33. The Witch’s Lair
thirty-three
The Witch’s Lair
*ROYAN*
T he closer we get, the more I can feel the tension around us. It’s not just my own I feel. I can also feel Rona getting more nervous, the mate bond already kicking in and connecting us. Shayan has become eerily quiet, too.
The fox has settled around his shoulders now, its gaze ever so attentive. Rona leads us through a narrow path, and for a moment I think we are in for another few hours just walking through the snow, when suddenly a small building is in front of us.
“That’s it,” Rona confirms, a hint of fear in her voice.
I instinctively pull her to my side to protect her, in case it’s necessary. There is a weird atmosphere around this place. I’m sure it has to be witchcraft. Even Shayan’s fox hides in his jacket now. Shayan and I exchange a gaze.
I swallow deeply; here goes nothing. I try to reach out to Quinn through the mind link. I secretly linked him when we found Rona and set off, but when I try now, there seems to be a blockade. Fuck, we are in a witch’s lair.
Shayan throws another gaze at me, and then just steps forward and knocks at the door. I’m amazed. Either he truly doesn’t feel how terrifying the atmosphere here is, or he is just that brave. It doesn’t take long for the door to open and a tall, beautiful woman steps outside. In a way her appearance resembles Aylin’s, they both have this air of dignity and arrogance around them, but there is something kind about Aylin, while she… she just looks like she could slaughter children. Her eyes are dark, her smile sinister. She is breathtakingly beautiful though, with her long black hair and tall slender body, but all the beauty doesn’t matter once you look into the depth of her eyes.
And, she carries the same tattoo as the rest of the cult. Hers is more prominent though, directly on her neck. She is clearly a proud member, maybe their leader.
The witch’s eyes wander to me and Rona, a smirk curling around her lips. “Interesting,” she mutters.
Rona looks nervous. “They… wanted to meet you, Madame.”
“Is that so?” the witch sneers.
Shayan looks at her calmly, taking the little bag out of his pocket. “We are here to deliver a package.”
The witch tears her eyes away from Rona and me, and looks at Shayan now. She seems to take in everything about him, her gaze shortly lingering on his bionic arm, then she reaches out her hand, brushing a finger over his cheek. “You…” she whispers. “You are interesting too.”
Poor Shayan. For the sake of keeping up our pretense, I don’t say anything though and let him handle it. Shayan doesn’t even bat an eye, just keeps his serious expression, until the witch draws back with a smirk.
“Good.” She gestures to us to follow her. “Come with me.”
This is it, the point of no return. I’m starting to feel slightly anxious… not because I’m afraid of the witch, but rather because we weren’t prepared for this. I doubt Beta Quinn or King Gillean would have approved of our action here. It puts both Shayan and me in grave danger.
But there is no turning back now. We both have to step into the witch’s lair.
I take Rona’s hand into mine, smiling at her before following Shayan inside.
“What’s your name?” Shayan asks boldly.
“Why do you want to know?” the witch asks.
“I don’t like talking to people whose name I don’t know, let alone work for them,” he says.
His boldness takes my breath away, but he is believable, so I leave him to it. The witch turns around, snickering a bit. “Work for me? Who says you are going to work for me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Shayan asks.
“Shouldn’t a gentleman introduce himself first?” she asks.
“Shay,” Shayan says shortly.
Her lips curl into a smirk. “Penelope,” she answers. She doesn’t say anymore and instead leads us inside. From the outside, the place looks tiny. Once inside, however, I'm beginning to realize that there must be a powerful spell on the place. It’s like a castle, not as beautiful and comfortable as the castle of the royal family. This is made of cold bricks and thick stones, very narrow and dark, but it stretches into a vast building, and seems to have a huge basement as well.
“Shay,” she says, almost purring. “I will show you your room. Your friend here-” she looks at me. “What was your name?”
“Roy,” I say, going with Shayan’s strategy. He chose a name similar enough to his own, a short form even. It sounds believable, and we’ll both be able to remember it. I’m becoming increasingly more impressed by his abilities. He is a human, so everyone in the kingdom kind of underestimated him. We were stupid! Shayan was Princess Azadeh’s main protector for a long time. He knows what he is doing.
“Fine.” She turns to Rona. “Good job, Rona. I normally don’t like it when one of you bring strangers along, but they could be useful, I guess.”
“Thank you,” Rona stutters.
Shayan frowns slightly but doesn’t say anything.
“You can stay with your mate. Show him your room,” Penelope commands before she smirks towards Shayan. “I will show you yours, personally.”
Shayan bows, but doesn’t say anything. The grim attitude seems to speak to the witch. “See you later,” he grunts towards me, before following Penelope.
Meanwhile, Rona takes my hand and leads me to her room. She sighs slightly. “I’m sorry, this is all so weird,” she says.
“Are you working for Penelope too?” I ask her. “I thought you were just doing errands.”
“I… I don’t have much choice,” she admits quietly before looking at me shyly. “Do you mind sharing a room with me? If yes, I’m sure I can ask Madame…”
“No, I don’t mind,” I hurry to assure her, my heart skipping a beat when she smiles in relief.
“I know this all sounds off,” she admits. “Me being here, and all, it’s so shady.”
“You are just trying to survive,” I tell her. “Like we all do.”
She looks a bit flustered but then reaches out her hand to show me the tattoo she is wearing. It’s the same we saw on the other cultists. “I… I thought you should know,” she whispers. “I don’t know who you are. You said you are mercenaries, but you seem so kind, and I’m your mate. I don’t want to lead you on.”
