Chapter 17
Six Months Later
Vie
I floated into Willow’s new shop, enjoying all the bright colors perfectly displayed on racks and shelves. She’d only opened a few weeks ago but was already doing well. The new neighborhood loved Unique Finds, and most of her old customers were willing to drive a little farther to buy from her.
I’d left her alone to do everything exactly as she wanted.
The only thing I’d insisted on was that she hire help.
No more working ten-hour days and then spending more hours cleaning and stocking.
With two full-time employees and many more part-time ones, that gave her the ability to have the story open longer hours but she didn’t always have to be there.
The important part was that it allowed her plenty of time to spend with me. I liked that part the best.
Sensing me, Willow looked up right where I was hovering and pointed to the back where her office was located. Still talking on the phone, she kept pace with me as I floated to her office.
“Jina, that’s not how it works,” she said, closing the door to the office behind her. “People are irritating. That’s life.”
She went quiet for a moment, then laughed. “No, I’m not going to eat the guy who cut you off!”
It had taken Jina a few days to really come to terms with the existence of wraiths and Willow’s new abilities. In the end, Jina was Jina and went from uncomprehending to constantly asking Willow to eat annoying people.
She listened to the response as I materialized in front of her. Giving me a big smile, she interrupted Jina. “I’ve got to go. Can we talk later?”
Nodding to whatever Jina was saying, Willow said a few more things, then finally ended the call. After tossing her phone onto the desk behind me, she pressed herself to my front. I wrapped my arms around her.
“I missed you,” I murmured.
“It’s only been a few hours,” she said, but then added, “I missed you too.”
I sensed another wraith approaching and stiffened.
“It’s okay,” she murmured, going up on her toes to give my chin a quick kiss. “Visiting me gives them hope.”
“I know, but I don’t have to like it,” I grumbled. Word of her transformation had drawn my brothers to interact with her as often as they could get away with. Even Vengeance had visited the house with gifts of wine and chocolate.
I’d never seen Vengeance so talkative as he was with Willow. Even though I knew my brothers would never do anything inappropriate, I still didn’t like it when they took up Willow's attention.
She was my miracle, not theirs.
Teo took his physical form outside the office door and knocked politely, even though we could both sense his presence.
“Do you have time to talk?” he asked through the closed door.
Out of all the wraiths, Teo approached Willow’s transformation in a scientific way. He asked her questions, took detailed notes. After a few days, he’d come back with more questions.
I worried it would never end. Willow didn’t seem to mind, but I’d eventually talked her into drawing a strict line. No one could visit us at home. I wished we were there now.
Willow gave me a pat on the arm before addressing Teo. “Come on in.”
My brother entered the room with a smile on his face and a basket of bread and cheese in the other. At least he always brought Willow gifts, it made me less likely to snap and growl.
“This is for you,” Teo said unnecessarily as he held out the basket.
“Aw, thanks!” Willow said as she took the gift.
There was another knock at the door. “Willow, Jane is back and wants to haggle over the prices.”
Willow snorted and answered the employee through the door. “I give you managerial power for the rest of the day. You can kick her out or give her a discount. It’s up to you.”
There was a moment of silence. When Gabby spoke again, she sounded ecstatic. “I can kick her out?”
“And tell her never to come back,” Willow confirmed. “I’m leaving for the day. If she asks for your manager, say you're the one in charge. It’ll be the truth.”
“Willow, you’re the best boss ever!” Gabby sang, then we heard the distinct sound of her dancing back down the hall to the main store.
We all chuckled. “I think you made her day,” Teo commented.
Willow gave him a wry smile. “I hope so. She’s the best. If she’s happy, she’ll stay. That’s more important to me than a troublesome customer.”
“Anyway, what can I do for you, Teo?” she asked.
He held up the tablet he was holding in his other hand. “I have a few questions.”
“Shocking,” she said with a grin, then her expression sobered. “I don’t mind answering, but no more sex questions. I don’t like answering those.”
I was relieved that she was finally giving Teo boundaries! His questions had become increasingly intrusive, and I didn’t like it. I knew better than to tell Willow that. She wasn’t one to let me put limits on her.
