Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
I grit my teeth as I pulled open my drawer, then grabbed my knee-high stripy socks and pulled them on. I dressed in my black, knee-length skirt, then slipped into soft black fleece lined leggings. It was already November, and I did not relish the thought of the wind blowing up my bare legs. I sighed, then pulled on a heather gray, loose fitting t-shirt. The snarky little bookish ghost printed on the fabric always made me smile. My head poked through the neck of a black hoodie, Jax’s pine and cinnamon scent clinging to the oversized garment, then I shoved my feet into my thick soled black boots and shoved my hair into a messy braid. I pulled the neck of the hoodie up to my nose and closed my eyes as everything Jax spiraled through my mind. My clit pulsed once sharply as I remembered how his fat cock had filled me completely.
After Mother caught me at home the day after Lalita and I made our rings, she forced me to complete her blood ritual. And yet, the protection ring sitting comfortably on my thumb seemed to make Mother’s ritual weaker than normal. I watched in amazement as the ring not only partially protected me, but when the final drag of Mother’s blade parted my skin, the cut healed within seconds. In fact, the act of violence triggered all the scars on my arms to heal simultaneously. Mother was so fucking furious she locked me in my room for three days and had taken my phone.
I swore that will be the last time my mother touches me against my will. The guilt that eats at my soul must also end. Just because the woman birthed me does not mean I owe her a godsdamn thing. Sharing the same blood with someone does not equal love and family. I might’ve had that with Dad…Fuck her. I’ve found my family with Lalita, Eleanore, Jax, and now Josh, too.
My skin itched with the need to flee the toxicity of negative energy stuffed inside my mother’s house. It’s Mother’s day off from work, but I heard the lock turn early this morning before she likely went back to sleep on the couch. No doubt she thought she could lure me into a state of false security, then demand she bleed me again. I crept out of my bedroom, careful not to wake my mother, then searched for my phone. After twenty minutes, I heard a buzz from her nightstand and carefully slid it out from the drawer.
Finally.
I clutched my lifeline and then hurried down the stairs, and through the back door in the kitchen.
An owl hooted as I walked along the empty sidewalk. It was getting colder. Frost covered the roofs of the houses like an icy blanket. After several minutes, I finally reached Lalita’s dorm. The only light on in the building was hers. I couldn’t get into the building without Lalita, as I didn’t officially live there.
I quickly texted her. I’m outside, Lalita.
My body shivered as I shifted my weight from foot to foot as I waited for her by the entrance. After several minutes, the entrance door swung open.
Lalita smiled at me when my gaze met hers, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Dark circles marred the delicate skin under her eyes, and her cheeks were blotchy. Had she been crying?
“L, what’s wrong?” I asked and grabbed her hands. She burst into tears; her body was trembling. “What’s happened?”
She leaned into me and rested her head on my shoulder. “I wanted to tell you, but he threatened me.”
My magic bolted awake, and power thrummed in my core. “Who?” I asked, angrily.
She shook her head. “Thomas.”
The edges of my vision turned black, and my hands balled into fists. “What the fuck did he do to you?”
“He was so angry when he came by today and was muttering something about you and Jax at the party. He mumbled a spell under his breath and then my leg shook with pain. I think he was trying to break my leg, but the carvings on the protection ring lit up with our combined magic. I…I think he’s obsessed with you, Z.” She looked down and then I noticed it. Her leg was bruised.
“Did he succeed in breaking it?” I asked attentively.
“No.” She clarified, then a small smile spread across her lips. “Thankfully, the ring prevented most of the damage, but it’s sprained and hurts like hell.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him!” I promised. “He’s already crossed the line with me and now he dared to harm my best friend.” I squeezed my eyes shut and growled.
My eyes flashed open, the inky void behind my ribs rising and holding the black still ringing my vision in place. “I’ll be back,” I told Lalita. “Just stay indoors. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
It was 8AM when I reached Jax’s flat. I banged on the door and tapped my foot on the doormat. The door swung open revealing a sleepy-eyed Josh.
“Where’s Jax?” I demanded.
“Morning,” he drawled, then covered a yawn with the back of his hand.
Not having time for his shit this morning, I pushed past him and stomped to Jax’s room. I called to Josh over my shoulder, “Get dressed and chug some coffee.”
I turned the knob and entered Jax’s bedroom. I pushed down my need to caress his face or crawl under the covers and wake him with my mouth. My lips met his softly as I whispered against them.
“Please wake up, Ax. I need your help.”
His eyes flew open, and I pulled back, but his hand wrapped around my braid, holding me in place. Jax’s brown eyes roved between mine, then his lips pulled down.
“So, this isn’t an early morning booty call?” he asked, his voice gruff with sleep. He ran both hands through his hair, then his gaze darted toward me. “Fucking hell! Wait, where the fuck have you been, pet? I sent countless texts with no reply. I also went to your mother’s house, although I doubted you’d be there, and couldn’t break past whatever new ward has been placed on it.” Anger and desperation hung over him like a thick cloud.
I smiled, but my heart wasn’t in it. “Sadly, no. Rain check on the play time. The rest I’ll explain later. It’s not important right now. Thomas attacked Lalita yesterday.”
“I knew that dick couldn’t be trusted. First, he goes after you at the mixer, and now he hurt Lalita. Fuck no.”
I nodded. “My thoughts exactly. We need to find him, then end him. No one hurts my best friend and gets away with it.
Jax’s pulse thrummed in his neck as I stared at him. “You are so fucking sexy when you’re angry.”
