Chapter 6 - Elize
I was angry the entire drive back home. I was exhausted from lack of sleep. I grabbed my coffee and frowned, realizing it was low. I groaned and rubbed at my eyes. I turned into the convent and pulled into my normal parking spot.
I hopped out and spotted that the front door of the healing center was open. I instantly got worried, and I headed inside. I froze when I spotted Victoria sitting in her chair, her left leg resting on a stool.
I crossed my arms. “Victoria, what are you doing here?”
She looked at me, surprised, and then cringed. “Shoot. I thought you weren’t going to be home for another hour.”
I was so tired because Victoria had fallen down the steps yesterday while closing up the shop. She’d fractured her ankle, which we’d healed, but because of her old age, it wasn’t complete. She needed to stay off it, which meant keeping the healing center closed for a couple of days.
“What are you doing here? You know you can’t be working right now. You have to stay off your ankle.”
“I was just doing a few things, and I have my leg elevated. I barely even put any pressure on it.”
I laid her with a look. “Victoria, you are supposed to be at home resting.”
“I’m not putting any pressure on it. I’m fine.”
“I know that your husband didn’t carry you down here, which means you walked on it. If I had done that, you would have chewed me out for a week.”
She waved a hand. “I would not have.”
“Yes, you would have. When I fainted from heat last summer, you refused to let me leave my apartment for three days.”
“You worry too much.”
“Yes, yes, I do. And it would be helpful if you made my life easier by listening to what you were told.”
Victoria scuffed. “Elize, I’m a grown woman. I know what I’m doing.”
I stared at her, refusing to leave. Victoria sighed. “I won’t get up again until I’m leaving.”
I sighed and uncrossed my arms. I shouldn’t have been that surprised that she didn’t listen. Victoria was sweet but headstrong. She ran this shop no matter what.
I pulled a seat up and sat down next to her. She offered me a soft smile. “You look tired.”
I grunted. “I’m fine. I just need another cup of coffee.”
“Why don’t you go up and rest? I know that you were up late last night.”
I’d healed her leg, and because of it not being complete, I’d helped around the house.
Charlie needed help with some other things that Victoria normally helped with.
I hadn’t even gotten to my apartment until four in the morning.
I only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep before my body jerked me awake because of the light seeping in from my windows.
I was late, so I rushed out of the house after throwing on clothes. I had planned to wear something nice. I’d even pulled out a floral dress and had it hanging in the bathroom. But I was too tired to care after the lack of sleep.
“How is Charlie handling this?”
Victoria chuckled. “You know, Charlie. He almost had a heart attack this morning when I was moving around.”
“How did you get out of the house without him seeing you? I know he doesn’t know you’ve left the house.”
She smirked. “He’s napping.”
“Oh, Victoria, he’s going to freak out when he wakes up.”
“I left him a note.” She shut the book she was working on. “So, how was the ceremony? Did it go as planned?”
I shrugged. “It was fine. Nothing exciting.”
She gave me a soft smile. “How was Troy?”
I could see his shocked expression when I arrived. I could also see the disappointment in his eyes.
“He was fine.”
“I just want to make sure you’re okay. I know this is hard for you.”
“We are. It’s just an arrangement for right now. It’s what’s best for the convent.”
“You didn’t have to agree if you didn’t want to, Elize.”
“I know that, but I agreed. So, let’s move on to what you’re doing here.”
I helped Victoria with a few more things around the shop before I headed upstairs. I meant to sleep for just a couple of hours, but I ended up sleeping until the next day.
I showered and made myself coffee before I headed back into the pack.
After the ceremony, I asked Martin to tell me more details about what was going on.
He’d brought up a cauldron, and I told him I wanted to see it.
He first declined the idea, but I pressed.
I wanted to be done with this as quickly as I could.
The drive to Riley’s pack was quiet, and my head was spinning with information. I was trying to think of everything I knew that would be able to help, but I didn’t know much about dark magic.
Victoria taught me simple spells and how to make healing potions. I had read tons of books and was always open to learning something the other witches were willing to teach. But it was a small group, and there had never been a need for me to learn the other stuff.
Now I was wishing I’d tried, or at least tried to know what they were capable of. I knew there was still a lot that I could learn, and I wanted to find out, starting with the cauldron.
