Chapter 23- Loxley
THERE’S NOTHING REMARKABLE about the bar in the neighboring city where we’ve tracked down our target.
Since I have no magical tether to Gordy, he’s our only lead.
We drove in two cars to get to this guy, and I’m once again thankful our extended coven is so ready to help me.
As nervous as I am, I need to trust my magical instincts that Gordy is still okay and we’re doing the right thing.
With the Jade Lion on our side, we should be able to get answers.
Kai is standing across the street in a dimly lit alleyway.
We could have grabbed this guy by force, but we don’t want to expose our powers to mortals.
Bursting the bubble of secrecy about the magical world can’t possibly help us find my fated mate.
Instead, we formed a plan on our way here, and Taina is in there working on it.
When she steps out, I almost laugh; we glamoured her a low-cut dress, and she’s playing the role of tempting seductress well. Fortunately, the dude isn’t gay. Now she’s leading him to the alleyway between bars, the perfect secluded location.
In a blur, Kai’s hand appears over the man’s face, rendering him immobilized. “Let’s move,” Auntie says. The rest of us hop out of our two cars and stride across the street. Taina puts her glamour down, revealing the plain sweats and t-shirt she was wearing this whole time.
“Great work,” Kenta says to her, more out of breath than the rest of us.
“He was gross; he kept overtly staring at my boobs.” Taina shrugs and points to Seb. “Shall we fog it up?”
Seb nods and replies, “Right.” He nods at his boyfriend, and Kai grins. The Jade Lion lets go of the man and snaps his fingers. In moments, orbs of green energy illuminate this pocket dimension, courtesy of Kai’s arcana.
When the man snaps out of his daze, he studies us. “Wha…what happened?”
“I’m not actually here to hook up with you in an alleyway,” Taina says, crossing her arms. “I’m here for answers.”
The man looks around, bewildered. “What…where am I? Who are you all?”
“The Ruby Turtle,” I blurt. “Gordy. W-w-where is he?”
The man stares at me, and a moment of recognition flashes on his face. Then, he smirks and lifts his chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do!” I bark. Shugo holds me back, and I try to calm myself from using brute force on the guy. He took my familiar!
“So, you kidnapped a reptilian man, and won’t tell us where he is?” Seb asks with a confident half-smile.
The stranger shakes his head and scowls. “I don’t need to tell you shit.”
Seb shoots him a smirk and crosses his arms. “Well, try not to think about the turtle man as we pluck the information from you.”
“What?” he asks, right before Kai shifts into his tall lion form.
The man spins around at him, but before he can scream, Kai puts his hand over the man’s head.
Green arcana swirls around the stranger, and he’s rendered frozen in a trance.
I almost feel bad for the dude; I’m not one for forcing information out of mortals, but he did this.
I know he’s responsible for taking Gordy; it’s written all over his aura.
“Where is he?” Kai asks in a deep, bestial voice.
“The 55 Yarwood Lane garbage dump, second house on your left, in the basement.” He recites it like he’s robotic, and hope blooms in my chest. We have an address!
I dash to run out of the fog, but Seb takes my hand. “Wait.” He turns to Kai and says, “Ask him if there’s anything else we need to know about getting our friend back in one piece.”
Kai waves his hand around the man, who still appears to be in a trance. “Well?”
“She carved special symbols into the ropes. She wrote them into the surfaces of the whole basement. Something about making sure no one finds him. I thought she was fucking crazy until I saw the big turtle man. And now she’s like, feasting on him or something.”
I gasp, and Auntie holds me close. “We gotta move,” Kenta says.
“Who is she?” Kai asks.
“S…Sally.”
Fortunately, this dump is only a few miles from the bar.
After letting that dude, O’Connor, go―wiping his mind of all traces of us and allowing him to think he drank too many beers―we quickly pulled up the address and headed there, driving through the darkness.
With all the info pulled out of the lead, we know Gordy hasn’t been kidnapped for too long.
But Sally, that young witch we met, is responsible?
Taina has barely parked the car before I’m hopping out the door.
Auntie tells me to wait, but I ignore her.
It’s dark in the dump, so I use my phone flashlight to guide me.
The second wooden cabin on the left looks more lived-in than the others, so I know we’re in the right place.
I’m grateful the door is unlocked, so I stride right in, the others barely on my heels.
My coven keeps telling me to slow down, but I don’t. Regardless of what I find down here, I need to face Sally head-on. After finding a doorway to the basement, I dash down the steps.
When I get to the base of the stairs, I freeze. My whole body goes cold, and I can’t even blink at the sight. Behind me, Seb calls, “Loxley, wait, can we just…oh no.”