I couldn't blame her for wanting to decide her limits, but it bothered me to wait until she was ready to say no to Teo.
I gave her a little squeeze and pressed happiness and pride through our bond. She responded with relief and love.
“Absolutely,” Teo agreed without hesitation. “I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable. You don’t have to answer anything I ask, no matter what the topic.”
“Well, let's hear what you want to know today before I decide,” Willow said.
“When you and Vie first met, he said that…”
Vie stopped listening to Teo when he felt Willow’s attention snap to something going on outside the building. Holding up a hand to silence Teo, he felt along their bond and found that she was about to go into hunting mode.
“Willow,” he murmured. “You can hunt. It’s okay.”
When she’d first started having her hunting instincts, she’d freaked out.
Caught between her human mind and wraith needs, she’d felt both guilt and confusion.
After several long talks, she’d gotten better at listening to her wraith side and understanding that she wasn’t targeting these people blindly.
Wraiths never targeted innocent people.
“What do you hear?” I asked. Unlike me, she didn’t “smell” her prey, she “heard” them.
“He’s saying abusive things at her,” she said, her words quiet as she concentrated on voices. “I can’t make out words yet. Only anger.”
I knew from experience that she wouldn’t be able to find her next meal until the words were clear.
“What’s going on?” Teo whispered.
“She’s finding her prey,” I whispered back.
“There,” she said, her head whipping around to focus on something they couldn't see or hear. She went from being solid in my arms to misting and floating through a high vent to the outside.
I was quick to follow her with Teo right behind me.
Willow
At first, I moved slowly as I searched for the voice I was hearing. His words were getting clearer, and I knew he was telling his partner that they were stupid and useless. I could tell that my prey was male, and that he was close to becoming violent.
The violence wasn’t what drew me to him, it was the eagerness to hurt an intimate partner. Unlike Vie who fed on those who found joy at hurting others, I fed on those who targeted the people they should've cared for the most.
Girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, children, elderly parents, or disabled dependents, I protected them all when I ate their abuser.
The downside was that I was still learning how to be a wraith. Sometimes I couldn’t track the abuser fast enough. Once their strong emotions were over, they “disappeared” from my senses. That could mean they calmed down. It could also mean they’d finished hurting or killed their partner.
Those possibilities haunted me.
Vie explained that wraiths didn’t exist to balance the scales.
There would never be enough wraiths to do that.
Their job was to help alleviate the suffering that had created them.
The theory was that because I’d died of partner violence, or ex-partner, I was now drawn to protect those facing similar situations.
It made sense, and I felt immense satisfaction every time I found them in time and got to eat one of those bastards!
“What were you thinking?” a man said, his voice angry but not loud yet. “Oh, that’s right, you don’t know how to think!”
Yes! That was so clear, I could get a clear picture of his location. I could even hear the person he was abusing now.
“I’m sorry, but you didn’t tell me you wanted one,” a woman said, her voice frantic as she tried to placate the man.
“I shouldn’t have to tell you,” he shot back as I misted into the lower level of a parking garage. “You should know my preferences. You always do this. I think you like to make me angry.”
I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I didn’t need to. I could hear his intentions. He was going to hurt her. He didn’t want to kill her, but he was excited at the idea of making her cry.
The same thoughts kept coming from him, “She did this to herself.”
I floated behind a lifted truck and rematerialized. When I strode out from behind the vehicle, I made sure my shoes clicked loudly on the concrete floor, echoing through this level of the parking garage.
I could hear the muted sounds of cars moving on the level above and a few people talking, but no one was close enough to see what I was about to do.
Both of them turned to watch me approach. She looked scared, but he looked annoyed. When I didn’t walk by, but stopped and stared at him, he scowled back at me.
“What?” he asked, taking an aggressive step closer to me.
It felt so good to have no fear. Death wasn’t a factor for me any longer. Neither was pain. If I was injured, all I had to do was turn to mist, and I was cured.
I hadn’t realized how much fear I had to deal with on a day-to-day basis until it was all gone. It was like I had carried a heavy weight all my life and suddenly the weight was gone, and I could move freely. No one could hurt me, and that made my world view completely different.
The only discomfort I had to deal with was hunger, and I was about to satiate that!