Chapter 18 The Devil You Know
We convened in the living room a short while later, the air thick with tension as we sat down around the coffee table. Anita took one of the armchairs, her posture controlled and unhurried, like she'd been in this position a hundred times before and nothing about it concerned her.
I sank onto the sofa with Trace beside me, his hand finding the small of my back the second I sat down.
Dominic stood at the mantle on the opposite side of the room, one elbow braced against the wood, a fresh tumbler dangling from his fingers.
His dark eyes hadn't left Anita since she'd walked into the kitchen.
A beat of silence stretched between us, expectant and uncomfortable, as I waited for someone to say something. I could feel Trace's unease thrumming through our bond, even if his expression gave nothing away.
“Well,” I said, breaking the silence with forced brightness, “this isn’t awkward at all.”
Anita’s lips twitched, though whether in amusement or annoyance, I couldn’t tell. “I see you made it through the night.”
“Yup. Wait.” The color drained from my face. “That’s a joke, right?”
She didn’t bother answering my question.
“Aren’t you short a couple of witches?” asked Trace, glancing past her toward the hallway.
“I’m here on behalf of all of us. Anything you say to me, you say to them,” she answered, which I assumed was Roderick code for ‘mind your business’. “Let me see your arms,” she said, turning her attention back to me.
I hesitated for only a moment before pushing up my sleeves and extending my arms toward her. She leaned forward in her chair, her cool fingers wrapping around my wrists over the coffee table as she turned my arms over slowly, examining every inch of exposed skin.
The black veins were gone. Completely. Not even a shadow of them remained.
“The rot appears to have cleared,” she said, more to herself than to me. Her thumbs pressed against the inside of my wrists, checking my pulse. “Your body is processing the magic quite well, it seems. Or rather, it’s distributing it rather than drowning in it.”
She released my arms and leaned back into the chair, her gaze shifting between Trace and Dominic as I rolled my sleeves back down. “And you two? Any adverse effects? Fatigue? Intrusive thoughts that aren’t your own?”
I held my breath without realizing I was doing it. The very idea of either of them taking on any of the corruption, suffering for it because of me, was almost too much for me to bear.
“Nothing,” answered Dominic flatly. “I remain impeccable, as one would expect.”
Trace shook his head. “I feel fine.”
“Good.” Anita’s expression didn’t change, but something in her posture eased. “Then the anchoring is holding. For now.”
The qualifier at the end didn’t escape me, but I tried not to let it burrow too deep.
“What about the whispers?” I asked, the question bursting out of me before I could stop it. “Why can’t I hear them anymore? Are they gone?”
“The Horsemen’s Call,” she corrected sharply. “And no. They’re not gone.”
My stomach sank even though I’d already been fairly warned the anchoring spell wasn’t going to do anything for that. It didn’t stop me from hoping for it anyway, though.
“My guess is they can sense the shared power,” she continued.
“They’re viewing your tethers as intruders.
Obstacles in their way.” She paused, her lips almost curving into something that might have been a smile if it had held any warmth.
“I’d wager they’re regrouping as we speak. Figuring out a way around them.”
“Around them,” I repeated, my throat working hard to swallow. “As in finding a way to push past my anchors?”
“The anchoring only disrupted their connection to you temporarily. Confused the signal. But make no mistake. They’re still very much connected to you. Still waiting. And when they come for you again, just like before, the call will be stronger each time.”
“Of course it will be,” I muttered, dragging a hand through my hair. “Because why would anything ever be easy?”
“How much stronger?” asked Trace, his voice tight beside me.
Anita turned her attention to him. “Strong enough that she likely won’t be able to fight it. Not on her own.”
The air seemed to thin in my lungs. Last time, I’d barely been able to fight it at all. The pull had been like a riptide, dragging me out to sea before I’d even realized I was in the water. If it came back stronger than that, I wasn’t sure there’d be anything of me left to fight with.
“Can you disrupt the connection again?” asked Dominic from across the room. “Perhaps use it as a way to break the anointment?”
Anita’s eyes were fixed on something outside the window as she mulled it over. “Not exactly,” she said finally. “But I have a few theories I’m working through.”
Dominic arched a brow at her. “Care to share?”
“No.” The word came out flat and final. “The less you know about the specifics, the better. If the Horsemen get inside her head again, anything you know becomes a liability. It would only give them more weapons to use against us all.”
Frustration coiled in my chest. “So what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and wait for them to drag me back under?”
“You prepare,” answered Anita simply.
“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?”
“By strengthening the anchoring bond with your tethers.” Her gaze moved between Trace and Dominic. “The deeper your link to them runs, the harder it will be for the Horsemen to pull you away. It won’t break the anointment, but it might give you enough resistance to fight back when the time comes.”
The implication descended over the room like a chill. Strengthen the bond. Lean into it. Open myself up to the two of them in a way I hadn’t fully done yet, because I’d been too busy trying to hold the line between them, too afraid of what choosing both of them all the way would mean for any of us.
It looked like the line wasn’t going to be a choice anymore.
Still, it didn’t feel like enough.
“There has to be something else we can do,” I said, my voice climbing despite my best efforts.
“Some way to protect the baby while we figure this out. We can’t just sit here and hope I don’t get hijacked again.
” I searched her face for any flicker of give.
“You have to leave town. Take Nikki and the baby far away from here. Somewhere the Horsemen can’t track him. ”
Anita’s expression hardened. “Unfortunately, that’s no longer an option.”
“Why not?” demanded Trace.
“Because the Order has sealed the town.” Her voice was clipped. “They’ve warded every supernatural entry and exit point. No one with magic in their blood is getting in or out of Hollow Hills. Not without their say-so.”