Gordy is tied up, sitting upright against the wall. And a sword is floating above his head. It could drop at any moment, but it’s being held up by magic. A figure stands a few feet from him―Sally has her hand raised. She’s holding my familiar—my boyfriend, my mate, my everything—hostage.
“Whoa, whoa,” Seb says.
“Sally?” Kenta asks in disbelief.
“Shut up!” she barks. “And no one move or the guy gets chopped up.”
“Gordy,” I whisper, my eyes burning with anxious tears.
He weakly opens his eyes. “Loxley?”
“G-G-Gordy,” I say, stepping forward.
“Shut up!” Sally’s voice freezes me in place. “I can’t…can’t think!” She wipes her face with her free hand, and it’s then that I realize how disheveled she looks.
“What is going on?” Kai asks.
“Just…just NO ONE talk or the turtle gets cut!” She rubs her face, like she’s having a mental breakdown. When my gaze flits from her to Gordy, a plan forms in the back of my mind. Sally holds all the cards; she’s kidnapped my love, and Gordy could die if we try to rush her.
I’m an empath witch; it’s time to be empathetic.
“Sally. You’re…not well,” I whisper.
“Of COURSE not!” She pulls at her hair and wipes her eyes again.
“You…don’t have to do this,” I say.
“Just let him go,” Seb says. I turn to him and motion for him to be quiet, then turn back to her.
“I…I do have to. I have no choice,” she says, her voice lacking conviction. It’s almost as if Sally hasn’t slept in days. For all I know, it’s true, so I need to reach her.
“Sally…” She looks at me, and I step closer. Raising up my hands in a gesture of peace, I take a deep breath and access my magic. In moments, I take in Sally’s aura.
Echoes of her pain flash through my mind. Her aura is so potent this close up that I can almost see her memories, like a picture book in my mind.
“You…were cursed. Cursed to…hunger. Deeply,” I say.
She sniffs and nods, and tears run down her cheek. “None of you know what it’s like,” she says in a broken tone. “This curse…these fangs.” She opens her mouth to reveal a monstrous set of teeth. “It hurts so much. I need to consume magic. I…need to feed.”
“But you…don’t want to.” My words are quiet, and I take another step forward. “Someone…did this to you.”
She lets out a sob and stares at the floor. “It was almost two years ago. I fell in love with my witch tutor. He was handsome and charming, and I didn’t know any other witches…”
I turn back to the others and nod, letting them know that she’s telling the truth. Turning back to her, I ask, “And?”
“He gave me this…this curse.” She sniffs and gazes at me, tired eyes broken. “I’m so hungry for magic…all the time. But with him―” She looks at Gordy, who stares at us in concern. “He has so much arcana. I wanted to keep him, at least until I could cure this fucking curse.”
With another sob, she looks down and shakes her head. “It hurts so much,” she rasps. “I don’t want to keep kidnapping witches, but there is no other option. To quell this hunger, I have to…I have to keep feeding off of him.” She looks at me with broken eyes and says, “I don’t want this life.”
Her aura tells me she’s not lying, so I step forward again. “I believe you.”
“You do?” she asks as she sniffs.
I nod. When I glance at Gordy, my heart breaks even further. Sally doesn’t want to keep feeding on Gordy, I know this. But how can I save him? And save her, too?
My dreams. My dreams showed me that I can take the pain away. A frightening thought manifests in my head. It’s the only play I can think of that can protect all of us.
With another step closer to Sally, I say, “Give…me the curse.”
“What?!” Auntie and Taina say at the same time.
“Loxley, no!” Gordy rasps.
Sally shakes her head and looks up. “No…no, you don’t want this. This life, it’s…torture.”
“You said Gordy keeps you filled.” I glance down at my boyfriend, begging him to trust me. “I…can keep him safe. With me. By my side. Not a pet, but more than just a familiar. He’s…” I pause as my soul opens up with all the words I can’t say. “My heart. My love. Home.”
Gordy smiles at me, his red eyes glistening with tears. When he looks at Sally, there’s a tense moment, and I’m afraid she’s going to drop the blade. Instead, she waves her hand again, and the weapon disappears.
Before I can say another word, she grabs me by the neck. The next thing I see is dark ink pouring out of her mouth. The darkness flies up and surrounds my face, obscuring my vision. I try to step back, but Sally holds me firmly in place. Everyone around me yells as I’m consumed by darkness.
“Loxley, NO!” Gordy’s cry for help is the last thing I hear before blanking out.