“Did you join them of your free will?” I ask, my stomach churning slightly. I’m beyond happy that I found my mate, but this… this is just terrible.
We need to hear her out first , my wolf encourages me.
You are right , I agree.
“I won’t lie,” she confesses. “First, they sounded great, and I just wanted a better life for my brothers, and… well… I’m not the only one they lured into this that way. And then suddenly, I couldn’t leave anymore.”
“Oh, Rona,” I sigh.
“Do you still want me?” she asks, looking at me miserably. When Shayan and I met her, she was so feisty and strong, and now she looks at me terrified. I hate that I’m the one that puts these fears into her.
“Of course, I still want you,” I reassure her. “We’ll find a way.”
Rona smiles in relief. It looks like she wants to say more, but then just leans against my chest. I pull her into my arms, my heart warming at having my mate so close. The bond is already getting stronger. I can clearly feel it. When we mark her, it will be even better, my wolf beams.
Yes, but first we need to make sure she can leave with us , I say. And, we can only achieve that if Shayan and I leave safely.
For that reason, I decide I need to seek out Shayan. Penelope hasn’t said anything about us having to stay in our rooms, and when I ask Rona, she informs me it’s okay to roam around. Penelope invited us in, which means the spell that made the building look so small from outside is broken for us and we can see everything the way it truly is. I soon find myself outside of my room, roaming the corridors.
I pass a few people here and there, who toss me curious glances, but it seems most of them were already notified of our presence. I remind myself that I have a role to play and put on a more gruff expression. Thank Goddess for my beard. It’s easier that way.
When a scrawny looking guy passes me, I step into his path. His eyes widen slightly as he looks at me. “How can I help you?” he squeaks, his lips trembling.
“Where is Shay?” I huff. “My buddy.”
“Oh… he got the suite,” he blurts.
The suite?
“And, where’s that?”
“At the top floor. The Madame resides there, as do other high-ranking members.”
Wow, Shayan apparently made quite an impression. I’m not sure if I should feel amazed or worried. I can’t mind link him in case something is wrong. Well, it's even more important to seek him out now. I leave the poor trembling guy behind and hurry up the stairs. To my luck, the door to Shayan’s room is indeed open, which makes it easier to find him.
“Shay,” I mumble.
“Come on in,” he says.
I close the door behind me and let out a deep breath. Out of the corner of my eye I can see some movement beneath the bed and the little fox creeps out of the shadows and jumps onto Shayan’s bed, curling up there. The room is indeed generous. “Say, what are we going to do about-”
Shayan puts a finger on his lips, shutting me up with the gesture. Then, he takes a notebook and a pen he apparently kept with himself all this time. He scribbles something down.
We never know who listens to us , it says.
He is right. Yet again, I completely forgot to think further. Penelope has to be a powerful witch. I need to be careful when talking with Rona too.
Grace , he scribbles down. Let’s use the name Grace when we talk about someone back home. We can pretend she is your sister or something.
I nod.
“So,” I say. “What about my sis, Shay? I need to get back to her eventually and provide her with something to eat.”
“Is it going to be a problem now that you found your mate?” he grunts.
I shrug. “It’s certainly making things more difficult,” I say, while scribbling down that Rona is in the clutches of the cult.
Shayan sighs, but nods. “Well, now you have two women to care for. Better make the best of it.”
“I hope this place pays well,” I grumble. “I don’t even know what they do here.”
Shayan nods his approval at my question, and I can see a glint in his eyes, like he is hoping someone is listening to us. “I doubt it’s all show,” he says, plopping onto the chair to take off his boots. “That Madame Penelope… I’ve never met a woman like her.” His tone gets almost a bit lustful now, although he grimaces. I have to suppress my chuckle at his expression. “She is beguiling.”
“You want to stay?”
He nods. “I think I want to see what this here is about. Is it going to be a problem for you and Grace?”
“No, sis will hopefully understand.” I shrug. “And, I can explore my mate better that way.”
Shayan rolls his eyes at me, probably well aware that the last part wasn’t meant as a joke. Being able to spend some time with Rona and get to know her is the only good part about being here.
“Alright,” Shayan nods. “Let’s see if they have a job for us.”
We linger around a while in his room until we hear a knock. Shayan’s fox slips beneath the blanket and disappears, while Shayan opens the door, then bows his head slightly. “Madame Penelope.”
Penelope is dressed in a tight black dress, making her skin look even paler. It’s incredibly hard to tell her age, as with Aylin. But, there is a freshness about Aylin that Penelope misses. “Oh, I hope I am not interrupting anything.”
“Not at all,” I say, bowing, too.
She smirks, making me wonder if she indeed listened to us. “I’ve been wondering,” she muses. “I have need of some capable… hands.”
Shayan’s expression doesn’t even change in the slightest at her suggestive words. “Roy and I are not opposed to helping in any way,” he bluffs.
Her lips tug slightly. She seems to be pleased with his answer. “I wonder which fine gentleman is going to take me out for dinner, now.”
Shayan offers his arms, and she takes it.
“I take that as an invitation,” she says, tossing Shayan a glance. Her eyes glint slightly. She turns to look at me. “I expect you to tend to Rona.”
“I will,” I promise easily.
I watch her and Shayan leave, feeling mixed feelings about this. Goddess, I hope Shayan is going to be careful.