“They warded the entire town?” I whispered, my mind reeling. “Since when?”
“Since they realized you weren’t going to fall in line.” Anita’s eyes held mine. “They've cast a containment barrier across Hollow Hills and are slowly tightening it around us. You’re trapped here. We all are.”
My mouth went dry. “So Nikki’s still here too?”
Anita didn’t confirm or deny it, knowing it wasn’t safe to give me any information about her whereabouts. “We’ve taken every precaution we can to ensure her safety and the safety of the baby. That’s all you need to know.”
“That’s not going to be enough,” I rasped, feeling my fear working its way up the back of my throat. “That won’t stop them if they come for her.” If I come for her, I wanted to add, but I couldn’t even get the words out.
“Right now, it’s all we have,” she answered coldly.
“How long do we have before the Horsemen regroup and come for her again?” asked Dominic, his silhouette outlined by the firelight behind him.
Anita’s expression pinched. “I don’t know. It could be hours. Maybe longer if we’re lucky.”
My head spun as though the ceiling were getting ready to crash down on me. Hours. As in I might not even make it through tomorrow without the Horsemen prying me open and walking in like they owned the place. I pushed the thought down before it could spiral and root.
“If it’s any consolation,” continued Anita, “your tethers have the capacity to pull you back from the edge. That’s what the anchoring is for. It can run as deep as you let it. All you have to do is accept them in fully.”
“And if I don’t know how to do that?” I asked, panicked. “If it’s not enough to stop them from taking me?”
“Then we shall see each other again,” answered Anita quietly. “Only this time, it will be on opposite sides.”
“If it comes to that—” I stopped, forcing the words past the knot in my throat.
“If I find where you’re hiding Nikki, if the Horsemen use me to get to the baby—” My voice cracked and tripped all over itself.
“I want your word that you’ll do what needs to be done.
That you’ll stop me before I can hurt him. ”
“Jemma—” started Trace, his voice strained.
“With pleasure,” cut in Anita coolly.
Dominic was off the mantle in an instant, his glass slamming down hard enough that I was sure it cracked. “That will never happen,” he said, his voice dropping into something flat and final. “I will tear this world apart before anyone lays a single finger on her. Roderick sisters included.”
“Then I suggest you find a way to hold her back,” said Anita, meeting his furious gaze without flinching. “By any means necessary.”
“I mean it,” I pressed, speaking over both of them. My hands were shaking but I kept my voice level. “If it comes down to protecting that baby or protecting me, you choose him. Every time. Do you understand me?”
Trace reached for my hand, but I pulled it back into my lap. I needed them to hear me. To really hear me.
“Do you understand me?” I repeated, desperate for her to acknowledge it.
Anita studied me for a long moment, something passing behind her eyes that almost looked like respect.
Or maybe just recognition. Like she was looking at someone willing to make the same kind of sacrifices she had.
“Hopefully,” she said at last, her tone less cold than before, “it won’t come to that. ”
She rose from the chair in one fluid motion, smoothing the front of her fitted black pants as she stood.
“That’s it?” I asked, shooting up to my feet. “You’re leaving already?”
“I’ve done what I came to do. The rest is up to you.
” She started toward the doorway, but paused at the threshold and glanced back over her shoulder.
“When the call comes again, don’t try to fight it alone.
You’ll lose.” Her eyes softened almost imperceptibly.
“Trust your tethers. They’re the only thing standing between you and the abyss now. I’ll be in touch.”
And then she was gone, leaving nothing but the echo of her footsteps and everything she hadn’t said hanging in the air behind her.
I sank back onto the sofa, my hands trembling as I pressed them against my thighs.
“Don’t,” said Dominic, his voice low and tight with barely contained fury. “Don’t you ever stand in front of a Roderick and offer up your own death again. Not while I’m still drawing breath.”
I lifted my eyes to his, taking in the rage and pain warring across his face. “Dominic, I had to—”
“No,” he cut in sharply. “ You didn’t. You choose to.
There is a difference. And it is not one I will tolerate again.
” The muscle in his jaw feathered furiously.
“I refuse to live in a world that does not have you in it. So whatever this is, this constant willingness of yours to sacrifice yourself for everyone else’s salvation, it stops. Tonight.”
“He’s right,” added Trace, his voice rough beside me. “We’re not losing you. Not to her or anyone else. Not without a fight. I don’t care what it takes.”
I wanted to argue. To make them see that there were lines I would not let them cross, even for me. Especially for me. But the fierce determination in their eyes told me it would be pointless. We’d just go in circles for hours and end up exactly where we’d started. And I didn’t have hours to spare.
“In the meantime,” said Dominic, his voice gentling. “We’ll find a way to break the connection and sever the anointment for good. And we’ll protect that baby without sacrificing you to do it.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Can’t I? Watch me,” he said, those onyx eyes burning into mine.
“We’ll figure it out, Jemma. We always do as long as we stick together,” added Trace, his thumb brushing across my knuckles in slow, familiar passes. “You heard what she said. The deeper we let the bond go, the better chances we have of fighting them off.”
I wanted to believe him. I really did. But I’d been a soldier in this war long enough to know that some battles couldn’t be won, no matter how stubbornly you fought them.
With the Horsemen regrouping, the entire town locked down like a supernatural prison, and Anita giving me a window of hours before the next round of hell came knocking, I wasn’t sure there was much left to figure out.
We were trapped here, every last one of us. Including Nikki and her unborn baby. And whatever was coming for us was already on its way.
The only question now was whether we’d still be standing by the time it got here.