I pulled into the city hall and found Martin standing at the steps waiting for me.
He smiled at me as he waved a cup of coffee.
I pulled myself out and headed toward him.
I was still a little angry that he hadn’t told me the truth about why he wanted me here, but it was Martin.
He’d always been there for me, and I knew I could let it go.
“Morning, Martin.”
“I bought coffee for you.”
I smiled as I reached for the cup. I took a sip and smiled as I soaked in the warmth. “Alright, lead the way.”
“Are you sure you want to go in and see the cauldron? I’m sure there are other ways around this.”
I shook my head, not letting him change my mind. “Nope, now lead the way.”
“Very well. But you are not allowed to touch the cauldron.”
I frowned. “How am I supposed to find out anything if I can’t touch it?”
“I don’t know, but no touching it. We already had a bad experience with it being touched. That’s the only way I’m going to agree.”
I scuffed. “Fine, I won’t touch it.”
We headed inside, and Martin led me toward the meeting room. He opened it, and I found the room empty. He pulled a tapestry aside and revealed a door. We entered and headed downstairs into the basement.
We walked for a while, and I felt a shiver roll over my body. I suddenly could sense the change, and the hair on my body rose.
He paused at a door and popped it open. Inside sat a black cauldron that was bubbling softly.
I stepped into the room and felt like someone was pressing down on me.
I swallowed as I looked around the room.
The room had no windows, and the cauldron was chained to the ground.
The space smelled of rotten decay, and the air felt eerie.
I stared at the cauldron, walking closer to it. It didn’t seem special in any way. It was just a simple, black cauldron.
“How long has it been down here?”
“A couple of months.” Martin stood in the doorway, looking sick.
I walked around the cauldron, being sure not to touch it as I moved. I stepped around the chains. “And why is it chained?”
“Precaution.”
“Because it had legs before?” I asked sarcastically.
Martin shrugged. “We just wanted to make sure it didn’t get moved. So, if anyone tries, it’s chained. We’re keeping the packs safer by doing this.”
I rubbed my hands together and bent down. I looked closer into the cauldron. I watched the water inside bubble. The water wasn’t clear, but it wasn’t dirty either. I could see the bottom, and it looked like any other cauldron. But I could feel such a powerful energy coming from within it.
“Does it stop bubbling?”
He shook his head. “No.”
I noted that information. I would need to look up cauldrons and see what I could find. I’d never seen one so large. We had a small one back at the healing center that we used to make potions, but nothing to this extent.
After taking a few notes, I arrived back home in the afternoon with a few books that I’d taken out of the library.
I huddled down with a cup of tea on my couch, ready to dig into them.
I wanted to find out what was going on. Or at least start to figure something out.
The quicker I got an answer, the quicker I could get out of everything.
I heard a knock on my door and set my cup of tea down on the coffee table. I headed over to the door and pulled it open. I froze as I took Troy in.
He offered me a nervous smile, seeming unsure of what to do with his hands. “Hi.”
I crossed my arms. “What are you doing here? How do you even know I live here?”
“Martin told me.”
I sighed. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I knew he would come seeking me out, but I figured it would be longer than forty-eight hours. “What do you want, Troy?”
“I’m offering up a space at my house.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And I don’t need it.”
He frowned. “Come on, Elize. It’s a drive into town. Why not move in? It’s …” I watched his eyes scan my apartment, and I tightened my lips together. “You want to finish that sentence, Troy.”
“Bigger than this place.”
“You were going to say nicer.”
“I was not.”
I crossed my arms. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“Why won’t you move in?”
“Because I have no reason to.”
“So, you’re just going to travel back and forth?”
I nodded. “Yes. I don’t see myself needing to go back there often.”
“Elize, you’re mated to me. You have to be there. You have to familiarize yourself with the place again. I know you don’t think it’s important, but we have to stand together on certain things. The pack is already aware that you’re mated to me.”
“And this all sounds like an issue for you, not me.”
Troy frowned. “Is it the fact that you don’t want to stay with me? Why not stay at your folks’ house?”
I shrugged. “And why stay there at all when my home is here?”
He sighed. “You’re not even going to consider it?”
I shook my head. “Not even a little. Now, if you don’t mind, I was in the middle of something.” I shut the door, not even letting him reply.