Chapter Twenty-Three
Twenty-Three
Bex
Booker stands by the bar while Nina and I sit at a table with Viola. All three of us know Booker can hear well enough, even if we lower our voices to a whisper. He’s a werewolf, and he has exceptional hearing.
“I don’t know you, so what makes you think I’m going to help you?” Nina asks, narrowing her icy blue eyes at the witch.
Before she can answer, I ask, “Does Cletus know you’re here?”
That must have a straightforward answer, because she doesn’t hesitate to shake her head. There doesn’t seem to be any concern about him not knowing either. “He doesn’t believe me when I tell him about the threat to the land. It’s coming sooner than I thought.”
“Let’s circle back to why you’re here. What do you need from me?” Nina asks again.
Viola sits back in her chair. She’s wearing a dark purple blouse that cinches around the neckline, that’s also been pulled low over her shoulders.
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a woman wear a corset on the outside, and one that’s not white.
Hers is black. She wears black pants, but they’re loose around her thighs and fitted from her knees down, tucked into her tall black riding boots.
She wears a gun belt around her waist, with one pistol secured in its holster.
“I’ve come to make a deal with you.” She’s not here to make a deal with the dustslinger. She’s staring right at my sister.
“I’m listening,” Nina responds in a low, serious tone.
“This isn’t happening. No way, no how.” I stand up, and Viola raises her hand, palm out facing me. My feet lift off the ground and before I can summon my dust power, I’m suspended in the air in one of the witch’s soapy bubbles again.
“Viola,” Booker growls from the bar.
“What? I’m not hurting her. I just need her to be quiet while the mystics talk.”
Mystics? What is she blabbering on about? My sister doesn’t break eye contact with the witch.
“I know where you come from,” Viola says, her hand still above her head, holding me suspended in the air. With her other hand she leans forward, reaching across the table, and drags a hand down one of Nina’s braids. “You’re one of those Glacic northerners.”
“Let me down! I promise to let you talk this out, whatever it is!”
Viola closes her fist, and the soapy bubble vanishes. I land on the ground, my balance thrown off. Nina doesn’t even look my way or offer to help me up after I fall on my ass.
“If you know where I come from, and you know what I can do, then you know I’m more powerful than you.
” Nina rests her chin on her hand that’s propped up on the table.
The front door bursts open, slamming against the wall as a rush of storm wind fills the parlor.
With a wicked smile, Nina has summoned the winds.
I stand and stretch my hands out at arm’s length, and using my own magic, I force the dust that’s come inside away from the table. The wind grows more violent, circling the room like a cyclone. It’s murky and dark, carrying a lot of dirt from the road. I can’t even see Booker at the bar anymore.
“Enough!” Viola abruptly stands and shouts. “There’s no need to demonstrate. I believe you, which is why I convinced Cletus to give you a week before coming back to take you and that rogue mutt away.”
Nina closes her eyes, and the wind circling the room floods back outside, closing the front door behind it. I’ve never seen her do anything like that. She leans back in her chair. “Speak your piece. And if you call Hunter a mutt again, I’ll steal the air from your lungs and watch you suffocate.”
Caught off guard, I gasp. “What the hell, Nina?” She’s never behaved in such a manner before.
Booker’s catching his breath behind the bar. He holds up a hand and shouts, “I’m good—I’m all right. Don’t worry about me.”
Viola lowers herself into her chair again. “If I can guarantee Cletus won’t take you or Hunter”—she says his name as if she’s tasted something rotten—“when he comes tomorrow, I want something in return. A simple favor.”
“What kind of favor?” Nina asks.
“That’s to be determined at another time. For now, I’m your best option against what’s coming for you and your friend.”
Nina smiles. “I don’t need your help. I can handle Cletus by myself,” she says with a hint of pride in her voice.
“You attack Cletus in a transaction that he has every right to see carried out, then you’ll bring down the wrath of the alpha council.
And not just to you and your sister, but to Gravers Junction and its people.
” Viola’s gaze intensifies. “I’m trying to prevent more bloodshed.
” She leans her elbows on the table and stares at Nina. “Take my offer.”
I jump in with a question. “What will Cletus want in place of Hunter and Nina? He’s not going to leave here empty-handed, will he?”
Viola sighs while rubbing the tips of her long black nails with her thumb. “He will.”
“So, like I said. We don’t need to make a deal with you because I can handle him,” Nina reiterates.
I lean over and whisper to Nina, “She’s not wrong. From what Booker’s told me about the alpha council, they live by a strong code. My interference caused this whole mess, so it has to be me who fixes it.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Nina asks, anger lacing her tone.
“I can challenge him to a fight.”
“No!” Booker says at the same time Viola laughs.
He comes out from behind the bar and sits at the table with us. “We’ll think of something.” He then looks at Nina. “It’s a good deal. Take the deal.”
“But we don’t know what this favor is she’ll ask of Nina?” I point out.
“Deal,” Nina says before anyone addresses my concerns.
Viola jumps to her feet, and her boots pound the wooden floorboards as she makes her way to the door. “Oh, and I forgot to mention, he’s coming tonight.”
“What?” I ask. “We have until tomorrow.”
Booker curses under his breath, then mutters, “He’s coming at midnight, isn’t he?”
The witch smiles before walking out of the inn.