closet door, and a light came on. I moved the shoes on the floor, trying to see if it was there, but there was nothing.
I searched the back wall. Nothing.
I shoved the clothes along the right railing to see the wall, and that was when I saw it. The spell, written in red. It felt like the portal, but different. Less. More subtle, but also less complicated.
And there was a hook. Where I guessed she kept her skin.
Gross.
I unzipped my belt bag, and sprayed water on the metaphysical door. It hissed and steamed, and I said a quick prayer of cleansing.
When I finished, the words faded and that tugging feeling in my soul was gone.
The house was cleared. Easy enough.
I made my way back through the house and into the living room. Hunter was still crying on the couch, and Phoenix was leaning against the wall.
“How’s he doing?” I asked.
“He’s not talking, but he’s devastated, Sam. This is really awful.”
“I know.” Despite everything that happened between us, I never wanted Hunter to hurt like this. I moved to sit next to him. “I took care of the portal. I’m so sorry, Hunter. If there’s something I can do or anything?—”
The front door swung open, and Hunter’s sister walked in.
Wait. Not his sister. The boo hag.
Thanks so much for the warning, Tessa . I wanted to yell at her, but it was too late now.
I rose from the couch, ready for a fight.
So much for doing this the easy way.