I kissed him quickly on the lips, then bit his lower one. He growled as I crawled backward off his bed. “Get dressed. We need to move now if we’re going to catch him. I’m not sure where he lives, but I’ve often seen him sneaking down the corridor near that classroom you and I practiced magic in.”
Jax sat up, then swung his legs to the edge of the bed. “Did you wake up Josh? We should bring him too.”
“Yep, I already ordered him to get dressed and prepare coffee.”
Jax chuckled deeply, then pulled on some gray sweatpants and a plain black cotton t-shirt. How can he look so damn good with no effort at all? I shook my head, then left his room.
We arrived at campus, caffeinated and ready for war.
We stalked through the labyrinthine of stone corridors until we stood at the entrance of the corridor with the abandoned classrooms.
Josh flexed his muscles. “We might have to take him to Cape Sirenorai.”
Cape Sirenorai would be perfect for a murdering bastard like Thomas. A full-blown Siren would have plenty of fun torturing someone like him.
“Yes,” I said, then turned to look at them each in turn. “Let’s just go in, all fire blazing. We need to have the element of surprise. Thomas’s not as weak as he looks.”
“I agree with the element of surprise, but we should also use stealth to our advantage,” Jax countered.
“Good point, cousin. Let’s slowly move down the hall and see if we feel any vibrations or pull to a specific door.”
Jax and I nodded. Then Josh led the way, his boots nearly silent on the stones. Jax wrapped his hand around mine as we followed behind Josh. Now that we were halfway down the corridor, the air seemed to change. The scent of dark magic invaded my nose, and I physically recoiled. Jax squeezed my hand and tugged my hand, encouraging me to continue walking with him.
Josh stopped outside of the last door on the left, then reached out and turned the handle slowly. The door creaked open slowly, and the smell of rot and decay joined the disgusting magic. Jax and I entered behind him. Then we all spread out and checked every inch of the classroom. There wasn’t much to search for as the only remaining piece of furniture was a thick oak desk tipped on its side.
Jax walked to the far-right corner, then hissed. Josh and I sprinted over to him.
“What happened?” I asked, then cradled his hand in both my palms.
“The professor’s quarters are through this door, but when I tried to twist the knob, my hand froze to it and burned.”
Josh cursed under his breath. “Shit, sorry Jax. I should’ve mentioned we need to be on the lookout for hexes. You’re lucky it was just a rudimentary one.”
Jax glared at his cousin but held his tongue as his eyes came back to me. Jax growled and faced the door. He brought his hands together with a loud clap, then twisted his palms toward the door and forced his magic through the knob itself. The knob caved in, then shot through into the dark room beyond.
Josh whistled. “Impressive magic, Jaxi.”
Jax shrugged, then nudged the door open with the toe of his boot. The three of us shuffled into the room. The first thing to hit us was the stench of rotting flesh. Flies buzzed somewhere nearby, but there was no sign of them or whatever caused that smell.
“Oh, my gods!” I hollered and pinched my nose.
Josh looked green. “Something's been dead in here for a while.”
Jax tilted his head, then manifested a ball of blue magic and sent it hovering above the bed, thickly covered with dust. He put his hands in his pockets and surveyed the walls. Blood spatter covered the stone walls, some of it still crimson and dripping, and some brown with age. The scene reminded me of the tower where the Black Lily Coven had died.
I twisted my mouth in disgust as I struggled to breathe inside the small office. It looked like it hadn’t seen daylight in years. It definitely didn’t look lived in. I backed out of the room, my throat swelling with anxiety. My boots thudded softly against the stone as I paced the empty classroom.
Jax shouted from inside the professor’s office. “Zellie, you should come and see this.”
Josh stood in front of a panel cut into the stone. Magic hid it from us originally, but once we crossed the threshold the blood splatter revealed the rectangular edges of the hidden room beyond. Josh pushed the panel further into the wall, then ducked inside the cramped space.
“What the actual fuck?” I asked no one in particular.
Jax and I moved over to the opening and peered inside. There was a woman slumped over on the dirt floor, crimson stained her black, matted hair. Her lips were blue, and pieces of her flesh hung from her torso in ribbons. I squinted as Josh nudged his boot under her. Beneath her decaying body was a much older corpse. It appeared to be a man, but it was hard to tell with the flesh of its face rotted clear through to the bone in some places.
As Josh lowered his foot, the woman’s corpse toppled to the side, and my eyes widened in horror as maggots wiggled amongst her spilled entrails. Despite all of that, the smell was the most overwhelming thing about the scene. It was obvious her bowels had been released.
I covered my mouth with my hand. “Do you think Thomas could have done this?”
Josh shrugged; his gaze fixated on the dead woman. It was hard to tell in death, but I was pretty sure it was Professor Willow. Unholy shit, she went missing months ago.
Thomas was nowhere to be found, but I had a bad feeling the brutalized corpse was left there on purpose for us to find. With that thought, my eyes darted to the walls inside the secret room. Countless crude depictions of a familiar tower were drawn in blood. I have no idea how I missed them at first glance.
I straightened my spine as I fought the urge to run as fast and as far as I could away from this place. Icy claws dragged down my spine.
“It’s an invitation,” I whispered, then rubbed my arms, willing the goosebumps to go away.
“What?” Jax growled, then pulled me into him.
“Look at the walls, Ax.”
His gaze rose, then he swore.
“He wants us to go to the tower,” Jax seethed.
My stomach twisted as we left the classroom.